 |
Al-Ahram Weekly 22 - 28 June 2000 Issue No. 487 
|
||
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
| ||
|
Al-Ahram Weekly 22 - 28 June 2000 Issue No. 487
|
||
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
| ||
Egypt Region International Economy Focus Opinion Culture Features Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters
Flying the not so friendly skies
EGYPT and Israel have failed to reach an agreement on the number of flights between the two countries as well as the flight routes between Cairo and Gaza City.In negotiations that ended last Thursday in Tel Aviv, Israel requested that the number of scheduled flights between Cairo and Tel Aviv be increased from five to nine per week. The request was turned down and an official who spoke on condition of anonymity explained that "Egypt believes the flow of tourists between the two countries does not justify such an increase, particularly since 30 per cent of the seats on current flights go empty."
For its part, Israel refused to change the flight path to Gaza City to one preferred by the Egyptians. Although Gaza Airport is run by the Palestinian Authority, it is subject to control by Israeli security. Only last month, Israel denied an Egyptian passenger-plane permission to land at Gaza Airport, on the grounds that it did not fly the recognised route.
Although talks are expected to resume, no date has been set for a fresh round.
Corruption crackdown
THE CAIRO Appeals Court has set 9 August as the date for the opening of the trial of Mohamed Foda, a former press secretary to Culture Minister Farouk Hosni.According to an investigation launched by the Ministry of Justice, Foda had accumulated LE3,167,531 illegally between 20 March 1991 and 29 April 1999. The indictment states that Foda misused his position and forged strong relations with top officials in the ministries of electricity and culture as well as the Giza governorate. He used these relations to obtain illegal kickbacks. His wife, Rania Talaat, is also implicated in the case.
Warming up for elections
IN A CONTINUING series of arrests targeting suspected members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, security forces have rounded up 11 members of both the Pharmacists and Engineering Syndicates.Security sources said the 11 were arrested on Monday on the orders of state security prosecutors. Five were later released while the other six were remanded into custody for 15 days. The latter group includes Abdel-Ghaffar Abdel-Bari, secretary-general of the Pharmacists Syndicate.
More than 100 suspected members of the outlawed organisation have been arrested since October 1999. A military court is currently trying 20 Brotherhood members on charges of threatening the security of the state and attempting to gain control of professional syndicates.
Deriding religion
THE GIZA State Security Court is trying novelist Salaheddin Mohsen on charges of holding religion in contempt, a crime punishable by up to five years in prison.Mohsen is the author of over a dozen limited-circulation books, in which he claims that the Qur'an is outdated and in which he blames Islam for the underdevelopment of Muslim countries.
Mohsen began his career as a clerk at the Ministry of Agriculture. He then moved to Lebanon where he worked as a typesetter before moving to Iraq where he again obtained employment as a clerk. Upon returning to Egypt, he started a business for selling painting materials. He used the revenue from this enterprise to finance the publication of his books. Mohsen said that advanced nations achieved success through scientific research, and not religion.
Mohsen claimed that he had not insulted Islam but merely expressed his personal views. The court, however, saw things differently.
Court proceedings will resume on 24 June.
Punishment revoked
IN WHAT is probably a rare verdict in favour of a worker found guilty of damaging private property, a Kuwaiti court has overturned a jail sentence passed against an Egyptian worker accused of triggering mass rioting last October.Said Hassan had been sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison after which he was to be deported. Two other workers, Hosni Mohamed, also an Egyptian, and Nour Shams Al-Haq from Bangladesh, were convicted of battery and each fined $163.
The Kuwaiti Appeals Court, however, "refrained from issuing any sentence [against Hassan] and asked the worker to pledge good conduct for one year." Hassan's deportation order was also nullified but the fines and acquittals were upheld.
The workers were put on trial for their roles in a supermarket brawl that mushroomed into a riot in the working class district of Kheitan, 20 kilometres south of Kuwait City. The disturbances eventually involved approximately 4,000 disgruntled workers who burned vehicles and stores.
Over 264,000 Egyptians live in Kuwait.
Women's lot
LIFE WAS tough for Nihad Abu Zeid. Tough enough for her to seize the opportunity provided by the new legal procedure of khul', which allows a woman to obtain a speedy divorce in return for foregoing her financial rights. For many years, Abu Zeid had been married to Fawzi Mahmoud, a government employee who ceased to be able to support his wife and three children. Perhaps there were even other reasons which prompted her to make the move for which she paid dearly.No sooner did her husband discover that she intended to divorce him, than he attacked her, trying to scratch her eyes out. Upon his arrest, Mohamed, refused to accept that the beating he gave his wife was nothing out of the ordinary, describing it as a "normal" fight.
MAYBE Reda Farag did not really like her husband, Hussein Ibrahim, who had been sentenced to six years in prison for manslaughter, and was also married to the woman in the flat beneath hers. Whatever the reason, she did not visit him for the duration of his prison term.
For Ibrahim, this was unforgivable, so he decided to teach her a lesson in good behaviour following his release. His method was unique -- he hanged her from the clothesline which extended beyond their fourth floor balcony. Her weight brought the line down and the woman met her death when she crashed against the asphalt of the road.
Obituaries
Helmi Nammar (1927-2000)IN THE world of Egyptian commerce and politics, Helmi Nammar is a name that is synonymous with excellence. A graduate of the Faculty of Commerce in 1949, Nammar obtained a PhD from the University of Illinois in 1957 and eventually headed his Egyptian alma mater in 1979. He served as president of Cairo University from 1985 to 1987.
Nammar was elected to parliament as a representative for his home governorate of Sharqiya. He was a member of the National Democratic Party's secretariat and, in 1989, held the position of secretary- general of the Arab Cooperation Council.
Nammar is survived by his wife, Iglal Raafat, and their three children.
Abbas Radwan (1920-2000)
ABBAS RADWAN is best remembered for serving as minister of the interior during 1958-1961, when Egypt and Syria were united. Radwan graduated from the Naval Academy in 1942 and the Military Academy in 1955. He was appointed to the position of minister of the interior in 1960 and promoted in 1964 to the position of assistant to the prime minister.
In recognition for his services, Radwan was awarded the Necklace of the Republic. Compiled by Fatemah Farag
