Al-Ahram Weekly | Egypt

		Al-Ahram Weekly Online 2 - 8 May 2002 Issue No.584
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875		Current issue \| Previous issue \| Site map

No excuse
WHILE the 11 September attacks in the US sent a political and economic shock wave across the globe, these should not be used as a pretext on which to "hang all our economic woes," said President Hosni Mubarak on Tuesday, reports Nevine Khalil.
In his annual address on the eve of Labour Day Mubarak told hundreds of trade union workers and their leaders that Egypt is "determined to intensify efforts" to raise the standard of living of the people.
Egypt should work towards "becoming more self-sufficient," economically, Mubarak told his audience, which included the prime minister, cabinet members, professional and religious leaders. He added, "our political will must be backed by economic strength and a united home front."
Globalisation was inevitable, Mubarak asserted, "whether we like it or not." The challenge is to fully exploit its benifits and minimise it negative effects, he said: "therefore we must improve our performance and production ... in order to [be able to] compete on the world market."
Failing this, Egypt would run the risk of ever slower rates of growth, Mubarak warned. The recipe outlined by the president in his address to labour included: improving the quality and quantity of exports; generating financing for Egypt's development programme; bringing the annual GDP rate of growth to six per cent; attracting more investment; improving the domestic savings situation and establishing more specialised economic zones.
Debris of heritage
TO PROTECT the architectural heritage of cities in Palestine and prevent further destruction by Israeli troops, Arab antiquity officials held an extraordinary conference on Tuesday to discuss what measures should be taken to protect these world heritage sites, reports Nevine El-Aref. Mohamed Abdel-Maqsoud, Egypt's representative to UNESCO for Jerusalem affairs, told Al-Ahram Weekly that the three-day conference, held at Arab League headquarters in Cairo, expressed serious concern over the continuing loss of innocent lives and the destruction and damage caused to cultural sites in Palestinian territories, particularly the Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem, the historic centre of Nablus, including its mosques, and the old city of Hebron. The conference condemned Israeli crimes committed against "the common cultural heritage of humanity," Abdel-Maqsoud said. It urged Israel, as a member of the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property to ensure the safety of heritage sites in the Palestinian territories.
The conference, furthermore, called for an urgent UNESCO technical fact- finding mission to investigate, assess and evaluate the extent of the damage done to cultural and historical areas in the Palestinian territories. It also requested UNESCO to take appropriate action, with the help of the Arab League, to rehabilitate and restore damaged monuments.
Over the past month, Israeli tanks and bulldozers have destroyed many historical sites in Nablus, Tulkarem, Bethlehem and the old city of Hebron.
Vanguards detained
STATE security prosecutors on Saturday detained 30 men suspected of belonging to the Vanguards of Conquest, an outlawed militant Islamist group. The state prosecution ordered that the men be detained for 15 days for questioning. The period can be extended.
The Vanguards of Conquest is, allegedly, an offshoot of the Jihad group which assassinated Egyptian President Anwar El-Sadat in 1981.
In December, Sweden deported Ahmed Hussein Ageiza, an Egyptian Islamist activist who the United States said was the leader of the Vanguards of Conquest. Ageiza had earlier been sentenced in absentia in Egypt to life imprisonment for terrorist activities.
Qa'eda connection
A HIGH State Security court on Sunday sentenced Mohamed Hassan El- Sayed, allegedly linked to Osama Bin Laden's Al-Qa'eda network, to 10 years in jail with hard labour.
Charges included belonging to an illegal group aiming to overthrow the government and forging passports. El- Sayed was also charged with belonging to Al-Qa'eda and Jihad.
State security investigations claimed El-Sayed was an aide to Ayman El- Zawahri, leader of Islamic Jihad and Bin Laden's deputy.
State security sources said El-Sayed joined Jihad in 1991 and was arrested in 1999 when he tried to enter Egypt using a false passport after having been deported from the United Arab Emirates.
The police also say that their investigations had revealed that El-Sayed had repeatedly visited Afghanistan during the period between 1991 and 1997 and settled in the United Arab Emirates in 1997.
Compiled by Shaden Shehab

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