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Palestinian unease

AGAINST a backdrop of inter-Palestinian political unease and Palestinian-Israeli tension, President Hosni Mubarak spoke Saturday with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas on potential Egyptian intervention to stabilise the situation.

Palestinian sources said Abbas complained to Mubarak over the reluctance demonstrated by Hamas to coordinate with the Palestinian Authority on relations with Israel. According to the same sources, Mubarak also heard complaints from Abbas regarding the failure of Israel to honour commitments reached with the Palestinians, under US sponsorship, on the safe passages that the Palestinian people need between Gaza and the West Bank.

On Sunday, Abbas delegated his security advisor, Jebril Rajoub, to Cairo for talks with Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit and other senior Egyptian officials on Palestinian developments. The Rajoub talks in Cairo focused on the outcome of recent Palestinian elections where Hamas candidates are making considerable headway over the candidates of the Abbas-led Fatah movement. Rajoub also explored the potential for a fresh round of inter-Palestinian talks in Cairo in early 2006.

Abul-Gheit issued a statement condemning the renewed Israeli policy of targeted assassinations against top Hamas and Islamic Jihad officials.

Yesterday, Mubarak sent Intelligence chief Omar Suleiman to the Palestinian territories and Israel for talks with senior offficials there on ways to contain the mounting tension.

African resistance

PRESIDENT Hosni Mubarak on Tuesday received Mustafa Othman Ismail, advisor to Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir, to discuss a wide range of issues related to the upcoming African summit in Khartoum. Following his talks with Mubarak, Ismail told reporters that he reviewed with the president the summit's agenda that will give top priority to the controversial issue of African representation within the proposed enlargement of the UN Security Council.

Egypt has met resistance from several African states over its wish to occupy the African seat in an enlarged Security Council.

The Mubarak-Ismail meeting also reviewed the wish of Khartoum as conveyed by Al-Bashir to host the 2006 Arab summit in March in keeping with the Arabic alphabetical order of rotation. There is speculation that some Arab capitals are concerned over the ability of Sudan, in view of the continuing military confrontation in the east and west of the country, to host -- in terms of accommodation and security -- the biggest annual Arab meeting. Sharm El-Sheikh, the readily offered alternative for all Arab gatherings, was proposed in some diplomatic Arab quarters as a potential replacement.

Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit, Arab League Secretary- General Amr Moussa and Othman Ismail have all previously denied plans to change the summit's venue, however, following his talks with Mubarak, Ismail did not give similar assurances.

Praising Iraq

EGYPT has praised the "efforts, will and commitment" of the Iraqi people to introduce stability to their country. Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit told reporters that the participation of Iraqis in legislative elections last week would help serve security and stability in Iraq and should help protect Iraq's territorial and ethnic unity.

Fishermen freed

ERITREA has been persuaded to release a group of Egyptian fishermen who were arrested for having broken an embargo imposed by Asmara on fishing in its territorial waters as of April.

The release of the fishermen was described in a statement issued by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry as a sign of the relentless diplomatic efforts exerted to look after the safety and interests of Egyptians abroad.

The ministry recently came under attack by independent papers for allegedly failing to protect the interests of Egyptian overseas, especially in Arab Gulf states.

Reformers win

Pro-reform judges won all seats during heated elections on Friday at the headquarters of the Cairo Judges Club, reports Mona El-Nahhas.

In what was viewed as a sweeping victory over the state, members of the current council of the Judges Club, which has been vocal in its call for fair elections and an independent judiciary, kept their 15 seats after collecting nearly 80 per cent of the votes of 4,732 judges who attended Friday's general assembly.

The outspoken chairman of the club, Zakareya Abdel-Aziz, was overwhelmingly re-elected for another three years, after winning 3,680 votes, while his major rival judge Adel El-Shorbagui, who was backed by the state, received only 930 votes.

The win by Abdel-Aziz and his group strengthened the judges' position for reform and change. It was also seen as a powerful public rejection of pro-government figures.

After the results were announced, members of the general assembly agreed to supervise future elections only if the state abided by the guarantees judges previously stipulated for fair elections.

The judges called on President Mubarak to pass a draft law they prepared in 1991 to change the judiciary authority in a way which guarantees its total independence from the state. Judges argued that there was no need to wait for the approval of the Supreme Judiciary Council, whose opinion is strictly consultative.

During the general assembly, judges who were subject to assaults by the police and NDP thugs presented their testimonies. Judge Ahmed Saber, a member of the newly-elected council, condemned the "thuggery of the regime" and called for taking revenge from whoever attacked or insulted judges.

Abdel-Aziz threatened to appeal to an international investigation if the general prosecution did not soon finish its investigation into the assaults to which judges were subject and the rigging of elections results which took place in some constituencies.

Friday's general assembly set 17 March as the date for the next assembly, during which an overall report assessing both the presidential and parliamentary elections will be issued.

Knives out

AFTER weeks of unrest within the Wafd Party, several members are now demanding that chairman Noaman Gomaa be replaced after the poor performance of the party during the presidential and parliamentary elections. The crisis peaked when Gomaa dismissed deputy chairman Mounir Fakhri Abdel-Nour after Abdel-Nour allegedly "insulted" Gomaa on TV and press interviews.

During the party's higher committee meeting on Sunday, the majority voted that Abdel-Nour's dismissal be regarded as null. An amendment introduced to the party statute has made it the responsibility of no one other than the Wafd's higher committee to dismiss party members. Other amendments will be made to limit the authority of the chairman. Deputy chairman Mahmoud Abaza was named head of the Wafdist parliamentary bloc. Six Wafd members including Abaza won parliamentary seats. Abaza supported Abdel-Nour in his call for reforming the party.

Abdel-Nour told the Weekly last week that he will not settle for anything less than removing Gomaa from his post as chairman.

Voter dies

A 27-YEAR-OLD has died in hospital after being shot on 7 December by police during the final stage of the parliamentary elections. The Sawaseya Centre for Human Rights, which monitored the polls, said Ihab Saleh Ezzeddin, who was shot in Damietta, 175 kilometres northeast of Cairo, brought the death toll during the violence-plagued polls to 14.

Three other men were also shot and killed on 7 December in Damietta, where police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at crowds outside polling stations.

The three-stage elections, which also included three extra days of run-off voting, were marred by violence, thuggery and vote- buying.