19 - 25 April 2001
Issue No.530
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 19 - 25 April 2001 Issue No.530 |
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Euro tour
PRESIDENT Hosni Mubarak will embark on a three-nation European tour on Tuesday 23 April, which will take him to Germany, Romania and Russia. Mubarak will focus on bolstering bilateral relations and continue to promote the Arab call for Europe to become more involved in brokering peace in the Middle East.In Russia -- a co-sponsor of the peace process -- Mubarak will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and urge Moscow to enlarge its otherwise marginal role in ending the Middle East conflict. At a time when Washington has distanced itself from "hands on" peacemaking in the region, Russia's intervention could be crucial.
Staying put
PRESIDENT Hosni Mubarak has denied rumours of an imminent cabinet shuffle, telling reporters on 11 April that only the Foreign Ministry portfolio will change after Foreign Minister Amr Moussa takes over the chief post at the Arab League in May. "I have not yet chosen a new foreign minister," he said after touring the East Oweinat desert reclamation project. "But that will be the only change at hand for this cabinet."The cabinet is often changed by the president following parliamentary elections, but this did not occur after voters went to the polls last October. The president affirmed that "there is no possibility of a cabinet shuffle right now, especially since the budget has already been approved, and parliament is in session."
Bolstering relations
PRIME Minister Atef Ebeid left Sunday for a five-day tour of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates aimed at bolstering economic cooperation between Egypt and the three Gulf states. The prime minister carried messages to the leaders of the three countries from President Hosni Mubarak that will "brief [the Arab leaders] on the trips [Mubarak] has made to advance Arab causes and his future plan of action," Ebeid said.Mubarak was in Washington earlier this month to meet with American President George W Bush and push for a more active role by his administration in the Middle East peace process. Mubarak is the first Arab leader to meet with Bush since he took office in January.
Ebeid said that he would present the three leaders with proposals that will be on the agenda at the upcoming Arab economic summit. The summit, scheduled to take place in Cairo in November, was proposed by Egypt at the Arab summit which took place in Amman last month.
Ebeid started his tour by visiting Saudi Arabia, where he met with King Fahd. During his visit to Kuwait, Ebeid attended part of the meetings of the Egyptian-Kuwaiti joint committee, which are chaired by Foreign Minister Amr Moussa and Kuwaiti First Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed.
The African connection
CAIRO has seen a flurry of diplomatic activity in the lead up to this week's ministers' meeting of the Permanent Committee for Arab-African cooperation taking place in Algeria. Assistant Foreign Minister Ibrahim Hassan will be leading the Egyptian delegation to the meeting, which includes 12 African and 12 Arab nations. "The meeting's importance is in its timing," Hassan told Tarek Atia, "coming as it does at a time when there are calls for both Arab and African unity, and in light of the possibilities for joint interests between the two regions. A changing world is increasingly dependent on partnerships for success."The conference's immediate goals include establishing foreign trade offices between nations and facilitating investment between African and Arab countries. Earlier in the week, Foreign Minister Amr Moussa met with his South African counterpart Nkosazana Zuma, as well as Emara Eissa, former foreign minister of the Ivory Coast, who is a candidate for director-general of the Organisation of African Unity. Among the subjects discussed by Moussa and Zuma were ways to encourage more Arab-African trade and continuing efforts to establish a permanent African representative to the United Nations Security Council.
Cross-border bullets
AN Egyptian woman was injured by Israeli fire in the Egyptian section of the Palestinian border town of Rafah.The young woman was shot in the shoulder earlier this week while in her courtyard some 500 metres from the border with the Gaza strip. Israeli tanks shelled Rafah on Sunday for five hours, wounding around 50 Palestinians.
Still not allowed
AFTER 30 years, Al-Azhar's verdict against staging a production bringing together Abdel-Rahman El-Sharqawi's two plays Al-Hussein Tha'eran (Al-Hussein as Revolutionary) and Al-Hussein Shahidan (Al-Hussein as Martyr) still stands: the play is banned. Stage director Galal El-Sharqawi had sought permission to produce the play, but was turned down by a committee affiliated to the Islamic Research Academy. Sayed Wafaa, head of the Islamic Research Academy, told Al-Ahram Weekly that the decision to ban the play was taken on the grounds that it is unacceptable to portray the Prophet Mohamed's relatives (Al-Hussein was his grandson) or those close to him on stage.In an attempted compromise, El-Sharqawi had suggested that the script be re-written to cut out all the scenes deemed unacceptable by the committee. "I agreed to use narrators to present the characters of the prophet's relatives and friends," El-Sharqawi told the Weekly. But Wafaa said that the committee cannot condone allowing any actor or actress "to represent any of these people, because no one can assume their religious position. It is simply a matter of respect." He added that the scene depicting the murder of Hussein could incite conflict between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims.
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