A summary of news related to Egypt.
Egypt opposition demands international vote monitors
CAIRO - An alliance of Egyptian opposition movements running in the November legislative elections has demanded international observers to monitor the polls, a member of the coalition said on October 20. "We have agreed to demand the assistance of foreign monitors," Hani Anan, a leading member of the opposition movement Kifaya [Enough], said. He said that the request would be sent to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and to watchdogs such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.
A total of 5,488 candidates have registered for the elections, which will kick off on November 9 and end a month later. There were no foreigners directly involved in the monitoring of the September 7 presidential elections that saw veteran President Hosni Mubarak sweep to a fifth six-year term. The Egyptian government has consistently rejected the idea of foreign observers, charging that their presence would be tantamount to interference. The decision to request the assistance of international monitors is a turnaround of even the opposition's stance on the issue.
Iraqi national carrier resumes Cairo flights
CAIRO - An Iraqi Airways plane touched down at Cairo airport on October 20, marking the resumption of regular flights by the national carrier between Cairo and Baghdad after a 15-year hiatus, officials said. Some 100 passengers were on board the aircraft, including 20 journalists from various Iraqi media organizations, led by Ahmed Abdel Wahab, a media advisor at the transportation ministry.
Egyptian civil aviation officials and Iraqi embassy staff, including charge d'affaires Saad Orabi, welcomed the party at the airport. "The arrival of this plane is proof of Iraq's return into the international community and the beginning of a new era," Orabi told reporters. Iraqi Airways will offer bi-weekly flights to Cairo on Mondays and Thursdays.
Egypt nun attacked with knife over 'anti-Islamic' play
ALEXANDRIA, Egypt - An Egyptian nun was attacked with a knife and a man who went to her aid stabbed in the back when a dispute over the DVD release of a Christian play deemed anti-Islamic turned violent on October 19, a security official said. "The man tried to knife a nun who was standing at the entrance of the Saint Girgis church" in Egypt's second city of Alexandria, the official said. The nun was lightly wounded by the tip of the knife but an elderly man who tried to push the assailant away was stabbed in the back, he added. Bystanders gave chase but failed to stop the assailant who was later arrested by police.
Islamist groups mounted two protests outside the church last week following the DVD release of a play produced by Saint Girgis two years ago. Performed by amateur actors, the play tells the story of a young Christian who converts to Islam only to be exhorted by a sheikh to kill priests and destroy churches, according to the independent Ad Dustour newspaper. Performances of the play had to be abandoned after it sparked a public outcry.
Egyptian FM to discuss Middle East conference in Russia
MOSCOW - Egyptian foreign minister Ahmed Abul Gheit said on October 19 that he would discuss the feasibility of an international conference on the Middle East with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, during a visit to Moscow. "Russia has proposed to organize an international conference to discuss the [Middle East] road map. We will talk about this with Mr. Lavrov," Gheit said, quoted by the ITAR-TASS Russian news agency.
Russia has sought to revive the project of an international gathering of Middle East players in a bid to get Israel and the Palestinian Authority to stand by the commitments outlined by the so-called road map peace blueprint. "I would like to discuss with my Russian colleague, Sergei Lavrov, the way in which Russia can help to carry out the road map," the Egyptian foreign minister said. Abul Gheit also said that he would be discussing Iraq, Lebanon and Syria with Lavrov.
Egypt court decision cuts Brotherhood election chances
CAIRO - A Cairo court issued a ruling on October 18 that could minimize the chances that several leading figures in the Muslim Brotherhood would be able to run in next month's parliamentary elections. Five former political detainees from the group had filed a case against the interior ministry for turning down their requests for certificates of "good conduct" during their time in detention. The court rejected their case. The five had planned to run for parliament and officials registering candidates demanded that they first bring the certificates.
Egyptian law bars individuals convicted in criminal cases from running in elections, but the ban does not apply to political detainees. Normally, officials demand that they simply present a certificate of "good conduct". The authorities have also allowed some former detainees to run without having to bring the certificate. The court's ruling could theoretically prevent several leading members of the banned-but-tolerated group from contesting the parliamentary elections, as many of them have spent time in jail over the past few years.
Egyptians demand release of political prisoners
CAIRO - More than 200 Egyptians demonstrated on October 18 in front of the interior ministry to demand the immediate release of political prisoners and the end of President Hosni Mubarak's regime. The demonstrators, most of them wives and mothers of Islamist political detainees, gathered in the city center. "Free our sons," chanted the protestors who waved pictures of their detained relatives, amid an impressive security deployment.
According to various Egyptian human rights groups and nongovernmental organizations, between 16,000 and 30,000 political prisoners remain behind bars. Their release has been one of the main demands of the anti-Mubarak opposition, which is expected to hold more protests on the issue ahead of the November legislative elections.
Egypt launches probe into fatal boat collision
CAIRO - Egypt launched an investigation on October 18 into a collision between a Cypriot cargo ship and an Egyptian passenger boat packed with Muslim pilgrims that left two people dead and almost 100 wounded. Transport minister Issam Sharif told reporters that a probe "had immediately been launched into the incident" that took place on October 17 off the coast of Port Tawfik just south of the Suez canal.
