Egyptian diva to face trial for disparaging the Nile

Egyptian pop diva Sherine Abdel Wahab is being referred to trial for suggesting at a concert that drinking from the Nile River could lead to illness, judicial officials say.

The singer’s trial date has been set for December 23, they say, on charges of “harming the public interest.”

The announcement comes after the Musicians Syndicate in Egypt said it would bar her from performing in the country after she made the remark at a concert in the United Arab Emirates.

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Social media users had shared a video of a fan asking her to sing her tune “Have You Drunk from the Nile.”

“You’d get bilharzia,” she said, referring to a water-borne parasite Egypt struggled for decades to combat. “Drink Evian, it’s better,” she joked, referring to a brand of bottled water.

Her comments, the Musicians Syndicate say in a statement, constituted “unjustified ridicule toward our dear Egypt.”

— AFP