Newsreel
Scobey hits Cairo
NEW US Ambassador to Egypt Margaret Scobey arrived in town this week at the start of a four-year diplomatic mission. Scobey's tenure in Cairo is likely to be highly eventful, to say the least. Egypt and the US have not been in their best state of dialogue for the past five years due to wide ranging differences over US Middle East foreign policy, especially in the wake of the US-led invasion of Iraq. Bilateral relations have also been subject to considerable tension due to an increasing US trend to link its economic assistance to Egypt to progress on political reform.
In February, Scobey came under much criticism in the pro-government Egyptian press for its criticism of the slow progress achieved by Cairo in promoting a better standard of human rights.
Scobey is replacing Francis Ricciardone who served as US ambassador to Egypt beginning August 2005. Later in the summer, Ambassador Sameh Shoukri will be in Washington to head the diplomatic mission. Shoukri replaces Nabil Fahmi who has served in the US capital for the past eight years.
The change of ambassadors comes as the presidency of the George W Bush administration draws to a close.
Riot group freed
THE TANTA Appeals Court has released 55 suspects detained in the wake of the Mahala riots of 6 to 8 April, bringing the total number of defendants released to 205.
"Long live justice" shouted the relatives of the defendants who were present in the court room following the ruling.
The release, according to judicial sources, is not final. The defendants may be summoned at any time by the prosecution pending an investigation still being conducted. Charges levelled at the suspects were gathering en masse, damaging public utilities and inciting violence.
The attorney-general for Cairo prosecutions announced that the 21 defendants who were arrested on 6 April and who include opposition figures should be remanded in custody for another 15 days.
Israa Abdel-Fattah Ahmed, the blogger accused of calling for the 6 April strike, is still being detained by the Interior Ministry despite having received permission to be released from the prosecutor- general.
Strike suspended
WORKERS for a textile company in Daqahliya governorate agreed on Sunday to suspend their planned work stoppage after company officials pledged to pay them all their financial dues. A meeting is due to be held within two weeks to discuss paying the workers 17 bonuses which they have not received in months.
In Beheira, 500 workers at the Damanhour Carpets Company were promised a 15-day bonus by next week. In addition, they will get a LE47 monthly increase in salaries.
The salary pledges come in the wake of a sit-in organised on Sunday in which demonstrators demanded to be treated equally with workers for the spinning and weaving sector who were given a 15-day bonus following a decree passed by Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif during a visit he paid to Mahala on 6 April, the day of the strike.
Economy courts
THE CAIRO Judges Club has expressed its disappointment at the People's Assembly's preliminary approval of a draft law issued by economy courts which was submitted by Justice Minister Mamdouh Marei.
Club chairman Zakaria Abdel-Aziz said he viewed the parliament's approval as an indication that the law will be endorsed soon.
Abdel-Aziz criticised the Supreme Judiciary Council for giving its approval to the draft law without consulting judges.
The draft law, which calls for forming economy courts to hear financial-related cases, was severely criticised by judges who viewed it as creating an exceptional judiciary. Instead, they argued, economy lawsuits should be heard by specialised panels inside the courts.
Al-Ahram Weekly Online : Located at: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2008/894/eg1.htm