A new Muslim image

IN AN ADDRESS celebrating Moulid Al-Nabi (Prophet Mohamed's birthday), President Hosni Mubarak said that as a result of an "incorrect image of Islam", many Muslim nations have been accused of supporting terrorism, threatening to use weapons of mass destruction, and committing human rights abuses and undemocratic acts.

Mubarak also listed other reasons for these accusations, including the fact that "many Muslim countries and peoples are still under occupation or colonial rule, and thus their struggle for liberation is interpreted as an aggression against other civilisations and religions." To counter this incorrect perception, he called for "moderate religious discourse and well-founded interpretation and implementation of our noble values".

Speaking to a large gathering of clerics and top officials on Monday evening, Mubarak called for a "strong Islamic economic order" on par with other global economic blocs, and capable of interacting with them. He emphasised, however, that such moves should not be perceived as a prelude for a clash of civilisations.

The Muslim world, he said, was fully capable of pursuing a political and economic revival, and offering prosperity for its people. According to Mubarak, "a clear vision and strategy for the nation should be mapped out in order to achieve that which is beneficial for our future."

The ceremony also included the distribution of prizes for superior Qur'anic recitation, and recognition of distinguished clerics from around the Muslim world.

Perfect health

EGYPTIAN Prime Minister Atef Ebeid was admitted to Ain Shams University Hospital on Sunday after being overcome by exhaustion. He was released soon after tests determined he was in perfect health.

Health Minister Awad Tageddin, who accompanied Ebeid to the hospital, said the results of the medical exams indicated everything was normal.

The prime minister had complained of fatigue after taking part in several long and successive meetings from Saturday afternoon until dawn on Sunday.

Ebeid, 71, has been in office since October 1999. He is a veteran politician who has held a series of government posts. Ebeid came to power amid hopes he would boost economic reforms, but some analysts say his track record has fallen below expectations.

Extradition pending

URUGUAY's Supreme Court on 6 May approved the extradition to Egypt of El-Said Hassan Mukhlis, a suspected Islamist militant. The court had been studying Mukhlis' case for four years. The ruling comes after several appeals filed by Mukhlis' attorneys to halt the extradition. However, sources close to Mukhlis' Egyptian defence team said the approval for extradition has not yet been finalised because the Uruguayan court is still awaiting approval from the Egyptian government on the conditions of his extradition.

The court said that the extradition would take place only if Egyptian authorities guarantee Mukhlis a fair trial and agree not to apply the death penalty and try him only according to the charges listed in the extradition papers. The Uruguayan interior minister has said that it is not certain whether Egypt will abide by these conditions.

Mukhlis is an Egyptian merchant who was arrested in Uruguay on 29 January 1999 for attempting to enter the country from Brazil using a false passport. Egypt, however, wants him extradited for his suspected involvement in the 1997 Luxor massacre that left 58 tourists and four Egyptians dead.

The Uruguayan media has reported that at the time of Mukhlis' arrest he had been on his way to London. The Uruguayan media also said that the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had linked Mukhlis to Saudi dissident Osama Bin Laden, who was then accused of masterminding the bombings of US embassies in Africa in August 1997.

Share of the spoils

RIDA Hamed, 39, who worked in Iraq for 15 years as a truck driver, on 14 April allegedly found a sack containing $430,000 in the stairwell of a building near his home in Baghdad. Hamed considered himself lucky and decided to keep the money as a gift from God. He decided to return to Egypt with the fortune as well as an additional $25,000 which he said were his savings from 16 years of work in Iraq.

Hamed hid the money in the lining of his clothes and avoided several US checkpoints inside Iraq as well as Jordanian police and customs officials before reaching Egypt. Egyptian customs at the port of Nuweiba on the Red Sea discovered the cash on 3 May and arrested him.

Hamed was released on Saturday without bail.

Egyptian officials are currently holding the money. They have said that Hamed could be charged if he does not formally forego his rights to the cash. It is not clear whether officials will keep the money or return it to Iraq if Hamed relinquishes it.

Hamed said looters raided banks in the Iraqi capital in the days following Saddam's downfall and stole millions of dollars. "Thieves were trying to carry as many sacks [of money] as possible and it seemed the one I found had been left by someone who had returned to the bank to get more," Hamed said.

"There were no Iraqi government officials or police forces to whom I could have given the money, and it was illogical to give it to the Americans," he said. "Therefore, I decided to bring it to Egypt."

Home again

SIX Pharaonic artefacts illegally smuggled out of Egypt over a century ago have been recovered, reports Nevine El- Aref .

On Monday, five limestone reliefs and a huge cobra statue from the New Kingdom were retrieved from the US. The artefacts were loaded in crates and sent in diplomatic packages from the US under the supervision of the FBI and Egyptian officials. Egyptian police have placed the objects in the Egyptian Museum.

The artefacts had been discovered in Egypt in 1817 and smuggled out of the country in 1860. The FBI found the objects during the breakup of an international antiquities trafficking ring.

Among the recovered pieces is a huge limestone relief of Pashen-Khunssu, a high-ranking official during the reign of King Psamtek I of the 26th dynasty. The relief is divided into two sections; the first features a group of three men and a woman standing in front of Osiris, while the second section bears hieroglyphic texts. Four painted fragments of a limestone relief from the wall of Seti I's tomb in Luxor were also among the recovered objects.

Honest policeman

A POLICE officer refused a LE1 million bribe offered by smugglers in exchange for allowing them to steal Pharaonic artefacts from the southern city of Minya. Instead, the smugglers were set up by the officer and arrested. Smuggling rings thrive in Egypt and often sell their ill-gotten goods to private collectors in the West.

The culprits offered the money to Lieutenant Magdi Mohamed Khater, 23, on the condition that he would remove his policemen from the site for one night.

The smugglers discovered the existence of several ancient artefacts, including a statue and several reliefs, underneath a house in Minya and hoped to steal them during the night. The lieutenant played along, pretending to accept the offer. He then positioned men near the house and caught the smugglers in action.

Compiled by Shaden Shehab