 |
Al-Ahram Weekly 29 June - 5 July 2000 Issue No. 488 
|
||
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
| ||
|
Al-Ahram Weekly 29 June - 5 July 2000 Issue No. 488
|
||
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
| ||
Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Radioactive sand
WHEN a serious skin rash affected an entire family from the village of Mit Halfa in the Qalyubiya governorate, 60-year-old Fadl Hassan Fadl, the head of the clan, decided to take all its members to Qalyoub Hospital for treatment. However, that's when tragedy struck.At the hospital, during treatment, three died. The remaining family members were immediately transferred to the Hummiyat (fever) Hospital in Abassiya for further tests, treatment and quarantine.
Investigators established that the rash had been caused by a radioactive needle usually used in medical tests at hospitals. Police theorised that the owner of the house had been doing some construction work which involved moving sand, opening the possibility that the needle may have been in the sand.
Ridiculous visit
THE ARAB Federation of Journalists is calling for punishment to be meted out to a delegation of Algerian journalists currently in Israel after the Israeli government invited them for a 10-day visit beginning on 25 June.The federation says the visit violated its decision to oppose normalising ties with Israel, and that the journalists' excuse -- that the time had come for normalisation -- was ridiculous. The federation says normalising ties with Israel should remain on hold until a just and comprehensive peace between the Arabs and Israel is reached.
Post-retirement venture
A FORMER police chief at Al-Nozha Airport in Alexandria has been arrested, along with another man, in connection with an attempt to smuggle a large number of antiquities out of the country via the airport.Reda Aqrab, a former major-general, was caught by the antiquities police carrying a bag filled with the ancient pieces as he was about to board a plane for Germany. Antiquities officials said that Aqrab was probably planning to sell the booty in Switzerland.
Over the past week, there has been an interesting turn of events regarding the alleged value of the antiquities in question. Original press reports claimed they were worth some $40 million. The figure was later lowered to $10 million, then LE10 million. A committee has been formed to investigate their true worth.
Meanwhile, Aqrab denied responsibility, claiming that a businessman, Hamdi Abdel-Raouf, who was arrested along with him, gave him the bag to carry, and that he knew nothing of its contents.
Cultural prison
THE MINISTRY of Culture is going forward with an ambitious plan to commemorate the lives and work of Egypt's major cultural figures of the 20th century. In an odd-sounding experiment, the Citadel Prison will be turned into a museum celebrating Egypt's modern cultural heritage.The ministry plans on transforming the prison's cells into gallery rooms, each in honour of one of the commemorated personalities, who include such figures as Tawfik El-Hakim, Taha Hussein, Naguib El-Rihani, Abbas El-Aqqad, George Abiad, Mohamed Abdel-Wahab, Mounira El-Mahdiya and Abdel-Halim Hafez.
The plan is to incorporate multi-media displays into the cells featuring actual voice recordings of the individuals honoured as well as video and other displays of their prominent achievements. One wonders whether it will be called, in homage to Tawfik El-Hakim's Prison of Life, the Prison of Culture.
Pay protest
A GROUP of journalists and employees from the suspended Al-Shaab newspaper, mouthpiece of the Islamist-oriented Labour Party, have submitted a complaint to the Supreme Press Council demanding that it resolve their unemployment problem.The employees, who marched to the council's headquarters earlier in the week in an attempt to meet chairman Mustafa Kamal Helmi, were told by an employee that neither Helmi nor his deputies were available to listen to their complaints.
The group claims that the closure of the newspaper was unconstitutional and that it resulted in the loss of income for some 120 employees. They demanded that their salaries be paid by the Supreme Press Council.
Mini-bus mini-riot
EIGHTEEN employees of the Ministry of Transport were arrested in Fatimid Cairo's Sayeda Aisha square last week after an incident involving a police officer and a mini-bus driver.
The altercation apparently started when the driver stopped his vehicle in the middle of the street, thus disrupting traffic, which prompted the officer to approach him and order him to move on. At this point, the versions differ.
The officer claims the driver refused to move and proceeded to kick and insult him. But the driver, and some witnesses, claim the officer hit the driver first.
In any case, one of the driver's colleagues quickly went to a nearby garage belonging to the Ministry of Transport and recruited several drivers who then drove their buses to the square in an attempt to defend their colleague. With traffic at a standstill as a result, a mini-riot ensued, with stones being hurled by passers-by at the buses, badly damaging four buses and five mini-buses.
Eighteen employees belonging to the Transport Ministry were arrested. Traffic was stalled in the square for nearly four hours while police tried to contain the situation.
A cry for freedom
IN A tragic show of solidarity, three female teenage cousins gulped down poison in a group suicide bid in protest against the decision by the family of one of the girls to force her to marry a man she did not love.The girls were taken to hospital where they were treated. No word yet on whether the scheduled betrothal is still on.
Compiled by Tarek Atia
