Foreign distractions

For once the preponderance of foreign news took precedence over domestic concerns, write Gamal Nkrumah and Mohamed El-Sayed

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The Beijing Olympic Games dominated the headlines and the spellbinding photographs of the scenes of the official opening were splashed all over the press. This was the People's Republic of China's grand coming-out party and the Chinese were determined to enthuse and impress.

Egyptians, like other people around the world, were enthralled. "China shows off its illustrious past and promising present with the mesmerising opening of the Beijing Olympic Games," trumpeted a banner of the official daily Al-Ahram. The paper commented on the obsession of the Chinese with the lucky charms of the number eight. "On the eighth minute past the eighth hour, China time, in the year 2008, the Olympic Games commenced amid much pomp and ceremony," Al-Ahram heralded.

The ferocious fighting in the Georgian autonomous region of South Ossetia also hit the headlines. "Russia encircles Georgia and blasts its capital," ran the headline of the official Al-Akhbar. "Washington accuses Moscow of trying to overthrow [Georgian President Mikhail] Saakashvili. The European Union meets to debate the crisis," extrapolated Al-Akhbar. The paper noted that the current flurry of diplomatic activity designed to reduce tensions between Georgia and Russia has not engendered the intended results. "Russia dispatched 10,000 troops to South Ossetia and tightened its naval blockade of Georgia. The entire Caucuses region threatens to degenerate into another Balkans," observed Al-Akhbar. The paper voiced concerns over the political stability of nations of the Caucasus.

After initial mutterings of disapproval, foreign countries seem divided over the contentious issue of Russian military intervention. Most of the papers did not take sides, however, it was evident that many commentators were more sympathetic to the Russian cause.

Writing in the independent daily Al-Masry Al-Yom, Suleiman Gouda argued that, "the insistence of the Muslim Brotherhood on remaining in the political life will lead to further deteriorations in the political scene." In their quest for power, Gouda argued, "the Brotherhood neither attained their ultimate political goal [leaping to power] -- and apparently they will never achieve it -- nor did they keep religion away from this dirty [political] battle." The writer advised the group to focus on social work to benefit the country most.

In an interview with Al-Masry Al-Yom, former United Nations secretary-general and current head of the National Human Rights Council Boutros Boutros-Ghali said that, "torture in Egypt is 500 years old and it cannot be eradicated in a couple of years." He harshly criticised the proposed audio and visual broadcast law: "This law would be the last nail in the coffin of Egyptian media, in case it was enacted."

Diplomatic niceties, or the lack of them, featured prominently in the papers. Former Egyptian ambassador to Israel Mohamed Bassiouni was quoted in the daily opposition Al-Dostour as saying: "I was not an ambassador in Israel. I was an intelligence man implanted there."

Once again, the United States came under fire. Margret Scobey, the US ambassador to Egypt, was the subject of much scorn by the pundits for her impertinent interference in the domestic affairs of the country. Scobey has been harshly criticised in state-run newspapers this week for describing the court ruling sentencing sociologist and rights activist Saadeddin Ibrahim to two years as "shameful". The weekly Al-Osbou, which is known as having connections with key figures in the government, ran the headline "a rude ambassador".

Writing in the daily official Al-Ahram, Editor-in-Chief Osama Saraya was brazenly critical of Ambassador Scobey. "The ambassador who has just arrived in Cairo a couple of months ago should have paused for thought to fully understand the country, the people and the state in which it represents its country... before issuing statements that lack in courtesy and diplomacy."

Indeed, the subject of Ibrahim preoccupied the pundits. Writing in the daily Al-Masry Al-Yom, Ibrahim, who was sentenced a couple of weeks ago by an Egyptian court to two years for allegedly tarnishing the country's image, harshly criticised the regime, arguing that, "a segment of the judiciary has become a puppet in the hands of the regime. Sometimes the regime uses it skillfully, and sometimes stupidly, to settle its accounts with its opponents and dissidents." So much for the freedom of expression.

Murder, mystery and suspense: the papers were intrigued with the death in mysterious circumstances of the tragic end of the beautiful and famous. Independent and opposition newspapers were preoccupied by the gruesome murder of a Lebanese singer, Suzanne Tamim, in Dubai a couple of weeks ago, in which an Egyptian businessman was allegedly involved. "A billionaire and close friend of Gamal Mubarak, the son of the president, is accused of inciting the murdering of singer Suzanne Tamim," ran the headline of the weekly opposition Al-Arabi. Despite the fact that most of the newspapers hinted at the implication of a real estate tycoon, they did not mention the tycoon's name as the prosecution banned publishing the proceedings of this case. So in order to avoid libel we shall remain silent on this particular piece of gossip.

The writings of more mundane and domestic concerns also inundated the press. The weekly Sawt Al-Umma, for example, ran a feature about the ostentatious wedding ceremonies of the rich and the more modest weddings of the poor in contemporary Egypt. "The children of the rich hold their wedding ceremonies in five-star hotels and those of the poor hold their weddings in streets and on the roofs of buildings," ran the headline of the article. "The rich import gifts from the Netherlands and Paris which cost hundreds of thousands of Egyptian pounds. A wedding ceremony in the Sheraton or Marriott hotels would cost LE139,000, while a poor wedding cost only hundreds of pounds," the reporter noted irately.

In much the same vein, the paper also ran a feature about seaside villas of the rich and government officials in the Northern Coast. "Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif's villa [in the North Cost] is worth LE10,000 million," the paper reported indignantly. "Many a minister have yachts and rent them for LE5,000 per day," the paper added tongue-in-cheek.

On a lighter note, Al-Masry Al-Yom ran a rather Lilliputian news item about the spread of a certain brand of slippers with the American flag on it in the Egyptian market. "The American flag is illustrated on Egyptian slippers," the paper reported angrily. A pair of this particular type of slippers, the paper noted disdainfully, is sold at LE10.