Small world
Former US ambassador to Egypt (and current US ambassador to Israel)
Daniel Kurtzer's
cousin died in last week's suicide bombing in Jerusalem, reports AP.
Sheikh Omar
Abdel-Rahman's son, his American lawyer, and his advisor are all
embroiled in a complex court case, the current status of which is
outlined by this New
York Times article.
Expanding
horizons?
Egypt's desire for a Free Trade Agreement with the United States
gets a big boost from pro-trade Democrats.
Which way is it
blowing?
AFP picked up Foreign Minister Ahmed
Maher's remarks to Al-Ahram regarding the gains (of the intifada)
need [ing] to be preserved so that they are not transformed into
losses." Maher was talking about ending the armed intifada, a
pledge Abu Mazen made to Bush and Sharon at Aqaba. Reporters, of
course, asked whether Egypt would soon be sending an ambassador back
to Tel Aviv.
Meanwhile, in this
Reuters account of a Maher interview with a Saudi daily, the Foreign
Minister places much of the blame for the failure on the peace process
on Israel. Even after the Aqaba summit, facts
on the ground reveal continuing brutal policies against the
Palestinians, he said.
Taking on another peace
process angle, the Christian Science Monitor reports that the
controversial Arab-Israeli peace movement that began in Copenhagen in
the 90s is reviving
its activities in the midst of current attention on the region's
peace making. A number of Egyptians are involved in the effort,
which this article describes in detail. It also provides an
interesting story about the Israeli ambassador and a downtown art
gallery.
More Sharm
BBC Monitoring gathers reactions
of Arab newspapers to the Sharm El-Sheikh summit. Some of the
most interesting include Qatar's Al-Watan, which said "We
should not forget that another Arab country attended the Sharm
el-Sheikh summit without any formal notice. This country is Iraq,
whose president is considered to be the US president, if only for an
interim period."
Jordan's Al-Dustur,
meanwhile, said, "President Bush's statement in Sharm el-Sheikh,
in which he said that the US and himself are committed to achieving a
Palestinian state, does not mean anything."
Meanwhile, the
New York Times looks at the economics
of Sharm El-Sheikh.
Summit notes Click here
for the full text of Mubarak and Bush's remarks at Sharm
El-Sheikh after the meeting between the US president and Arab
leaders in the Red Sea resort on Tuesday. At
the beginning of his remarks, Bush does good PR for Sharm El-Sheikh,
calling it a "spectacular
location".
Bush's style:
"Pointing directly at Abbas, Bush said, "You,
sir, have got a responsibility, and you've assumed it. I
want to work with you and so do the other leaders here."
The Iranian News
Agency alleges
that "The summit opened two hours later than planned, which could
be the result of differences between its participants."
AFP explains it
off as a case of Bush and the leaders getting to know each other in
private, or, as the White House termed it, a case of "old
fashioned statecraft."
Fox News takes
pleasure in Bush's golf
cart ride.
A Washington Post analysis
of the American President's mood as he negotiates in Sharm
El-Sheikh and Aqaba reveals Bush to be a man who -- when it
comes to Middle East peace -- "isn't in the weeds looking at
every issue"... This insider account about how Bush really feels
about the Middle East also includes such gems as Bush saying to
Sharon: "I said you were a man of peace. I
want you to know I took immense crap for that." The
article claims that Bush admires Saudi Arabia's Abdullah for being
blunt with him about the way Israel was treating the Palestinians.
Meanwhile, David
Ignatious claims that Syria is asking, "Where
is our road map?"
This story about
Sharm El-Sheikh claims the EU's Javier Solana is preparing just
such a map.
Fareed Zakaria's
take: It's
all Arafat's fault
Bush arrives
US President George W Bush is in Sharm El-Sheikh for talks with Arab
leaders about terrorism and peace. Here's
the Yahoo page with lots of photos
of Mubarak greeting Bush at the Sharm El-Sheikh airport.
The
International Herald Tribune is skeptical
of the meeting's possible benefits, mirroring the attitudes of the
Arab pundits it interviews. Al-Ahram's Abdel-Moneim Said is quoted
as saying, "The United States is now the 26th Middle East
state"," along with 22 Arab nations, Turkey, Iran and
Israel.
AP does a roundup
of previous Sharm El-Sheikh peace meetings.
Powell meets
Arab ministers first.
"Security
is everywhere."
AFP does a story about
security precautions being taken in Sharm El-Sheikh and describes
the villa
Bush is staying at: "He will stay in a moorish-style villa with
three bedrooms, a swimming pool, and a private beach, all landscaped
with flowers and palm trees and offering a view of rocks plunging
into the sea.A hotel employee said the villa normally costs
8,000 dollars a night."
Meanwhile...
Trying to somehow get
into the Sharm El-Sheikh headlines, an Israeli official claims Sharon
didn't accept the idea of an Egyptian summit because of a jailed
Israeli spy.
Pure condemnation Jailed Egyptian Gamaa Islamiya leaders
recently released a statement urging Muslim youth "to refrain from any
participation in the haphazard operations undertaken by al-Qaida".
The jailed leaders said that "that terror
attacks like those in Saudi Arabia and Morocco "put the whole
(Islamic) community in a state of enmity with the rest of the
world," reported AP.
They also said these kinds of acts are based on "based on
obvious religious mistakes."
Why hasn't this condemnation -- from a group that
itself espoused violence once, and are in jail now as a result --
gotten as much press coverage as the latest Ayman El-Zawahiri tape?
Probably because
it's not as exciting when Muslims -- even the angry
looking bearded types -- don't quite fit the maniacal cartoon bomber
cliche...
More Arab condemnations of terrorism:
"Terrorism is an enemy for all of us, an enemy
for our societies, an enemy for our religion
and an enemy for our culture," Arab League Secretary General Amr
Moussa said on Wednesday...
Rolling with
it...
Egypt's leverage, as well as its relations with the Palestinians,
Israelis, Americans and all the other players in the upcoming Mid East
transition phase, is being heavily highlighted in the press at
present.
An article in the Philadelphia
Inquirer posits that the US still depends on Egypt to pave the way
for peace (one professor calls Egypt a "junior mediator",
while a government spokesman says Egypt is the region's
"political barometer"), with detailed descriptions of
Egyptian efforts to broker ceasefires amongst Palestinians factions,
both military and political.
The crux in the
end seems to always be -- however -- that whatever Egypt's role, and
however influential, everything comes back to how seriously the United
States will pressure Israel into accepting terms that the other side
in the conflict -- the Palestinians -- have already accepted.
The Washington
Post, meanwhile, broke on Sunday with an analytical piece
arguing that Egyptian-US relations are at an all time
"uncomfortable" low. The article -- which includes an
interview with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher -- seems to be
attempting to weigh whether or not Egypt's support of and practical
efforts towards the peace process allow it to sidestep -- or at least
delay -- Washington's wide-ranging calls for more democratic reform in
the Middle East.
Maher says, "The
United States knows the importance of the role of Egypt... We are not
in competition with any other country. We are in a different
league." President Mubarak's advisor, Osama El-Baz,
meanwhile, suggests that, ""Top-notch intellectuals should
be told every now and then that they cannot re-create or reshape the
world with the image they have in mind... They don't have the
experience. They don't know the limitations." Note...
How it's rapidly becoming a sort of beauty contest -- with
Jordan, Egypt, and lately, Turkey,
offering to host the upcoming peace summit, with each country shyly saying
they hadn't been asked yet. Israel, has, in a strange move, supposedly
said Sharon won't go to a summit in Sharm because Egypt has been hostile
towards Israel. This just a few weeks after it was reported that
Sharon had accepted an invitation to visit Mubarak.
Meanwhile...
A 1
billion dollar loan from the World Bank is in the works.
Instant judgment
US Congressman Darrel Issa, an Arab-American, meets with Mubarak and
tells reporters
afterwards that Egypt can help build Iraq's new justice system.
All the steps
are in place
Sharon has accepted the Road Map (although,
according to the Washington Post,
it will still face steep resistance in the cabinet, and Sharon is only
accepting it because he's gotten assurances that it will be changed to
his liking.)... Meanwhile...
Bush has indicated that he wants to do a tour of the region after the
G8 summit and a visit to Aushwitz.
Once in the Middle
East, Bush
says he might meet with Sharon and Abu Mazen to help bring forth a
Palestinian state.
Egypt has been suggested as a venue, and in fact, Egypt says it
wouldn't mind hosting such a peace conference, with officials being
quoted as saying they accept the idea with open
minds, hearts and arms -- but that, at the same time, no official
request has yet been made.
Observers have suggested that
the proposed Bush Mideast peace summit may take place in Sharm
El-Sheikh, where, all the news reports mention, Clinton met world
leaders for peace in 2000. The question is implicit, but remains
unasked for now -- Is Bush going down Clinton's well-worn failed peace
road?
Meanwhile,
the Arab League's Amr Moussa also
welcomed the tour, but only if the US
leader sought a comprehensive dialogue.
If the situation in Iraq and Palestine
remain as they are, or get worse, Moussa
predicted a flood
of terror.
Any
closer to democracy?
Some may think so, but it's no sure thing Cosmetic
or real?
