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Demands for Nour's release

MEMBERS of the People's Assembly Human Rights Committee will soon visit former leader of the liberal Ghad Party Ayman Nour, who is serving a five-year jail term on forgery charges, reports Mona El-Nahhas.

Sources close to the committee said the aim of the visit was humanitarian and not related to a pardon request submitted to President Hosni Mubarak last year by nearly 100 MPs, sources said.

While being interviewed by AFP last week, Nour said: "I'm going to die in prison.

"Authorities in Egypt are waiting for my death," he said.

Nour's comments came as the US State Department renewed its call for his release due to his deteriorating health. During her visit to Egypt two weeks ago, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice asked President Mubarak to release Nour.

"The US continues to follow Nour's case closely and engages the Egyptian government at the highest levels to advocate for his release and for appropriate medical care," a State Department official said.

Together with US pressure, 23 human rights organisations have urged President Mubarak to release Nour. His supporters protested in front of the People's Assembly on Monday demanding he be freed. They held pictures of an ailing, newly- bearded Nour who suffers from heart problems, diabetes and hypertension.

Nour challenged President Mubarak for the presidency in 2005, finishing a distant second in Egypt's first contested presidential elections.

New status

THE SUZANNE Mubarak Movement of Women for Peace has acquired a consultative status by the UN Non-Governmental Organisations Committee, Egypt's Permanent Representative to the UN Maged Abdel-Fattah said in New York earlier this week.

Established by Mrs Suzanne Mubarak close to four years ago, the movement was meant to promote the involvement of women in peacemaking, both at the national and international level. The guiding principles of the movement are enshrined in UN Resolution 1325 which affirms the need for the inclusion of women in politics as a tool to promote peace.

"Our movement is the only regional non-governmental body that has undertaken the responsibility to promote the concepts of this resolution which UN social bodies have given much interest to," said Heba El-Sharqawi, the movement's executive director. El-Sharqawi said the new status acquired by the movement means closer coordination with the concerned UN bodies and a wider range of activities at the international level.

Since its establishment, the movement has been lobbying regional and international support for the inclusion of women in peace negotiations. It has lent support to women in several war zones and peacemaking opportunities. "We cooperate with advocates and like-minded groups. With our new status we are planning to expand," El-Sharqawi said.

El-Zomor verdict postponed

CAIRO Criminal Court has postponed until 18 February its ruling in the case of Jihad leader Abboud El-Zomor, jailed since 1981 for his role in the assassination of former president Anwar El-Sadat. El-Zomor was sentenced to life for his role in Sadat's assassination in a military parade in October 1981.

The defence team of El-Zomor, who was a former military officer, contested his prolonged detention despite having served his term, and urged his immediate release.

There has been an ongoing legal battle between the Ministry of Interior and El-Zomor's defence team over whether the former colonel is entitled to be released. The ministry argues that he is still serving term for sentences passed by a military court. His attorneys requested the implementation of the Supreme Constitutional Court's order which cleared him of other charges.

In court recently, El-Zomor, 60, was making his first public appearance since his 1981 trial.

Azhar-Vatican ties

THE GRAND Imam of Al-Azhar Sheikh Mohamed Sayed Tantawi said a meeting will be held today to discuss whether Al-Azhar will resume relations with the Vatican. The Azhar- Vatican relationship was strained last year after Pope Benedict XVI was quoted as criticising Islam and Prophet Mohamed.

Tantawi expressed optimism that relations will be resumed. "Islam insists on the importance of dialogue between religions," said Tantawi. "And Muslims need to keep that dialogue in order for them to understand the other religions," he added.

Sheikh Amr El-Deeb, head of the permanent committee for inter-faith dialogue, said there was agreement between Al-Azhar and the Vatican, adding that Mark Louis, the Vatican's ambassador to Cairo, had met him and invited Al-Azhar to attend the annual meeting for inter-faith dialogue scheduled for Rome next month.

El-Deeb added that Al-Azhar's position will be determined after today's meeting in the Islamic Research Academy.

Out in the cold

RESIDENTS of Saad Al-Masri Street in the shantytown of Dewiqa woke up on Sunday to find themselves homeless after a decision by the Ministry of Housing to evacuate and demolish their residences. The decision to evacuate the area was taken a week earlier after the neighbourhood was reportedly in the way of the Suzanne Mubarak developing project. Residents have yet to receive replacement flats. Members from the Housing Ministry were accompanied by hundreds of anti-riot police forces when they raided the neighbourhood on Saturday.

Residents demonstrated in front of the Ministry of Housing on Sunday to protest at not having received their substitute flats. Dozens of children participated in the protest wearing T-shirts bearing inscriptions, "What about human rights? And what about the protection of street children project?" Protesters claimed that Minister of Housing Ahmed El-Maghrabi refused to meet them and that ministry officials told them they will not be receiving the flats.

The residents claim ministry officials hired people to receive flats in order to deceive them.

Warning on the pack

"SMOKING kills and is harmful to your health" is the message printed on most cigarette packs in Egypt but the World Health Organisation (WHO) is not satisfied, reports Reem Leila. WHO has notified Egypt that it is not complying with the international treaty it signed in the early 1990s, stipulating that a warning against smoking must cover 50 per cent of a cigarette pack.

In response, the health committee of the People's Assembly, headed by Hamdi El-Sayed, is discussing amendments to Law 52/1981 regulating the tobacco industry. El-Sayed, who is also the chairman of the Doctors' Syndicate, proposed a ban on the sale of tobacco to minors under 18; a 10 per cent increase in the price of cigarettes; and a detailed health warning to cover 50 per cent of the pack on both sides. "The price hike is important to discourage youngsters from smoking and to decrease smoking in general," El-Sayed said.

According to a report released by the health committee, Egyptians smoke 60 billion cigarettes a year, spending LE3 billion of national income annually. Smokers in Egypt increase by six to eight per cent every year as compared to one per cent in the West.

"Egypt has half a million smokers below 15, and 100,000 under the age of 10," El-Sayed told Al-Ahram Weekly. "The outcome is always better if you can get to the kids before they actually pick up the habit. Prevention is always better than control."

According to recent data released by WHO, one-third of young people start smoking before the age of 10, and the vast majority of adult smokers start before 18.

Egypt sells the cheapest cigarettes in the world, one reason why raising prices is an important factor in cutting down on consumption and funding healthcare. In 1992, a simple increase of 10 piastres per pack brought in LE200 million per year, which was used to finance health insurance for schoolchildren. "The 10-piastre increase, however, was not enough to affect the number of smokers. But 10 per cent might," suggested El-Sayed. "A percentage of increased revenues could be directed to the new children's cancer hospital."