Al-Ahram Weekly | Egypt

		Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 1 - 7 February 2001 Issue No.519
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875		Current issue \| Previous issue \| Site map

Men in black
ARAB interior ministers met in Tunis this week, and discussed topics ranging from the ongoing Al-Aqsa Intifada in the occupied territories to a collective affirmation of support for police forces.
In his statement at the conference, Egyptian Interior Minister Habib El-Adli argued that there should be no distinction between organised crime and terrorism -- a warning to countries that support terrorism that they could end up being investigated for criminal operations.
The domino effect
HISHAM Abdel-Latif, former adviser to the minister of public business, was sentenced this week to three years in prison and fined LE208,000 for embezzlement.
The latest in a series of corruption cases, a High State Security Court found Abdel-Latif guilty of taking LE104,000 worth of government petrol coupons between 1993 and 1999.
Wasted space
A NEW programme for waste collection will soon be freeing up precious space in Cairo and beyond, according to Minister of Environmental Affairs Nadia Makram Ebeid, reports Mahmoud Bakr. Ebeid said that a main source of air pollution is the 40 per cent of the city's solid waste that remains on the streets. But the ministry has developed a new strategy for collecting waste that is expected to rid the country of 9.3 million tons of solid waste from urban centres, three million tons of agricultural waste and 25 tons of medical wastes annually. The project is also expected to create 37,000 refuse-collection jobs nationwide and 10,000 jobs for recycling glass and plastic.
Regarding industrial pollution, the minister told reporters that over 300 major enterprises have stopped releasing industrial waste into the Nile, a project that cost roughly LE350 million. Further, 1,800 industrial establishments -- 80 per cent of which are located in the new industrial cities -- have been declared "environmentally friendly."
Security at last
AUTHORITIES have been installing more high-tech security systems in the country's museums, including an elaborate new setup at Cairo's Egyptian Museum, reports Nevine El-Aref.
In September 1996, a young man spent the night in the museum and almost walked out the next morning with a handful of objects from the Tutankhamun collection. The incident was an embarrassment for museum security and sparked a nationwide drive to step up security in museums and exhibitions.
Three years ago, an early warning system and burglar alarm, consisting of 190 cameras linked to a closed circuit television covering the museum's halls, gardens, external fence, roof and surrounding streets was installed. On Monday, Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni inaugurated two new electronic ticket machines at the Cairo museum entrance that will monitor the number of visitors entering and leaving the museum.
According to Gaballa Ali Gaballa, secretary- general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, "There will be no repeat performance of a hidden thief left to take his pick of the museum's artefacts."
Prominent cinema-maker dies
CINEMA director Ashraf Fahmi died this week at the age of 65 while in hospital for heart surgery. Famous for his work with film masters like Fatin Abdel-Wahab and Salah Abu-Seif, Fahmi left Egypt to study at the University of California in 1963. Upon his return to Egypt four years later, Fahmi directed films for the National Centre for Documentary Cinema. He directed his first film, The Murderers, in 1969.
His long career in cinema was rewarded with 27 international and local awards and ended with the movie Passion and Blood.
Hard times for Nasserists
WITH their salaries six months in arrears, some 70 per cent of the reporters for the Nasserist Party mouthpiece Al-Arabi have stopped work, reports Mona El-Nahhas. After filing several complaints against the newspaper's board of directors, disgruntled reporters staged a short-lived sit-in at the headquarters of the Press Syndicate two weeks ago. They also submitted a memo to Syndicate Chairman Ibrahim Nafie urging him to intervene on their behalf.
The syndicate council formed a three-member committee to discuss the matter with government officials and leaders of the Nasserist Party. On 23 January, the committee met with party leaders, who promised to pay the salaries within the coming two months. The Nasserist Party has been suffering from an acute financial crisis for some time now. The party's debts are estimated at nearly LE1 million, with the major part owed to Al-Ahram organisation.
Abdallah El-Sennawi, chief-editor of Al-Arabi, told Al-Ahram Weekly that their publication will not shut down. "We are going to fight until the last minute," El-Sennawi said. Nasserist officials feel that their financial troubles are caused by a lack of financial aid comparable to that received by state papers. "Opposition newspapers, which are part of the political system, should receive financial support from the government, as is the case with the national newspapers," said Hamed Mahmoud, deputy secretary-general of the Nasserist Party.
Although the walk out has put a heavy burden on editorial staff, El-Sennawi claims that the lack of staff has not had too severe an impact on the quality of the newspaper. "Our publication will continue to be the best weekly, regardless of the difficult financial conditions," he said.
Compiled by Fatemah Farag
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