New human rights council is a step in the right direction, but
might not be enough
Beefed
up security
Embassies, tourists sites, districts popular with foreigners more
protected, after recent regional bombings... "We suffered
enough," official says. Egypt
appears secure from militant threat Security sources tell
Middle East online that al-Jihad has been dismantled. We
told you so
Reuters reports Egypt's foreign minister as saying -- on Monday --
that the U.S-led war on Iraq has triggered a resurgence in
terrorism, just as Egypt had predicted.
The
right side of history?
Does democracy have a chance? Saadeddin Ibrahim continues to court
controversy in this quasi editorial in the Washington Post.
Egyptians
joke about the war
"Have you heard the one about Saddam and Sahaf on the banks of
the Tigris? A man on the other side raises two fingers in a victory
sign. “What happened,” says Saddam, “did we win the war?”
“Don’t be stupid,” Sahaf says. “He means there’s just two of
us left.”
Neighbor's
declarations
Egypt amongst nations that condemned U.S. threats against Syria and
urged coalition forces to quickly stabilize Iraq and withdraw their
troops.
Wishful
thinking? Arab League hangs in balance after Iraq
war, Reuters suggests.
Changes
at AUC
"Riot police, once stationed outside the campus to protect
students from street protesters, are now there to keep students from
breaking out of the campus to join street protests."
Confusion over Iraqi
diplomat AP
reports that he's been kicked out; Islam online says no
Will
Moussa resign?
Hints of a new Arab security plan excluding those nations that
provided launching pads for the US attack on Iraq emerge as well
Mubarak
cites international commitments
Amid calls to close the Suez Canal to U.S.-British warships, Egypt's
president said Monday that international commitments obliged his
country to keep the strategic waterway open to all vessels. PLUS 100
bin Ladens
The Egyptian president says that's what the war will produce
An
alternate view
Tantawi says war would not inspire "new crusade" but Muslims
do have religious obligation to "defend Iraq". He says it's
not a crusade because Christian nations like Germany and France feel the
same way.
Azhar
sheikh blames Saddam
But he also says "Whoever wants to go to support the Iraqi people, I
welcome that, I welcome that, I welcome that."
Tough
end to unauthorized demonstrations
Dozens arrested, lawmaker questioned, and a strict ban on the same
kinds of protests that broke out last week in Cairo when the war
started.
Between
Iraq and a hard place
"These are strange times, that is true," said Fathey Ahmed,
who delivers McDonald's Happy Meals on a motorcycle around Cairo.
"Years ago, I wouldn't have thought it was strange to work for an
American business. Now I don't know what to think."
Showing
solidarity Thousands of protestors
took over Tahrir Square on Thursday to protest the US invasion of Iraq.
Mubarak
cites international commitments
Amid calls to close the Suez Canal to U.S.-British warships, Egypt's
president said Monday that international commitments obliged his
country to keep the strategic waterway open to all vessels. PLUS 100
bin Ladens
The Egyptian president says that's what the war will produce
An
alternate view
Tantawi says war would not inspire "new crusade" but Muslims
do have religious obligation to "defend Iraq". He says it's
not a crusade because Christian nations like Germany and France feel the
same way.
UK
to help reform Egyptian educators
Teacher training in "leadership and management development,
information and communications technology, equity and diversity, study
skills and the development of English language skills" amongst other
subjects
UPDATE:
Egypt
releases US couple held over pistols
Reuters reports that Egypt freed an elderly American couple on
Saturday who were detained this week after two pistols and ammunition
were found hidden in Gucci shoes in their luggage at Cairo airport,
Egyptian security sources said.
Cross-continental
weapons
Egyptian-American and wife in custody after guns, banned bullets found
in luggage, AP reports
Crusade
on both sides?
An Azhar research institute says an attack on Iraq would be an
attack on Islam, and calls on Muslims to defend themselves via
jihad.
Moussa
warns of Iraq war spilling over
"The situation is already serious with a war in Iraq just imagine
how dangerous it would be if its spills into other places. The region
is already engulfed in extreme anger and agitation because of what's
going on in Iraq and Palestine".
"The
motive is unknown"
An Egyptian electrician is
the main suspect in an incident in which a truck slammed into a group
of U.S. soldiers in Kuwait on Sunday, injuring 15, the Kuwaiti
interior ministry said on Monday.
Will
the UN demand an end to war?
Emergency Security Council meeting called in response to Arab request
formulated at the Cairo meeting.
"If a resolution is vetoed in the Security Council, the Arab Group
has been instructed by the Arab ministers to seek an emergency meeting of
the 191-member General Assembly," reports AP.
Qatar
minister pulls out "What matters is
ending the crisis, not publishing useless communiques," he also
told reporters.
Mubarak
fears long war
"All of this has repercussions for the region," the Egyptian
president told reporters on Sunday.
Mubarak
in a televised address
"My hope is that the Iraqi government will realize the seriousness
of the situation in which it put itself in - and us in..."
No
go
Moussa won't head for Iraq... "Arabs are not included and not
influential in the international political game," lamented Mohamed
el-Sayed Said, an analyst at Cairo's independent Al-Ahram Center for
Political and Strategic Studies
War
generates worries
An in-depth look at the Egyptian political scene in the lead up to
the war on Iraq
Ibrahim
on war
"Bad as they are, they break empires, they break dictators, they
leave the ground clear for new systems to be created... They create
havoc, they create disorder. But they also create opportunity."
How
high will it go?
Egypt has decided to free float its pound against the dollar, no longer
pegging it to a government controlled rate that had become far lower
than the black market price. The announcement came during an economic
conference in Cairo, and was made by Prime Minister Atef Ebeid, who said
it would be effective immediately.
Newly
announced holiday delays high-profile trial
In an interesting twist, sociologist Saadeddin Ibrahim's second
re-trial, which was scheduled to begin on January 7, has been delayed
for a month, now that January 7 -- Coptic Christmas -- is a national
holiday for all Egyptians. One of the things Saad is accused of is
spreading false rumors about discrimination of Copts in Egypt.
Blair
in Sharm again
British Prime Minister Tony Blair seems to have developed an addiction
to Sharm El-Sheikh,. He and his family are back there for their New Year's
holiday this year. Last year, he got into some trouble about the
payment of the trip. This year, it was preceded by the publishing in
Al-Ahram of an article by him about how to get the peace process
moving.
The
superblob chair is on the way
Egyptian furniture designer Karim Rashid continues to garner accolades
for his avant garde modern work
Watch
out for Amr Khaled
Was he forced to leave for London? This story doesn't answer
that question, but sheds some light on the phenomenon itself.
Dream
TV in hot water over sex talk Dream TV has been
asked to abide by new ethics guidelines presented to channels
operating in Egypt's Media Production City after it provoked the
government with a program that discussed sex. "They gave us a
warning and basically the warning said that they created this new
board to review and follow up all programs that are coming out of the
MPC by private channels," Dream TV presenter, Hala Sarhan told
Reuters.
Bringing
top soccer to the continent
It looks like it's between Egypt and South Africa to see who will be
the first African nation to host a World Cup final. The 2010 games are
at stake, and both Egypt and South Africa have already submitted
intentions to bid. It was thought, this article says, that Nigeria
would be running too, but now it doesn't seem so.
Barcelona
may be a loss for Amsterdam
Mido -- in disputes with his Ajax coach, says he will probably
head for one of the other top European clubs that are actively
seeking him out
Arab
delegation visit to Baghdad in doubt
"A high-level Arab peace mission aimed at preventing war in Iraq
was in doubt Thursday," reports AP, "after Egypt's news agency
reported that its visit to Baghdad had been postponed."
Libya
vs Saudi
Summit spat finds its way to Saudi Embassy in Tripoli
Sharm
summit begins
One proposal calls for Saddam to step down. Iraq's foreign minister,
meanwhile, demands the same of Bush
"Not
in any way"
Egypt will not be participating in any war on Iraq, Foreign Minister
Ahmed Maher made clear this week.
Fire breaks out at the new Bibliotheca Alexandrina...
A fire that broke out on
Sunday, in an administrative department on the 4th floor of the library,
was quickly contained, but 29 people were sent to the hospital for
smoke inhalation. No damages to books reported. The cause was said to
be a short circuit.
Float
pays off for Egypt currency One week after Egypt's startling break from years of a
government-controlled foreign exchange regime, the
Egyptian pound appears to be stable.
Spring
of worry
Financial Times says war fears inspired pound free float
Sharon
gets an invitation
Did a phone conversation between President Hosni Mubarak and Israeli
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon result in the possibility of a meeting
between the two? CNN says Israel says it did.
"The
strike is coming"
AP reports that "Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak warned Iraq to
cooperate with U.N. inspectors or expect war, but he said he's not
sure Saddam Hussein understands the advice being offered him."
Running
for cover Achille Lauro mastermind gets embroiled in
extradition questions
while attending an Egyptian-organized meeting of Palestinian factions
The
first Cairo-to-Cape The
race began Saturday with some 60
cyclists peddling away from the Great Pyramid at the start of a 10,000-
kilometer (6,000-mile) odyssey down the African continent.
