Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has issued a decree reconstituting the board of directors of the State Information Service (SIS), appointing Ambassador Alaa Youssef as the body’s new chairperson, according to the official document released on Thursday.
Decree No. 161 of 2026 establishes the new leadership for the remainder of the current board’s term. The move follows the recent appointment of former SIS head Diaa Rashwan as Egypt’s Minister of Information.
Ambassador Alaa Youssef, who takes the helm of the State Information Service, previously served as Egypt’s ambassador to France and as the official spokesperson for the presidency. He possesses more than three decades of experience in both bilateral and multilateral diplomacy.
The decree also names Huwaida Mustafa as vice chairperson of the board.
The reconstituted board includes several prominent academics and heads of major state-run media outlets:
- Mohamed Fayez Farahat: The chairperson of the Al-Ahram Foundation and former director of the Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies. Farahat is an expert in international and Asian political relations.
- Nevine Mohamed Kamel: The editor-in-chief of the French-language newspaper Al-Ahram Hebdo. Kamel was the first woman to hold the position and has extensive experience in French-language media.
- Mohamed Fahmy: The editor-in-chief of English-language publications The Egyptian Gazette and The Egyptian Mail. He has decades of experience in the field of English-language media.
- Abdel Moaty Abu Zeid Abdellatif: An expert in international political relations and foreign media. He is a former head of the foreign media sector at the State Information Service and previously served as an advisor to the chairperson for foreign media.
- Alaa El Din Thabet: A senior media official and member of the board.
The presidential decree was signed on 29 March 2026 and is to be published in the official gazette for immediate implementation.
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