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Africa's children

THE RIGHTS of African children, or lack thereof, will be subject to extensive debate next week in Cairo as Egypt hosts the African Child Conference. Ministerial delegations from 53 African states will be present at the meeting, to be sponsored by Mrs Suzanne Mubarak.

The conference is to adopt a plan of action on improving the quality of life of and the access of rights by African children. The plan and its implementation is inspired by the growing partnership between governments and non- governmental organisations in the African states.

Neutrality questioned

EGYPT and the UN are currently negotiating the full volume of Egyptian participation in the UN hybrid peacekeeping force which is supposed to be deployed in Darfur.

Egypt had essentially offered a little over 2,000 troops and had recently upgraded the offer to over 3,000 in response to concerns expressed by the secretariat of the UN about the participation of African nations which are supposed to contribute most of the peacekeeping troops in accordance with the agreement reached between the UN and the Sudanese government.

The UN has already included certain Egyptian battalions in the composition of the hybrid peacekeeping force. Consultations are still being conducted with the Egyptian government on further inclusion of Egyptian troops.

Press statements made by certain UN sources and Sudanese diplomats to the UN over a possible down-sizing of the Egyptian participation in the hybrid force were categorically denied by informed sources in Cairo.

Lack of transparency of the plans of the UN secretariat regarding the full volume and exact composition of the hybrid force persist, however. Troops-contributing countries, including Egypt, have not been notified of the exact plans being considered by the secretariat in this respect.

Al-Ahram Weekly has learned that eyebrows are being raised in certain African capitals over the apparent reluctance of the UN secretariat to fully engage the Egyptian offer. Speculation is high in certain African quarters that Western pressure has curbed a positive UN reaction to the Egyptian offer, especially in view of the high level of training of the Egyptian troops and their easy cultural adaptability to the situation in Darfur. There is also speculation over the full implications involved in terms of maintaining the agreed upon high African participation to the peace-keeping force. The neutrality of the UN secretariat in handling the issue of hybrid peacekeeping forces in Darfur is already being questioned in many a diplomatic quarter.

Three MPs face investigation

ADLI Hussein, governor of Qalioubiya, has filed a complaint with parliamentary speaker Fathi Sorour strongly objecting to the behaviour of three of the governorate's MPs. In his report, Hussein told Sorour that Gamal Zahran, an independent MP with leftist leanings, and Mohsen Radi and Gamal Shehata, two Muslim Brotherhood MPs, had mobilised a large number of residents in the Shubra Al-Kheima district who then entered his office by force. Hussein filed another complaint with the prosecutor-general, stating the three MPs insulted him and tried to attack other governorate officials. However, Hussein added he did not ask Sorour to strip the MPs of parliamentary immunity. "I just wanted to inform Sorour of the behaviour of the three MPs," said Hussein. Reports, however, say the prosecutor- general could ask Sorour to lift the immunity of the MPs.

The MPs strongly denied the accusations. Zahran, a professor of political science at Suez Canal University, said he took a number of limited-income citizens to meet Hussein, objecting to the governorate's decision to add costly garbage collection fees to electricity bills. "Most of the citizens in my constituency cannot afford the high cost of such bills and urged me to discuss the matter with the governor," Zahran said. "When we realised the governor was not present," added Zahran, "I and those with me left quietly."

Mystery illness

AN UNIDENTIFIED illness has hit a large number of residents in Daqahliya governorate. Those infected complained of high fever and diarrhea and were admitted to hospital. Officials at the Ministry of Health and Population (MOHP) believe the source of the illness is polluted water. Much of the Daqahliya populace drink water from wells by way of pumps. Water samples showed the ground water did not meet either international nor national standards.

Health officials and their counterparts at the governorate's water company have been trading accusations as to whom to blame. While health officials claimed the cause of the illness was due to polluted water, water company officials believe the real cause is yet to be determined.

One resident who fell ill said those who were hospitalised were refused treatment, the hospital claiming it did not have the necessary drug needed to treat them. Accordingly, the patients were transferred to three other hospitals.

Abdel-Rahman Shahin, the official MOHP spokesman, said all patients had been discharged from the hospitals a few days ago and all were given a clean bill of health.

Statue on loan

FOLLOWING almost a century of being on display at the Roemer-Pelizaeus Museum in Hildesheim, Egyptians will finally be able to come face to face with the statue of Hemiunnu, the architect of Khufu's Pyramid. Earlier this week, the museum agreed to loan Egypt the statue for three months, in time for the opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum in 2012.

The Hemiunnu statue serves as an example of the illicit trade in antiquities. Hemiunnu, Khufu's nephew, served his uncle as vizier. His statue was discovered in 1912 in his tomb in the shadow of the Great Pyramid at Giza, and was taken to the Roemer-Pelizaeus Museum, which belonged to a wealthy German, Pelizaeus, a collector who funded scientific excavations in Giza.

Several museums abroad house four other priceless objects belonging to Egypt's cultural heritage which Zahi Hawass, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, has also asked to be lent to the Grand Egyptian Museum: the Rosetta Stone, now in the British Museum in London; the bust of Nefertiti, in the Egyptian Museum in Berlin; the Dendara Temple Zodiac in the Louvre in Paris; and the bust of Khafre pyramid builder Ankhaf, lying in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

The Egyptian Museum in Berlin will organise an archaeological committee made up of Egyptian and German archaeologists to examine the condition of Nefertiti's bust and the possibility of guaranteeing safe transport to Cairo. The Louvre in Paris and the Fine Art Museum in Boston have both refused Hawass's request, saying the objects they respectively house are extremely fragile and that transportation could easily damage them. The British Museum has yet to reply.

Factory fire

THIRTEEN workers were injured yesterday when fire swept through a factory in the 10th of Ramadan city.

The fire, which erupted in a factory belonging to the Oriental Weavers group in the third industrial zone, was put out by firemen from the civil defence department after three hours.

The fire apparently started from the factory's third floor which houses a large number of carpets. Losses are due to be assessed.

The general prosecution has started its own investigation.