Newsreel

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El-Alim dies

PROMINENT intellectual and critic Mahmoud Amin El-Alim died on Saturday after a long battle with illness. He was 81.

From 1961 to 1970, El-Alim was chief editor of Akhbar Al-Yom Organisation, and was board chairman of the Theatre and Music Institute in 1971. He added to the cultural movement through his writings, especially in theatre. Intellectual Battles, written in 1954, was acclaimed one of his best works.

Because of El-Alim's strong political stands and his Marxist affiliations he was arbitrarily dismissed from the Faculty of Arts at Cairo University where he was a lecturer of philosophy in 1945. El-Alim paid a price for his continuous defence of freedom. He was detained several times, the longest period being from 1959 to 1964.

El-Alim received several state prizes, the most important of which was the State Award of Merit in 1988.

(see portrait of the week by Bahgory p.15)

Think tanks

UNDER the auspices of Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, the Cabinet Information and Decision Support Centre (IDSC) will hold a two-day international conference on the role of think tanks in developing countries on 17-18 January, Reem Leila reports. The objective of the conference, called Challenges and Solutions, is to promote a sustainable network of think tanks collaborating in managing developmental challenges confronting the developing world. Maged Othman, chairman of IDSC, said the conference was the first of its kind in the Middle East. "It is being held in Egypt out of awareness, of the importance and increasing role think tanks are playing in the decision-making process, the importance of sharing knowledge, enhancing cooperation and benefiting from the best international practices in research and development."

Othman said he believed the significance of the conference "resides in the fact that it will be a unique opportunity to group the developing world's think tanks which are becoming more and more essential policy actors in their societies. It will also provide a valuable forum and neutral space for think tanks to discuss innovative ideas in a serious and non-adversarial way.

"The conference will allow the think tanks of developing countries to work together to establish solid south-south cooperation," Othman said.

Such think tanks are expected to share their own experiences and to work on developing a unified agenda of solutions for specific challenges. "The conference also aims at developing concrete mechanisms for sharing successful practices and experiences worldwide," Othman added.