17 - 23 May 2001
Issue No.534
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 17 - 23 May 2001 Issue No.534 |
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United stand
PRESIDENT Hosni Mubarak is holding talks this morning with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad at the Red Sea resort of Sharm Al-Sheikh. The presidents are resuming discussions which began yesterday afternoon soon after Al-Assad arrived at the start of a three-day visit.Their talks will focus on the deteriorating situation in the region, the continued Israeli aggression against the Palestinians and finding ways to support the Intifada. The two leaders will also discuss how to reach a united Arab stand in the face of the current situation.
Slow start
EGYPTIANS went to the polls yesterday to cast their ballots in the first stage of mid-term Shura Council elections. Among the 21 constituencies, in eight governorates, 232 candidates are running for 30 available seats. Voter turnout was meagre in the early hours, but picked up slowly as the day progressed.No major incidents of violence were reported, but in the central Egyptian town of Beni-Suef, supporters of Hamdi Zahran, a representative of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, complained of police harassment.
In the southern governorate of Assiut, 36 suspected Brotherhood members were rounded up on the eve of the balloting. They were led by Mohamed Sayed Habib, a former chairman of the teachers' club at Assiut University. The group was remanded in custody for 15 days for "belonging to a secret, illegal group and inciting citizens against the government."
Yellow skies
A SANDSTORM that engulfed Cairo on Sunday caused the relocation of a summit between President Hosni Mubarak and his Sudanese counterpart Omar Al-Bashir from the capital to the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh.Reduced visibility from the sandstorm prevented at least two airplanes from landing at Cairo Airport. A British Airways flight was re-routed to Cyprus, while a Corsair charter craft landed instead in Hurghada, another Red Sea resort.
In the northern city of Alexandria, authorities closed down two Mediterranean sea ports because of violent winds.
The meteorological office said the sandstorm was caused by an area of low-pressure which brought a block of warm air from the Western Desert.
Spring in Egypt is generally accompanied by sandstorms known as the Khamaseen, named after the Arabic word for 50, the number of days the storms are said to last.
Hard times for Lakah
RAMI LAKAH, a businessman and a member of parliament, is facing hard times. The Administrative Court ruled last week that his membership of the People's Assembly should be declared null and void by the Interior Ministry. The Court ordered a repeat of parliamentary elections in Cairo's downtown district of Azbakiya which Lakah represents in parliament. "The parliamentary membership of Lakah must be ruled unconstitutional because he has double (Egyptian-French) nationality," the court said. It cautioned that refusal by the Interior Ministry to implement the ruling would be in violation of the law and the constitution.For its part, the People's Assembly's Legislative and Constitutional Committee voted tentatively last week against stripping Lakah of his parliamentary immunity. Lakah has been charged with issuing a worthless cheque for LE350,000. The Committee is expected to hold another meeting next week to take a final decision.
Miss Egypt fatwa
THE GRAND MUFTI, Sheikh Nasr Farid Wassel, issued a fatwa (religious ruling) this week saying that beauty contests are against the teachings of Islam. He urged Muslim countries to ban the contests, saying they "kill society's values and principles."Wassel explained that "Islam is the religion of decency and purity" and women are obliged to cover their whole bodies, except their faces and hands.
An Egyptian beauty contest took place last month to choose the country's representative for the Miss Universe, Miss World and Miss International Beauty contests. The local contest drew protests from some members of parliament.
Books banned
AL-AZHAR'S Islamic Research Academy has recently banned two books which it considers defame Islam. The books are Alaa Hamed's Ahzan El-Dafadeh (Frogs' grief) and Ibrahim Abu-Khalil's Da'awa Lil tafakkor Wal Tadabbor Fil Qur'an Wal Hadith (A Call to Think and Meditate on the Qur'an and the Hadith). According to the Academy, Hamed's book "is full of open declarations of atheism and is a public call to immorality."As for Abu Khalil's book, the Academy said it cast doubt on Al-Isra'a Wal Me'raj, the Prophet Mohamed's ascension to heaven.
One wife too many?
MILLIONAIRE businessman Ragab Rizq El-Sweirki, owner of a chain of stores known as El-Tawhid Wal-Nour (Monotheism and Light), was arrested last week for allegedly marrying five women at the same time. (A Muslim man may only marry four). According to police reports, El-Sweirki went as far as to keep two sisters as his wives, another taboo in Islam.Denying the police reports, some lawyers, who are members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, claim that El-Sweirki is being harassed because he is a Brotherhood supporter.
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