Jailed for libel

THE EDITOR-in-chief of the weekly Al- Osbou' newspaper and his deputy were arrested on Monday following a verdict issued by the Court of Cassation on Sunday upholding a one- year prison term passed against them by a lower court three years ago. Mustafa Bakri, the chief editor, and his brother, Mahmoud, were found guilty of libel, after allegedly slandering Mohamed Abdel-Aal, the former head of the Social Justice Party and the former editor-in-chief of the weekly Al-Watan Al-Arabi newspaper.

Ironically, Abdel-Aal was sentenced on 24 May to 10 years in jail after being found guilty by a State Security Court of receiving bribes from businessmen in return for turning a blind eye to their activities.

On Tuesday, Ibrahim Nafie, chairman of the Press Syndicate, issued a statement denouncing the imprisonment: "The Press Syndicate board renews its condemnation of the principle of imprisoning journalists for publication offences and reiterates the syndicate's General Assembly's unwavering stance of calling for the abolishment of legislation that denies publication freedom in this way." This legislation, added the statement "restricts freedom of expression and that of the press" and is tantamount to a "sword" hanging over the journalists' necks, hence representing an "obstacle in the path to democratic advancement".

The syndicate's board has formed a committee that comprises top-ranking law experts and journalists headed by former Chief Justice Awad El-Morr. The committee has prepared a draft bill to amend the press law, which was submitted to the People's Assembly on behalf of the syndicate by MP Hamdeen El-Sabahi, but was neither discussed nor ratified.

Further, Nafie presented a request to the prosecutor general to suspend the sentence on the grounds that Abdel-Aal was found guilty of the charges raised against him by the Bakris.

To this effect, Minister of Interior Habib El- Adli ordered an immediate investigation into the conduct of the officers who were in charge of executing the court ruling and who did not consult with their superiors before taking action.

Meanwhile, nearly 40 banner-brandishing employees of Al-Osbou' newspaper demonstrated in front of the Press Syndicate headquarters on Monday to protest the court ruling.

A false alarm

EGYPTAIR Flight 754 arrived in Cairo from Madrid on Sunday after an emergency landing in Athens airport. A flight attendant had found a handwritten note on the floor of the aircraft's toilet with a bogus bomb scare message.

Suspicion is focussed on a 39-year-old Kuwaiti, whose identity has not been divulged. The man, who was the last to use the toilet before the flight attendant discovered the message, was arrested and will most likely be prosecuted in Greece.

Upon the emergency landing late Saturday, Greek authorities immediately evacuated the 85 passengers and nine crew members of the Airbus A320, but found no explosives on board after a four-hour search.

Another Kuwaiti passenger was also arrested earlier on the same suspicions and was prevented from travelling to Cairo, but was released for lack of evidence linking him to the false bomb alarm.

Jihad leaders released

AFTER one week of detention, Egyptian authorities released on 30 May a number of prominent figures of the militant Islamist Jihad group. The men are known for their affiliation to the group's former leader, Ayman El- Zawahri, who is currently Saudi dissident Osama Bin Laden's right-hand man.

Meanwhile, authorities are interrogating an Australian detained a week ago on suspicions of being linked with Bin Laden's Al-Qa'eda network.

Sources close to Islamists said that nearly 10 Jihad members -- who served prison terms for the assassination of President Anwar El-Sadat in 1981 -- were extensively interrogated by security officials. The men were released only after security officials were fully convinced that the prisoners had, for years, renounced their former organisational links to the banned group.

According to the same sources, police warned the repentant militants against ceding to El- Zawahri's calls urging attacks on American and Western targets. The former Jihad members apparently assured the authorities that they had cut all their links with El-Zawahri a long time ago, even before El-Zawahri joined Bin Laden's Islamic Front for Combating Jews and Crusaders was established in 1998.

Tourism integration

AT THE closing session of the annual two-day conference of the Council of Arab Ministers of Tourism held in Sharm El-Sheikh, Minister of Tourism Mamdouh El-Beltagui urged the boosting of inter-Arab tourism, reports Rehab Saad.

The conference, ending on 29 May, was attended by Arab ministers of tourism, as well as officials from concerned Arab ministries and the Arab League.

The ministers of tourism agreed on studying a number of proposals, including establishing a pan-Arab company for operating hotels, a tourism marketing company and a holding company for bus transportation.

The council called upon Arab countries to develop their awareness of e-commerce and e- marketing and to develop telecommunication infrastructure and modern technology in a way that serves the tourist sector.

"Current international and regional events impose certain challenges that necessitate uniting our efforts in a bid to activate the mechanisms of Arab integration and revive Arab tourism and sustainable development," El-Beltagui said.

He said the deliberate and dangerous mix between Islam, Arabs and terrorism must be refuted, referring to the negative impact it has had on the tourism industry in Arab, as well as Islamic countries.

On the conference sidelines, a meeting was held between the National Committee of Pilgrimage and Umra in Saudi Arabia and the Egyptian Chamber of Travel Agencies to discuss means of cooperation in the field of tourism and investment. Both sides agreed to work on eliminating all obstacles facing the organisation, in order to guarantee the comfort and well-being of pilgrims.

Compiled by Jailan Halawi