Bringing out the dead
The murder of a Tunisian-born singer by her Egyptian husband brought the season of goodwill to a sensational close. Gamal Nkrumah scans the Egyptian press for a killing that left the entire nation horror-struck
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Mustafa Hussein of Al-Akhbar has Bush taunting seething US troops in Iraq sing the well-known Egyptian song: "Take us with you if you're leaving."
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We are all wild at heart. And Eid Al-Fitr is a celebration that preys on the child in us that loves dizzying delights. It is not altogether surprising, therefore, that the press this week commenced with a decided focus on affairs that touch the heart. Photos of children in feisty mood at amusement parks, the Giza Zoo and seaside resorts were splashed on the front pages of most papers. Millions of Egyptians celebrate Eid Al-Fitr, Al-Gomhuria in a full page report noted, by devouring huge quantities of the delectable kahk, traditional eid cookies. The paper especially praised the merits of the home-baked variety. Other papers had another take on the eid. "Arabs and foreigners share the eid celebrations with Egyptians," read a front page headline in Al-Akhbar.
At the week's start Egyptian papers spotlighted the purported peculiarities of this year's celebrations: prohibitive price tags, the long- anticipated spending splurge that failed to materialise and the conspicuous absence of the traditional stellar line-up on the big screen.
But the papers ultimately failed to make a drama out of the feast. As Providence would have it, a real life tragedy did -- the Cairene island suburb of Zamalek hit the headlines on Friday as eid celebrations reached a crescendo. The season of goodwill came to an abrupt and unexpected end. One particular story overshadowed all political dramas and kept the country focussed on the enthralling details of a lurid murder.
His photos were splashed on a wide range of papers. His eyes had a murderous glint. Hers, horribly heartrending.
The entire nation appeared to be shocked and horrified by the senseless and sanguinary violence. The butchering of the Tunisian-born singer Zikra at the hands of her husband, the Egyptian businessman Ayman El-Suweidi, sent shock waves throughout the country. El- Suweidi was depicted as mentally unstable, but shrewd enough to secure loans totalling LE450 million from a number of banks. Not only did he shoot Zikra, along with his business manager and the manager's wife, but he then proceeded to commit suicide, inserting the nozzle of the machine-gun in his mouth, the weapon he reportedly used to mow down his victims, before pulling the trigger. The grisly murder immediately became the talk of the town, which was in turn reflected in the press.
"Marital infidelity, wealth and unlicensed weapons," trumpeted the melodramatic Sawt Al-Umma. In a full-page spread the paper spoke of a scandal involving a Qatari prince, who apparently bankrolled the unfortunate Tunisian singer; Zikra's confessions to a passionate liaison with a compatriot of hers and a fellow singer, an Egyptian policeman; and Ayman El-Suweidi's string of marriages to dancers, singers and actresses. "Sixty-four bullets, four dead," read another headline. Zikra, which means remembrance, will certainly be remembered for some time to come.
Whether or not she had a brief fling that triggered the killer instinct in this Othello, as speculated by some papers, our Desdemona met a brutal end that brought into sharp focus the gun-ownership laws of the country. El-Suweidi was reported by some papers to have owned an unlicensed machine gun; other papers insisted that the murder weapon was a properly licensed pistol.
Not to be outdone, the weekly Akher Sa'a covered the Zikra tragedy in an unprecedented 11-page investigative report on the gruesome murder. "El-Suweidi planned the premeditated murder because of his mounting debts," the magazine concluded.
Al-Ahram in an exclusive interview with Zikra's sister Widad revealed that El-Suweidi was so obsessive in his love for his wife that he forbade her to speak to members of her family back in Tunisia. Her siblings learnt about the tragedy that befell their estranged sister via the media like everyone else. Meanwhile, Al-Akhbar reported that 25 Egyptian performing artists flew to Tunisia to attend the funeral of the slain Tunisian singer and pay their last respects and condolences to her family.
