By Pakinam Amer
Dec 5, 2007, 19:29 GMT
Cairo - Protesting round the clock in front of the cabinet's headquarters for the third day in a row, Egyptian tax workers said they had reached a dead end and so had nothing left to lose.
'We could be dismissed from work, we could be imprisoned or beaten up by security police, but we don't care any more,' one of the workers shouted on Wednesday.
The Egyptians - some middle-aged and some elderly - said they would begin a hunger strike Thursday morning if their suffering was further ignored.
'We fear nothing. We just want our rights back,' a protestor cried out.
Metres away stood rows of heavily-armed riot police, while truckloads of standby forces could be seen parked in the vicinity. Security personnel ordered that metal cordons be placed around the throngs of workers, but so far no clashes with police had been reported.
The state employees, who are all members of the property tax department, have been picketing for better wages and working conditions since October when they initially organized a mass strike of around 55,000 tax workers.
This week's picket brought together around 500 employees from both southern and northern provinces.
The protestors, standing by the gates of the cabinet quarters in downtown Cairo, will not collect any taxes until their demands are met.
Suleiman Rashed, from Giza's tax division, said he had been working in the state-run institution for more than 25 years and his salary had only reached 450 Egyptian pounds (81 dollars) a month.
An accountant in the same department, Gamal Hassanein, claimed his net income was 380 pounds (69 dollars). 'A state employee taking only this much? Imagine,' he said.
'Sometimes, they deduct 50 per cent of our efforts benefits because we do not meet the desired tax collection quota,' Rashed told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
The tax collectors usually face difficulties during money collection.
'Some people refuse to pay, and we follow them around. But sometimes, we fail to collect. What do we do then? Shoot the citizen (who refuses to pay)?' Rashed shouted at the top of his voice.
'I work in the countryside collecting taxes from farmers, and we face a lot of dangers there too. We are beaten up sometimes, and others are even shot when they pursue the farmers for payment,' a tax collector from Monofiyah province agreed.
On the protest site, it is clear that workers have lost patience with both their union and government.
Calling the finance minister, the labour union head and even members of the cabinet 'liars, scoundrels and thieves,' the protestors said they stood alone: 'Poor, hungry and no better than beggars.'
So far, leaders of the strike say the government has not been responsive to their movement, and demands that they be treated like their colleagues in departments run by the Ministry of Finance have not been met.
According to the workers, a recent move by the government has caused the reassignment of the tax department workers.
The senior and high-ranking tax employees became answerable to the Ministry of Finance, receiving higher incomes and yearly benefits. Others were placed under locality governance. 'These are the ones who do not have enough connections,' claimed one of the workers.
The angry protestors want the discrepancies in wages between employees to be eliminated. The labour union earlier deemed the workers' pleas legitimate but refused to back up their strike.
Hussein Mugawer, head of the labour union, told al-Masri al-Yom newspaper earlier that 'a strike will complicate ongoing negotiations (with the government). The policy of arm-twisting that the workers are following will not work.'
'Mugawer claimed he had talks with the (finance) minister. But we know he didn't. They all ignore us,' Rashed said.
'They have no hearts, no children or wives or parents,' another protestor said, describing how 'inhuman' he believed the authorities were. 'We are spending our days here on the bare pavement and they feel nothing for us. Where is the mercy?'
In some provinces, workers told dpa that state security personnel had given them orders not to strike or join their fellow workers in Cairo. Some had still travelled to the Egyptian capital to join the larger protest despite the ban.
'Once we speak out back at work, they threaten us with dismissal and relocation,' a protestor said.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Link: http://news.monstersandcritics.com/business/features/article_1378893.php/Egyptian_workers_begin_indefinite_strike_picket_cabinet
Friday, December 07, 2007
UN climate report carries warning for Arab states - dpa
By Pakinam Amer
Dec 5, 2007, 19:28 GMT
Cairo - Warnings against human-induced climate change resulting from greenhouse gas emissions, scarce and strained water resources, lack of food security and deteriorating human health dominated the United Nation Development Programme's newest report.
Launched in the Egypt-based League of Arab nations during an Arab environment and development ministers meeting, the UNDP's Human Development Report for 2007/2008, labelled Fighting climate change: Human solidarity in a divided world, called for collective and immediate action and warned against pessimism.
'Confronted with a problem as daunting as climate change, resigned pessimism might seem a justified response,' read the report. 'However, resigned pessimism is a luxury that the world's poor and future generations cannot afford - and there is an alternative.'
The first step lies in taking adaptive measures to climate change, unique to each countries' conditions, said the report.
The Arab world, like other regions, contributes to 'deep carbon footprints' with Egypt having some of the highest levels of carbon emissions globally.
Already, the north African country is threatened by climate shocks like floods that lessen longterm opportunities for human development. In Egypt, as in other developing counties of the Arab world, many of the poor depend on natural resources for their livelihood.
However, erosion of the coast of the Nile Delta, pollution, and salinization are affecting agricultural productivity and in turn could lead to possible loss of land.
'The evidence of climate change is there and the change will get worse. You find it in shortage of water in areas that are already short of water, like the Arab areas and Egypt,' said Mohammed al- Ashry, UNDP official and co-author of the report.
Al-Ashry told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that the report sheds light on the percentages of the decrease of water availability in Syria, Lebanon and Egypt, mainly the Nile Delta.
Concerning Egypt, the sea level changes are causing a threat to the northern Nile Delta especially, he said.
'If you have one metre decrease in sea level then you are going to lose more than 4,500 square kilometres of the delta and around six million people will need to be relocated,' al-Ashry told dpa. Agricultural production would also be affected.
The regional report addresses the people, according to the UNDP official, and the poor in Egypt and the Arab world are suffering the most from climate change.
The report concludes that the 'expenditure on social affairs is very low for the Arab world,' said al-Ashry where the most underprivileged are those 'people who are living in work areas and suburbs.'
It's the human development aspects that Egypt and the Arab countries should focus on, from education to health care and nutrition efforts, he said.
The Arab world needs to strengthen social safety net programmes, according to report recommendations. The region is reluctant to make any tangible efforts to change the status quo; leaning instead on claims of gradual efforts, say observers.
'Everyone is talking about a gradual effort to combat climate change with time markers such as 2020, 2030 and 2050, (but) top scientists believe that the climate change will be both sudden and severe,' said al-Ashry.
In November's summit of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), member states, including Arab nations, stressed their commitment to fighting global warming and harmful environmental changes.
However, the UNDP official believes that these counties want to appear more cooperative through giving 750-million-dollar funds which are 'a drop in the bucket with the price of oil as it is,' approaching the 100-dollar-a-barrel mark.
'OPEC, I don't actually believe for a moment that they think about climate change. They are producing climate change,' said al-Ashry.
'Some of them are concerned that reducing gas emissions would mean energy efficiency, alternative energy sources, renewable energy, perhaps even nuclear (energy), and in turn cutting down on use of oil.'
