Al-Ahram Weekly | Egypt

		Al-Ahram Weekly Online 4 -10 April 2002 Issue No.580
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875		Current issue \| Previous issue \| Site map

Egyptian-Greek views
"THE ONLY person who needs a one-way ticket is Mr Sharon himself," said Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher, responding to a suggestion by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to give Palestinian President Yasser Arafat a one-way ticket outside of Ramallah. Maher was speaking to reporters after consultations with Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou on Tuesday during his one-day visit to Cairo.
Papandreou is visiting Egypt in an effort to work with the countries of the region to find a way out of the current impasse that has befallen the Middle East. "The European Union and Greece have always said that Mr Arafat is the recognised leader of the Palestinian administration. The question is not whether to exile Arafat, but how to work with him to find a peaceful solution," Papandreou said in response to the same question.
The Greek minister also said his government's vision for peace in the region involves international pressure on both sides. "All the elements of a solution are there on the table. We have had agreements and discussions. We now need the will, and if the will cannot come from local actors, it will have to come from the international community," Papandreou said.
The Greek foreign minister told Al-Ahram Weekly that the presence of international observers could be one step in that direction.
Maher welcomed the Greek and European roles, adding that "the US needs to be prejudiced towards justice and righteousness. They have to take the necessary measures to implement the Security Council resolution, which they voted in favour of."
Amateur espionage
ON CHARGES of spying for Israel, state security prosecutors referred an Egyptian man to court on Tuesday in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria. Magdi Anwar Mohamed Tawfiq, a 52-year-old unemployed man, allegedly sent faxes to the Israeli consulate in Alexandria offering them important information about Egypt's political and diplomatic activities. According to police sources, Tawfiq was arrested nearly eight months ago, making him the second Egyptian to be arrested on charges of spying for Israel since the eruption of the Palestinian uprising in September 2000.
An inexperienced spy, Tawfiq introduced himself in his correspondences as a minister plenipotentiary at the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, asking to cooperate with the Mossad and to supply the Israelis with information regarding Egypt's political, diplomatic and economic status. No date has yet been set for Tawfiq's trial.
Last week, a state security court sentenced Sherif El-Filali, a 35-year-old engineer, to 15 years with hard labour on espionage charges.
Acts of martyrdom
AHMED El-Tayeb, the mufti, said that suicide attacks on Israeli settlements were acts of martyrdom and called for action to end Israel's "brutal attack" on the Palestinians.
"The suicide attacks are one of the highest forms of martyrdom," El-Tayeb told the daily Al-Ahram.
"Every official should do his utmost to stop these brutal attacks, resist this ferocious enemy and drive it out of the Palestinian cities," El-Tayeb said.
Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Sheikh Mohamed Sayed Tantawi had also sanctioned suicide attacks on Jewish settlements, provided they were not deliberately aimed at civilians.
TV show in hot spot
WITH FIRED up anti-Israeli and US sentiment, many Egyptians turned their televisions on Monday night to watch Ra'is Al-Tahrir (chief editor), renowned broadcaster Hamdi Qandil's popular show.
Watching a furious Qandil giving "a message to the Arab world" and criticising their silence toward Israeli brutalities certainly appealed to viewers. But suddenly, a few minutes after the show had started, Qandil was cut off and advertisements were aired instead.
Some people guessed that the show had been censored and others that Qandil had deliberately wanted to send a firm but short message.
"Both are true," Qandil told Al-Ahram Weekly. "I did say that the show this week would be special. I found that getting people to speak on the issue would be nonsense. I decided to say a few words to the Arab people, but about one-fourth of the message was censored."
Qandil said censors cut out his questioning of why Israeli flags are flying in some Arab countries and his call on the Arab public to boycott anything American. "I also demanded that Anthony Zinni leave the region and that American military bases in the Gulf are removed," he said. "I told the Arabs they had left Arafat in the hands of Sharon and asked their leaders to let their youth express their anger."
Qandil also asked, "If Arab defence ministers take no action now, when will they?"
Qandil told the Weekly that he had only voiced what the man on the street was saying.
Held indefinitely
ALI SABRY Galal, a 29-year-old Egyptian, was arrested on 29 March after arriving at Miami International Airport from Spain carrying box cutters in his briefcase.
US officials have banned airline passengers from carrying sharp objects since the 11 September attacks.
Galal was deported from New York in January by an immigration judge after arriving in the country just before the 11 September attacks, said Patricia Mancha, a spokeswoman for the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) in Miami. He is currently in INS custody and the case has been presented to the US attorney's office, who are "in the process of reviewing the matter for criminal charges."
Prisoners normally make an initial appearance in federal court the afternoon after their arrests. In Galal's case, he can be held indefinitely on immigration charges, which eliminates the need for the speedy filing of criminal charges.
Finally divorced
IN AN unprecedented ruling, an Egyptian court on Saturday granted Hala Sidqi, a Christian actress, a khul' divorce from her Coptic husband.
Egypt passed a law two years ago allowing Muslim women to receive a divorce without their husband's consent in accordance with an Islamic precept called khul'. Previously, women seeking divorce often spent years in court with no guarantee of success. In Sidqi's case, it has been a decade.
Sidqi told reporters she was "happy and relieved" and that she "can now go home and sleep."
The Cairo court's landmark ruling allowed a Christian woman to benefit from the Islamic law. When Egypt's new personal status law was introduced and approved by Al-Azhar, the top Islamic authority, Christian clerics said that if a Christian woman changed her denomination from that of her husband's, she could be granted a khul' divorce.
Pope Shenouda III, the head of the Coptic Orthodox Church, had recently declared his approval of Christians separating via khul' in cases of impossible reconciliation.
Observers believe the ruling will open the door for other Christian women.
Compiled by Shaden Shehab

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