By the end of the week, however, the grim realities of the stalled Palestinian-Israeli peace process and the US-led occupation of Iraq once again dominated the headlines. As the week drew to an end, the Palestinian question in particular rose to the fore.
The signing of the so-called Geneva Accord between the Palestinians and the Israelis featured prominently in Monday's and Tuesday's papers. Hailed as an unofficial peace plan, the initiative was drafted by left-wing Israelis and Palestinian officials. Commenting on it, President Hosni Mubarak was quoted in Al-Ahram as saying, "Egypt supports any peace initiative that aims at helping the Palestinians and Israelis to find a solution to the Middle East conflict." Mubarak also reiterated Egypt's support for the US roadmap to end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and other well-intentioned peace plans.
On the eve of US Secretary of State Colin Powell's tour of North African countries Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, Al-Akhbar lamented the death of peace at the hands of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. "America speaks of reviving the roadmap that was executed by Sharon," read an editorial in Al-Akhbar. "The most vital part of the roadmap is the establishment of a Palestinian state by 2005. This is what everyone except Israel had been hoping for. The crux of the matter, the pivotal question is: Can the US raise the dead?" Sadly, the rhetorical question that this piece posits can never be answered.
"The problem," the paper warned, "is that the US is most reluctant, even incapable, of putting the slightest pressure on Israel, especially during the run-up to a presidential election."
Al-Gomhuria, like most other official papers, applauded the Geneva declaration between the Palestinians and the Israelis. Commentaries in opposition papers were less optimistic, depicting the talks in Geneva as sugar-coated negotiations. "Hamas opposes the Geneva Accord and Fatah refuses to participate. Demonstrators in Gaza attempt to stop the Palestinian delegation from travelling to Switzerland," ran Al-Wafd's headline.
Few publications, however, tried to paper over the difficulties facing the Palestinians as they prepare to negotiate with the Israelis. "There is no point in holding any talks if the Israeli government continues to build the wall," Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei was quoted as saying in Al-Akhbar, referring to the so-called security fence Israel is erecting in the West Bank. Israel says the fence is needed to help prevent what it calls terrorist attacks; the Palestinians and much of the international community consider the fence an attempt by Israel to grab more Palestinian land. The paper stressed the Palestinian position that Israel's fence must be scrapped first as a condition for peace.
There was consensus, however, on the pivotal role played by Egypt in consolidating Palestinian unity and fostering a climate conducive to meaningful peace talks between the Palestinians and Israelis. "Egypt does not put pressure on anyone. All Palestinian organisations welcome our efforts," Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher was quoted as saying in Al-Gomhuria. Maher was commenting on the forthcoming coordinating and consultative meeting of the various Palestinian factions in Cairo.
Iraq also grabbed the headlines of many papers. On Friday, Al- Ahram's Board Chairman and Editor-in-Chief Ibrahim Nafie warned that the political and social stability of Iraq can only be secured and the country's reconstruction can seriously commence only when the occupation of Iraq ends. "The responsibility of what is happening in Iraq falls squarely on the two main occupying powers -- the United States and Britain. [These two states] bear full responsibility for the killings, and collective punishment as reprisal, the wanton destruction of Iraq's infrastructure as well as the institutions of the state," Nafie said in a strongly-worded and frank commentary. He admonished Washington and London and urged them to end their occupation of Iraq and to do so as soon as possible.
Nafie quoted President Mubarak in his recent speech to the joint houses of parliament when he stated that the nature of the aggression against Iraq and the occupation of the country set a dangerous precedent in international relations. He concurred with Mubarak that the surest way to stem the rising tide of violence in Iraq was to end the occupation of the country.
Nafie stressed that the most pressing issue was the end of the military occupation of Iraq. He conceded that enormous challenges lied ahead. "We are acutely aware that the political situation in Iraq is unstable, that there are serious problems. Perhaps conflicts on different fronts will erupt with the departure of the occupying troops and especially after the systematic destruction of the institutions of the state and the dissolution of the country's police force," Nafie said, but he went on to say that "these concerns must not interfere with or impede the liberation of Iraq and the transfer of power to the Iraqi people."