'This is utter nonsense; oil will always be important and will be used. But this is a very defensive approach on their part.'
The solution? 'The combat against climate change has to be part of the economic thinking of the country, preparing strategies for human and economic development putting in mind climate change,' al-Ashry told dpa.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Link: http://news.monstersandcritics.com/middleeast/features/article_1378891.php/UN_climate_report_carries_warning_for_Arab_states
Dec 5, 2007, 19:28 GMT
Cairo - Warnings against human-induced climate change resulting from greenhouse gas emissions, scarce and strained water resources, lack of food security and deteriorating human health dominated the United Nation Development Programme's newest report.
Launched in the Egypt-based League of Arab nations during an Arab environment and development ministers meeting, the UNDP's Human Development Report for 2007/2008, labelled Fighting climate change: Human solidarity in a divided world, called for collective and immediate action and warned against pessimism.
'Confronted with a problem as daunting as climate change, resigned pessimism might seem a justified response,' read the report. 'However, resigned pessimism is a luxury that the world's poor and future generations cannot afford - and there is an alternative.'
The first step lies in taking adaptive measures to climate change, unique to each countries' conditions, said the report.
The Arab world, like other regions, contributes to 'deep carbon footprints' with Egypt having some of the highest levels of carbon emissions globally.
Already, the north African country is threatened by climate shocks like floods that lessen longterm opportunities for human development. In Egypt, as in other developing counties of the Arab world, many of the poor depend on natural resources for their livelihood.
However, erosion of the coast of the Nile Delta, pollution, and salinization are affecting agricultural productivity and in turn could lead to possible loss of land.
'The evidence of climate change is there and the change will get worse. You find it in shortage of water in areas that are already short of water, like the Arab areas and Egypt,' said Mohammed al- Ashry, UNDP official and co-author of the report.
Al-Ashry told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that the report sheds light on the percentages of the decrease of water availability in Syria, Lebanon and Egypt, mainly the Nile Delta.
Concerning Egypt, the sea level changes are causing a threat to the northern Nile Delta especially, he said.
'If you have one metre decrease in sea level then you are going to lose more than 4,500 square kilometres of the delta and around six million people will need to be relocated,' al-Ashry told dpa. Agricultural production would also be affected.
The regional report addresses the people, according to the UNDP official, and the poor in Egypt and the Arab world are suffering the most from climate change.
The report concludes that the 'expenditure on social affairs is very low for the Arab world,' said al-Ashry where the most underprivileged are those 'people who are living in work areas and suburbs.'
It's the human development aspects that Egypt and the Arab countries should focus on, from education to health care and nutrition efforts, he said.
The Arab world needs to strengthen social safety net programmes, according to report recommendations. The region is reluctant to make any tangible efforts to change the status quo; leaning instead on claims of gradual efforts, say observers.
'Everyone is talking about a gradual effort to combat climate change with time markers such as 2020, 2030 and 2050, (but) top scientists believe that the climate change will be both sudden and severe,' said al-Ashry.
In November's summit of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), member states, including Arab nations, stressed their commitment to fighting global warming and harmful environmental changes.
However, the UNDP official believes that these counties want to appear more cooperative through giving 750-million-dollar funds which are 'a drop in the bucket with the price of oil as it is,' approaching the 100-dollar-a-barrel mark.
'OPEC, I don't actually believe for a moment that they think about climate change. They are producing climate change,' said al-Ashry.
'Some of them are concerned that reducing gas emissions would mean energy efficiency, alternative energy sources, renewable energy, perhaps even nuclear (energy), and in turn cutting down on use of oil.'
'This is utter nonsense; oil will always be important and will be used. But this is a very defensive approach on their part.'
The solution? 'The combat against climate change has to be part of the economic thinking of the country, preparing strategies for human and economic development putting in mind climate change,' al-Ashry told dpa.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Link: http://news.monstersandcritics.com/middleeast/features/article_1378891.php/UN_climate_report_carries_warning_for_Arab_states
Families mourn as bodies of illegal migrants return - dpa
By Pakinam Amer, dpa
First Published: 13 November, 2007
Cairo - The first signs of winter chilled Reda Attiya‘s bones as she sat huddled between her sons at the Cairo airport awaiting the casket containing the body of her nephew.
Tarek Abdel-Nabi Attiya was one of 22 illegal would-be immigrants from Egypt who drowned off the shores of Syracuse in Sicily when the boat in which they were being transported capsized last week.
Over 125 people are still missing. Search efforts are still underway, monitored by a special operations unit at the Egyptian embassy in Rome.
The ages of the missing and drowned range from 13 to mid-20s. They had attempted to travel over 1,500 kilometres of water on two fishing vessels, their boats capsized. Eleven are known to have drowned off Syracuse while there have been contradicting reports as to where a second boat sank.
The grieving woman waited eight hours for the plane bringing home the victims to arrive in the early morning hours Monday.
"His voice was choked by tears," she told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa, recounting the frantic last phone call her family received from her 24-year-old nephew.
Attiya was one of more than 100 Egyptians who had turned to a people- trafficking network that smuggles young men who are desperate for work opportunities to Italy.
He and his travel mates were stranded across the Mediterranean aboard a fishing boat where Attiya‘s life was being threatened by "crime cell members," facilitators of the illegal trip, she said.
The middle-aged woman whose face was worn by weeping, told dpa that Attiya had said he had had to pay 30,000 Egyptian pounds (5,400dollars) to facilitators "or else they will slit my throat."
Initially, she said, "we didn‘t know what to do."
"Like mad people, we went to our neighbours and relatives. We borrowed money. We sold land. We sold our livestock - the only source of living we had," said Attiya‘s son, Samir.
Samir, who did not disclose his last name, said his cousin had already paid the facilitators 5,000 Egyptian pounds before leaving for Italy via the port of Alexandria. He was supposed to pay them more money, but only if he found work.
"But they are cheaters. They took the money and gave us a corpse," said Samir.
Attiya‘s family refuse to believe that he merely drowned. They claim he was killed and thrown overboard and have called on the government to investigate the event by questioning the one person who survived the tragedy.
Reda Mohie Mohammed Khattab, a friend of Attiya, is currently being treated at the Italian Red Cross hospital.
"He‘s the only survivor, he knows what happened on this boat. He knows if our son was killed or drowned," said the soft-spoken woman. Khattab reportedly called Attiya‘s family from the hospital with"horror stories" of what happened on the boat.
Whether through Libya or Alexandria, on boat or by air, many poor young Egyptians in their early 20s have considered the idea of fleeing the country to work elsewhere.
Adel, a peasant from Fayyum who lost a family member, said people from his village will continue to "plunge into the unknown," seeping into European lands even if the possibility of death hovers.
"As long as they cannot put food on their tables, young people will risk their lives and money savings," he said. "This tragedy is the responsibility of the government. The people have no choice."
"Most of these youths did their duty towards their country. They served in the army and then went to their doom as their country watched," said Samir.
"It‘s a personal and financial ruin," one relative said.