Called the Tour d'Afrique, the new race follows a route that zigzags
through Egypt, Sudan and eight countries in eastern and southern Africa.
The
end is near.
Somewhat cynical interview with Baradie the Egyptian lead inspector on
nukes... who says its unlikely that Iraq has nukes, and also just as
unlikely that the US will not attack Iraq nonetheless.
The
exception As
part of his recent email allegedly sent to lawyer Montasser el Zayat,
Ayman El-Zawahari is said to have expressed support for "the halt
to operations in Egypt."
"You
learn something every day"
A story about a competitor in the upcoming Paris-Dakar motor race
that ends its grueling cross-continental course in Sharm El Sheikh on
January 18. Lots of details about the race, which will feature some
183 motorcycles, 202 cars and 123 trucks from more than 30 countries.
Cairo
says war threat to Iraqi oil fields may be
exaggerated Egyptian intelligence officials tell an oil industry publication
that the threats about Saddam Hussein burning his oil fields are exaggerated.
He would use biological weapons on US troops , however, they say.
United
against war
In Cairo 70 delegates from Cuba, Germany, Russia, the United States,
Britain and many Arab countries gathered at a conference titled:
"Together Against U.S. Globalization and War in Iraq."
Kalabsha
rebirth
After 40 years, temples saved from flooding behind the Aswan Dam have
opened to visitors.
Egypt
Streets Quiet Despite Anger at U.S.
The US media seems to be trying to reassure the US that Egyptians
won't be doing much to protest the upcoming US attack on Iraq. This
ABC news story suggests that "it is unlikely anger at any war on Iraq will result in violence
against Americans in Egypt." "Egyptians don't hate Americans, they are angry with
American foreign policy, but that anger was never translated into
targeting Americans, even by militants," said political analyst
Reda Helal.
Not
yet ready
Bush called Mubarak to tell him the Mideast roadmap was on hold.
Banned,
banned, banned
A Lebanese magazine is banned because of an article about censorship,
while a Dream TV interview with the new Muslim Brotherhood leader
Hodeibi is also banned.
"A
big responsibility"
Maamoun El-Hodeibi will take over as the Muslim Brotherhood's new
leader now that Moustafa Mashhour has passed away
Premier
portrait artist dies at 89
Hussein Bicar, Egypt's renowned portrait artist and painter, died at
the age of 89 on Saturday morning and was buried the same day in
Cairo. He had been bedridden for the past five months and died of old
age.
"You
can learn a lot from a hand"
An ancient mummified hand could have been bought from Egypt in the
1920s for less than 10 cents, according to this article about American
Egyptologist Bob Brier.
Workers'
pipes targeted Shisha smoking has been banned in Qena in order to stop employees
from skipping work.
U.S.
may fingerprint Egypt tourists Find out what you should be expecting if you're planning to
go to the US soon -- Egyptians as well as other Arabs may be fingerprinted,
photographed and questioned on arrival.
Mohamed
Sobhi doesn't care Get the latest links to
the ongoing Horseman without a horse controversy here...
Cairo
Peace Society President Dies
Salah Bassiouny, a diplomat and an advocate of improving relations
between Israel and Egypt, died Monday, at 71 years of age. Bassiouny
was chairman of the Cairo Peace Society, which campaigned to transform
Egypt's 1979 peace treaty with Israel into the basis for normal
business and cultural relations between the two nations. He served as
Egypt's ambassador to Ethiopia and Hungary in the 1970s and to Moscow
between 1984 and 1988.
Dichotomous
month?
This general interest AP story on Ramadan features an interesting look
at the different shades of meaning behind the term "Ramadan
Kareem".
Another
crash, another riot
Similar story: 2 girls killed on same highway that killed others --
again promises are made to build a pedestrian bridge.
Islamic
groups still exist... More than 20,000
people attended Mustafa Mashhour's funeral, the leader of Egypt's
largest and outlawed fundamentalist Islamic group. This gesture served
as a reminder of the group's enduring appeal despite years of arrests
and harassment.
"The Brotherhood is in it for the long term and there's nothing
the government can do," said Mohammed Salah, who writes on
militant Muslim groups for the London-based Al-Hayat daily.
Israel
Spy Trial Scheduled in Egypt
News of an alleged spying ring first broke Tuesday when officials,
speaking on condition of anonymity, said six people had been ordered
detained for 45 days by a Cairo court pending the completion of the
investigation. Six accused Israeli spies, including an Egyptian
diplomat, will be tried on espionage charges next month
Economy
fears compound situation
War worries are not just political -- a strike on Iraq could spell woe
for already stumbling conditions.
El-Wakil
sentenced 18 years Mohamed Al-Wakil,
the ex-state TV news chief, was sentenced 18 years with hard labor for
taking bribes to allow guests to appear on the country's main morning
breakfast show, "Good Morning Egypt" and being in possession
of narcotics.
It's
getting cold, at last!
According to AP, a cold front is expected to hit Egypt on Saturday, with showers
expected on Sunday.
On
the first day of Ramadan:
29 Die in Highway Accident A bus crash east of
Cairo Wednesday killed 29 people and injured 24, said police. The bus
carrying resort workers from Suez collided with a gravel truck and
overturned on a desert highway outside Cairo. Police said the truck
was trying to complete a U-turn when the crash occurred. The bus was
carrying mostly Egyptian workers who were returning to Cairo to join
their families for the first day of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
Sudan:
Egypt still has a part to play
The Sudanese foreign minister and the US mediator all seem to be
trying to comfort Egypt, which isn't too happy about the new Sudanese
peace deal. But will their sentiments last?
Meanwhile...
Sudanese president Omar El-Beshir re-ignites the controversy over the
Sudan-Egypt border town of Halayib
Saad: "He
is surprised and dismayed"
Saadeddin Ibrahim does not approve of the US linking aid to Egypt to
his case. He is also critical of the media flurry surrounding his case
in this report from AP.
Calling
the US's bluff
AP reports that Egypt's activists skeptical about impact of U.S.
threat to cut aid money
Iran
blasts US "interference"
Iran is not very happy about the US pressure on Egypt regarding aid
and Saadeddin Ibrahim
The
Saad controversy thickens...
The Washington Post quotes unnamed Bush administration officials as
saying that "the administration will oppose any additional
foreign aid for Egypt to protest the Egyptian government's prosecution
of human rights campaigner Saadeddin Ibrahim and its poor treatment
of pro-democracy organizations."
Badawi
seen as sort of modern Nostradamus
An obituary of recently deceased Egyp[tian philosopher Abdel-Rahman
Badawi in the Independent says that "In Greek Heritage, he
predicted tragedies – like 11 September – resulting from the
unavoidable "clash of civilisations", as "an inevitably
irresolvable problem" 57 years before the American sociologist
Samuel Huntington did.
Egypt
Mourns Supreme Guide Mashhour Tens of thousands
of Muslim Brotherhood supporters mourned supreme guide Mustafa
Mashhour on Friday while their leadership postponed the election of
his replacement.
Amnesty
Asks Egypt to Stop Torture
The London-based human rights group Amnesty International said Egypt
should "act decisively to end torture by adopting legal and
practical measures." The report said that Egyptian authorities
haven't properly monitored human rights abuses at jails and prisons,
where detainees are sometimes tortured and killed.
Iraqi
Position on Resolution 'Positive' Egyptian Foreign
Minister Ahmed Maher said on Sunday that Iraq's position on a tough
new U.N. resolution on disarmament was "positive," even
though Baghdad had not yet formally accepted the text.
2
Convicted for Sadat Photo Saeed Abdel Khaliq, editor of the weekly newspaper Al-Maydan, and
reporter Walid Abdel Hamid were convicted by an Egyptian judge of violating the
sanctity of the dead and undermining public values. The newspaper had published
a photograph of the assassinated President Anwar El-Sadat, naked from the waist
up and lying on a white sheet, with red bullet wounds on his chest. The paper
said it ran the picture to illustrate a story that contradicted a report that
said Sadat had been shot from behind. The late president's family protested
the publication of the picture and filed a suit against the weekly
newspaper.
U.N.
rights committee takes Egypt to task An 18-member panel
made its comments after considering a report by Egyptian authorities
on compliance with the UN's international human rights treaty.
TV
news director pleads innocent to charges of bribery and hashish
"I wish I was in this cage for other charges. I wish the
government has put me here because I gave more freedom to state TV's
news sector," Mohammed El-Wakil the former news director of
Egypt's state-owned television station said in court. El-Wakil pleaded
innocent to bribery charges on Sunday.
Thunderstorm
kills two women
As a result of a harsh khamaseen (seasonal sandstorm) two women were
killed in the southern province of Sohag while working with their
husbands in a corn field.
Egyptians
among released prisoners About 170 Egyptians
were among those who were freed recently as part of President Saddam
Hussein's amnesty bid. It was not clear on what charges the Egyptians
were imprisoned, or when they will be returning home.
A
different blend
Ugandan coffee shops will soon be appearing in Cairo, if the contracts
mentioned in this article prove fruitful.
"Everybody
who was in it will never forget it."
Thousands of veterans gathered at Al-Alamein over the weekend to
commemorate the 60th anniversary of the famous WWII battle that took
place there.
