The Guardian reports that Egyptian censors have blocked sales of a news magazine that shows on its cover plainclothes security forces preparing to attack pro-democracy demonstrators.

The move comes as the regime of the president, Hosni Mubarak, which has ruled Egypt under a state of emergency for 24 years, is trying to convince the US of its commitment to political reform.

This is the third time in three months that the English-language magazine, Cairo, has run into censorship difficulties.

Earlier issues were blocked temporarily - apparently because of objections to a report about the constitutional referendum last May and a cartoon that portrayed the ruling National Democratic party as a ferocious beast.

“They don’t really give a reason for their decisions,” said the editor, Matthew Carrington. “They might just say the person who can give permission [to distribute the magazine] is away or something like that.

According to ophie Redmond of Article 19, the international campaign for free expression, “The stifling of Cairo magazine in this way is particularly concerning in the lead-up to the limited presidential elections in September. Restrictions placed on the media in the lead up to elections is a very strong early warning sign, and can be used as an indicator of the fairness of the elections.”

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