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Cheney in town

FOR THE second time in three months, US Under-Secretary of State Liz Cheney, daughter of US Vice- President Dick Cheney, visited Cairo for talks with senior officials. Cheney met Gamal Mubarak, chief of the influential Policies Committee of the ruling National Democratic Party. She also met representatives of the opposition and human rights groups.

Cheney's visit was low-key and given little publicity by the US Embassy in Cairo.

To beevicted

A SENIOR Egyptian diplomatic delegation is to visit Kuwait following reports that 80,000 Egyptian workers could be removed from their housing in the Khitan district which is being revamped by the Kuwaiti government.

Kuwait has promised to show patience but has asked Cairo to provide its citizens with alternative housing. Egyptian workers, most with low income, complain that their financial means do not allow for alternative housing.

Gaza talks

THE FOREIGN ministers of Egypt and Palestine headed a joint meeting in Cairo yesterday on Gaza to discuss the area's economic future following last month's Israeli withdrawal.

Not sure

AN OFFICIAL source at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said the ministry has not received any information confirming the kidnapping last week of an Egyptian engineer in Iraq.

"We have not received any official documents that refer to or confirm that such an incident has actually taken place," a high-ranking diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Al-Ahram Weekly.

The statement raised questions regarding the news published last week that said an Egyptian engineer in Iraq, working in Iraqna, a mobile phone company owned by Egyptian businessman Naguib Sawiris, had been captured by unidentified gunmen in Al-Hamra, in the western district of Baghdad.

The diplomat added that the ministry did not receive any official document from Orascom, the mother company to which Iraqna belongs.

Aref wins

GALAL Aref has won a second term as chairman of the Press Syndicate. In a run-off election last Thursday Aref collected 1,675 votes to 1,087 for Ibrahim Hegazi, editor of Al-Ahram Al-Riyadi.

None of the 11 candidates had secured more than 50 per cent of the votes necessary in the first round of balloting four days earlier.

The elections were conducted under Press Syndicate Law 76/1976 which stipulates that the chairman will be elected every two years, for a maximum of two consecutive terms.

Race scandal

A QATARI emir killed five people and wounded 30 others after police allegedly blocked the airport road for a car race he was involved in. The emir, Saudi Ali Salem, apparently drove into a group of spectators in a fit of rage after he lost. He then escaped with one of the two Egyptian drivers despite the presence of policemen on the scene.

The incident has caused a public outcry, with the story making headlines in dozens of local publications.

Eyewitnesses and families of the victims claimed that Egyptian policemen helped the 18-year-old emir flee from the scene and return to Qatar on a chartered flight shortly after the incident.

Prosecutors have began questioning the alleged race organiser, Rami Serri, who has been taken into custody.

The families of the victims have appealed to President Hosni Mubarak to intervene. The Qatari Embassy has made no statement over the incident.