Web
poem saga continues
"At some time in the future I might even consider delivering
myself to the prison guards but only when I choose to do so, and when
this is going to serve my strategic interests," says web designer
Shohdy Surour, who lost his appeal as a result of a no-show and now
faces a year's jail time.
World
Bank head praises museum plans World Bank President, James Wolfensohn praised the plans to build
a Grand Museum and is planning to visit the proposed site. It will be
based near the Giza pyramids plateau and Egyptian officials say they
hope it will help attract an additional three million visitors a year
to the country.
Cartoon
weathers last minute controversy A cartoon about
Muslim prophet Mohamed, produced by the Badr Company, a US-Emirates
venture, ran into trouble with censors for scenes of Muslims smashing
idols that look like Pharaonic statues.
INS
Doubted LAX Killer's Credibility AP has new details
about Hesham Hadayet, the man who became the Los Angeles International
Airport killer.
Read more Egypt Headlines on Hedayat here.
Straw
in 'torture' case talks British Foreign
Secretary Jack Straw pressed Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher to
investigate torture claims made by three Britons, members of an
Islamic party, who spent six months in custody in Egypt.
Armed
infiltrators? AP covers Israeli
army reports that soldiers killed two armed men who crossed into
Israel from Egypt. The commander of Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip
"finds it hard to believe that they were Egyptians".
Egyptians
See U.S. as Meddling in Their Politics
In his air-conditioned sanctuary atop the crumbling building of the
Ministry of Youth, Ali Eddein Hilal Dessouki talked of that rare
commodity in Egypt: democracy
Boycott
campaign causes controversy A popular laundry detergent with the same name as the Israeli
prime minister's is on a list of products to be avoided
as a way of showing support
for the Palestinians. But is there more to the story?
More
intercommunal dialogue The US's annual report on religious
freedom found Egypt amongst nations with a continued trend toward improvement
in respect for religious freedom. Saudi Arabia, Sudan, India, China, Iran, Iraq, Myanmar,
and North Korea did not fare very well.
Pushing for
decision on Free-Trade "What we need is that kind of endorsement,"
said Egyptian Foreign Trade Minister Youssef Boutros Ghali in Washington.
Egyptian,
Syrian presidents discuss Iraq Hosni Mubarak and his Syrian
counterpart, Bashar Al-Assad met Monday to discuss the current situation in the
region. Reporters were told by a Syrian official that "it would not be in the U.S. interest to
provoke Arabs and Muslims."
Arab
reporters covering the meeting also held a small protest Fifteen journalists
dressed in black stood before media cameras, each holding a piece of
paper bearing one word from the following sentence in Arabic: "Arab
League reporters and correspondents demand a firm stance and practical
measures."
Hospitality
not allowed? Problems for UK PM
Blair because his Sharm vacation was paid for by Egypt. Blair stressed
he had made donations to the Egyptian government's chosen charity equal
to the cost of the flights and accommodation.
Tour
groups abandon Israel, go to Egypt instead Germany's TUI, the
biggest tour operator in the world, announcement on Wednesday that it
would stop organizing trips to Israel, was just the latest.
Lamya
was living in Egypt at age 15... Here's a
multi-cultural story: Lamya was born in Kenya of Omani parents and
raised in Sheffield, England. She was 15 and going to school in Egypt
when she saw ran away to New York to become a star
Arab
Human Development report shows poor state of region
Arab League chief Amr Moussa said the report showed that Arab nations
should double efforts to develop the region. "The crisis is
real and very serious," he said. "The road is still
long."
Gamal
Mubarak continues to reform ruling party
"The president will not accept the appointment of his son in any
executive position, and I will not accept that my father as a
president appoints his son to an executive position," Gamal was
quoted as saying.
Saadeddin
Ibrahim's new trial date set
"I hope the new court will be more enlightened, more fair and would
learn from the mistakes of the previous court," Ibrahim told The
Associated Press Tuesday.
Promotion
for Hawass Culture Minister Farouk Hosni appoints the famous archaeologist to
head the Supreme Council of Antiquities
Moussa slams Sharon "Israel
is strategically weak...The problem is not so much (Israeli Prime
Minister Ariel) Sharon but the political and military establishment he
represents.
Sharon is primitive and crude (and) follows a bloody policy of
collective punishment. But we must not forget he was democratically
elected, so what is wrong is not the person but the policy of the
government which supports him." Throwing
the ball in Israel's court
Military
courts on trial
In a post 911 world, it's hard to tell who is defending human rights
anymore
A
$318 million deal
Orange will take over the 71.25 percent share in MobiNil currently
held by France Telecom
Bush:
Not Ready? "We're not ready to
lay down a specific calendar, except for the fact that we've got to get
started quickly, soon, so that we can seize the moment," Bush said
at a joint news conference with Mubarak.
"Believe
me, the violence will not stop"
Mubarak tells the Washington Post that the problems of the Middle East
risk spawning a "new generation of terrorism, which could spread
everywhere in the world . . . against all the friends of the United
States"
LA Times slams Batouty
In
more than two dozen interviews with investigators, aviation sources and
former and current EgyptAir employees, including Taha, who had never
before spoken publicly, The Times pieced together a posthumous portrait
of Batouty and a detailed account of the crash of Flight 990. Egypt
says wait for final report
Mubarak's harsh warning
Mr
Mubarak said Israelis would "know a very great suffering" if
the Palestinians were driven out of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
"It's the advice I'm giving you," he said.
Cheney's menu
Wednesday's
feast with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak featured boiled shrimp with
sole, soup with pasta, lamb -- and baked Alaska for dessert.
Egypt
passes tough law on civil groups despite criticism
Egypt's parliament on Monday overwhelmingly voted in
favor of a tough law regulating the work of private aid and advocacy
groups, despite criticism by activists that the legislation is
restricting already stifled civil rights.
New station seeks to
burnish
American image among Arab youth:
"The New Station for the
New Generation" will feature American favorites such as Jennifer
Lopez and the Back Street Boys — and Arab pop stars from Egypt,
Lebanon and other countries.......
Egypt,
Israel to lobby US ahead of Mideast meet
Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres floated on Thursday an idea he
attributed to the US administration, proposing that Israel abandons its
settlements in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in return for
Palestinian renunciation of the refugees' right of return.
Rights
groups complain about tough new law
In a statement, the human rights groups said they complained in their
appeal to Mubarak about "the arbitrary philosophy of the ... law
and its threat to the chances of development of a real civil society in
Egypt."
Egypt Says It Warned U.S. of an Attack
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was quoted on Monday as saying
his intelligence services warned U.S. officials about a week before
Sept. 11 that Osama bin Laden's network was in the advance stages of
executing a significant operation against a U.S. target.
Sun exports to China, Egypt, under microscope AP reports that the
U.S. Commerce Department has accused Sun Microsystems Inc. of violating export
rules in sales it made in 1997-1998 to Egypt and, through a reseller, to China
Cold
front to hit western Egypt Finally, the weather
improves... Plus, according to this story, showers are expected soon
on western Egypt and in other parts of Africa
Paper
shut down for publishing sex scandal is back
Al-Nabaa columnist Mostafa Abdumonem told The Associated Press that the
character of the paper, a tabloid known for running controversial
stories, would be the same as before its ban in July.
An
interesting look at an interesting project
A broad-ranging feature on the Alexandria library by AP's Sarah El-Deeb
brings up critics' major gripes, and allows library director Ismail
Serageddin to respond.
Cairolive.com's Egypt headlines section surfs the net for you, searching high and low for the most
useful and interesting stories out there about Egypt. Here you'll find the most discerning links to up-to-date
news and entertainment -- if it's important and
about Egypt on the net, we'll find it for you first every single time.
6-0
The
Egyptian national soccer team crushed Madagascar in an early Friday
evening match in Port Said. The victory practically guarantees Egypt's
entry into the African Cup finals.
More...
As this Fox Sports story makes clear, the only way Egypt
might not make the finals is if Madagascar scores at least 18
goals in its upcoming match with Mauritius..
Ahmed
Belal does a super hat trick, scoring four goals in the match
Friday in Port
Said
Big game for the national soccer team against Madagascar on Friday in
Port Said. Without a win, there's a pretty good chance Egypt won't
make the African Cup. That's a shame, since the Egyptian team is the
tournament's most successful team in history, as this
report makes clear.
What's
a Jerboa?
Egyptian animal amongst controversial, potentially disease carrying
pets. Meanwhile, here's a page that's all
about jerboas including pictures
Historic
waterway... A review of a book about the history of the
Suez Canal includes an interesting fact -- that the canal is one of
the few man
made structures on earth that can be seen from space
Confusion
in the morgue... Egyptian man was unlucky
in life, unlucky in death: family
25
years
More jail
terms for Sohag revenge killings
A different
culture
A straight forward AFP report
on Egypt's new human rights council
Update...
the controversial Nefertiti bust becomes a hot
topic at the Venice Biennale
Still suffering
The US press is focused on critical analysis of the Justice Department
and the FBI in their treatment of immigrant detainees in the wake of
9-11.