Attempts at entering Italy illegally are always fraught with danger. Illegal migrants are usually asked to leave the boat off the coast of Italy, and swim the rest of the distance of around 10 kilometres, according to some claims.
And the scenario is not always the same, as some men reach the shore, while others drown or end up being killed in rows on the boats.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
First Published: 13 November, 2007
Cairo - The first signs of winter chilled Reda Attiya‘s bones as she sat huddled between her sons at the Cairo airport awaiting the casket containing the body of her nephew.
Tarek Abdel-Nabi Attiya was one of 22 illegal would-be immigrants from Egypt who drowned off the shores of Syracuse in Sicily when the boat in which they were being transported capsized last week.
Over 125 people are still missing. Search efforts are still underway, monitored by a special operations unit at the Egyptian embassy in Rome.
The ages of the missing and drowned range from 13 to mid-20s. They had attempted to travel over 1,500 kilometres of water on two fishing vessels, their boats capsized. Eleven are known to have drowned off Syracuse while there have been contradicting reports as to where a second boat sank.
The grieving woman waited eight hours for the plane bringing home the victims to arrive in the early morning hours Monday.
"His voice was choked by tears," she told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa, recounting the frantic last phone call her family received from her 24-year-old nephew.
Attiya was one of more than 100 Egyptians who had turned to a people- trafficking network that smuggles young men who are desperate for work opportunities to Italy.
He and his travel mates were stranded across the Mediterranean aboard a fishing boat where Attiya‘s life was being threatened by "crime cell members," facilitators of the illegal trip, she said.
The middle-aged woman whose face was worn by weeping, told dpa that Attiya had said he had had to pay 30,000 Egyptian pounds (5,400dollars) to facilitators "or else they will slit my throat."
Initially, she said, "we didn‘t know what to do."
"Like mad people, we went to our neighbours and relatives. We borrowed money. We sold land. We sold our livestock - the only source of living we had," said Attiya‘s son, Samir.
Samir, who did not disclose his last name, said his cousin had already paid the facilitators 5,000 Egyptian pounds before leaving for Italy via the port of Alexandria. He was supposed to pay them more money, but only if he found work.
"But they are cheaters. They took the money and gave us a corpse," said Samir.
Attiya‘s family refuse to believe that he merely drowned. They claim he was killed and thrown overboard and have called on the government to investigate the event by questioning the one person who survived the tragedy.
Reda Mohie Mohammed Khattab, a friend of Attiya, is currently being treated at the Italian Red Cross hospital.
"He‘s the only survivor, he knows what happened on this boat. He knows if our son was killed or drowned," said the soft-spoken woman. Khattab reportedly called Attiya‘s family from the hospital with"horror stories" of what happened on the boat.
Whether through Libya or Alexandria, on boat or by air, many poor young Egyptians in their early 20s have considered the idea of fleeing the country to work elsewhere.
Adel, a peasant from Fayyum who lost a family member, said people from his village will continue to "plunge into the unknown," seeping into European lands even if the possibility of death hovers.
"As long as they cannot put food on their tables, young people will risk their lives and money savings," he said. "This tragedy is the responsibility of the government. The people have no choice."
"Most of these youths did their duty towards their country. They served in the army and then went to their doom as their country watched," said Samir.
"It‘s a personal and financial ruin," one relative said.
Attempts at entering Italy illegally are always fraught with danger. Illegal migrants are usually asked to leave the boat off the coast of Italy, and swim the rest of the distance of around 10 kilometres, according to some claims.
And the scenario is not always the same, as some men reach the shore, while others drown or end up being killed in rows on the boats.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Saturday, October 13, 2007
"King Farouk" turns heads, throws light on Syrian-Egyptian competition in drama - dpa
Middle East Features First Published: 12 Oct. 2007
By Pakinam Amer
Cairo - Imagine that Sir Anthony Hopkins is disparaged for playing US president Richard Nixon. It might not have happened in the West but in Egypt, dubbed the "Hollywood of the Arab World," a Syrian actor who played the last king of Egypt in a TV soap opera caused a wave of controversy even before shooting started.
Deeming the serial a "conspiracy theory," accusing Syrians of robbing Egyptians' roles and discouraging "mixing" with non-Egyptians in locally-produced drama were only a few reactions. To employ a Syrian in a role that an Egyptian could do is "to cut Egyptian actors' source of income," a prominent actor said.
Hatem Ali, the Syrian director of "al-Malek Farouk" (King Farouk) said he was keen on casting an Egyptian for the title role, without any luck. But when the final choice came down to Tayem Hassan, the 31-year- old Syrian actor who resembled Farouk, he said he had no regrets. "The impressions in the press were very good," Ali told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
Indeed, it took Egypt by storm. A popular newspaper even branded it "the soap opera that is currently shaking the throne of Egypt."
The 33-episode drama follows the life of Farouk of Egypt who ruled the country from 1936 until 1952 and was forced to abdicate his throne following a bloodless military coup.
From the first few episodes, it became clear how the series-makers were trying to dust away what they deemed "false perceptions" of a king who was often dismissed in history books as a womanizer, a drunkard, and a corrupt ruler who was partly responsible for the 1948 defeat in the Arab-Israeli war.
Produced by Saudi-owned broadcaster MBC, the show triggered a verbal war even before it was aired. Amr al-Qady, an Egyptian actor who played "Polly," King Farouk's Italian companion, said another actor accused him of "treachery" for working with Syrians.
Some newspaper critics even mocked the Syrian lead actor before they saw him on screen, jokingly calling him "the Syrian who became the King of Egypt." Many doubted he could master an Egyptian accent.
Veteran script writer Osama Anwar Okasha, questioned the series' agenda by accusing it of "promoting monarchy" for the benefit of its producers - an apparent gesture to Saudi royalty.
"But a TV drama - and it doesn't matter if it's American, Saudi or Israeli-produced - is not enough to oust a regime and bring back another," Anis Mansour, a senior Egyptian columnist, fired back.
But then, after all the pre-show controversy, Tayem Hassan delivered a stunning, jaw-dropping performance as the Farouk, with a flawless Egyptian accent and a portrayal with a human touch.
"Tayem Hassan is the King of Egypt now," said series scriptwriter Lamis Gaber, while a Syrian direcotr, Ghassan Abdullah, said that for many Arabs the Syrian actor has become the "true face" of the King. "Farouk himself wouldn't have done a better job," he said.
Added actress Wafaa Amer, who delivered a heart-warming performance of Queen Nazly, the king's mother: "If not Tayem Hassan, then who? The success of the series was staggering, unimaginable."
During the last week of Ramadan, newspapers started advertising for packages that promised a "re-reading of this phase in history" based on the success of the TV series. Al-Masri al-Yom newspaper ran a headline: "King Farouk: The drama series that re-wrote history."
It has already sparked comparisons between the current state of political affairs and that time when Egypt was a kingdom and under British occupation, but apparently still enjoyed a flourish in democracy, said observers.
