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Boosting dialogue

FOREIGN Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit met Monday with the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) deputy secretary-general, Ambassador Alessandro Minuto Rizzo. During their meeting, Egypt's top diplomat emphasised "Egypt's genuine interest to maintain its dialogue with NATO" which began in 1994 alongside other southern Mediterranean countries. Abul-Gheit, however, said any progress in Egypt's relationship with NATO was conditional on the "positive impact" such progress might have on issues vital to the Arab world, especially the Arab-Israeli conflict, the efforts exerted to establish an independent Palestine, and Egypt's keenness to have the Middle East a nuclear free zone.

Rizzo, who was participating in a two-day seminar on public diplomacy organised by the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs, sounded NATO's keenness "to enhance its dialogue with southern Mediterranean states in 2006 in order to bolster ties and become full NATO partners."

In his opening address at the seminar, Abul-Gheit emphasised the need to establish a mutual dialogue between the Muslim world and the West to prevent the occurrence of a clash of civilisations. "We are witnessing the early signs of a campaign and a clash between the West and Islam," Abul-Gheit said. "It is therefore important and necessary to start dialogues for understanding and peaceful co-existence between the two sides."

Respect religion

EUROPEAN Union Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana arrived in Cairo on Tuesday on the second leg of a Middle East tour in a bid "to restore the EU's strong ties with the Muslim world following the publishing of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohamed in a Danish newspaper. Solana, who was in Saudi Arabia on Monday, met President Hosni Mubarak, Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit, Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa and Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar Mohamed Sayed Tantawi.

During his meeting with Mubarak, Solana discussed means to protect religious beliefs across the world. "We believe freedom of the press entails responsibility and discretion and should respect the beliefs and tenets of all religions," Solana said. He added that the newly formed UN human rights commission could play a key role in protecting these beliefs.

Following his meeting with Abul-Gheit, Solana highlighted Europe's "deep respect for all Islamic beliefs. Europe is ready to enter a dialogue with the Muslim world. I believe that together we could, and should, work to make this world a better place," Solana told reporters.

Angry judges

HUNDREDS of judges will stage a sit-in tomorrow at the headquarters of the Alexandria Judges Club to protest against the government's non-stop attempts to pressure judges, reports Mona El-Nahhas.

The Justice Ministry recently decided to suspend the annual financial aid allocated for judges clubs, estimated at LE60 million.

Judicial sources viewed the ministry's decision as punishment imposed upon judges for what they described as their "honourable attitude" during elections. Judges criticised the parliamentary electoral commission which was headed by the justice minister.

Sources revealed that the minister asked judges clubs to accept being subject under the direct supervision of the appointed supreme judiciary council as a prerequisite not to stop aid.

Tomorrow's sit-in will also condemn government attempts to distort the draft law prepared by the Cairo Judges Club to amend the current judiciary law in a way which separates the judiciary from the executive authority represented by the Justice Ministry.

The draft, now at the Supreme Judiciary Council, is said to be subject to several changes which might empty it of its meaning.

Showing their support for judges, Muslim Brotherhood members of parliament, whose number is estimated at 88, vowed to stand firmly against introducing any changes to the original draft, while being discussed at the People's Assembly.

Tomorrow's move will be followed by several sit-ins in the provinces.

Turmoil continues

ALTHOUGH a temporary chairman for the liberal Wafd Party was elected last Friday, the struggle for power continues.

The party's higher council, led by Mahmoud Abaza, had dismissed Noaman Gomaa from his post as chairman last month but Gomaa refused to comply. Consequently, Gomaa and his supporters announced the election null and void because the post of chairman was not vacant. However, the majority of Wafd members consider the elections legal until a vote takes place in June for the post of chairman.

A court decided last Thursday that sacking Gomaa was illegal but Abaza contested the ruling making it invalid until a higher court issues a final ruling.

Mustafa El-Tawil is acting as temporary chairman.

Refugees released

EGYPTIAN officials said Sunday they had released the last of hundreds of Sudanese migrants detained after security forces ended a protest camp in Mustafa Mahmoud Square in Mohandessin, Giza, in December.

"The move followed a plea for their release on humanitarian grounds by UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres," said Ahmed Mohsen, an assistant protection officer at the Cairo office of the UN refugee agency UNHCR.

