Al-Ahram Weekly | Egypt

		Al-Ahram Weekly Online 13 - 19 December 2001 Issue No.564
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875		Current issue \| Previous issue \| Site map

Little promise
THE SUPREME Military Court adjourned until 22 December the trial of 94 suspected militants accused of plotting terrorist attacks against top official figures and a number of intellectuals. At the Haikstep military camp, 35 kilometres north of Cairo, the court held daily sessions starting Saturday before deciding on Tuesday to adjourn until later this month. The decision to hold daily sessions reflected a desire to finish off the controversial case quickly.
Military courts are held on the authority of the Emergency Law, which allows the president to refer civilians to a military trial. The trials have been criticised by human rights groups for their speedy procedures and harsh sentences.
Most of the defendants were arrested in late May. At that time, they were mainly accused of illegally raising funds for the militant Palestinian group, Hamas, and Muslim Chechens fighting against Russia. After the 11 September attacks, however, more suspects were arrested and President Hosni Mubarak decided to refer the group to a military court.
Seven suspects are being tried in absentia. The rest of the defendants include three nationals from Dagestan, a Palestinian with a Yemeni passport and three Egyptians who hold dual nationalities. Authorities said the defendants were all members of a previously unknown group, named Al-Waad, or "the promise."
On Tuesday, the court resumed hearing key police witnesses who carried out the investigation and arrests of the defendants. The defendants' lawyers repeatedly interrupted to refute testimony that defendants were planning to assassinate top officials, saying there was no evidence to back the claim. Islamist lawyer Montasser El-Zayat told the court the defendants "committed no crime" and that they were arrested only because they wanted to support Palestinians.
The military trial started on 18 November and sentences are expected shortly after the Muslim feast, Eid Al-Fitr, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
Just the facts
NINE families of victims from the 1999 EgyptAir crash have dropped their case against the American plane manufacturer Boeing and instead filed suits against EgyptAir and Transport Minister Ibrahim El- Demeiri. According to press reports, the families are suing EgyptAir and El-Demeiri not for compensation, but to obtain a copy of the final report issued by the US aviation authority, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The report was never published.
EgyptAir flight 990 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean in October 1999, killing all 217 passengers and crew aboard, about 90 of them Egyptian. The Boeing 767 was flying from New York to Cairo.
Atef El-Negmi, the lawyer representing the nine families, said that the suit against Boeing was dropped because in order to ask for appropriate compensation, they need to review the NTSB report. In order to determine the reason for the crash, El-Negmi said, "We need material evidence." When it became clear that Boeing did not have authority to hand over the final report, it was decided to focus legal efforts at home.
In a preliminary report released in April, the NTSB did not reveal its conclusions as to why the plane went down, but US officials said no evidence was found to indicate that a mechanical failure caused the crash -- the theory proposed by Egypt. Earlier, US officials had suggested that co-pilot Gamil El- Batouti deliberately brought the plane down, a scenario that Egypt vehemently rejects.
In memory
MARKING three months since the attacks of 11 September, the American Embassy in Cairo held a memorial on Tuesday in which religious figures from the Christian and Muslim communities were to take part. The embassy projected a live broadcast of similar ceremonies on a large screen. In the US, the memorial was led by US President George W Bush.
The ceremony started at 2.30pm and was set to end at 3.46pm -- the same time the first plane hit the World Trade Center in New York. Moreover, the embassy's Web site will feature a page dedicated to the four identified Egyptian victims of the attacks.
Suicide, official
OFFICIALS at Scotland Yard have announced that there is no indication actress Soad Hosni was murdered on 21 June, when she fell from the balcony of her friend Nahed Youssri's London flat. The report indicated that the beloved actress committed suicide by throwing herself from the balcony.
A number of friends and family have contested claims that Hosni killed herself, implying that she was murdered. But a spokesman for Scotland Yard said that their investigations found no criminal element in her death.
Compiled by Shaden Shehab

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