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Al-Ahram Weekly 23 - 29 September 1999 Issue No. 448 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 23 - 29 September 1999 Issue No. 448
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Comment Focus Special Features Profile Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters WFP moves to Cairo
THE WORLD Food Programme (WFP) relocated on Monday its regional office for the Middle East and North Africa from Rome to Cairo."It is very important for the WFP, in undertaking our decentralisation, to place experienced, senior, professional staff in the region, close to the problems and closer to the people in need," explained Catherine Bertini, the programme's executive director, who came to Cairo for the occasion.
After meeting with Prime Minister Kamal El-Ganzouri and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture Youssef Wali, Bertini told reporters from the new WFP premises in Maadi that Egypt was chosen "first of all because it is centrally located within the region... We also chose Cairo because of the sophisticated infrastructure you have here, such as communication and transport systems, as well as the strong support between the WFP and the government of Egypt."
The mandate of the WFP is to combat hunger worldwide. According to its own figures, the organisation has provided food for 75 million people last year, of whom 18.5 million were beneficiaries of development programmes and 56.5 million were victims of natural and man-made disasters, at a cost of $1.2 billion. The organisation runs food operations in 80 countries and has contributed $587 million to relief and development activities in Egypt since 1963.
The new Cairo office will be staffed by some 20 employees, said its director Khaled Adli.
All the prince's men
A MISDEMEANOURS court in the Cairo district of Boulaq Abul-Ela found two Saudi Arabians and a Syrian guilty of beating up an Egyptian police officer and sentenced each of them on Sunday to six months' imprisonment with hard labour. The three were named as Fahd Mohamed Al-Fassi, nephew of Princess Hind, wife of Saudi Prince Turk bin Abdel-Aziz, his friend Abdallah Al-Murshid, and the prince's Syrian bodyguard Faris Ahmed Tayyar.A third Saudi Arabian, Turk Mohamed Al-Fassi, was sentenced in absentia to one year's imprisonment with hard labour and ordered to pay bail of LE3,000 for stay of execution. An Austrian bodyguard was sentenced in absentia to two years' imprisonment with hard labour and ordered to pay a LE5,000 fine for stay of execution. The five had been charged with beating up Police Lt. Emad Abaza in the course of a brawl at a five-star Cairo hotel earlier this summer.
Alexandria corniche -- part III
THE THIRD phase of the Alexandria corniche development project will begin in October, covering a three-kilometre stretch from Sidi Bishr to Gleem. This phase, costing LE40 million, will be completed in June -- just in time for the upcoming holiday season.According to officials at the Ministry of Housing, this phase will include a 350-metre-long over-sea bridge -- the first of its kind. The bridge will cross over Stanley Bay and is designed to ensure direct and easy traffic flow, while protecting the beach.
Aida ruling upheld
THE NATION'S highest judicial authority, the Court of Cassation, threw out on Sunday a final petition submitted by lawyers of nurse Aida Noureddin.The nurse was condemned to death in March 1998 after she was found guilty of killing one of her patients and attempting to kill dozens of others at a government hospital in Alexandria. The case received wide press coverage and the sentence drew an angry reaction from the city's inhabitants. After she filed an appeal, the sentence was reduced in November of the same year to 10 years' imprisonment with hard labour.
One of her lawyers, Adel Eid, told Al-Ahram Weekly at the time that the only incriminating factor in the case was ironically Noureddin's police confession. According to her lawyers and family, the confession was extracted from her under duress. Had the lawyers managed to prove this, Noureddin might have been declared innocent, but they were not able to do so.
The decision of the Court of Cassation brings to a close a saga in which Noureddin was generally perceived as a scapegoat for the overall inefficiency and shortcomings of the health system. Although Noureddin's fate has now been sealed, questions about the system's performance remain unanswered.
Reported by Fatemah Farag
