'Spirit of friendship'

THE STATE Department said on Monday that the United States stands behind its ambassador in Cairo David Welch after he came under fire for his "bold interference in the affairs of the Egyptian press".

In a lecture at the American University in Cairo on 20 October, Welch called for journalists, writers and editors "to demonstrate some responsibility and exercise sound judgement before allowing hostile and unprofessional attacks into print".

He also referred to "regrettable articles" in the Egyptian press that are "proposing crazy conspiracy theories".

Welch's statements provoked journalists to the extent that the Press Syndicate sent a letter to Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher demanding he summon Welch "to prevent him from continuing his campaign against the Egyptian media".

"The essential point I would make is that Ambassador Welch is a strong and articulate defender of a free and responsible press, and those are the points that any ambassador makes, and that Ambassador Welch has been particularly eloquent in his dealings with ... Egyptian journalists," State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said. "And we support his comments, and we believe that they were made in the spirit of friendship and mutual interest in press freedoms."

Donkey heads

LAST week, some residents of Giza discovered donkey heads in garbage cans. Thinking that it was the doing of butchers who might have been selling donkey meat as if it was beef, the residents went to the police.

Investigations revealed that no donkey meat had been marketed for human consumption, but rather it was the doing of Cairo Zoo workers after they fed the tigers and lions. Instead of disposing the carcasses in the designated area inside the zoo, they got rid of them in the street bins since they were producing a noxious smell. The Spanish company in charge of collecting the garbage in the zoo had not done so for several days.

The Interior Ministry said in a statement that police had arrested four zoo employees, who were charged with violating environmental protection laws by not disposing of the carcasses in the appropriate manner.

Obeying rules

RULES are rules for policemen. Whether the weather is cold or hot, as of 1 November they must wear their black winter uniforms. That first day was unseasonably warm, leaving policeman, especially traffic policemen, hot and thirsty. With fasting affecting their ability to withstand the heat, several have suffered from nausea and fatigue.

Mohamed Abdel-Fattah, one of the traffic policemen in Tahrir Square, was sweating and tired. "I just wish I could leave," he said, "it's really hot." Abdel-Fattah had been standing in his winter uniform in the heat for six hours and towards the end of his eight-hour shift (that ends after iftar), he had started to feel "really, really tired", he explained.

"I wish I didn't have to wear the black winter uniform, but these are the rules and we have to obey them," Abdel-Fattah said.

New post

MINISTER of Information Safwat El-Sherif appointed Taha Abdel-Alim, deputy director of the Al-Ahram's Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, as board chairman of the State Information Service.

Compiled by Shaden Shehab

Al-Ahram Weekly Online : 6 - 12 November 2003 (Issue No. 663)
Located at: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/663/eg5.htm