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Al-Ahram Weekly 14 - 20 September 2000 Issue No. 499 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 14 - 20 September 2000 Issue No. 499
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region Interview International Economy Opinion Culture Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters State of uncertainty
PALESTINIAN leader Yasser Arafat briefed President Hosni Mubarak on Monday on the details of his New York meeting with US President Bill Clinton on the fringe of the UN Millennium Summit, informing the Egyptian president that no breakthrough had been made.During Arafat's meeting with Mubarak, which took place at Borg Al-Arab near Alexandria, the Palestinian leader said that two proposals advanced by the Palestinians had been rejected by Israel. Furthermore, Arafat discussed the ramifications of the decision taken by the Palestinian Central Council to postpone the unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state, originally scheduled for 13 September, to give all parties involved in the peace process the opportunity to reach an agreement.
Arafat later left Alexandria for Muscat.
Ownership deeds
MRS SUZANNE Mubarak visited Minya governorate on Tuesday, presenting ownership deeds to housing units in the Future Foundation project, opening Minya's Cancer Centre and meeting with representatives of regional women's councils in Upper Egypt.At a ceremony in New Minya city, Mrs Mubarak presented new owners with deeds to 50 housing units among 3,000 completed units to be presented by the end of the year in New Minya, Assiut and Tiba. The apartments represent part of the first phase of the Future Foundation project, which includes 15,000 units.
The foundation was established in 1998 under the auspices of Mrs Mubarak to provide affordable housing for low-income citizens through government land grants, private donations and the proceeds of fund-raising events. Presided over by Gamal Mubarak, the foundation aims to build 70,000 housing units over three phases during a six-year period in satellite cities across the country.
Mrs Mubarak also opened New Minya's Family Health Care Centre before heading on to Minya city to inaugurate its new Cancer Centre. The centre, one of seven specialised establishments for cancer treatment in governorates across the country, cost LE40 million.
Left hanging
A HEATED exchange between the religious establishment and the Ministry of Culture has resulted in a temporary freeze of a master restoration project currently underway at the Hanging Church, one of Cairo's oldest, reports Nevine El-Aref. The freeze was announced earlier in the week by Farouk Hosni, minister of culture, following what the minister claimed were groundless complaints accusing the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) of carelessness, negligence and the use of unsound methods of restoration.The complaints were made by Father Morqos Aziz, the Hanging Church's pastor, who described the restoration project as inadequate to preserve one of Egypt's most important landmarks. Father Morqos stuck to his position even after a neutral committee, established specifically to check and report on the progress being made on the restoration, reached opposite conclusions.
The committee, which includes archaeologists, engineers of the SCA and engineering university professors, confirmed the stability of the church's structure and the accurate execution of the restoration effort.
Hosni said that the restoration work on the neighbouring Babylon Fort and the gate of the Amr Ibn Al-As mosque will continue according to schedule but that work on the church will have to stop until the parties reach a solution. He also invited Pope Shenoudah III, Patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church, to visit the Hanging Church for a first-hand look at the restoration project.
Sizing up the deal
ECONOMY Minister Youssef Boutros Ghali will be travelling to Brussels soon to discuss the proposed Egypt-EU partnership agreement with European Union officials. The minister will seek clarifications on some points in the draft accord.One of these points concerns financial assistance. According to announcements made by Prime Minister Atef Ebeid earlier this year, the Egyptian government, for budgetary considerations, wants to know the size of EU financial assistance before signing the agreement. The government is also anxious to be given the right to manage these funds according to national priorities.
According to an informed source, this demand is unlikely to be met because foreign assistance is usually earmarked for specific projects at the conditions set by the donor.
Moreover, financial assistance is not actually part of the partnership and, for this reason, according to the same source, there is nothing to prevent the European side from suggesting that further negotiations be scheduled following the signing of the agreement.
Nonetheless, the source stressed that the EU is eager to enter into a partnership with Egypt in view of its political weight in the region, and not because of the importance of its transactions with the EU. He pointed out that while Egypt imports $4.6 billion worth of goods from the EU annually, Israel imports three times this amount.
Head in the clouds
IT WAS the first trip for EgyptAir pilot Ali Murad to Gaza airport where they seem to do things a bit differently from what he is used to at other international airports. The passengers from Cairo had disembarked and before Israeli authorities would allow the 93 passengers waiting to board the same EgyptAir plane back to Cairo, they insisted that their security forces search the plane. Murad was indignant and, in statements to the press, he claimed that he tried to contact his home office for four hours without receiving a conclusive answer to the question whether the Israelis would be allowed on board. So, he closed the doors of the plane and flew back home -- leaving the passengers behind.EgyptAir chairman Fahim Rayan reacted by suspending Murad, on the grounds that he caused the company financial loss and that, as a result of his action, passengers coming from Gaza were now opting for other airlines. Rayan added that according to agreements signed between Israel and the Palestinians, Israel has the right to search all planes landing in Gaza and that Murad's ignorance of these agreements does not make him less responsible for his actions.
compiled by Fatemah Farag
