Tarek Atia's web log
Find out how the world media sees Egypt...

APRIL 2004

Fighting the fools
A major Islamic conference currently taking place in Cairo deals with terror q's... 

In his opening speech, Mubarak says violence-loving fanatics are fools.

Another big conference
Egypt to host first major IT forum in Africa...

Big adventure
Explorers complete wild Nile trek, which will soon be made into an IMAX film.

Tough talk
Intelligence chief to meet Arafat post quartet meeting May 4.

Big finds
Major mummy find in Sakkara.

Ancient Egyptian documents part of controversial new Christ book.

Endangered nature?
A Reuters look at culture and tourism in Siwa.

Young pros
BBC profiles the young Ekramy Jr, a star goalkeeper who may become the second Egyptian to play for powerhouse Dutch team.

Tough break
Cell phone lighter causes unnecessary woes for Egyptian passenger on US flight.

Celebrate
Photo of the new Miss Egypt celebrating her win.

Web posted by Tarek Atia Thursday, April 29, 2004 2:00 CAIRO

End of an era
Veteran actor Mahmoud Mursi passes away -- AFP says "cinema loses one of its brightest stars..."

Reflecting the times
Mubarak calls for more UN involvement in both the Iraq and Palestine quagmires. 

More from the Sinai Liberation Day speech from AP.

Strange trips
40th anniversary for daring woman pilot from Ohio who landed in the wrong place in Egypt on her round-the-world flight.

How a missionary helped give birth in Egypt and became a childbirth junkie after that...

Global recognition
Egypt's Sahar El-Hawary has been honoured by the International Olympic Committee...

A famous fashion designer's book proclaims Luxor as the origin of the word, and concept of, luxury

Tolerance 101
Education gets same dynamic -- authorities deny bowing to US pressure.

Web posted by Tarek Atia Monday, April 26, 2004 4:00 WASHINGTON DC

Confused youth
An interesting report from Reuters about Cairo teens obsessed with a videogame that depicts Arabs as terrorists.

Political vacuums
International Crisis Group report about allowing more Islamists into official Egyptian politics highlighted by Reuters.

Big tee
Major European golf tour currently taking place in Sharm El-Sheikh... More details of the actual golf taking place here.

New team
Egypt soccer squad named by new coach.

Bad smog
An intense look at air pollution by Reuters

Big business
Telecom Egypt aims to compete more strongly against Menatel and other private pay phone operators...

Egypt called on Syria and Lebanon to reduce port fees on Egyptian ships as a reciprocal measure.

Miscellaneous
US East coast cicada plague screams out "Pharaoh"

Web posted by Tarek Atia Friday, April 23, 2004 20:00 WASHINGTON DC

Suppressed anger
Mubarak tells a French paper that Arabs now hate the U.S. more than ever

He also predicts chaos if Israel goes through with its unilateral plans...

Abdullah's cancelled visit is portrayed as a symbol of this feeling of betrayal. Post Sharon-Bush regional analysis of the situation is steadfast by AP, hardcore by Reuters, with a minor touch by UPI.

Great parallels?
A trade mission from Baltimore is going to Egypt to explore options of building a Baltimore style inner harbor and aquarium in Alexandria -- which is Baltimore's sister city.

Great timing?
South African TV presenter delays legal trouble back home with trip to Egypt.

Soccer inc.
Sports court to hear fan-less match dispute.

Interest in Mido shown by Spanish club Zaragoza

A constant source
A new Rosetta Stone found by German team?

Plus, National Geographic takes an intense look at newly discovered ancient Egyptian love poems.

Having fun
25,000 people enjoy Enrique Iglesias's Media City concert... 

Was the organization better than Sting's? Al Hayat provides an interesting account.

Web posted by Tarek Atia Wednesday, April 21, 2004 14:00 WASHINGTON DC

Politics-Palestine
Official and unofficial reactions to the Rantissi assassination.

Politics-Iraq
If anyone has any chance (in Iraq), it is the Arabs.' ... Talk of sending Arab troops to Iraq emerges...

Meanwhile, the announcement that Spain would pull its troops from Iraq seems to have emerged from Egypt

Politics-Theater
More about the anti-American play all the news agencies love to hate.

A brief respite
El-Araby picks up franchise to make Sharp brand air conditioners in Egypt this summer.

Something to work on
The Tehran Times celebrates Egyptian-Iranian cultural ties.

Odd situation
Trouble on Qatari airways flight brings touchdown in Cairo.

Let through
The Matrix finale makes it past the censors with just a few cuts.

Obituaries
The Daily Star mourns two Lebanese journalists who had ties to Egypt.