In a similar
vein, a little while back, the Washington Post did an in-depth story
on eight Egyptian men in Indiana who
were mistakenly arrested in connection with 9-11.
A later AP story
is pegged on the fact that -- despite the fact that they were released
and apologized to formally by the FBI for the damage their false
arrest had done to their reputations, business and lives -- their
names have not
yet been removed from federal terror databases, and so they
still suffer harassment and delays at airports and in other normal,
daily situations.
The FBI is working on removing their names,
the article says, but it
takes time, because they are on more than one list and more than one
government agency is involved.
Papers want records
More on the Egyptian in New Jersey who sold
fake IDs to 9-11 suspects.
More Nefertiti
X-rays show mummy is of 16
year old girl while Nefertiti is believed to have died in her 30s
Cultural battle
looms? Matrix
Reloaded has been banned
in Egypt. The censor's office will not allow the film to be screened
because of its overly explicit religious theme, and horrifying levels
of violence. It wasn't one particular scene or two, but the overall
feeling of the production, that the censors had a problem with --
despite what they called "the high technology and fabulous
effects of the movie..."
Better odds? In the bid to
host the 2010 world cup, will Nigeria's poor
performance against Brazil be Egypt's gain?
Big contract?
Forbes lets us
know that Sawiris and OT Telecom want to bid
for telecommunications work in Iraq.
Not Nefertiti
after all?
Hawass refutes
the British archaeologist's claims about a Valley of the Kings mummy
being Nefertiti and says "The Supreme Council will not allow any
foreign archeological mission to make such announcements which are unsubstantiated
with solid evidence." AFP also quotes Hawass saying the British
archaeologist is inexperienced.
Note...
AFP calling the SCA chief "General Zahi Hawass"
that I mentioned in the June 9 entry makes
sense now -- looks like they just forgot to put in
"Secretary" -- since he is Supreme Council of Antiquities
Secretary-General.
The two sides
of Nefertiti
Now
that the hysteria of the Sharm El-Sheikh summit has died down, the
media are jumping at anything that moves. The controversy over whether
or not a mummy in Luxor really belonged to Nefertiti was suddenly
being covered by everybody, in their own way: the BBC
seems to want the mummy to really be Nefertiti, Time
tells a long and winding queen's story, USA
Today does a straight forward rendering of the evidence proving the
mummy really is Nefertiti, and AP
talks to the skeptics, who include Zahi Hawass.
Halfway across the
world another Nefertiti story is making waves as well. Egypt has
decided to file a formal complaint regarding a German museum's
decision to place a priceless bust of Nefertiti atop a modern-day
statue of a nude woman's body. Zahi Hawass "deemed the display an
"insult to Egypt's history" and a "defacement of
Egyptian antiquities",", reports AFP,
which also quoted the Akhbar Al-Youm headline -- ""Queen
Nefertiti Naked in a Berlin Museum!"
A longer
AFP story on the same subject also quotes Culture Minister Farouk
Hosny -- "Hosni said he had asked Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher to
send a formal protest to the German government, slamming the fusion of
the bust with a statue by the Egyptian Museum at Berlin-Charlottenburg
as scientifically "unethical."" Interestingly, it also
refers to Hawass as "The head of Egypt's top antiquities body,
the Supreme Council of Antiquities, General Zahi Hawas"...
In another story,
the head of the Berlin
Museum provides some details about why this happened, trying to clarify
things in the midst of the uproar...
Shih-Fu
Peng and his team
They're the architects -- an
Irish firm -- that just won the contest for the design of the new $350
million Grand Egyptian Museum near the Pyramids of Giza. Their prize
-- $250,000. The article says "Some 1,557 international
architects and firms from about 83 countries submitted their
conceptual design to the competition..."
Beauty on
parade
Nour ElSammary is Egypt's hope at the Miss Universe contest going on
in Panama City. This AP
photo caption is from the competition's swimsuit
round.
A matter of
timing?
Cairo Times does justice to the emerging controversy over the racy
Baywatch-copycat Egyptian TV series currently in pre-production in
Hurghada . The story makes a point of putting the producer's timing --
immediately following a highly unpopular American invasion of the
region -- right into the line of fire. Actor Amr Waked -- who is
completely against the show -- is quoted as
saying, ""It is a kind of treachery to be openly promoting
the worst of American culture so soon after the war."
The article also
makes clear why the series and its
premise -- bikini clad babes frolicking on the beach -- is also not
very in tune with the Amr Khaled-inspired prevailing cultural
atmosphere of the day.
Amazing
fact
Consider the marshmallow, a treat that dates to ancient Egypt. According to this
article,
last year,
Americans dropped nearly $125 million on marshmallows, flaming them on sticks
over campfires or dissolving them in cups of steaming cocoa.
Now what?
A painful article appears in today's Washington Post about 6 Egyptian
men in Evansville, Indiana who were held in federal prison for
a month after the 9-11 attacks.
They were being
held as material witnesses -- a murky classification that allows the
government in terrorism cases to detain people nearly indefinitely
without charges.
Eventually they
were let go, and cleared of all involvement in the crimes.
But life became
quite difficult for these men after that. They had been paraded on the
front pages of the papers. One of them -- Tarek Al-Basti -- owned a
successful restaurant --that business starting going down the
drain. The other men worked with Al-Basti, who is married to an
American who had once come to Cairo to study. They moved back to
Illinois, and he went from busboy to manager at the restaurant. Then
he and his wife brought the place, and he started creating opportunities
for his friends and relatives back in Egypt -- many of whom, this
intriguing Washington Post account reveals, happened to have all been
on the same rowing team...
A fairly typical
story of the immigrant-driven American dream structure. Until
9-11 that is.
But why were Al-Basti
and his crew so suspect? First, because he had once taken flying
lessons (They had been a gift from his father in law). But then, more
damagingly, because the wife of one of the men, in a moment of anger,
lied to police about her husband being suicidal and planning to kill himself
in a plane crash.
The Post article
is triggered by a recent FBI apology to the men and to the entire
Evansville Muslim community. The FBI apologized for the trouble they
had caused, admitting they were wrong. That is noble. But there was
nothing they could do about it, they said, considering the nation's
state at the time. That deserves more debate -- or at least more of a
concrete way of showing it won't happen again.
The D word
This article on a US website called The Day is an
interesting look at that well-worn topic -- the increasing calls for
democratization and political reform in Egypt in the wake of Iraq.
You can just see that
paragraph now, the one that starts with..."the
Anglo-American invasion of Iraq has given birth to unprecedented
public criticism of authoritarian Arab rulers and united political
activists of various stripes." The daring new spirit of
activism -- often times inspired by loathing for US policies in the
region -- is duly chronicled. If anything, the ironic thing seems to
be how all this democracy talk is taking its cue straight from the
widespread US mantra about reworking the map of the Middle East. And
how that's all it ever seems to be -- talk. Because nobody's talking democracy on
the street. This is pure ivory tower stuff here.
USA Today also gives the genre a try, arguing that
"On Cairo's streets, [there's] anxiety, anger toward U.S."
which means that any US-inspired democratization will probably not
go over too well. Amongst predictions that all the rebellious
internal politics of today will soon be shut down by the government,
the article concludes with an insightful quote by political science
professor Musata Kamel El-Sayed, ''The
Arab heart is easy to win. People here want to like the United
States... But you've got to give them a reason to like you now. This
is the time for diplomacy, to handle things with modesty and an
appreciation for Arab culture and tradition. There's no room now for
displays of arrogance and power.''
Is that what the
current Bush Middle East peace drive is all about?
Meanwhile...
The reform bug is also striking the Arab
League...
Squash
star
Egypt's
Darwish makes eighth in the world
Media becoming
too religious? Wahid Abdel-Meguid
writes in Al-Hayat of the problems with using the word "martyr"
in Arabic news coverage of things like the train disaster, and the
conflicts in Palestine and Iraq. Inserting
such a clear religious dimension into news coverage is not necessarily
the right way to deal with what he says is a journalistic duty to
defend the Palestinians in a war that has taken on an increasingly
religious dimension.
Using religion
could play into the wrong hands since the real catch here is the public.
Meanwhile... The Boston Globe editorializes that when it comes to public
opinion, the recent violent
attacks will have a far more negative effect on al-Qaeda itself. The
Islamic groups are going too far and will lose their popularity by
killing innocent civilians, like Islamic Jihad did in Egypt in the
90s.
Offender
still?
US still not happy about Egyptian Intellectual Property laws
Ebeid
in hospital again
But
PM says he feels "better than ever" PM
okay
Ebied goes to hospital after "marathon meetings"
Taxi
driver woes
"Who
else is to blame but the government?" he said. "You can't
complain because if you do, the metal doors of a jail cell door will
close behind you."
New
currency rules
AP reports that Egypt's government Monday ordered companies earning
U.S. dollars or other hard currency to sell at least 75 percent to
state-owned banks in the hope of stemming capital flight from the
country.
Optimistic
budget? AFP reports that "the Egyptian government has unveiled a draft
2003/2004 budget of 158.6 billion pounds (27.3 billion dollars) which aims
to slash the deficit by 6% on expectations of higher revenues.
