Staying posted

DESPITE reports that he has been granted political asylum in Yemen, Iraq's ambassador to the Arab League said on 14 April that he would remain in his post. Although the Iraqi government no longer exists, Mohsen Ibrahim said, "I am still [working] at the league to express the interests of the Iraqi people and the state of Iraq."

The Yemeni government said on Sunday 13 April that it had agreed to provide refuge for Ibrahim, who is not among the 55 top Iraqi officials wanted by the United States. A Yemeni official said the Iraqi diplomat was expected to arrive soon.

News that Ibrahim would remain in his position for the time being came three days after Iraq's UN ambassador, Mohamed Al-Dorri, left the US for Syria saying he did not want to represent his country under US-British occupation.

Speaking after a meeting of Arab League permanent representatives on Iraq, Ibrahim said he had urged the 22-member body to work towards stabilising his country as soon as possible and to halt the looting which has broken out in Iraq's main cities.

Ibrahim called on the league to demand that US and British forces in Iraq prevent the "destruction of the institutions of the state" and work towards establishing a "nationally- elected government".

Ibrahim was Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's press secretary during the 1980-88 Iran- Iraq War and was chief editor of an Iraqi daily in 1990.

AJF in action

THE ARAB Journalists Federation (AJF) called for a massive media campaign to encourage the boycotting of American and Israeli products. During the two-day meetings held last week in the Moroccan capital Rabat by the secretariat-general of the AJF and chaired by Ibrahim Nafie, plans for dividing Iraq were condemned, as were the American and Israeli threats against Syria. Moreover, Arab journalists were urged not to cover news or activities of the embassies of coalition countries.

The secretariat-general issued a statement denouncing the deliberate killings of members of the Arab and foreign media "to prevent them from unveiling truth".

The AJF said that it considered killing journalists "a war crime" and expressed condolences to the family of Tareq Ayoub, the Al-Jazeera correspondent killed when coalition forces bombarded the network's Iraq headquarters. The federation has established a special award in his name.

The AJF also called for an immediate investigation into the effects of the war on Iraqi journalists and stressed its stance in supporting members of the Palestinian media.

Letter to the president

TWO LOCAL human rights organisations issued a statement on 14 April urging similar groups to send letters denouncing the Egyptian authorities and requesting the immediate release of anti-war activists arrested earlier this week. According to the declaration released by the Hisham Mubarak Law Centre and Al-Nadeem Centre for Victims of Violence, six anti-war activists were arrested in the past week following an assembly on Saturday 12 April in front of the Press Syndicate to voice opposition to the US-British occupation of Iraq and to request the immediate release of the 11 citizens detained following a demonstration on 4 April.

The announcement said that the strong presence of security forces in the streets of Cairo and around the premises of the Press Syndicate during the peaceful gathering in addition to the series of arrests are an indication of the security alert declared by the regime in confronting the anger of the Egyptian people sparked by the US-British occupation of Iraq.

The statement argued that since the right to hold peaceful protests and sit-ins is granted by the Egyptian Constitution and various international agreements to which Egypt is a signatory, "the Egyptian government is required to respect the laws it accepted....and immediately release all detained anti-war activists."

The human rights groups have called upon international anti-war movements and other human rights groups to send a petition to the president of Egypt, the minister of interior and the prosecutor-general requesting them to immediately release all detained anti-war activists.

Journalist arrested

IBRAHIM El-Sahari, a journalist from the daily newspaper Al-Alam Al-Yom, was arrested on 14 April. Sources close to El- Sahari's family said that security forces came to the journalist's house at dawn and took him to an unknown place.

El-Sahari previously had been detained for 15 days following his participation in demonstrations condemning the US-British war against Iraq.

The Press Syndicate has tried to ascertain El-Sahari's whereabouts and the reasons for his detention. The Press Syndicate is also attempting to guarantee the journalist's legal rights, including his right to have a Press Syndicate lawyer present at any investigations.

More charges

THE MAADI Misdemeanours Appeals Court accepted on Saturday 12 April an appeal filed by businessman Hossam Abul-Fotouh contesting the ruling issued three weeks ago sentencing him to three years' imprisonment with hard labour for possessing bugging devices and pornographic compact discs. The court suspended the State Security Misdemeanours Court's ruling on the grounds that it was a first-degree decision which should not necessarily be implemented.

On Sunday, Abul-Fotouh was summoned to appear before prosecution authorities in regards to a complaint filed by the Administrative Censorship Body concerning credit that he received from the Nile Bank without sufficient collateral.

Abul-Fotouh may also be prosecuted for failure to repay bank loans amounting to LE1.5 billion. The case is still under investigation.