The corruption of King Farouk's era was recorded in one single "black" book, said Mansour. "But the corruption of the republican era will need to be recorded in volumes as large as the Encyclopedia Britannica."
But apart from criticism, and comparison between historical eras, the series shed light on a sticky issue: competition between Syrian and Egyptian soap operas.
In recent years, Egypt has not been following its usual trajectory in television drama production. Fed dramas with weak plotlines and basking only in the glitter and fame of the lead star, people have been switching the channels for something different.
Then along came the Syrians with dramas rife with history, thought and geopolitical messages, that offered a change from the deluge of clichéd stories flooding the Egyptian TV screens.
In addition, Egyptians’ sojourn into historical drama through the years have not been as successful as their Syrian counterparts, usually for lack of financial resources, manpower or both.
Actress Waafa Amer said that Egyptians could benefit from how much effort is put into a project. "Costumes, make-up, everything is taken seriously. Every single person on set knows his work."
“The scale of production in historical Syrian dramas in general is huge,” said al-Qady, who acted in two Syrian-directed dramas. “They have fresh techniques in directing."
Although some filmmakers and founders of the drama industry in Egypt come from different ethnic backgrounds, some Egyptian filmmakers and actors have become "chauvinistic" when it came to embracing other cultures in art. And many Egyptian screenplay writers and directors felt they had a monopoly over "excellence in drama."
Even as soaps like King Farouk received warm praise, some voices still opposed the Syrian experiment with passion.
But according to the makers of this landmark project, the initiative was neither Syrian, nor Egyptian, nor Saudi but rather a pan-Arab product which also included a Jordanian music score composer and Lebanese make-up artists.
"We hope that this project would succeed in uniting Arabs through art - after failing to unite in politics" said scriptwriter Gaber.
Whether a joint-Arab project like this could signal an upcoming trend in regional arts, it is not clear. But the makers of Farouk could only hope that this will happen. "I have a feeling that this trend will conquer," said director Hatem Ali.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
note: image courtersy of Wafaa Amer
Egyptian workers occupy factory during massive strike - dpa
By Pakinam Amer
First Published: Sep 26, 2007
Cairo - Thousands of Egyptian textile workers have taken over control of one of the state's biggest mills overnight, the workers' leaders said on Wednesday during a massive strike over low wages and overdue benefits.
"My salary is now 600 (Egyptian) pounds after a service of 45 years in this factory," says 59-year-old al-Sayed Habib, a leader of the protestors. Habib and his family have spent the last three days huddled around the Mahala al-Kobra factory of Misr Helwan Spinning and Weaving Company which he considers a second home of sorts.
"I spent my life in this factory and I own nothing except my salary," Habib said, adding that monthly salaries for the textile factory range from 100 to 600 Egyptian pounds (18 to 107 US dollars).
The workers are demanding 150 days' worth of profit sharing in addition to bonuses as promised by the factory administration. They also want a larger share of the company's profit.
The resignation of the head of the Textile Holding Company Mohsen al-Jilany, Misr Helwan chairman Mahmoud al-Gibali, in addition to the dismissal of the workers' syndicate council head is also on top of their demands.
Despite being confined to the facility, the strike of 27,000 Egyptian textile workers in northern Gharbiya province has produced a shockwave among other blue-collar workers and rights advocates and has recieved extensive local media coverage.
The government is afraid that the impact of this strike would spread to other factories, according to independent observers. Government sources told a newspaper earlier that if the state responded to the workers' demands, this could encourage other workers to follow their lead.
The incident revived the memory of a 2006 mass protest where laborers in both major plants and low-paid industries organized massive strikes.
Truckloads of security forces have been cordoning off the site bursting at the seams with protestors, their families and relatives. Establishing a makeshift tent city inside the factory, the workers thronged the facility's yards day and night during the holy month of Ramadan during which Muslims fast and make supplications to God.
In addition to fasting during the day, the male and female workers hold rallies, pray and break their fast every evening on the site and jointly bang on plastic barrels in a kind of a symbolic snub. The drums signal a warning to the authorities, according to Habib. "These drums are for waking people up, they signal danger."
"Officials are deliberately giving us the cold shoulder, but we will take back our right if we continue standing," he said. Behind him, workers chanted: "We will not bow, we will not fear. We cannot afford plain bread."
An opposition member of parliament, Hamdein Sabahi, criticized the attitude of the company's shareholders. "There is a crisis due to the absence of trust. The workers do not believe that their money will be paid as the company promises."
Newspaper reports had said that the holding company head al-Jilany had already given the workers a 40-day payment. But the workers say they received only a 20-day payment, adding that the company refused to negotiate the remaining wages until early November when the company's general assembly meets.
By November, Ramadan and the financially-demanding Muslim feasts would be over, said Habib, a father of three. "Schools have also opened and we have no money."
Workers said that they have neither received reconciliatory bids nor been approached by company negotiators.
According to Sabahi, some workers are seriously considering setting up a self-directed administration as an act of defiance.
Harassment from security police has been reported. On Monday, eight Egyptian textile worker leaders were arrested. They were accused of fomenting protests and causing damage to public property. The authorities claimed that the strike cost the factory a 100-million-pound loss. They were released late Tuesday.
"(The police) also sends its scaremongers into the crowds of workers to frighten them by saying that the security forces waiting at the gates could strike any time," Habib said.
On another note, Sabahi denied that the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood had incited the strike, describing this as "a petty excuse by the government authorities."
"They think squeezing in the Muslim Brotherhood into the problem justifies a crackdown. They want this rights issue to be an extension of the war between them and the Muslim Brotherhood," Sabahi said.
Link: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/233332/Egyptian_workers_occupy_factory_during_massive_strike
First Published: Sep 26, 2007
Cairo - Thousands of Egyptian textile workers have taken over control of one of the state's biggest mills overnight, the workers' leaders said on Wednesday during a massive strike over low wages and overdue benefits.
"My salary is now 600 (Egyptian) pounds after a service of 45 years in this factory," says 59-year-old al-Sayed Habib, a leader of the protestors. Habib and his family have spent the last three days huddled around the Mahala al-Kobra factory of Misr Helwan Spinning and Weaving Company which he considers a second home of sorts.
"I spent my life in this factory and I own nothing except my salary," Habib said, adding that monthly salaries for the textile factory range from 100 to 600 Egyptian pounds (18 to 107 US dollars).
The workers are demanding 150 days' worth of profit sharing in addition to bonuses as promised by the factory administration. They also want a larger share of the company's profit.
The resignation of the head of the Textile Holding Company Mohsen al-Jilany, Misr Helwan chairman Mahmoud al-Gibali, in addition to the dismissal of the workers' syndicate council head is also on top of their demands.
Despite being confined to the facility, the strike of 27,000 Egyptian textile workers in northern Gharbiya province has produced a shockwave among other blue-collar workers and rights advocates and has recieved extensive local media coverage.