Egyptian papers extensively covered the three-day visit of Maltese President Guidio de Marco to Egypt. President Mubarak was quoted in Al-Ahram as stressing the important role played by Malta as a natural link between North Africa and Europe. Egypt called on Malta, which is scheduled to become a full-fledged member state of the European Union in May 2004, to assist in bridging the gap between North Africa and Europe by strengthening cooperation between Mediterranean Basin countries. De Marco headed a large delegation which included Maltese businessmen in the hope of boosting trade and economic relations between Egypt and the strategically-located Mediterranean island.
President Bush's surprise visit to Baghdad aroused the curiosity of a number of seasoned newspapermen. "The secret visit" announced columnist Ahmed El-Guindi in Al-Akhbar, who dismissed the visit as "a publicity stunt". His tone throughout was derisive. In a seven-point scathing critique of the record of the US president, El-Guindi prophesised that Bush will go down in history as the most loathed American president in living memory. Knocking down both the bellicose Bush prancing about in Rambo-like fashion and the violent and distasteful American film industry, El-Guindi envisaged many future Hollywood productions dramatising the life and times of Bush. "President Bush will no doubt become the favourite subject of Hollywood in future," El-Guindi forecast facetiously.
But the press pundits soon tired of the subject, dismissing Bush's visit as an ill-timed and cheap propaganda stunt. Indeed, Bush's brief stopover at Baghdad International Airport drew scant attention as the week progressed.
Al-Akhbar took a closer look at the whirlwind visit of British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw to Baghdad. The paper highlighted the "assassination attempt on Straw's life" during his brief visit to Iraq. Several papers commented on how Straw conceded that the situation in Iraq was difficult. They also stressed that Straw, like Bush, did not make any contact with Iraqis during his brief stay in the country. "The security situation is very difficult, but British troops will remain stationed in Iraq," Straw was quoted as saying in Al-Gomhuria.
Many pundits decried the war crimes being committed by the US forces in Iraq. In particular, they were critical of the detention by US troops of more suspected Iraqi insurgents in a series of raids in and around Baghdad.
The US-led search for Ezzat Ibrahim, deputy chairman of the former Iraqi Revolutionary Council, and the detention of his wife and daughter caught the attention of a number of commentators. "US forces committed a heinous crime, one which even professional criminals usually abstain from. They arrested the wife and daughter of Ezzat Ibrahim," wrote Yasser Rizq in Al-Akhbar. "What is the difference between the actions of the US administration and those of highway robbers? What distinguishes US officials from gangsters?" he asked. This cowardly act would "only make the Iraqi resistance even fiercer and will plant the seeds of hatred within those who have not yet felt hostility towards the US," Rizq predicted. "The worst enemy of the US is its own neo-conservative administration," he warned.
Internationally renowned democracy activist and Chairman of the Cairo-based Ibn Khaldoun Centre Saadeddin Ibrahim once again became a pet subject of the Egyptian press, making front page appearances in almost every paper, both pro-government and opposition. "Saadeddin Ibrahim drowns in American aid," charged Al-Mussawar. Ibrahim retorted that Al-Mussawar's commentary was libelous slander aimed at tarnishing his public image. "Pure lies," he told reporters at a press conference. "This is a vicious hate campaign," he was reported as saying.
Ibrahim, who was acquitted on appeal in March after a two-year legal battle, said that he was suing the editor of Al-Osbou' Mustafa Bakri for writing last month that Ibrahim's Ibn Khaldoun Centre was a "Zionist American settlement" that was paving the way for American-Zionist aggression against Egypt.
Al-Wafd, too, focussed on domestic politics. The opposition paper denounced the government's plans to exclude draft dodging members of parliament. "The government committed an unprecedented political scandal," read Al-Wafd's front-page headline. "Administrative justice: The minister of the interior's decree contravenes the constitution, the law and court rulings," read the paper's headline. Al-Wafd was referring to the controversial barring of 16 draft dodging parliamentarians from standing in forthcoming by-elections.
