Blair in Egypt

BRITISH Prime Minister Tony Blair and his family arrived at the Red Sea resort of Sharm El- Sheikh on 26 December for a private holiday. Blair, his wife Cherie, and their four children, Euan, Nicky, Kathryn and Leo, spent a similar family vacation in Egypt just a year ago.

Last year's Blair family trip to Egypt sparked criticism back home after the PM disclosed that the vacation was paid for by the Egyptian government. Blair said he had made a donation equal to the cost of the flights and accommodation to a charity chosen by the Egyptian government. Opposition lawmakers said it was inappropriate for the prime minister to accept the hospitality.

A spokeswoman for Blair's office said that the Blairs had paid for the flights and accommodation of this week's trip.

A final trial

THE RETRIAL of sociologist and human rights activist Saadeddin Ibrahim will start on 4 February. Ibrahim was released from Tora prison on 3 December after the Court of Cassation overruled a seven-year prison term handed down during a July State Security Court retrial.

It was the second time in less than a year that the Court of Cassation had overruled a State Security Court conviction of Ibrahim and 27 of his co- defendants on charges of accepting foreign funds without government permission, embezzling those funds and tarnishing Egypt's image.

Under Egyptian law a third trial on the same charges must now be heard by the Court of Cassation itself. The court will consider the merits of the state's charges against Ibrahim and the other defendants.

The right man

ON MONDAY, a state security court affirmed that Nabil Ahmed Farag Suleiman -- extradited by the United States and facing retrial in connection with the 1981 assassination of President Anwar El-Sadat -- is not the victim of mistaken identity, as his defence lawyers had argued.

As the trial opened last month, a defence request to release Suleiman pending an investigation into his identity was turned down by the court. The suspect has denied being in Egypt in 1981 and said his name had never been associated with terrorist attacks. Security officials, however, describe Suleiman as a member of the banned militant group Jihad, who received a five year prison sentence in absentia in 1982 for participating in Sadat's assassination.

In court documents, Egyptian officials tend to use a suspect's full name, including both the father's and grandfather's names, while leaving out the family name, which can sometimes create confusion. In this case, the defence had argued that Nabil Ahmed Farag Suleiman -- the man on trial -- was not the same person as suspected Islamist Nabil Ahmed Farag Rizk, who is named as the suspect.

Under Egyptian law, those convicted in absentia are automatically granted a retrial upon their return. On 16 June, the US embassy in Cairo had announced the handover of Suleiman to Egypt. The US said he had been living in the States since 1992, but was extradited after authorities discovered that his residency was illegal.

The court adjourned until 26 January.

Compiled by Shaden Shehab