The government is afraid that the impact of this strike would spread to other factories, according to independent observers. Government sources told a newspaper earlier that if the state responded to the workers' demands, this could encourage other workers to follow their lead.
The incident revived the memory of a 2006 mass protest where laborers in both major plants and low-paid industries organized massive strikes.
Truckloads of security forces have been cordoning off the site bursting at the seams with protestors, their families and relatives. Establishing a makeshift tent city inside the factory, the workers thronged the facility's yards day and night during the holy month of Ramadan during which Muslims fast and make supplications to God.
In addition to fasting during the day, the male and female workers hold rallies, pray and break their fast every evening on the site and jointly bang on plastic barrels in a kind of a symbolic snub. The drums signal a warning to the authorities, according to Habib. "These drums are for waking people up, they signal danger."
"Officials are deliberately giving us the cold shoulder, but we will take back our right if we continue standing," he said. Behind him, workers chanted: "We will not bow, we will not fear. We cannot afford plain bread."
An opposition member of parliament, Hamdein Sabahi, criticized the attitude of the company's shareholders. "There is a crisis due to the absence of trust. The workers do not believe that their money will be paid as the company promises."
Newspaper reports had said that the holding company head al-Jilany had already given the workers a 40-day payment. But the workers say they received only a 20-day payment, adding that the company refused to negotiate the remaining wages until early November when the company's general assembly meets.
By November, Ramadan and the financially-demanding Muslim feasts would be over, said Habib, a father of three. "Schools have also opened and we have no money."
Workers said that they have neither received reconciliatory bids nor been approached by company negotiators.
According to Sabahi, some workers are seriously considering setting up a self-directed administration as an act of defiance.
Harassment from security police has been reported. On Monday, eight Egyptian textile worker leaders were arrested. They were accused of fomenting protests and causing damage to public property. The authorities claimed that the strike cost the factory a 100-million-pound loss. They were released late Tuesday.
"(The police) also sends its scaremongers into the crowds of workers to frighten them by saying that the security forces waiting at the gates could strike any time," Habib said.
On another note, Sabahi denied that the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood had incited the strike, describing this as "a petty excuse by the government authorities."
"They think squeezing in the Muslim Brotherhood into the problem justifies a crackdown. They want this rights issue to be an extension of the war between them and the Muslim Brotherhood," Sabahi said.
Link: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/233332/Egyptian_workers_occupy_factory_during_massive_strike
Rumours of love affair spark sectarian clashes in Egypt - dpa
By Pakinam Amer
Sep 24, 2007, 16:47 GMT
Cairo - Accounts of a love story between a young Christian man and a Muslim woman turned sour, prompting rumours, sectarian clashes and arrests in the once cosmopolitan port city of Alexandria.
On Monday, 25 Christians and Muslims answered to charges including disturbing the peace, damaging public property and using sharp objects as weapons.
The angry young men had pelted each other with stones and shards of broken glass, damaging nearby cars and private property in the process.
The brawl ensued late Friday in a poor part of the Sidi Bishr district during prayers that are held in observance of the holy month of Ramadan during which Muslims fast and make supplications to God.
'Throngs of people were attacking each other. A man wearing a face veil was throwing stones at Christians, and women were standing in balconies cheering on the Muslims, shouting 'God is Great',' said a Christian witness. 'They shouted 'Christians are sons of dogs'.'
According to the witness, the Christian groups sought refuge from the stones in entrances to buildings. Six Muslims were injured in the clashes as well as three Christians.
The truth is lost about the real cause of the clashes as both groups hurled accusations at each other and circulated different accounts.
As Muslims alleged that a love story had illicitly developed between 21-year-old Sami Samir and a young woman, Christians rejected the accounts saying that Muslims had attacked them for other reasons.
'The Muslim guys are only jealous because our family has a car and two cafeterias while being Christian,' said a relative of Samir.
The incidence of religiously-motivated violence is escalating in Alexandria, a city that used to be home to Jews, Muslims, and Christians and sheltered many expatriate foreign communities until the late 1950s.
Observers believe that Alexandria is gradually embracing religious radicalism and a form of bigotry alien to its reputation as a tolerant metropolis.
Despite being a summer resort, popular for its long stretches of beaches and sea activities, the attire of women in particular is becoming more and more conservative even on hot summer days.
Men wearing white ankle-length robes and women dressed in black from head to toe except for two slits for the eyes are a common sight.
Mosques and churches have started replacing other societal institutions, offering not only moral direction but also social, legal and political guidance to the faithful.
Whether they blame the so-called Salafi movements, followers of a strict form of Islam akin to Saudi Arabia's austere Wahabism or the popular Muslim Brotherhood, many observers have agreed that the 'overly-conservative religious groups' had a role in changing the face of Alexandria.
An Alexandrian recounted how a sheikh kept intimidating him after discovering that he was a Christian. 'He would ask me why I believed in the Bible. I used to run from him.'
Although a leader of the conservative Muslim Brotherhood himself, Ali Abdel-Fatah believes that religious clerics are using the economic and political turmoil that Egypt is enduring to mobilize Muslims and Christians against each other.
'In Alexandria, Muslims take shelter in mosques. Christians find asylum in their church. This leads to the blunt expression of religious views and so clashes, and confrontations ensue,' said Abdel-Fatah.
'When a love affair turns into a sectarian row, we know we have a big problem,' said Kamal Habib, member of the Supreme Church Council in Alexandria. 'A road accident could easily spur a religious rift these days.'
The recent street riots in Alexandria rekindled memories of violent incidents in 2006 when an extremist, claimed by security authorities to have been mentally deranged, attacked four churches in Alexandria. An elderly Coptic citizen was stabbed to death and five others were injured.
In 2005, on two consecutive Fridays, Muslims attacked St George's Church in Alexandria's Moharam Bek district, incensed by the leaking of a CD containing a play performed inside the church and considered disdainful of the Prophet Mohammed.
'The state cannot punish the church like it punishes religious institutions and so people take matters into their own hands and seek to regain their rights by use of force,' said Abdel-Fatah.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
© Copyright 2007 by monstersandcritics.com.
This notice cannot be removed without permission.
Link: http://news.monstersandcritics.com/middleeast/features/article_1359190.php/Rumours_of_love_affair_spark_sectarian_clashes_in_Egypt
Sep 24, 2007, 16:47 GMT
Cairo - Accounts of a love story between a young Christian man and a Muslim woman turned sour, prompting rumours, sectarian clashes and arrests in the once cosmopolitan port city of Alexandria.
On Monday, 25 Christians and Muslims answered to charges including disturbing the peace, damaging public property and using sharp objects as weapons.
The angry young men had pelted each other with stones and shards of broken glass, damaging nearby cars and private property in the process.
The brawl ensued late Friday in a poor part of the Sidi Bishr district during prayers that are held in observance of the holy month of Ramadan during which Muslims fast and make supplications to God.
'Throngs of people were attacking each other. A man wearing a face veil was throwing stones at Christians, and women were standing in balconies cheering on the Muslims, shouting 'God is Great',' said a Christian witness. 'They shouted 'Christians are sons of dogs'.'
