False alarm

BRAZILIAN medical officials on Tuesday ruled out anthrax as the cause of death of an Egyptian sailor, easing concerns about a merchant ship that had been quarantined in Canada after one of its crewmembers died as a result of what was believed to be contact with anthrax. According to the spokesman for Brazilian federal police in the Amazon state of Para, the autopsy of Ibrahim Soliman Ibrahim showed that he died after experiencing vomiting, internal bleeding and organ failure -- all symptomatic of contact with anthrax.

Investigators had speculated that Ibrahim died on 11 April after opening a suitcase suspected of containing the deadly substance. Brazil's federal police said the investigation is focussing on the likelihood that Ibrahim may have been given a suitcase in Cairo by an unidentified person, and was due to deliver it to somebody in Canada.

The Egyptian ship was carrying bauxite from the Amazon to Canada. Ibrahim had travelled to Brazil from Cairo to join the ship, but he died a day before it set sail. Interpol informed Canadian authorities of the situation, and they subsequently quarantined the vessel.

Following the 9/11 attacks in New York, five people in the United States died as a result of coming into contact with anthrax, which had been placed in the mail. The culprit remains at large.

Journalist released

ON 24 APRIL, Ibrahim El-Sahari, a journalist with the economic daily Al-Alam Al-Yom, was released after 10 days of detention, reports Mona El-Nahhas . According to his wife, Hala Dahroug, El-Sahari was subject to brutal physical torture during his detention, which began on 14 April.

For nearly a week, it was unknown where El-Sahari was being detained. During a 21 April press conference at the Press Syndicate, it was revealed that the journalist was being held at Tora prison. Press Syndicate Chairman Ibrahim Nafie, who had been involved in wide-ranging contacts with top officials about the El-Sahari arrest, promised the assembled journalists that their colleague would be released within 36 hours.

The charges against El-Sahari remained unclear, although some observers speculated that his arrest was a result of his shouting anti-regime slogans during a Press Syndicate sit-in strike protesting the US-British occupation of Iraq, following the fall of Baghdad. Five other activists were arrested at the time.

El-Sahari's Al-Alam Al-Yom colleague, Ayman Makram, as well as journalist Hisham Fouad from Al-Arabi, the weekly mouthpiece of the Nasserist Party, began a hunger strike three days after El-Sahari's arrest. Following his release, the journalists decided to suspend their strike for a few days, before resuming it again with a goal towards getting the five other activists released. Makram and Fouad's health had deteriorated to the extent that they were taken to the Red Crescent hospital for treatment.

SARS precautions

EGYPTIAN authorities have set up strict new procedures at Cairo airport to examine passengers for SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome). Beginning last Monday, all incoming travellers have been subject to mandatory medical checkups as part of efforts to keep Egypt free of the potentially lethal disease. Previously, only passengers arriving from Hong Kong, Vietnam, China, Singapore, Taiwan and the Canadian city of Toronto had been examined to determine whether or not they had any symptoms of SARS.

Minister of Health Mohamed Awad Tageddin has repeatedly said that Egypt has no SARS cases, and was taking all precautions to keep it that way.

SARS has killed at least 331 people around the world and infected 5,510 people in at least 25 countries since its emergence in southern China late last year.

Dinosaur back home

TWO YEARS after they were taken abroad for tests, the bones of a gigantic dinosaur found in the desert surrounding Bahariya Oasis have been brought back to Egypt. The dinosaur, considered the second largest on record, had been sent to Pennsylvania University in the United States for restoration and examination.

The giant plant-eating dinosaur had been unearthed in June 2001. The creature lived in and around the swamps and mud flats along the shores of the sea some 94 million years ago.

Compiled by Shaden Shehab