Newsreel

---

Peace call

MRS SUZANNE Mubarak will deliver the opening remarks as a keynote speaker and prominent guest of a UN conference in Beirut entitled "Arab Regional Forum Ten Years After Beijing: Call for Peace", set to take place between 8-10 July.

Under the patronage of Lebanese First Lady Andrée Lahoud, the forum hopes to be an important conduit for highlighting the steps taken by Arab states towards enhancing women's status.

At a 1 July press conference, UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) Executive Secretary Mervat Tallawi explained that "Call for Peace" was selected as the conference slogan to emphasise that for the past three decades -- following the first world conference on women in Mexico City -- interest in women's issues in terms of equality and development superseded that of women's issues and peace.

On Mrs Mubarak prospective address to the conference, Tallawi said, "Mrs Mubarak has launched great initiatives throughout the past 20 years, beginning with efforts to eradicate illiteracy for girls, all the way to the Suzanne Mubarak International Women's Movement for Peace. It goes without saying that in this regard, Mrs Mubarak will have some very substantive ideas to share for the sake of promoting the status of Arab women."

Transport minister dies

TRANSPORT Minister Hamdi El-Shayeb died of a sudden heart attack last Saturday. The 56-year-old minister was taken to Ain Shams Specialised Hospital on Saturday night, but doctors there were unable to save his life.

El-Shayeb became transport minister in March 2002, replacing former minister Ibrahim El-Demeiri, who resigned after a horrific train accident left more than 300 people dead, and resulted in harsh criticism of the deterioration of the Egyptian railway system.

El-Shayeb graduated from Alexandria University's Faculty of Engineering in 1971. For 20 years of his professional life, he worked with the giant Egyptian petroleum company, Petrojet. Two months prior to his appointment, El-Shayeb became Petrojet's board chairman.

Prime Minister Atef Ebeid and several other top officials attended his funeral on Sunday.

Copts angry about movie

FORTY Coptic clergymen and lawyers submitted a petition to Prosecutor-General Maher Abdel-Wahed on Monday requesting a ban on the film, Bahib Al-Sima (I Love Cinema), which is currently showing in cinemas across the country.

The angry Copts, accompanied by a number of Muslim lawyers, said the film derides Christianity. They urged that legal measures be taken against the film's scriptwriter and producer, who are both Christian.

The petition included the priests' objections to certain scenes, including one depicting a physical assault on a priest at one of Egypt's churches, which they consider an assault on Copts in general.

The petition further explained that while Copts support creativity and are not opposed to Christian themes being dealt with by the movie industry, they also believe that creativity should not harm the image of religion. "We do not mind the portrayal of Copts in drama; however, we are strongly against the misuse of holy verses, and aggression against certain religious beliefs."

One of the clergymen, Aziz Morqos, said he had consulted with many of his Muslim scholar friends on whether they would accept similar scenes depicting Islam. They told him, he said, that they would call for the immediate removal of such a film from cinemas.

Al-Azhar crisis?

A CRISIS has erupted between Al-Azhar and the government, after the Governors Council decided, last Wednesday, to ban the establishment of new institutes affiliated to Al-Azhar, and place some of Al-Azhar's schools under the Education Ministry's supervision.

Several Al-Azhar scholars charged that the move was catalysed by US pressure, an allegation denied by Religious Endowments Minister Hamdi Zaqzouq.

Al-Azhar Grand Imam Sheikh Sayed Tantawi denied having heard of, or been consulted on the issue, while asserting that he is the main authority on all Al-Azhar-related matters.

Reform conference

A CONFERENCE on "the mechanism of reform in the Arab world" began in Cairo on Monday. The three-day conference was attended by nearly 50 prominent figures representing legal and media organisations in 13 Arab states.

The first sessions focussed on discussing the Bibliotheca Alexandria reform conference, with an aim towards laying out an outline for creating a strong civil movement capable of implementing reform plans in coordination with Arab governments.

Compiled by Mona El-Nahhas