According to the witness, the Christian groups sought refuge from the stones in entrances to buildings. Six Muslims were injured in the clashes as well as three Christians.
The truth is lost about the real cause of the clashes as both groups hurled accusations at each other and circulated different accounts.
As Muslims alleged that a love story had illicitly developed between 21-year-old Sami Samir and a young woman, Christians rejected the accounts saying that Muslims had attacked them for other reasons.
'The Muslim guys are only jealous because our family has a car and two cafeterias while being Christian,' said a relative of Samir.
The incidence of religiously-motivated violence is escalating in Alexandria, a city that used to be home to Jews, Muslims, and Christians and sheltered many expatriate foreign communities until the late 1950s.
Observers believe that Alexandria is gradually embracing religious radicalism and a form of bigotry alien to its reputation as a tolerant metropolis.
Despite being a summer resort, popular for its long stretches of beaches and sea activities, the attire of women in particular is becoming more and more conservative even on hot summer days.
Men wearing white ankle-length robes and women dressed in black from head to toe except for two slits for the eyes are a common sight.
Mosques and churches have started replacing other societal institutions, offering not only moral direction but also social, legal and political guidance to the faithful.
Whether they blame the so-called Salafi movements, followers of a strict form of Islam akin to Saudi Arabia's austere Wahabism or the popular Muslim Brotherhood, many observers have agreed that the 'overly-conservative religious groups' had a role in changing the face of Alexandria.
An Alexandrian recounted how a sheikh kept intimidating him after discovering that he was a Christian. 'He would ask me why I believed in the Bible. I used to run from him.'
Although a leader of the conservative Muslim Brotherhood himself, Ali Abdel-Fatah believes that religious clerics are using the economic and political turmoil that Egypt is enduring to mobilize Muslims and Christians against each other.
'In Alexandria, Muslims take shelter in mosques. Christians find asylum in their church. This leads to the blunt expression of religious views and so clashes, and confrontations ensue,' said Abdel-Fatah.
'When a love affair turns into a sectarian row, we know we have a big problem,' said Kamal Habib, member of the Supreme Church Council in Alexandria. 'A road accident could easily spur a religious rift these days.'
The recent street riots in Alexandria rekindled memories of violent incidents in 2006 when an extremist, claimed by security authorities to have been mentally deranged, attacked four churches in Alexandria. An elderly Coptic citizen was stabbed to death and five others were injured.
In 2005, on two consecutive Fridays, Muslims attacked St George's Church in Alexandria's Moharam Bek district, incensed by the leaking of a CD containing a play performed inside the church and considered disdainful of the Prophet Mohammed.
'The state cannot punish the church like it punishes religious institutions and so people take matters into their own hands and seek to regain their rights by use of force,' said Abdel-Fatah.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
© Copyright 2007 by monstersandcritics.com.
This notice cannot be removed without permission.
Link: http://news.monstersandcritics.com/middleeast/features/article_1359190.php/Rumours_of_love_affair_spark_sectarian_clashes_in_Egypt
Iraq oil industry workers protest controversial oil bill - dpa
By Pakinam Amer, dpa
First Published: Tue, 18 Sep 2007 06:06:46 GMT
Cairo - While Iraq's political parties are failing to reach a compromise on the hotly-debated oil and gas draft law, oil workers in oil-rich Basra continue almost daily protests, branding themselves ”the defenders of the country's oil.”
Basra's oil workers' union is uncompromisingly setting itself against the law, approved by Iraq's cabinet but stalled in parliament.
The trade union believes that a deluge of foreign contractors would gradually but eventually lead to the privatization of the oil sector, a notion it vehemently opposes.
A landmark political and economic step, the debated law will decide over the control of the country's existing as well as untapped oil-reserves, which are mainly in the Kurdish-controlled north and the Shiite-dominated south.
In principle, the draft law outlines the procedures and guidelines for oil transactions based on articles 11 and 112 of the constitution. The government had said that it is to be designed in a way that makes Iraqis the prime owners of the country's oil and gas wealth.
In conferences and media outlets, however, the mostly Shiite Basra oil workers and union members claim that the law allows the government to ”sell the country's wealth” for capitalist gains.
Iraq has the third largest oil reserves in the world. However, many of the existing oil fields have not been utilized since the 1970s. The current oil reserves are estimated to be equivalent to 115 billion barrels.
During their demonstrations against the draft law, the protesters in the oil industry and trade unions have been warning the oil ministry of the centralized government in Baghdad against ignoring their calls, while vowing to continue their rowdy protests.
In response, Oil Minister Hussein Shahristani banned unions from giving their say during discussions of the much-anticipated legislation.
By contrast, Ibrahim Bahr al-Oloum, former Iraqi oil minister told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that the oil workers should be allowed to have their say: ”These unions should have a position (regarding the law) and their perspective should be considered. Unions protect oil workers.”
”Discussions should be open,” he said. He added the local media were playing a part in defaming the controversial bill, but he also believed that the government was vague in explaining the law.
”The people have a foggy picture” of what the legislation entitles, he said.
Meanwhile, Washington has been pushing for a speedy approval of the law, prompting many Iraqis, especially those in Iraq's oil-rich regions, to doubt the real motives of the Bush administration.
Many workers believe that the deal described as a ”profit-sharing” agreement by Premier Nuri al-Maliki and his cabinet is in reality intended to exploit Iraq's lucrative energy resources for the sake of US oil drillers and corporations.
According to former Oil Minister Bahr al-Oloum, one of the disputed elements of the law is the section describing the role of the national oil company and its role in the country's energy wealth.
The law had suggested that Iraq's national oil company would be restructured and turned into an independent holding company. This company would then be in charge of implementing national oil policy, according to a publicized draft of the law.
But the law does not guarantee Iraq's supremacy over its reserves since it does not outline a quota reserved to protect this holding company against foreign competitors, Bahr al-Oloum said.
”The national oil company should not be dealt with as a competitor to foreign contractors. The priority in contracts should be given tothe national company. Its share should not go below 51 per cent,” the former minister added.
Foreign companies and US oil giants are already queuing to sign exploration and production deals and to book oil reserves in Iraq.
”All the oil companies have been salivating at the prospect ofIraq for years. There is a good chance of very large discoveries. Nowhere else in the world offers that,” David Horgan, oil expert and managing director of Petret Resources, which has an operation in Iraq, told the UK's Guardian newspaper recently.
Most oil fields are located in the south of Iraq near oil-rich cities like Basra, West al-Qurna, Majnoun, Nahran Omar, Rafideen, Helfaya, Sabba, Lahees and Bazrkan.
Other areas like Kirkuk in the north, eastern Baghdad, al-Ahdab, Nasiriyah, and Artawy are also famous for their oil fields.
In Baghdad, discussions on the draft bill collapsed as Kurds, Sunnis and Shiites became divided on clauses regulating the power balance between the regions and the different Iraqi groups.