More than 2,000 refugees were violently removed from the square near the UNHCR office on 30 December after a three-months sit-in protesting what they considered was the UN's failure to resettle them in another country.

Twenty-six Sudanese died in the clashes that ensued, and rights groups and the international community accused the police of being unnecessarily violent. The police had detained hundreds of the migrants in Abu Zaabal -- notoriously known as the detention camp of political opposition activists -- and have been gradually releasing them after clarifying their status under refugee and migrant laws.

With the release of 156 migrants, "the Egyptian authorities have set free all the Sudanese who were transported to the detention centres after putting an end to their strike," a Foreign Ministry official told news agencies.

The Foreign Ministry official said those in the group were considered illegal immigrants but would not be deported "so as not to scatter Sudanese families who live in Egypt".

Egypt has long offered Sudanese a haven from the conflicts that have ravaged their country. About five million Sudanese are living in Egypt, according to non-governmental organisations. Approximately 30,000 are registered as refugees.

Chivalrous act

AHMED Hassan, captain of the Egyptian national football team, announced last week he will donate half the bonuses he is due to receive after winning the African Cup of Nations (ACN) to six-year-old Mohamed Ahmed, who survived the sinking of the Al-Salam Boccaccio 98 ferry in the Red Sea two weeks ago. Around 1,000 people are believed to have died.

Hailing from the Upper Egyptian city of Minya, Mohamed Ahmed's hometown, Hassan invited the boy to attend the final match of the championship between Egypt and Côte d'Ivoire last Friday in an attempt to "soothe his psychological anguish".

The boy was rescued after spending up to 36 hours in the Red Sea on his own following the sinking of the ferry. Having lost his parents, sister and brother in the tragedy, Mohamed Ahmed remained afloat by clinging to a life saver.

Hassan, who plays for Besiktas of Turkey, announced in a TV talk show that he would financially support the boy for life.

Having won their fifth ACN title, the Egyptian team is to get over LE7 million in bonuses.

Ban refused

HUMAN rights groups have condemned a recent proposal by the Council of Arab Interior Ministers aimed at giving member governments wide scope to ban Web sites suspected of supporting terrorism.

Activists say legislation permitting such bans will be used as an excuse to clamp down on Web sites not favoured by authorities.

"This development is only the latest step in a long series of restrictive measures to be recommended by the council," said Hossam Bahgat, programme director at the Cairo- based Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, one of 17 organisations to officially condemn the proposal.

The recommendation was first made by Egypt's Minister of the Interior Habib El-Adli at the council's last meeting last month in Tunis. Attended by more than 15 Arab ministers, the meeting focused mainly on inter-Arab security arrangements and the war on terror.

"The conference... welcomed the proposal of the Egyptian interior minister, which apparently aims to close Web sites supporting terrorism or Web sites arguing hatred," rights groups noted in a joint statement to the press.

"However, the minister... did not provide any clear or identified definition of terrorism, excluding the loose definition declared in 1998," the statement added.

The council's 1998 meeting defined terrorism as "any act or threat of violence, whatever its motives or purposes, that occurs in the advancement of an individual or collective criminal agenda and seeking to sow panic among people... or seeking to cause damage to the environment or to public or private installations or property or to occupying or seizing them, or seeking to jeopardise national resources".

"At that conference, the definition of the term was expanded, making it possible to class peaceful instances of freedom of expression as terrorism," Bahgat noted.

"Last year, this agreement was modified to include incitement as another reason to ban activity," Bahgat added. "As a result, with new legislation aimed at the Internet, many Web sites that have absolutely nothing to do with terrorism will be subject to censorship."

The joint statement said such vague definitions "offer the best opportunity for more violations of freedom of expression," noting that "both the Egyptian and Tunisian governments are famous for being anti-Internet" and for shutting down Web sites without legal authority.

Signatories to the statement included the Paris-based Arab Committee on Human Rights and the Geneva-based Karama Association for Human Rights, along with numerous Egyptian civil-society groups.

While El-Adli's recommendation was approved by the interior ministers, they have yet to be endorsed by the League of Arab States under the auspices of which the conference was held.

Compiled by Mohamed El-Sayed