Web posted by Tarek Atia Monday, April 19, 2004 4:00 WASHINGTON DC

Reactions to Bush Sharon deal
The LA Times sums it up: Moussa says Bush's support cancels all frameworks... Powell tries to reassure Maher... analysts says Mubarak surely feels betrayed.

Trip aftermath
After Mubarak's meeting with Germany's Schroeder, calls are made for Palestinians to play a bigger role in the determination of their future...

Mubarak meets the twins in Texas.

Jewish groups still skeptical after meeting with Mubarak. The ADL, which boycotted the meeting, is even more harsh.

Other politics
A few Egyptian reactions to Bush's Iraq speech...

Big travelers
As Russian tourism to Egypt goes up, this piece provides an interesting perspective on how Russians choose their destinations.

Egyptomania lives on
More Egypt myths continue to inspire Hollywood filmmakers

Web posted by Tarek Atia Friday, April 16, 2004 13:00 WASHINGTON DC

The drifter
Now Mido wants to leave Marseilles.

Strange spelling
Omani article on tourism meeting features most interesting spelling of Hurghada (Ghardaqa) I have seen -- "Alqhardaka"

Meanwhile, the Daily Star explores Sherif El-Ghamrawi and Basata.

Post meeting interviews
Mubarak appears to enjoy his interview with the Washington Times -- key points are Egypt's offer to train Iraqi police and his humorous response to question about Iraq being better off without Saddam

Extensive excerpts from the Q and A

PLUS: The BBC provides a rather grim and foreboding look at the geopolitical climate surrounding the Bush-Mubarak talks.

Iraqi TV
Details about the Sawiris Video Cairo partnership for a new TV station in Iraq.

Miscellaneous
A look at the the team that recently won the World College Model United Nations championships held in Sharm El-Sheikh

1 million Viagra pills being smuggled into Egypt via Port Said seized by authorities.

Egyptian-Iranian cultural ties to be bolstered?

Web posted by Tarek Atia Wednesday, April 14, 2004 12:00 WASHINGTON DC

BUSH-MUBARAK UPDATE...
White House transcript of Mubarak-Bush press conference in Crawford, Texas today.

Web posted by Tarek Atia Monday, April 12, 2004 19:00 WASHINGTON DC

Visit notes
Why Mubarak wont meet Sharon while both are in the US to meet Bush.

Dollars and sense
Foreign Trade Minister Youssef Boutors Ghali pens an op-ed piece for the Washington Times... defending Egypt's economic reform process, while excusing setbacks by saying they were a necessity.

Meanwhile, details on current economic conditions provided by a recently released report.

PLUS the debate over USAID and economic and political reform continues to rage...

Iraq in Egypt
Egyptian analysts explain why Arab officials are unlikely to harshly criticize the US for the current escalations in Iraq. Meanwhile, the standard protests erupt after Friday prayer at Al-Azhar...

Meanwhile, Shiite power in Iraq stirring calls for Shiite recognition in Egypt, reports the Chicago Tribune.

PLUS Egypt's Interior Minister says current Iraqi tensions will inspire more terrorists... in same article he is also quoted as saying he is not opposed to an end to Egypt's emergency law.

Web posted by Tarek Atia Monday, April 12, 2004 1:00 WASHINGTON DC

No more emergency?
Boutros Boutros Ghali says the new government-aligned Human Rights Council, of which he is the chairman, will ask for Egypt's emergency laws to be abolished as its first order of business. 

Meanwhile, Ghali defends Egypt's attempts to respect human rights in a Washington Post opinion piece.

Sudden decision
Reuters reports: "An Egyptian member of parliament announced his resignation on Monday because he had failed to bring about reform - an unusual move in a country where legislators rarely step down on matters of politics."

Original idea
The headline says it all -- "Egypt to build paper pyramid to lobby for 2010 World Cup"... It will be unveiled at the real Pyramids on April 30, set to be 15 meters high, and will be composed of messages from supporters of the bid...

Meanwhile, Libya's bid given cold shoulder by FIFA head Blatter

Pre and post-trip talk
A Chinese paper speculates about the meaning behind Mubarak, Sharon and Abdullah's meetings with Bush this month.

Meanwhile, Mubarak scheduled to go to Germany and France afterwards

More soccer
Controversy continues to swirl over Egypt's new Italian national soccer team coach

Meanwhile, Egyptian coach goes to Africa.

Good business
Nice increase in Egypt's trade exports to the US, thanks to textiles...

Web posted by Tarek Atia Friday, April 9, 2004 12:00 WASHINGTON DC

Big trip
Mubarak's April 9-16 Houston stay celebrated by local TV station.

White House Easter Egg hunt will be sans Bush because of meeting with Mubarak at Crawford ranch.

No problem after all?
Ugandan water minister says Egypt and Uganda have reached full agreement on Nile water use...