Sunnis feared the law would decentralize management of the oil fields. Shiites and Kurds contended for control over them, voicing considerations against annexes placing oil fields under the full control of the national company in Baghdad.
Given the amount of controversy ahead of the bill's parliamentary approval, some observers predict even more arguments to ensue over the execution of the law itself.
Copyright, respective author or news agency
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/109399.html
First Published: Tue, 18 Sep 2007 06:06:46 GMT
Cairo - While Iraq's political parties are failing to reach a compromise on the hotly-debated oil and gas draft law, oil workers in oil-rich Basra continue almost daily protests, branding themselves ”the defenders of the country's oil.”
Basra's oil workers' union is uncompromisingly setting itself against the law, approved by Iraq's cabinet but stalled in parliament.
The trade union believes that a deluge of foreign contractors would gradually but eventually lead to the privatization of the oil sector, a notion it vehemently opposes.
A landmark political and economic step, the debated law will decide over the control of the country's existing as well as untapped oil-reserves, which are mainly in the Kurdish-controlled north and the Shiite-dominated south.
In principle, the draft law outlines the procedures and guidelines for oil transactions based on articles 11 and 112 of the constitution. The government had said that it is to be designed in a way that makes Iraqis the prime owners of the country's oil and gas wealth.
In conferences and media outlets, however, the mostly Shiite Basra oil workers and union members claim that the law allows the government to ”sell the country's wealth” for capitalist gains.
Iraq has the third largest oil reserves in the world. However, many of the existing oil fields have not been utilized since the 1970s. The current oil reserves are estimated to be equivalent to 115 billion barrels.
During their demonstrations against the draft law, the protesters in the oil industry and trade unions have been warning the oil ministry of the centralized government in Baghdad against ignoring their calls, while vowing to continue their rowdy protests.
In response, Oil Minister Hussein Shahristani banned unions from giving their say during discussions of the much-anticipated legislation.
By contrast, Ibrahim Bahr al-Oloum, former Iraqi oil minister told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that the oil workers should be allowed to have their say: ”These unions should have a position (regarding the law) and their perspective should be considered. Unions protect oil workers.”
”Discussions should be open,” he said. He added the local media were playing a part in defaming the controversial bill, but he also believed that the government was vague in explaining the law.
”The people have a foggy picture” of what the legislation entitles, he said.
Meanwhile, Washington has been pushing for a speedy approval of the law, prompting many Iraqis, especially those in Iraq's oil-rich regions, to doubt the real motives of the Bush administration.
Many workers believe that the deal described as a ”profit-sharing” agreement by Premier Nuri al-Maliki and his cabinet is in reality intended to exploit Iraq's lucrative energy resources for the sake of US oil drillers and corporations.
According to former Oil Minister Bahr al-Oloum, one of the disputed elements of the law is the section describing the role of the national oil company and its role in the country's energy wealth.
The law had suggested that Iraq's national oil company would be restructured and turned into an independent holding company. This company would then be in charge of implementing national oil policy, according to a publicized draft of the law.
But the law does not guarantee Iraq's supremacy over its reserves since it does not outline a quota reserved to protect this holding company against foreign competitors, Bahr al-Oloum said.
”The national oil company should not be dealt with as a competitor to foreign contractors. The priority in contracts should be given tothe national company. Its share should not go below 51 per cent,” the former minister added.
Foreign companies and US oil giants are already queuing to sign exploration and production deals and to book oil reserves in Iraq.
”All the oil companies have been salivating at the prospect ofIraq for years. There is a good chance of very large discoveries. Nowhere else in the world offers that,” David Horgan, oil expert and managing director of Petret Resources, which has an operation in Iraq, told the UK's Guardian newspaper recently.
Most oil fields are located in the south of Iraq near oil-rich cities like Basra, West al-Qurna, Majnoun, Nahran Omar, Rafideen, Helfaya, Sabba, Lahees and Bazrkan.
Other areas like Kirkuk in the north, eastern Baghdad, al-Ahdab, Nasiriyah, and Artawy are also famous for their oil fields.
In Baghdad, discussions on the draft bill collapsed as Kurds, Sunnis and Shiites became divided on clauses regulating the power balance between the regions and the different Iraqi groups.
Sunnis feared the law would decentralize management of the oil fields. Shiites and Kurds contended for control over them, voicing considerations against annexes placing oil fields under the full control of the national company in Baghdad.
Given the amount of controversy ahead of the bill's parliamentary approval, some observers predict even more arguments to ensue over the execution of the law itself.
Copyright, respective author or news agency
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/109399.html
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Future of Iraqi government at stake as blocs withdraw -dpa
Middle East Features
By Pakinam Amer
Sep 17, 2007, 15:35 GMT
Cairo - Politicians and observers in Iraq have expressed concern over the withdrawal of major blocs from Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's ruling coalition.
Growing tension between various factions and the shifting political landscape has prompted questions about the future of the precarious government.
Reports on Monday said that some blocs are already negotiationg new alliances in Iraq's Council of Representatives which may be opposed to the government.
The political force loyal to radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr quit al-Maliki's governing Shiite alliance leaving 30 seats empty, on Sunday, after a boycott lasting months.
The Iraqi Accord Front, the largest Sunni party, has already withdrawn and other Shiite and secular factions have boycotted recent sessions and voted only on legislation.
Both the ruling alliance and President Jalal Talabani's office issued statements Monday urging the Sadrists to reconsider their decision and return to government. The ruling United Iraqi Alliance described the move as shocking.
Some members of the ruling alliance have denied that the government is threatened. Sadr MPs have shown little or no activity for many months, they said.
The Sadrists however claim they were intentionally marginalized. The Sadr camp was not included in discussions on key legislation like the debated oil and gas draft law.
They were also shunned from talks on de-Baathification policies which might lead to the return of loyalists to former dictator Saddam Hussein 'whose hands were not stained with Iraqi blood', according to a-Maliki, to government jobs.
Ruling party moderates nevertheless formed a special council to negotiate with the dissident Sadrists to tackle the core issues of conflict, according to the United Iraqi Alliance.
But the Sadrists insist that their decision is both final and consequential. Asmaa al-Mussawy, a leading member of the Sadr camp, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that 'there is no going back.'
The leaders of the Sadr bloc have claimed that MPs belonging to al-Maliki's Daawa party might quit the ruling coalition and join the Sadr camp.
The Islamic Daawa party is an Iraqi conservative party, and along with the Supreme Islamic Iraqi council, forms the bulk of the ruling Shiite coalition known as the United Iraqi Alliance.
The alliance has 128 of the Council of Representative's 275 seats of which Daawa occupies 13.
'The Daawa party, the (Sunni) Iraqi Accord Front, the (Shiite) al- Fadila, the National Dialogue Front are all engaged in dialogue with the Sadr for a new political programme that we cannot publicize at the moment,' said al-Mussawy on Monday.
'These are all parties who could very well forge an alliance with the Sadr, but nothing is final yet,' the Sadrist added.