Officials said that the Al Salam 95 boat was carrying 1,466 passengers, including 1,343 Egyptian Muslim pilgrims returning from Mecca, in Saudi Arabia. The Cypriot vessel had just passed through the canal when it hit the Al Salam 95 - owned by the Al Salam Maritime Transport company - and tore a five-meter (16-foot) hole in its engine room.
Palestinian leader meets Mubarak ahead of US talks
CAIRO - Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas held talks on October 17 with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo on the first leg of a tour that will culminate in a visit to Washington. "During the current phase the Palestinian Authority [PA] and the Palestinian people need maximum support from the various regional and international partners, including Israel," Mubarak's spokesman Suleiman Awad told reporters.
Speaking after the meeting, Awad played down Israeli reports that the Jewish state had frozen its contacts with the PA following a shooting attack on October 16 that killed three Jewish settlers in the West Bank. "We hear these things from time to time, we hear about discussions being broken off but both sides always resume dialogue very quickly because it is the only way to overcome obstacles and take the peace process forward," he said.
Egypt sets up border posts to counter bird flu
CAIRO - Egypt has set up 27 observation posts along its borders to collect statistics about migratory birds potentially infected with the deadly bird flu virus, an agriculture ministry official said on October 17. "The posts were already in place to observe wildlife but now we will sample out migrating birds and collect statistics," Abdel Khaliq Abbas said. The migration of wild birds takes place in the fall when they fly from eastern and southern Europe over Egypt to seek warmer temperatures further south.
Abbas ruled out the possibility of infected wild birds contaminating domestic birds. "The country's privately or publicly-owned chicken, turkey and most importantly quail farms are all indoors," he said, adding that the measure was taken long before the avian flu outbreak. Egypt banned on October 11 all live poultry imports and called off this year's wild bird hunting season in an effort to keep out the flu.
Egypt releases Muslim Brotherhood leader
CAIRO - Egyptian authorities released a leader of the banned but tolerated Muslim Brotherhood movement on October 16 after detaining him for more than five months, Issam Aryane said as he was leaving jail. "I was released just two minutes ago. I am in good shape, I feel great," said Aryane, who was freed just weeks before the November parliamentary elections in which his group is expected to make a strong showing.
Brotherhood politburo official Abdel Moneim Abul Futuh said earlier this week that Aryane might run for the three-stage elections, which will kick off on November 9 and end a month later. But Aryane said that fielding his candidacy "is not a personal decision, I shall consult with the Brotherhood's instances". The 51-year-old is one of the group's most charismatic and media savvy figures. He served as the official spokesman of the movement's Supreme Guide Mohammed Mehdi Akef until his arrest in May.
Egyptian press downbeat on new Iraqi constitution
CAIRO - The Egyptian press painted a gloomy picture of Iraq's future on October 16, as officials continued to count votes from an historic constitutional referendum that saw a strong turnout. The predominantly Sunni Arab country's flagship newspaper, Al Ahram daily, suggested that a vote in favor or against the draft would do little to bring security or improve living conditions in Iraq. "Both will plunge the land of the two rivers [Iraq] into a dark tunnel and to an extent that only God knows, especially with the continuation of the Anglo-American occupation," an editorial said.
The state-owned Al Akhbar described the new constitution as "heretic". It claimed that vote on the new constitution was "without the blessing of one of the most important and influential segments of society; the Sunni Arabs". The English language Egyptian Gazette said that the passing of the constitution would not end the war-wrecked country's problems and lamented ongoing differences between Shias and Sunnis. "Each apparently exploited religion to corroborate its case," the Gazette said in an editorial.
Coffins of Sharm crash victims to be repatriated to France
CAIRO - The coffins of 67 victims of the Sharm El Sheikh airplane crash of January 2004 will reach Paris early on October 17, an airport official said on October 16. The remains will be brought home on an Air France flight, the Egyptian official added. The crash off the coast of the Red Sea resort of Sharm El Sheikh three minutes after takeoff killed a total of 148 people, including 134 French. The remains of 102 French and 12 Egyptian victims were identified by Cairo's Medico-legal center, the French foreign ministry announced in August, but judicial procedures meant that the bodies had not yet been returned. The cause of the tragedy is still unknown.
Egypt candidates register for elections
CAIRO - Egyptian candidates began to register their names on October 15 for next month's parliamentary elections in what is expected to be a fierce competition. These will be the first polls of the National Assembly since the first multi-candidate presidential elections this year, in which President Hosni Mubarak of the National Democratic Party (NDP) won a fifth 6-year term. The final list of candidates will be announced on October 26, while the first round of the elections to choose members of the 444-seat National Assembly will be held on November 9.
The ruling NDP, which holds a majority of 328 members in the current parliament, short-listed 250 candidates, including 176 new faces, while it dropped 130 of its incumbent legislators from the upcoming race. Meanwhile, the Muslim Brotherhood movement said that it would nominate 150 candidates. But they will compete without specifying their affiliation with the group, which is banned under Egyptian law.
Egypt Briefs
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