Home time
Texas conjoined twins discharged from hospital, at home with parents, could be back in Egypt by the end of the year.

Kudos
New Jehane Noujaim movie about al-Jazeera out... already winning awards.

Soccer overload
All Africa.com credits Mubarak with wooing FIFA members to support Egypt's 2010 bid.

Big match postponed for fear of fan troubles -- match was to be played without fans in Port Said, but league was scared that fans outside stadium would riot in pretest.

Egyptian club Ismaili have said that if Caf do not award them the title they will take their case to football's world governing body, reports the BBC. This report, however, says FIFA will not look at the dispute.

Web posted by Tarek Atia Wednesday, April 7, 2004 12:00 WASHINGTON DC

Change of venue
Will the Arab summit be held on the moon? President Hosni Mubarak, speaking on state television, said it was up to Arab leaders to decide on the venue, but as far as he was concerned, it could be held "in Egypt, Yemen, Tunisia, in any Arab country, and even on the moon."

At the same time, Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher says, ""We have to concentrate on the essence and that is to get over what happened and look to the future."

Meanwhile, Maher was hospitalized with heart trouble... plans are now for him to follow Mubarak to Washington rather than go ahead of him

Peace, inc
Boston Globe wants Egypt to play an even bigger role in Mideast peace -- "When President Mubarak comes to Crawford, Texas, to see President Bush next week, it will be a test of President Bush's learning about the Middle East. Will he abandon the American approach of scolding Mubarak and Egypt for what he and they have not done, or will he attempt to enlist President Mubarak in a joint effort to move the Israeli-Palestinian problem from its present nadir to a place of possibilities?"

Tut II
Funerary treasures of King Tutankhamun, shown outside Egypt for the first time in a quarter century, are set to dazzle museum visitors in Switzerland. Insured for $650 million, the golden mask is not part of show, the negotiations for which took three years.

Resurgence
Stock market hits four-year high

Passionate
Somewhat confusing AP story about Arab -- and especially Egyptian -- reactions to The Passion

Looking good
FIFA vice president very positive about Egypt's ability to host the World Cup. "I am impressed with what I have seen and experienced over here," Warner told the Egyptian daily newspaper, Al Ahram. "Your country is more than qualified to host the World Cup."

Web posted by Tarek Atia Monday, April 5, 2004 12:00 WASHINGTON DC

Nile tension heats up
Museveni speaks up publicly about rejecting the 1929 treaty governing the river's use.

Oxford Business Group's take on the current Nile water-use tension is also quite interesting -- They posit that Egypt is "in an ironic position: from a leading anti-colonial state under President Gamal Abdel Nasser, it is now defending a treaty widely recognised as unfair by Britain's former colonies."

Sick cookies
Rancid biscuits cause over a hundred children to fall sick at schools across Egypt.

Full frontal
Spanish archeology team discovers first ever full frontal carving pf a pharaoh

Healthy quest
Handicapped biker looking for someone to sponsor his planned trek around Egypt

Strange lot
Interesting perspective on the types of visitors at an ancient Egypt exhibit in Canada.

Changes in the air?
Will Shiias be recognized in Egypt? Islam Online reports that a professor is trying...

Web posted by Tarek Atia Saturday, April 3, 2004 12:00 WASHINGTON DC

What they talked about
Sharm El-Sheikh mini summit summed up by Reuters -- setting a date for the real summit seems to be top item on agenda.

Small business, big bureaucracy
Khaleej Times takes a detailed look at the woes that continue to plague new and growing businesses in Egypt, much of which have to do with dealing with an unwieldy bureaucracy ...

An example: “You have the kind of situation where one person is in charge of photocopying for a section. If that person is not in the office, no photocopying takes place that day.”

Talking security
A major international air transport body is currently meeting in Cairo. Wired takes a look at their security-heavy agenda.

More international posts
Egyptian nominated for top IMF job.

Court rules
Lawyer who allegedly offered to spy for Israel gets harsh 15 year sentence.

Meanwhile, AFP reports that "A French archaeologist charged with trying to smuggle antiquities out of Egypt was ordered released on bail Tuesday after seven months in custody awaiting trial, his lawyer said."

High hopes
More news of Egypt's new national soccer coach from the BBC -- says he's aiming for world cup bid.

Big money
Big Egyptian IT company -- Raya -- gets $5 million cash infusion from major Arab investment fund.

Web posted by Tarek Atia Thursday, April 1, 2004 10:00 CAIRO

CLICK HERE FOR MORE WEB LOG

ARCHIVE 13 -- MARCH 2004

ARCHIVE 12 -- FEBRUARY 2004

ARCHIVE 11 -- JANUARY 2004

ARCHIVE 10 -- DECEMBER 2003

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