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		Al-Ahram Weekly Online 18 - 24 April 2002 Issue No.582
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875		Current issue \| Previous issue \| Site map

Protesters released
SIXTY-NINE university students detained during a violent anti-US and anti-Israeli demonstration have been released. Following an appeal submitted to President Hosni Mubarak by relatives, Prosecutor-General Maher Abdel-Wahed ordered their immediate discharge on Sunday.
On 9 April, about 8,000 students at Alexandria University left campus and joined with other protesters to march to the American Cultural Centre and deliver a statement of protest -- an act timed to coincide with US Secretary of State Colin Powell's visit to Egypt on the same day. Things got out of control when anti-riot police tried to stop the demonstrators with tear gas and water cannons. The protesters attacked the police with stones and empty water bottles, damaging vehicles and a number of shops. In order to "contain" the situation, anti-riot police attacked the crowd with shotgun pellets, resulting in the death of 20-year-old Mohamed El-Saqqa. More than two hundred students were injured in addition to 33 police officers and anti-riot personnel.
The 69 students were detained under emergency laws in force since 1981. Families of the students appealed to President Mubarak who ordered their immediate release in a measure aiming at "safeguarding their future."
The students were held in the Burg Al-Arab prison, near the coastal city of Alexandria, on charges of damaging public property and staging a public gathering without permission.
Opening postponed
EGYPT has postponed the official opening of the new Alexandria library saying that such a celebration would be inappropriate at the time of the Israeli invasion of the West Bank. The move is also meant as a solidarity gesture with the Palestinians.
The 23 April inauguration ceremony "was postponed because of the events in the region and in consideration of the public's sentiment and the people's feelings," Biblioteca Alexandrina spokesman Khaled Azab told reporters on Sunday. He said a new date for the opening had not yet been set.
Alexandria, like many other cities across the Arab world, has seen a wave of anti-Israeli and anti-American protests in recent days. On April 9, clashes between protesting Alexandria University students and anti-riot police left one student dead and more than 200 injured.
Azab said the postponement was not due to any security concerns linked to such protests.
Mrs Suzanne Mubarak was to have opened Biblioteca Alexandrina on 23 April, which is UN International Book Day. She has long promoted the Biblioteca, envisioned as an international centre for research and debate, and she is chair of its board of trustees.
Flights continue
HAS EgyptAir stopped its flights to Israel? Reports that it has made front-page news on Saturday, attributing the move to popular outrage over Israeli atrocities. However, EgyptAir moved swiftly to deny these reports on the next day, pointing out that a Boeing-737 owned by Air Sinai, a subsidiary of EgyptAir, left for Tel Aviv Sunday morning with 23 passengers on board.
Officials have argued that the one-week stoppage was a temporary measure made due to low passenger demand. Air Sinai used to run five flights a week between Cairo and Israel but the number of flights was recently cut to twice a week due to a lack of bookings.
Egyptian pilots have been staging protests at Cairo Airport against the flights to Tel Aviv. The pilots said that flights should cease in order to alleviate the crews' "psychological suffering." An EgyptAir official added that pilots were opposed to Israel's military operations in Palestinian towns.
Air Sinai was established after the 1979 Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty to avoid EgyptAir being boycotted by Arab states in protest over Egypt's completion of a peace treaty with Israel.
Colossal fragments
TWO HUGE, well-preserved fragments of colossi were found in Tell El-Hettan on Luxor's West Bank this week, reports Nevine El-Aref. The articles were found by chance when members of an Egyptian-German archaeological team stumbled upon the right side of a red quartzite statue of Amenhotep III seated on a throne and then discovered the head and legs of an unknown queen wearing a wig adorned with the Uraeus, the cobra symbolising royalty. "This is an exciting discovery," said Zahi Hawass director-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), "not only because of their size and condition but also because they were so unexpected. Early studies of the statue of the queen reveals that it probably dates back to the 14th century BC."
Project director Hourig Sourouzian and adviser Rainer Stadelmann said that since 1998, when the site of Tell El-Hettan was added by World Monuments Watch to the list of the 100 most endangered monuments of the world, more attention has been given to the area, although actual preservation operations in the area around the mortuary temple of Amenhotep III did not start until January 2000. "Work continues and we hope to discover more parts of the statue. Should this happen, it will be reconstructed," said Culture Minister Farouk Hosni.
ABTA in Cairo
THE ANNUAL conference of the Association of the British Travel Agents will be held in Cairo (ABTA), reports Rehab Saad. Minister of Tourism Mamdouh El-Beltagui met recently with ABTA representatives to discuss the latest preparations for hosting the conference in October.
It is expected that more than 2,000 participants, representing major British travel agents and tour operators, will take part in the event. The ABTA is the second largest tour- operating group after the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA).
"All facilities will be provided for participants to guarantee the success of such an important event. A joint committee formed by the Ministry of Tourism, including representatives of various ministers and related bodies, is held every two weeks to discuss the event," El-Beltagui said.
He added that the event will receive intensive media coverage. "A booklet will be produced that will included all subjects to be discussed between the Egyptian and British sides as well as the schedule for trips to be held on the congress's margins.
Compiled by Shaden Shehab

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