We
want Americans
Interesting Christian Science Monitor story about the sad sate of tourism
in Egypt because of the war
Fluid
dynamics Will the building
bust be a boom for the cement industry's export dreams?
Duopoly
deal in the works?
Mobinil and Click to pay Telecom Egypt 2 billion not to launch 3rd mobile
operator
"Did
the Egyptians invent baseball?"
Find out what the Egyptologist who wrote "Pharaoh at the Bat:
The Ancient Egyptians and American Baseball." thinks
Maverick
cleric
Positive Washington Post portrayal of Qatar-based Egyptian sheikh Yousef
El-Qaradawi, despite his support for suicide bombings
A
questionable role? The Boston Globe asks
whether Egypt is still an older brother to the Arabs, or a relative too consumed by his own
problems to be able to exercise much leadership?
The
illusion of knowledge
Saudi Prince Al-Waleed donates $ 10 million to an American University in
Cairo center for US studies.
New
rules made, but not publicized
Nice, human interest story by AP's Rawya Rageh about the situation on
Egypt's railways post last year's disastrous fire.
New
terminal at Cairo airport
Construction will start in mid-2003 and last five years. It will cost
$325 million, and hold 11 million passengers a year.
Carnivals
make the US press
Cairo Live contributor Ashraf Khalil writes about Egyptian mulids in the Boston
Globe. The article features a quote from Cairo Live founder Tarek Atia's book on
mulids.
Counting
the stones?
The Supreme Council of Antiquities conducted a recount of the number
of stones in the Pyramids, according to this article, and decided it
was closer to a million than 2.4.
Secret
chambers
According to this article, "Zahi Hawass will dispatch his men up
the sides of the pyramid seeking clues which, he hopes, will prove
whether the so-called "air shafts" from the
"Queen's" chamber deep inside this architectural wonder
actually reach the outside."
Actually, this article takes its nod from cairolive. It says that
"Hawass's choice of words mark an extraordinary change in his
attitude towards people he once branded "Pyra-mad-ologists".
Back in September, while covering the National Geographic special
"Secret Chamber",
we reported that "in many ways programs like this, with their
hyped-up talk of secrets and mysteries, actually show that [this] form
of archaeology is gaining popularity and coloring the lingo of more
traditional archaeology." Posing the question to Hawass, who was
a major force on the show, the antiquities chief said, "The
Pyramids are all mysteries. The most important thing is that when you
want to respond to the extreme popularity of others, you have to use
the same exciting methods. That way you'll reach a wider audience with
the truth."
Jury will soon pick
museum finalists
The winning design for Egypt's new
state-of-the-art antiquities museum will be announced in June, to tune of
a $ 250,000 prize. Building the museum is expected to take
about five years.
Tourism
down
Beltagui spells out losses caused by September 11
Message
in a dress Photo
of Miss Egypt at the Miss Universe contest wearing a dress with
"peace" written on it in several different languages, and
another in the swimsuit
qualifiers
Arafat
snacks Yasser Arafat, thePalestinian
President, now graces an increasingly popular "cheetos"-style
Egyptian cheese snack. The cover art on the "Abou Ammar" chips also
features slogans expressing solidarity with the Palestinian
cause. The new Egyptian Abu Ammar potato chips get major coverage from BBC,
Reuters
Mubarak
to Take Up Palestinian Cause Mubarak, reports AP, will urge President Bush
this weekend to set a timetable for creation of a Palestinian state and
for an end to Israel's hold on the West Bank and Gaza
Israel's
Sharon to meet with Bush after Mubarak
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will meet with President George W.
Bush at the White House next week, just after Bush's weekend talks about
the Middle East situation with Mubarak
Pakistan
envoy heads to Germany, Egypt
Pakistan is sending a special envoy to Germany and Egypt to relay
Islamabad's position and policy in the current crisis with India
Parliament
attacks money laundering
The legislation calls for establishing a special unit within the Central
Bank of Egypt, which will be endowed with wide powers to investigate
suspicious funds slipping into banks and financial institutions.
Treasures
coming back more regularly Egypt's decision to
sever all cooperation in the archaeological sphere with universities and
institutions that refuse to return stolen antiquities seems to be paying
off, reports the Associated Press.
A delegation sent to The Netherlands has come back with a statue of King
Amenhotep III, which was among 55 pieces stolen from a warehouse near a
temple in Luxor 15 years ago, then smuggled to The Netherlands.
Egypt
stepping in to solve crisis
The Washington Post reports that Egyptian officials have engaged
"operationally", in an attempt to bring the Arabs closer to a
unified stance on several crucial points in the Palestinian-Israeli dilemma
Calls
grow for release of pro-Palestinian activist Is the arrest of Gamal
Abdel-Fatah, a pharmacist and member of the Egyptian Popular Committee
for Solidarity with the Palestinian People, politically motivated?
That's what a pro-Palestinian group and an organization representing
pharmacists told AP, arguing that the recent arrests of Abdel-Fatah and
other activists were intended to deter Egyptians from protesting in
support of the Palestinians and against Israel and America.
Iraq
the only dissenter
"Oil is not a weapon" Egyptian Oil Minister Sameh Fahmi told
the press at the end of the Arab energy conference in Cairo last week.
Aiming
for social change
Extensive interview with Montasser El-Zayat in the Washington Post
reveals that the Islamic Group lawyer and de facto spokesman is amongst
many fundamentalists who have decided that violence is not good for
their cause. An Arabic translation of the article was also featured on
the front page of a recent El-Akhbar.
Egyptian-American
activist happy with retrial so far
"The prosecution witnesses have become our witnesses. I'm very
pleased with how things are going." Ibrahim, a 63-year-old
sociology professor at the American University in Cairo, told The
Associated Press from behind bars in the courtroom.
Another
wire story about Amr Khaled, the chic, popular shabab preacher
"Here's a typical problem Khaled addresses," writes AP's Donna
Abu-Nasr. "How can someone be a good Muslim while vacationing at a
beach resort — where young men and women often mix freely in violation
of Islam's strict rules. His answer? Go with the intention of admiring
the beauty of nature."
A young Khaled admirer -- who went clean after five wild years in the
States -- is interviewed extensively for the piece. "I
thought being a good Muslim meant wearing a long robe, growing a beard
and spending the whole day at the mosque," he says. "But after
listening to Amr, I realized you can be a good Muslim and remain a chic
person and wear cologne..."
Mysterious
circumstances
Infant girl returned to Egypt after being kidnapped and taken to Britain
Survivors
tell story
"Pilot released fuel shortly before the plane went down, a move
that may have saved lives by preventing the wreckage from catching on
fire."
Swiss
team finds Egyptian pyramid by accident
"When we discover in
Egypt a tomb or statue, it's something important. But when we discover a
pyramid, it's the most important thing," says
Antiquities chief Zahi Hawass.
Salama
upset about Sudan
The Tehran Times reports on a Salama Ahmed Salama column critical of a
recently brokered treaty in Sudan
"Grandchild"
director dies
Respected Egyptian film director Atef Salem has died in Cairo at the
age of 74.
Linking
students
Cairo students are queried by their American counterparts about safety
in Egypt.
Ancient
Egypt summer school begins
AP reports that among the fathers who brought their children to the
summer school was one who admitted he had never been inside the
museum. "I am Egyptian and I live here. I know that the museum
will always be there, so I was never in a hurry to go," he said.
Dried
lizard aphrodisiac?
AFP reports that "Egyptian airport officials foiled on Saturday
an attempt to smuggle 7,000 dried lizards out of the country for sale
as aphrodisiacs"
More
fake IDs
Now the FBI is after an Egyptian from New Jersey who allegedly made
fake IDs for two of the 9-11 hijackers. Trouble is: he's in Egypt
Bombing
fallout
Newspapers critical of Arab League, and a minor demonstration at Al-Azhar
Mufti
says surgery for twins is OK
The mufti said the surgeons "were justified" to perform the
operation if it meant at least one of the twins may live, reports AP.
His sole condition was that the surgery would not be
"experimental."
Pyramid
builders' mogammaa?
"It is the oldest administrative settlement ever found, used for
supervising the workers who built the Pyramid of King Khafre..."
Seti's
tomb to be copied
The tomb is often considered the largest and most lavishly decorated
tomb in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt, reports the BBC, but since
the 1980s it has been closed to the public because of structural
problems - exacerbated by the thousands of annual visitors.
Badawi
dies of cancer
Pioneering philosopher who spent much of his life in Paris passes away
Reformist
Sees Hope in Trashed Constitution
Reuters looks at the '52 revolution from another angle -- that of the
1954 constitution that was drafted but never used, and from the
viewpoint of leftist editor Salah Eissa.
More
from the media war
Egyptian anchor interviews Iowa dairy farmer in an attempt to show
non-stereotyped USA
There's
the beef
Australia 's Queensland state has shipped more than 16,400 head of
cattle to Egypt in a record live cattle shipment
The
lull before the storm?
According to a Cairo lawyer quoted in a Christian Science Monitor
story: "most of the extreme Islamist groups are avoiding
confrontation for now and waiting for the right time to spring into
action
Egypt?
Can it be safely visited?
