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Al-Ahram Weekly 23 - 29 March 2000 Issue No. 474 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 23 - 29 March 2000 Issue No. 474
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Focus Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Visions of water
IN HIS capacity as chairman of the World Water Council, Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Mahmoud Abu Zeid presided over the Second World Water Forum in The Hague between 17 and 22 March.The council, an international water policy think-tank, was established as a non-governmental organisation in 1996. The forum brought together hundreds of water specialists, politicians and leading experts from all over the world with the aim of "averting water crises in the next century."
In his opening statement to the forum, Abu Zeid outlined the efforts undertaken by the council, which succeeded in bringing together representatives from 130 countries, 40 international organisations concerned with water issues, and 115 ministers of water resources, in addition to 30 United Nations agencies and international banks.
Abu Zeid affirmed the importance of water availability as a human right, highlighting the Egyptian government's position opposing the privatisation of water services. This has been a point of contention because the World Commission report called for full-cost pricing of water services. Abu Zeid also called on the Arab ministers of water resources to make use of the opportunity provided by the forum to develop a comprehensive Arab plan to enable countries of the region to rise above water poverty levels.
The forum ended its activities yesterday by issuing the Hague Declaration 2000, which outlines a global view on water issues until the year 2025.
Cooperation with Tunisia
PRIME Minister Atef Ebeid and his Tunisian counterpart, Mohamed Ghannushi, chaired their eighth joint committee meeting yesterday. The committee's agenda includes the establishment of a free-trade zone in the year 2007 to help reach a trade exchange volume of $300 million. Trade between the two countries currently stands at $80 million, including $50 million worth of Egyptian exports. The committee also discussed other bilateral issues.Ghannushi is carrying a message from Tunisian President Zine Al-Abidine Ben Ali to President Hosni Mubarak on the latest political developments. The committee will end its meetings on Friday.
Suspect handed over
AN EGYPTIAN arrested in Tanzania on suspicion of helping to blow up the US embassy there in August 1998 was deported to Egypt on Sunday, after charges against him were dropped. Little is known about Mohamed Sayed Ahmed, 44, who is being interrogated by security officials about his activities in several African countries and his links with both the Jihad (holy war) organisation and the Al-Qa'ida (the base) group, led by Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden.Ahmed and a Tanzanian, Rashid Saleh Hemed, had initially been charged with the murder of 11 people and injuring at least 70 in the car bomb blast at the US embassy. According to a statement issued by Tanzanian police, the charges against Hemed still stood and he would be tried in Tanzania. The statement gave no further details on the reasons for dropping the charges against Ahmed and for his deportation to Egypt.
A car-bomb explosion at the US embassy in Nairobi coincided with the Tanzanian blast, killing 213 people, 12 of them Americans, and wounding some 5,000.
