Issue No. 608
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17 - 23 October 2002 Issue No. 608 Home news |
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Recommend this page | ||
Developing the south
ON SUNDAY, President Hosni Mubarak inaugurated three projects in the southern governorate of Minya, which included a recreational club, an Armed Forces hospital and medical compound and the transmission of the local broadcast station by NileSat. These initiatives are part of a development project to upgrade services and facilities in the Upper Egyptian governorate.
While in Upper Egypt, Mubarak also visited New Minya, which is one of six new satellite cities under construction. Other satellite cities being built in the south are located in Beni Sueif, Assiut, Sohag, Aswan and near Tiba. The overall plan is to construct some 30 new cities, which would cover an area of 100,000 feddans, house 3.6 million residents and provide almost one million job opportunities.
Mubarak's directives to the entourage of ministers and senior local officials who accompanied him on the tour, were to approve all the infrastructure and services needed by these new cities, and that development plans take into consideration the expected increase in population.
Francophone summit
FOREIGN Minister Ahmed Maher is heading the Egyptian delegation at the 9th International Organisation of the Francophone Summit which begins tomorrow in Beirut, and is scheduled to wrap up on Sunday. Maher said President Hosni Mubarak delegated him to attend the meetings, as the president is engaged in matters concerning the volatile situation in the Middle East.
The summit meeting was preceded by ministerial meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday. Fifty-five countries -- 51 of them member states and four observers -- are participating in the meetings. The summit's final communiqué is expected to tackle some of the most pressing international political issues, including the Middle East crisis and the various economic and political challenges faced by African countries. The Beirut communiqué is also expected to outline implementation mechanisms of the Francophone programmes in the next two years.
This year's summit will elect a new secretary-general for the organisation to replace Boutrous Boutrous Ghali whose term ends in December. The nominees for the position include Senegalese President Abdou Deyouf, and former head of the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) Henry Lopez.
The International Francophone Organisation is made up of countries with French-speaking citizens.
AUCians protest
ON MONDAY, dozens of professors and students at the American University in Cairo (AUC) demonstrated against the possible attack on Iraq. Protesters also accused the US of complicity in Israeli "atrocities" against the Palestinians, denouncing what they described as the US's double standards. They argued that while watching Israel "ignore" more than 60 UN resolutions, Washington is demanding that Iraq comply with UN Security Council resolutions.
Demonstrators, who marched within the premises of the AUC main campus located at Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo, distributed a statement saying they "oppose the occupation of Palestine and the invasion of Iraq".
"There is no basis for the proposed US actions against Iraq -- not according to international law, not according to common sense," protesters said, adding that they believe that "the ideals of America are being betrayed".
While denouncing regime abuses in Iraq and elsewhere, protesters said that war should not be considered "a solution". "The trend toward normalising 'regime change' as a tool of foreign policy is dangerous and illegal."
Compensation at last
THE FAMILIES of 138 victims in the 20 February railway tragedy, which left at least 373 dead, have finally received their long-due compensation of LE25,000 each. Minister of Social Affairs and Insurance Amina El- Guindi has directed all victims' families to head to the ministry's offices in governorates and Nasser Banks to obtain the compensation money.
The government had previously announced that LE13.4 million were raised by the much-hyped donation campaigns launched in the aftermath of the accident.
Only families presenting a death certificate will be given compensation, and according to official figures, only 243 families possess these. Death certificates have not been issued for the other victims because they were burnt beyond recognition.
Recently, the Islamic Research Centre approved a proposal by parliament to amend current laws for issuing death certificates. Currently, there is a four-year waiting period before a death certificate can be issued for a "missing" person and a one-year period before a certificate can be issued for those reported killed in a ship or a plane accident.
The amendment, which is still under consideration, stipulates that death certificates should be issued within a year for unidentified fatalities in massive accidents -- those of trains and metros included.
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