Matthew Link wrote this article for MSNBC,
describing his latest visit to Egypt. He tells us about tourism in Egypt and
gives us a glimpse of how much fun he had.
NDP
change won't be easy
The president's son and a champion of democratic reform acknowledged
Egypt's political old guard has questioned the need for change, but
said "large sectors" of the ruling National Democratic Party
understand it is crucial.
Mubarak
seeks to concentrate minds on Israel With all the tension
building up over Iraq, the Palestinian issue is starting to lose its importance.
In response, President Hosni Mubarak called for “ calm [regarding] tensions
over Iraq and [a} refocus [of] attention on the Palestinian and Israeli question”.
Egypt
Leftists Slam U.S. Ambassador Forty Egyptian
leftists, including columnists, signed a statement that was sent to
the papers criticizing the American ambassador, David Welch, in
response to Welch's comments regarding the Egyptian media distorting
the facts about the Sept 11 attacks.
Egypt
Asks Bush to Intervene over Arafat President Mubarak
has expressed his concern about the current situation in Palestine by
sending an "urgent message" to Bush asking him to persuade
Israel to end its siege of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.
Egypt
Tells Israel to Guarantee Arafat Safety In a phone call
between Mubarak and Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer,
Mubarak told Ben-Eliezer that Arafat's safety should be ensured.
Three
children struck by a speeding train Yet another tragedy
has occurred in Southern Egypt, as three young girls were killed by a
train as they were crossing the railway tracks. Strangely enough, the
driver will not be questioned, although the train was said to be
speeding.
Moving
to center?
"You cannot fight radicalism and you should not worry about
how much people listen to that radical message. All you can do is
widen the scope of the mainstream so that radicalism would not become
the mainstream," says one of the Egyptian founders of Islam
online. This article places
the website smack in the midst of a debate on whether the internet
helps radicalize the Muslim world
UN
to play a povital role?
AP interprets "Mubarak's support for Bush's [UN] speech [on Iraq
as] a sign that some Arabs may be less opposed to action being taken
against Iraq, provided it's done under a U.N. mandate."
Will
Stella soon become Heinekin?
The Dutch brewer has offered $287 million in cash for ABC Beverages,
conditioning it on owning at least 76 per cent.
Coca-Cola
introduces AIDS initiative Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Egypt will soon start an
AIDS treatment and
prevention program. This will enable the bottling company's employees and their spouses to obtain the necessary drugs for the virus. According to Abdel-Gelil
Abdel-Haq, chairman of the Egyptian company, "other bottlers in
Africa" are working towards applying this program.
Cosmetic
surgery?
A recent and continuing high-profile anti-corruption campaign has some
people applauding, and others questioning the government's motives,
according to this story from AP.
Yet
another tragedy
Two buses collide, one falls into the canal. At least 15 people were
killed and 20 injured. When will the madness end?
U.S.
Ambassador in Sept 11 Spat with Egypt Media A war of words has erupted between the current US ambassador,
David Welch, and the Egyptian press. Welch finds Egyptian commentators who harp
on anti-US feelings harmful
to Egypt's media in the eyes of the world, while those he criticizes think that
Welch should "go home".
Egypt
pressed over 'torture' of Britons The Egyptian government denies that it
has been torturing threeBritonscharged with attempting to
overthrow the state, saying that they have been
treated fairly. The Guardian publishes interviews with the three students, who explicitly
describe the nature of their torture, while also including comments from Egyptian and British officials
about the matter.
World's
youth gather at the Bibliotheca
The Youth Employment Summit, in its third day Monday in the
Mediterranean port city of Alexandria, says AP, "is not your
typical international problem-solving gathering."
Unnecessary
fear
An Atlanta paper profiles an Egyptian architecture student in the US
who had "hoped to stay in the United States
after his studies, find work as an architect and teach at a
university. Now he's not so sure. Maybe he'll look for work in another
country, he said, where he won't feel quite so under the microscope."
He's so nervous about being wrongly targeted by the US's new terror
laws that "he removed maps from his
car, and now he prints directions from the Internet before he leaves
home."
Egyptian
director set to become center of storm
Youssef Chahine's segment in the French film "11'09"01
September 11" is already -- a day before the film will be
screened for the first time at the Venice Film Festival -- generating
a lot of controversy worldwide.
Labeled "stridently anti-American" by American film magazine
Variety, the segment "accuses the United States of
carrying out atrocities in the name of foreign policy," according
to a Reuters report.
The unique French film is composed of 11 11-minute segments by famous
directors from around the world, reflecting on the events of September
11.
According to Variety,
Chahine's contribution "talk[s] about "the civilizations
destroyed by the U.S.," and "the millions of victims"
of American policy from Vietnam to Somalia. The
short also depicts with sympathy a Palestinian suicide bomber and his
family."
Reuters says "The California-educated
director defends his work in the film's promotional material" by
saying "Can one resent a fervent lover of the USA who feels
cheated and angered at watching his dream transgressed again and again
with total impunity?""
An
unfair snub
''We've been strategic allies of the United States for 29 years. But
this administration is acting alone,'' says Ahram Strategic Studies
Center head Abdel-Moneim Said in this Miami Herald article which
claims that even pro-Western Egyptians are turning against the US.
Mubarak
speech fallout
One of the president's top advisers, Osama El Baz, tells the San
Francisco Chronicle that the current situation is "an unpleasant
period (that) can be overcome." El-Baz, however, was concerned
that the United States was treating Egypt like a "rogue
state" and warned that attempts to use aid money to influence
government policies would backfire.
Premeditated
murder
20 members of the Abdel-Halim family have been charged in the vendetta
case that stunned the country last month. 22 members of a rival family
were killed in an ambush that represented one of worst cases of
"tar" Egypt has ever seen.
Egypt-themed
painting recovered
Rest on the Flight into Egypt by Venetian master Titian, a stolen
16th-Century painting worth more than £5m has been found in a plastic
carrier bag.
Plunging
into chaos
“If you strike Iraq, and kill the people of Iraq while Palestinians
are being killed by Israel . . . not one Arab leader will be able to
control the angry outburst of the masses,” Egyptian President Hosni
Mubarak told students in Alexandria on Tuesday. His stern warning to
the US continues to be a lead story in many international news
broadcasts, including BBC, Drudge Report and more... In this story
about the speech in the Times of London, Mubarak's words are described
as "some of the most uncompromising language used by America’s
former coalition partners in the Gulf War."
Mido
may be headed for Juventas
The Egyptian soccer star is happy at Ajax, but an offer from the
Italian giant would be hard to pass up
A
bitter taste
The US-Egypt standoff over aid and Saadeddin Ibrahim inspires this
Daily Star report about relations between the two countries
House-
hunting The DJ will be determining your mood tonight...
A profile of DJ Hani Wahba by Tarek Atia
The
plot thickens
In the latest issue of Al-Ahram Weekly, Tarek Atia wonders if the
Egyptian ad world is changing as fast as the audience...
Soccer
scandal resolved
A 1500 dollar fine and a
ban from playing foreign clubs for a year is the punishment a second
division Romanian team has received for pretending to be Romania's
Olympic team in two friendly matches with Egypt.
Basement
treasures to see the light
Called "The Hidden Treasures of the Egyptian Museum," a new
exhibition is being planned for the classic Tahrir Museum's centennial
this November. The museum's fabled basement, as well as storehouses at
different sites, are being harvested for rarely-seen treasures to put
on display.
Peres
on the way
Egyptian President Hosni
Mubarak will meet Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres in Egypt on
Tuesday to suggest what Israel should do to bring about peace
From
1900 to 50?
The US has rekindled talk about reducing the number of its troops
serving in the MFO in Sinai. This time, "formal" talks have
already begun between the US, and Egypt and Israel, regarding the
move.
Windfall
for Sharm
Interesting article about Gulf Arabs choosing nearby resorts like
Sharm El-Sheikh for their vacations this summer, rather than
Disneyworld or Las Vegas in the US. The Arab League says Arab tourism
to the States is down 50 per cent -- mainly because of a perception
that Arabs and Muslims will be singled out for harassment.
The article features a strange dichotomy: while a sheikh is quoted as
saying that Muslims need a legitimate reason to go to a non-Muslim
country, quite a few of the Arab tourists seem to be looking for
places to gamble, which is forbidden by Islam.
The article also reveals that the Ritz in Sharm has already booked its
$3000/night Presidential suite for the rest of the summer.
Rights
group calls it blow to freedom The Washington Post
reports on the Egyptian webmaster sentenced to prison for posting a poem on
the net written by his father 30 years ago
Gotta
watch out
"Recent satellite pictures showed that 32 percent of Egyptian
agricultural land has been covered with buildings, factories, roads and
streets," Farouk al-Baz, director of the Center for Remote
Sensing at Boston University in the United States, recently said.
"If this rate of development goes on there won't be one inch of
agricultural land left in 60 years time."
On
the fence
The Washington Post does a major story on Yasser Sirri, the Egyptian
Islamist currently living under political asylum in London
Atriss
arrested on the way home
The Egyptian resident of New Jersey accused of running a fake ID
operation from which 2 of the 9-11 hijackers allegedly got IDs was
taken into custody at JFK.
