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Al-Ahram Weekly 18 - 24 May 2000 Issue No. 482 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 18 - 24 May 2000 Issue No. 482
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Focus Features Heritage Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters EOHR settles out of court
THE CASE against Hafez Abu Se'da, secretary-general of the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights (EOHR), has been shelved after an 'out-of-court' settlement was reached between the EOHR and the government.Abu Se'da had been accused of receiving money from foreign agencies without informing the concerned authorities after he accepted a cheque from the British government for $25,703. The British ambassador to Cairo sent a detailed letter to the prosecutor- general, explaining that the embassy was unaware of the proper procedures that should be taken before making a grant.
In exchange for shelving the case against Abu Se'da, the EOHR agreed to turn over the offending cheque to the Ministry of Social Affairs, which is the government body responsible for approving grant applications.
Saved from the bell
THE FUTURE of Wekalat Al-Selehdar, a run-down piece of history which was once an Ottoman commercial outlet in the Khan Al-Khalili area, was the centre of conflict last week between the Ministries of Al-Awqaf (religious endowments) and Culture.The quarrel began when the Ministry of Religious Endowments announced that it would auction off the wekala on 15 May, forcing the Ministry of Culture to rise up in arms. Culture Minister Farouk Hosni urged Al-Awqaf Minister Hamdi Zaqzouq to "stop this farce" and the latter responded positively.
A senior official at the Ministry of Religious Endowments who requested anonymity told Al-Ahram Weekly that the disputed wekala was not registered as a historical monument and was being confused with another commercial outlet originally owned by the same person. He stressed that the role of his ministry with regard to property registered as antiquities is confined to supervision. The Ministry of Religious Endowments does not have the authority to sell or auction off any property registered as an antiquity. "We are planning to transfer the supervision of some Islamic monuments to the Ministry of Culture," he added.
Registered or not, according to Ayman Abdel-Moneim, head of the information centre at the Islamic Cairo Development Project, Wekalat Al-Selehdar is one of the monuments included in the ambitious preservation project undertaken by the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) and is, consequently, due for restoration.
Abdel-Moneim added that this is not the first time the Ministry of Religious Endowments has put a monument up for auction. Previous cases included four Ottoman Islamic monuments -- Sabil Kuttab Nefisa Al-Bayda, the facade of Wekalat Nefisa Al-Bayda, Al-Sukariya public bath on Al-Muizz Street and Al-Shebshari house in Attfet Al-Tettari of Al-Rum district. The sale, however, was never completed because the set base price was not reached, automatically cancelling the auction.
Millions down the drain
LAST SUNDAY was a big day in the southern town of Tahta, Sohag. Sohag Governor Ahmed Abdel-Aziz Bakr and assorted dignitaries assembled to witness the inauguration of a LE12 million drinking-water network. The first drops of water to pass through the pipes, however, caused the pipes to explode and huge water leaks had to be diverted into the River Nile.The governor left Tahta to promptly refer all officials responsible for the project to a disciplinary board.
Guilty as charged
THE EMERGENCY Supreme State Security Court handed down its verdicts in an Upper Egypt terrorism case on 10 May, sentencing Shaaban Abdel-Ghani to death and Hussein Sayed Taha to 25 years' imprisonment with hard labour.The events covered by the case occurred between 1994 and 1996 in the governorates of Minya, Beni Suef, Fayyoum and Giza. Thirty-three men were on the list of charged suspects; 14 of them were in prison and the remaining 29 had been killed by police bullets.
The accused were found guilty of belonging to the Takfeer Wal Higra militant Islamist group (a group that brands society as infidel and advocates withdrawal from it). They were also found guilty of killing 14 people and wounding 40 others. Apart from Abdel-Ghani and Taha, the 12 other defendants drew sentences ranging from three to 15 years incarceration.
Death in an ambulance
THE LAW is unlikely, however, to be able to exact due punishment for the death of a young woman who bled to death in an ambulance in the Nile Delta town of Tanta after every government hospital in the area refused to admit her.The woman started bleeding after undergoing a Caesarean in a private hospital. An ambulance promptly picked her up and, for five hours, searched in vain for a hospital that would take responsibility for the woman. When she eventually died, her family insisted that the ambulance take them to governorate headquarters and stop there until legal procedures were initiated by the authorities against the offending hospitals.
Crackpot hijack attempt
UNEMPLOYMENT is a difficult situation for anyone to find himself in. Shaaban El-Silkawi could not take it any longer and, consequently, decided to hijack a plane and make his dream of finding a job come true.He got a pot of cream, emptied it and refilled it with the kind of gunpowder used in children's toys. Then, on 11 March, on EgyptAir Flight 233 heading from Cairo to Aswan, he pulled out the cream pot, threatened to blow up the plane and asked the pilot to take him to any country where he could get a job. The EgyptAir crew got the better of El-Silkawi, however, and locked him up in the pilot's cabin until the plane landed in Aswan, where he was promptly arrested.
El-Silkawi was described as mentally unbalanced.
Compiled by Fatemah Farag
