Tragic ramifications

THE BODY of a policeman -- believed to be the last of those who were crushed underneath the rubble of the 11-storey building that collapsed in Nasr City on 26 January -- was extracted by search teams over the weekend, raising the tragedy's death toll to 16, most of whom were rescue workers. The building collapsed like a house of cards, its height instantly reduced to that of a two or three storey structure, after a fire started in a ground floor appliance store.

The building's owner, Abul-Ruy Hussein, was arrested on charges of illegally adding six floors to the structure, which was originally built in 1981, and licensed for just five floors and a mezzanine. Complaints by residents to the district's housing administration office resulted in a demolition order that was never executed.

The tragic incident has catalysed a series of investigations by Prosecutor-General Maher Abdel-Wahed into building licences in Nasr City. In an interview with Egyptian television earlier this week, President Hosni Mubarak said that any and all structures featuring building violations should be demolished. This, however, may prove to be a tall order since -- according to press reports -- there are hundreds of building violations in Nasr City alone.

Pilgrimage tragedy

TRAGEDY struck Mina, Saudi Arabia, on Sunday when 251 pilgrims -- including 13 Egyptians -- were killed in a stampede during the stoning of a pillar symbolising Satan. The devastating incident occurred on the first day of Eid Al-Adha, and resulted in yet more sorrow for Egyptians, who were still mourning the 16 people who had died in the 26 January Nasr City building collapse.

Egyptian officials announced that they had contacted the families of the deceased, in order to obtain permission to bury the victims in Saudi Arabia. Officials also informed the relatives that the families of the deceased would each receive LE10,000 in compensation -- although it remained unclear what the source of the payments would be.

Nine other Egyptian pilgrims, meanwhile, reportedly died as a result of heart attacks, bringing the total number of Egyptians who died on the pilgrimage to 21.

Some 65,000 Egyptian pilgrims have already begun heading home from Saudi Arabia, and will continue to do so until 23 February.

Losing direction

A TOP ranking French aviation official said on Saturday that the rudder on the Egyptian charter plane that plunged into the sea off of Sharm El-Sheikh last month did not cause the fatal crash. According to Paul-Louis Arslanian, who heads the French civil aviation investigations office, the rudder was probably not responsible for the unexpected turn made by the Flash Airlines flight before it crashed in the Red Sea waters off of Sharm El-Sheikh on 3 January, killing all 148 passengers on board.

An Egyptian official heading the investigation said the experts were still unclear about why the Boeing 737 made an abrupt right-turn before plunging into the sea. Both the Egyptian and French comments inspired media speculation that a defect in the plane's directional system might have been responsible for the crash.

All the investigators know so far is that shortly after taking off, the Paris-bound flight veered in the opposite direction, and then nose-dived from an altitude of 1,800 metres into the sea

One-hundred and thirty-four French tourists and 14 crewmembers -- 13 Egyptians and a Moroccan -- died in the crash. Thus far, French and Egyptian investigators have found no evidence of a deliberate attempt to down the plane.

Eid pardons

AS CUSTOMARY, hundreds of convicts were released on Saturday to mark the Eid Al-Adha holiday. Over the past few years, the Interior Ministry has made a point of issuing pardons on such occasions to convicts who have nearly completed their terms.

Many of those who were released had been jailed as part of Islamist militancy related cases. The pardons are part of the ministry's policy of occasionally releasing militants who denounce violence and show a willingness to re- integrate into society.

Last October, authorities freed three of Al- Gama'a Al-Islamiya's so-called historic leaders. Karam Zohdi, Fou'ad El-Dawalibi and Assem Abdel-Maged had spent 22 years in jail for their role in the assassination of President Anwar El-Sadat; they were released after having been extremely active in issuing and promoting the group's unilateral cease-fire, as well as for helping to spread their new-found pacifist ideals among their fellow Gama'a members.

Sentenced to life

A CAIRO State Security Court has commuted Islamist militant Anwar Hamed Abbas's death penalty to life in jail. Abbas received the harsher sentence in absentia in 1996. Although the judge did not provide a reason for the lighter sentence, expectations are that details of the verdict will soon be revealed.

Abbas, a top figure in Egypt's most militant group, Al-Gama'a Al-Islamiya, reportedly turned himself in to authorities upon his return from the United States last October. As the trial for his role in the 1995 murders of three senior security officials in the southern town of Qena (for which he had been sentenced to death in absentia) started again last November, Islamist sources said that Abbas had been prompted by official promises that wanted Islamists who chose to return home would have their files re-opened.

Egyptian law stipulates that anyone who is sentenced in absentia is entitled to a new trial upon his return home.

Compiled by Jailan Halawi