Looking
into the radio confession
In newly unsealed court records, Judge Jed S. Rakoff said the FBI may
have "misled him" about the case of Abdallah Higazy, 31, who
was held in solitary confinement for 31 days early this year
Medical
profession on the up and up
It would have been unheard of 20 years ago, according to a well-traveled
Egyptian doctor quoted in this article, that conjoined twins be born
at a "small hospital near Qus where doctors were able to
stabilize them and, within hours, transfer them to a neonatal surgical
intensive care unit in Cairo, about 500 kilometers north"
Labor
meetings inspire Israeli reaction
Sharon calls recent Egyptian talks with peace-seeking Israelis
meddling; Egyptian Foreign Maher says that claim is baseless.
Drive
by
22 members of a family are killed in a revenge attack perpetrated by
another family in a village near Sohag
Lots
of parking tickets
Egypt is at the center of a debate between NY city officials and the
US state department over towing diplomats' cars
Not
going to Kenya
Opposed to the peace deal that may eventually end in the splitting up
of Sudan, Egypt declines an invitation to attend talks in Kenya
regarding the deal
Buying
less bread
Newsweek takes a critical look at the Egyptian economy, using the
Nile-side World Trade Center vacancy problem as an example.
Tightening
up?
Police torture case ends in jail time for perps
Tough
times
An Egyptian soil technician working in Seattle and taking care of four
kids on his own may soon be deported
US
less inviting for Arab students
The Christian Science Monitor bases its story on a reduced number of
Egyptians who are heading to the US to study...
Natural
gas hope for future
New discoveries, new pipelines, will help to make Egypt's world's 10th
largest exporter of natural gas
Still
trying to make peace
Mubarak invites Arafat and Sharon to Sharm El-Sheikh.
"Negotiations usually are conducted between rivals and enemies
and therefore Sharon and Arafat should sit at the negotiations
table," Mubarak was quoted as saying by the Middle East News
Agency. According to Haaretz, Mubarak also said, ""Sharon
despises Arafat? So what?... Arafat doesn't like Sharon. And they both
don't believe each other."
Haaretz also says that Mubarak called President George W. Bush's
declarations about Arafat, "irrelevant." -- "Does Bush
live in Israel? Does he know the reality on the Palestinian side? All
he knows, to be frank, is what the Israeli propaganda machine feeds
him against Arafat."
Pope
continues campaign
Shenouda is fighting against dissident groups within the church, and
outside it, like the Jehovah's Witnesses
No
more smoking
Cairo airport joins global rush to ban smoking
Arafat
still a sticking point
After meeting Israel's defense minister, Mubarak told reporters,
"We disagree on this subject... But we can find a way, without
touching Arafat, that will help in resuming the negotiations and
finding a solution."
Mubarak also described Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's attitude
as "very rigid." In another AP
story, he says, "Your leader called me once for a
minute-and-a-half and ended the call. So how should I speak to him?
When I call I want someone to have a conversation with."
Good
news or bad?
Whether or not Egypt accepts an IMF loan may be the determinant of how
well the economy is doing.
Mouse
not found
Egyptair flight to Jordan delayed for 4 hours because of rodent
sighting
Nobody
knows what happened
An obscure second-division Romanian team was accused Tuesday of
pretending to be Romania's Olympic team in two friendly matches
against Egypt.
11
railway employees acquitted
Eleven railway employees who had been charged in a train fire that killed about
360 people were all acquitted on Sunday. The judges felt that the minor players
should not be tried while "the chiefs are left untouched".
Egypt-American
activist injures leg Saadeddin Ibrahim,
the Egyptian-American activist whose case has been highly controversial, may
have broken his leg. According to his wife, Barbara, Ibrahim was injured while
exercising in front of his cell last Wednesday.
Egyptian
exhibit heading for Boston
"The Quest for Immortality: Treasures of Ancient Egypt" -- the popular
exhibit that is finishing up its run in Washington DC, is now headed for The
Museum of Science in Boston.
"Which
one of you did it?" A comprehensive
overview of the current wave of corruption-busting
targeting high officials, including global numbers and
stats.
Newly
engaged 89-year-old killed Although Hekmat
Hanna was 89 years old, this was to be her first marriage.
Nevertheless, she was deprived from completing her marital plans after
her neck was slashed and jewels robbed by unknown assassins.
Waiting
for separation
Stunning illustration of the conjoined Ibrahim twins' connected
heads... The Egyptian twins remain in a Texas hospital awaiting a separation
operation
Hawass
makes Newsweek
The magazine highlights the antiquities' chief's efforts to retrieve
stolen antiquities, saying he's filling the role of the 'curse of the
mummies’.
Don't
get rid of Arafat
"I warn once again, it's dangerous, dangerous, dangerous and will
harm everyone, including the Americans," Mubarak told Al-Ahram.
Egyptian
church dismisses 13 clerics The BBC reports on
the action taken by the Christian Coptic Church against a group of
clerics accused of extremism and heresy.
Monuments
in trouble
National Geographic looks at how the rising water table is becoming a
potent archaeological threat
Moussa
slams US plan to screen visitors The
Arab League secretary-general on Saturday questioned the legality of a
US proposal to fingerprint and photograph visitors to America, saying
such measures were "discriminatory" against Arabs and Muslims.
Egypt
twins joined at head U.S. bound
Reuters reports that "Doctors had said earlier they were delaying
separating the brothers, who have spent their entire lives lying flat,
until their brains and skulls were more developed."
Top
Manhattan art dealer going to jail
His co-conspirator smuggled a stone sculpture of the head of Amenhotep
III out of Egypt by dipping it in plastic and painting it black to make
it look like a cheap tourist souvenir. It was then sold for $915,000 and
resold for $1.2 million.
Viagra
to be locally-made
Sales in the first year are expected to reach $50 million, with each
pill being sold for LE27 (about $6), about 45 percent of drug's price in
the United States and other Mideast countries.
Islambouli
rejects cease-fire
CNN reports that the top militant said that "No jailed comrades,
whom I respect, have the right to take such significant decisions
which contradict ideas that the Gama'a has agreed upon without
consulting their colleagues abroad and without consent by the Gama'a
chief, Dr. Omar Abdul Rahman,"
China
to buy millions worth of Mercedes from Egypt
The purchase deals are designed to boost Egypt 's entry into China 's
auto market as well as to promote trade between the two countries,
reports Dow Jones.
A
closer look at the new DC Egypt exhibition
"The exhibition seeks to explain both how and why the ancient
Egyptians lavished their resources on provisions for the next world,
by particularly emphasizing what they expected to find after death..."
Ancient
feminism
An Egyptian queen who fought 4000 years ago for equal political rights
with men was granted the supreme honour of a pharaonic burial, French
archaeologists said yesterday.
Twins'
prognosis not as good as originally thought
With the report from Salyer in hand, Abdel Al and another doctor will
fly to Cairo on July 9 to consult medical authorities, public opinion
and Muslim religious authorities.
Update
on Grand Egyptian Museum contest
Designs for the Grand Egyptian Museum are not expected to be received
until August. An international panel of judges will then select 20
finalists from which it will pick a winner by February 2003, says AP
Ancient
globalization
AP reports that "spices, gems and other exotic cargo excavated from
an ancient port on Egypt's Red Sea show that the sea trade 2,000 years
ago between the Roman Empire and India was more extensive than
previously thought and even rivaled the legendary Silk Road"
Anti-peace
voices in Cairo A report from the
opening session of a seminar dubbed "After the Demise of
Israel."
Internet
for all
Egypt's Masreya amongst global tech companies donating services to help connect
the world
Brotherhood
versus NDP
Opposition candidates and supporters in Egypt have accused police of
preventing them from reaching voting stations during Thursday's runoff
election.
Egyptians
upset about Ghandour not reffing final
"He was qualified to officiate the final match, but his
assistance was weak and caused him much troubles in the match,"
said Hamada Emam, the Egyptian Football Association's vice president
Interesting
article on Arab American comedians
Sample
joke by Egyptian-American
comic Ahmed Ahmed to a packed room at L.A.’s Comedy Store... “I
went to the airport check-in counter,” he says . “The
lady behind the counter asked if I packed my bags myself. I said
yes—and they arrested me.”
Global award
For
the Arab region, Sharm el Sheikh was recognized for work in protecting
its fragile coastal environment from the ravages of mass tourism
At
the beginning of his remarks, Bush does good PR for Sharm El-Sheikh,
calling it a "
Central Bank governor dismisses difference in bank and black market rate,
says it's just numbers
New Iraqi antiquities display at Cairo's Islamic Antiquities museum
Ahmed
Belal does a super hat trick, scoring four goals in the match
Matrix
Reloaded has been 
In the bid to
host the 2010 world cup, will Nigeria's 
Hawass 
Interesting...
And
it's official:
Egypt's
Darwish makes eighth in the world
It's being considered....
Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian
President, now graces an increasingly popular "cheetos"-style
Egyptian cheese snack. The cover art on the "Abou Ammar" chips also
features slogans expressing solidarity with the Palestinian
cause. The new Egyptian Abu Ammar potato chips get major coverage from 