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Al-Ahram Weekly 20 - 26 July 2000 Issue No. 491 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 20 - 26 July 2000 Issue No. 491
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters
Seal on peace
ISRAEL's parliament yesterday approved -- by 50 to 38 -- the first reading of a bill making ratification of a peace deal with the Palestinians dependent on the approval of a majority of the registered electorate, rather than merely of those of the voters who turn out to vote, AFP reported.If passed, the bill would make it even more difficult for the Israeli government to win, through a national referendum, public approval for any final peace deal it may conclude with the Palestinians.
Cairo to Cape
EGYPTIAN Foreign Minister Amr Moussa arrived in South Africa yesterday for a two day visit during which he is scheduled to meet with top South African officials for talks on a wide range of political and economic issues of mutual concern to both countries.Moussa and his South African counterpart Nkosazana Dlamini-Zumathe will chair a meeting for the joint Egyptian-South African committee. They are also expected to oversee and participate in the signing of wide-ranging cooperation agreements including one between the stock markets of their two countries.
Accompanying the foreign minister in his visit is Egyptian Minister of Electricity and Energy Ali El-Saidi, Hussein El-Gammal head of the Social Development Fund. Also part of the Egyptian delegation are 57 businessmen who are seeking opportunities for joint ventures with their South African counterparts.
Jihad truce
ELEVEN jailed leaders of the militant Jihad group yesterday announced a cease-fire initiative. The truce announcement comes almost three years after the leadership of the clandestine Al-Gama'a Al-Islamiya declared the first truce since militant Islamist groups took up arms against the government in 1992.Expatriate leaders of both groups generally disapprove of a cease-fire, arguing that the government has failed to meet demands for increased political participation and the release of prisoners. Last month, the Gama'a's spiritual leader, Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, issued a statement from his US prison urging the group's local leaders to reconsider their three-year long cease-fire. This statement was immediately echoed by Refai' Ahmed Taha, a leading expatriate member of the Gama'a believed to be residing in Afghanistan.
The leaders of both militant groups are serving life sentences for their involvement in assassinating President Anwar El-Sadat in 1981.
Observers believe that Jihad's peace initiative is an indication of their military weakness and, possibly, an ideological shift towards more peaceful methods.
More than 1,200 people have been killed by militant groups and the security forces since 1992.
South talks
SUDAN said it will take part in forthcoming peace negotiations with the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army in Nairobi, Kenya next month, despite repeated violations of the cease-fire in the southern Bahr El-Ghazal region by the rebel movement.Mutref Siddiq, minister of state at the presidential peace advisory administration, told reporters that it was "natural for the government to negotiate while war is continuing."
Siddiq called on the East African inter-governmental authority on development (IGAD) and the international community to denounce the rebel movement's disrespect for the cease-fire. The cease-fire was due to have expired on 15 July; the government has not yet declared a renewal.
