4 - 10 October 2001
Issue No.554
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 4 - 10 October 2001 Issue No.554 |
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IT professionals
THE GRADUATION ceremony of the first group of Egyptian "Microsoft Certified Professionals" will take place on Tuesday as part of a joint project between the Future Generation Foundation (FGF) and Microsoft Egypt. Attending the ceremony will be Minister of Communications and Information Technology Ahmed Nazif, FGF Chairman Gamal Mubarak, Microsoft Egypt General Manager Ali Faramawi as well as a host of leaders in the field of information technology (IT).
The Microsoft programme was launched in November 2000 and the six-month courses were conducted at five Microsoft certified centres in Egypt. The 101 graduates are scheduled to receive this week one of three types of certificates: Microsoft Certified Solutions Developer (MCSD), Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) and Microsoft Certified Database Administrator (MCDA).
Natural gas links
AFTER meeting with Syrian Vice President Abdel-Halim Khaddam on Monday, Prime Minister Atef Ebeid called for accelerating plans to build a pipeline to supply Jordan, Lebanon and Syria with Egyptian natural gas.
"We have the financing to construct it," Ebeid said, adding that other countries in the region, one of which is Cyprus, had asked to be included in the network.
Earlier this year, Egypt reached agreements with Jordan, Syria and Lebanon to build pipelines to supply them with natural gas. The first phase of the pipeline, which is expected to cost $300 million, will run from El-Arish in Sinai to Jordan's Red Sea Port of Aqaba.
Time runs out for Lakah
PEOPLE'S Assembly Speaker Fathi Sorour announced on Saturday that parliament will convene on 8 November to vote on whether to annul the parliamentary membership of businessman Rami Lakah, reports Gamal Essam El-Din. The move, Sorour added, is in line with the ruling by the Supreme Administrative Court which ordered on 27 August that Lakah's parliamentary membership be declared null and void on the grounds that he has dual nationality.
Sorour said that the new parliamentary session is due to begin on 7 November. On that same day, Sorour added, the assembly's newly-elected Legislative and Constitutional Affairs Committee will meet to prepare a final report on the status of Lakah's membership. "The report will be submitted to parliament on the following day for discussion and a vote. I think the majority of deputies, despite the possible objections of some of Lakah's independent colleagues, will approve dropping Lakah's membership," Sorour said. "We want to set an example before the Egyptian people and President Mubarak for upholding final court rulings," Sorour asserted.
At least two other MPs are widely rumoured to hold dual nationality. The first, Daqahliya governorate's MP Mohamed Saleh, is not expected to face Lakah's fate, Sorour said. "The interior minister has informed the assembly that Saleh gave up his German nationality a long time ago," Sorour said. As for the second, Talaat Mutawie, who is also from Daqahliya, Sorour said the court will affirm this month whether he does or does not hold American citizenship.
Mahran hospitalised
AL-NABAA's chief editor, Mamdouh Mahran, suffered a heart attack this week, just before he was due to begin serving a three-year prison term. Mahran was taken to a hospital intensive care unit on Sunday shortly before police arrived at his home to take him into custody. Currently, he is under police guard at the National Heart Institute hospital.
On 16 September, the State Security Misdemeanours Court found Mahran guilty of religious sedition and condemned him to three years imprisonment. The sentence was ratified by President Hosni Mubarak last week and is now final.
Mahran was tried for publishing articles and photographs on 17 and 18 June that purported to show a defrocked monk engaged in sexual activity with a woman. Hundreds of Copts at the time staged angry protests, viewing the story as an attack on their religion.
The Press Syndicate dropped Mahran from its membership, however its decision was revoked by the Administrative Court.
Compiled by Shaden Shehab
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