Newsreel

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Darfur summit

EGYPTIAN President Hosni Mubarak is due to visit Libya on Sunday to take part in a two-day African summit on Sudan. "President Mubarak, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and the presidents of Sudan, Chad and Nigeria will meet in Libya starting on 17 October," Maged Abdel-Fattah, President Mubarak's official spokesman, said on Tuesday.

Abdel-Fattah said the five African leaders will discuss the increasing international support for Security Council-supported intervention in Darfur.

He added that, as was the case in Sudan and other African and Arab countries concerned, Egypt does not believe that imposed international intervention will maintain Sudan's unity and stability. "The summit will consider all efforts being exerted by the African Union to prevent such intervention," Abdel-Fattah said.

Iraq conference

EGYPT is preparing to host an international conference on Iraq in Sharm El-Sheikh next month, Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit said in Paris yesterday. "It is almost certain that the conference will begin in Sharm El-Sheikh on 23 November," Abul-Gheit said, adding that the conference, to be held at the foreign ministerial level, will be attended by the Arab League, the Organisation of Islamic Conference, the European Union, the G8, China and Iraq's neighbouring states.

The foreign ministers of Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, Iran, Kuwait and Egypt will meet on 22 November in Sharm El-Sheikh to prepare the groundwork for the conference.

"Egypt is currently working on the conference's agenda and a draft of the final communiqué," Abul- Gheit said.

Nasser on the web

ON THE second anniversary of the Library of Alexandria, the library's Director Ismail Serageddin announced the launching of a new website dedicated to the life and work of former President Gamal Abdel- Nasser.

At a press conference on Wednesday at the headquarters of the Supreme Cultural Council, it was announced that the website will comprise the entire Nasser archive, including comprehensive documents covering his years as president. Everything ever written about Nasser, who died in 1970, in addition to photos, will be made available.

Opposition rally

EGYPTIAN opposition parties will hold a rally in Abdin Square on 4 November which will focus on reform issues.

A presidential spokesman described the rally as reflecting the climate of freedom prevailing in Egypt.

Last year, Egyptian authorities turned down a request by the opposition to hold a rally at the same venue.

Art in Frankfurt

TWO archaeological exhibitions were set up as part of the Arab world's presentation at the Frankfurt International Book Fair, reports Nevine El-Aref.

At Frankfurt's Applied Arts Museum, an Islamic exhibition features nine objects from the Fatimid and Mameluke eras, carefully selected from the Islamic Art Museum in Cairo and Dar Al-Kotob Al-Masriya (the National Archives). Among the items are three 14th-century copies of the Holy Qur'an written in two styles of calligraphy, and a bronze key to the Kaaba in Mecca inlaid with silver.

Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) Secretary- General Zahi Hawass said the key is divided into three parts, each bearing silver engravings. The first reads, "Mohamed is the Messenger of God, sent by him for guidance and rightful religion". The second has the name of the key's donor and the king who received it, while the third has various Qur'anic verses.

A large wooden brass pen box with silver, floral and geometrical motifs and inscriptions, a manuscript featuring drawings of warriors and an inscription, a wooden panel inlaid with ivory showing a hawk pouncing on a rabbit, and a glass mosque lamp inlaid with silver and gold are among the other items on display.

At the German Icon Museum, meanwhile, 11 Coptic icons from the Coptic Museum in Cairo are on display. They feature several religious scenes based on stories from the Bible, such as Jesus's birth, the Virgin Mary holding Jesus as a child and surrounded by saints, and the holy family in Egypt. Icons of Saint Anthony, who established the first monastic order, are also on display.

Fatal accident

PROMINENT journalist Mahmoud El-Maraghi died on Tuesday following a car accident. The accident occurred on the Al-Marioutiya road in Giza just few metres away from where El-Maraghi lived. El-Maraghi lost control of his car after suffering a sudden heart attack. The vehicle then collided with a tree.

The 67-year-old journalist was taken to Al-Haram Hospital but was pronounced dead upon arrival.

El-Maraghi was a renowned economy writer for Al-Ahram. He was previously chief editor of Al- Arabi newspaper, a weekly mouthpiece of the Nasserist Party, and Al-Ahali newspaper, the leftist Tagammu Party's mouthpiece.

Hotel blaze

A FIRE in the Novotel Hotel near Cairo International Airport on Tuesday night injured eight people. Among the injured were four Egyptians and two Australians.

The fire started on the second storey of the hotel which was quickly evacuated.

Sixteen fire engines were sent to the scene. The fire was put out after 30 minutes.

Policeman imprisoned

CAIRO Criminal Court on Monday sentenced a policeman to five years in prison on charges of beating a suspect to death.

According to a statement issued by the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights (EOHR), policeman Ashraf El-Ganzouri beat to death Mohamed Hassan Ismail while he was detained at Azbakeya police station in January this year. From the outset, the EOHR adopted the case as part of its anti-torture campaign.

The Interior Ministry is expected to deliver a statement to the People's Assembly Committee for Defence and National Security on the violation of the rights of detainees at police stations. The statement is to reveal measures taken by the ministry to put an end to the mistreatment of suspects.

A number of members of parliament have recently submitted several interpellations concerning the death of two male suspects as they were being transferred from Mersa Matruh to Cairo and what the MPs called the "inhuman conditions" they were subjected to for nearly 12 hours.

Agricultural relations

EGYPTIAN Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation Ahmed El-Leithi met on Tuesday his Bangladesh counterpart Mohamed Khorshed Anwar to discuss bilateral relations and cooperation between the two countries in agriculture.

The ministers expressed their keenness to collaborate on agricultural research and also discussed ways of promoting joint ventures and trade.

During his three-day visit which ends tomorrow, Anwar was briefed on agricultural projects and toured research institutes.

Compiled by Mona El-Nahhas