Abdel-Karim al-Anzy, Daawa's chief in Iraq, confirmed talks with Sadrists and a possible withdrawal.
Observers say these alliances, if created, could herald the collapse of al-Maliki's cabinet.
But even lawmakers are divided on whether al-Maliki's cabinet and the ruling coalition would be weakened by the withdrawal of major blocs - mainly Sunnis and the Shiite Sadr camp- as al-Maliki still enjoys a legitimate albeit thin majority in parliament.
Even if new alliances are formed, al-Maliki would still be able to secure the passage of controversial laws, if he guarantees the allegiance of the Kurdistani Alliance with 53 seats in the Council of Representatives, according to local analysts.
Sadrists have so far ruled out the possibility of a no-confidence vote to bring down the government.
But the government has already been dealt a blow, according to observers. Sadr's withdrawal, coupled with the failure of al-Maliki to reconcile with Sunnis and other opposing parties, caused a split in Daawa party ranks.
Daawa's Al-Anzy described the Sadr departure as a 'hard blow' adding to Voices of Iraq news agency's comments that al-Maliki had begun aggravating rifts within his own party when he signed agreements with Shiite and Kurdish bigwigs while disregarding Sadrists and Sunnis.
Despite the hustle and bustle, some politicians refuse to take the moves of the Sadr bloc seriously.
The Shiite camp have a history of repeated threats, withdrawal and return to parliament.
Last year, Sadrists froze their membership in parliament after loud and angry anti-government protests. But they returned as soon as some of their demands had been met.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
© Copyright 2007 by monstersandcritics.com.
This notice cannot be removed without permission.
Link: http://news.monstersandcritics.com/middleeast/features/printer_1356762.php
By Pakinam Amer
Sep 17, 2007, 15:35 GMT
Cairo - Politicians and observers in Iraq have expressed concern over the withdrawal of major blocs from Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's ruling coalition.
Growing tension between various factions and the shifting political landscape has prompted questions about the future of the precarious government.
Reports on Monday said that some blocs are already negotiationg new alliances in Iraq's Council of Representatives which may be opposed to the government.
The political force loyal to radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr quit al-Maliki's governing Shiite alliance leaving 30 seats empty, on Sunday, after a boycott lasting months.
The Iraqi Accord Front, the largest Sunni party, has already withdrawn and other Shiite and secular factions have boycotted recent sessions and voted only on legislation.
Both the ruling alliance and President Jalal Talabani's office issued statements Monday urging the Sadrists to reconsider their decision and return to government. The ruling United Iraqi Alliance described the move as shocking.
Some members of the ruling alliance have denied that the government is threatened. Sadr MPs have shown little or no activity for many months, they said.
The Sadrists however claim they were intentionally marginalized. The Sadr camp was not included in discussions on key legislation like the debated oil and gas draft law.
They were also shunned from talks on de-Baathification policies which might lead to the return of loyalists to former dictator Saddam Hussein 'whose hands were not stained with Iraqi blood', according to a-Maliki, to government jobs.
Ruling party moderates nevertheless formed a special council to negotiate with the dissident Sadrists to tackle the core issues of conflict, according to the United Iraqi Alliance.
But the Sadrists insist that their decision is both final and consequential. Asmaa al-Mussawy, a leading member of the Sadr camp, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that 'there is no going back.'
The leaders of the Sadr bloc have claimed that MPs belonging to al-Maliki's Daawa party might quit the ruling coalition and join the Sadr camp.
The Islamic Daawa party is an Iraqi conservative party, and along with the Supreme Islamic Iraqi council, forms the bulk of the ruling Shiite coalition known as the United Iraqi Alliance.
The alliance has 128 of the Council of Representative's 275 seats of which Daawa occupies 13.
'The Daawa party, the (Sunni) Iraqi Accord Front, the (Shiite) al- Fadila, the National Dialogue Front are all engaged in dialogue with the Sadr for a new political programme that we cannot publicize at the moment,' said al-Mussawy on Monday.
'These are all parties who could very well forge an alliance with the Sadr, but nothing is final yet,' the Sadrist added.
Abdel-Karim al-Anzy, Daawa's chief in Iraq, confirmed talks with Sadrists and a possible withdrawal.
Observers say these alliances, if created, could herald the collapse of al-Maliki's cabinet.
But even lawmakers are divided on whether al-Maliki's cabinet and the ruling coalition would be weakened by the withdrawal of major blocs - mainly Sunnis and the Shiite Sadr camp- as al-Maliki still enjoys a legitimate albeit thin majority in parliament.
Even if new alliances are formed, al-Maliki would still be able to secure the passage of controversial laws, if he guarantees the allegiance of the Kurdistani Alliance with 53 seats in the Council of Representatives, according to local analysts.
Sadrists have so far ruled out the possibility of a no-confidence vote to bring down the government.
But the government has already been dealt a blow, according to observers. Sadr's withdrawal, coupled with the failure of al-Maliki to reconcile with Sunnis and other opposing parties, caused a split in Daawa party ranks.
Daawa's Al-Anzy described the Sadr departure as a 'hard blow' adding to Voices of Iraq news agency's comments that al-Maliki had begun aggravating rifts within his own party when he signed agreements with Shiite and Kurdish bigwigs while disregarding Sadrists and Sunnis.
Despite the hustle and bustle, some politicians refuse to take the moves of the Sadr bloc seriously.
The Shiite camp have a history of repeated threats, withdrawal and return to parliament.
Last year, Sadrists froze their membership in parliament after loud and angry anti-government protests. But they returned as soon as some of their demands had been met.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
© Copyright 2007 by monstersandcritics.com.
This notice cannot be removed without permission.
Link: http://news.monstersandcritics.com/middleeast/features/printer_1356762.php
Ramadan serials court controversy - Aljazeera English
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/826BCEE8-1442-46CA-9417-8CAC0270E4B6.htm
By Pakinam Amer in Cairo
This Ramadan, television serials depicting sex, politics and war will be beamed into Arab living rooms, raising the stakes on contentious socio-political issues and risking a backlash.
The themes have, over the years, become more brazen.
In the Egyptian programme A Case of Public Opinion (Kadeyet Ray Aam), Yousra, an Egyptian actor and former sex symbol, plays a prominent university professor who is one of three women violently raped while returning home from work.
She and the women are immediately victimised - not only by the violent act but by a society unwilling, and perhaps unprepared, to hear out their trauma and angst.
But Yousra's character overcomes the shame and shunning associated with rape and persistently pushes the horror of the crime – and subsequently, women's role in a patriarchal community – to the fore.
Abier el-Barbary, a psychologist and member of a local women's rights group, believes Ramadan is an ideal time to raise awareness of issues that are otherwise ignored.
She said: "Yousra is a guaranteed role model for many generations of women. She's not a sex-symbol anymore and her western attire gives a message that she's easier to approach."
"To use her as an icon to spread a direly needed message is a great idea."
Social Trauma
The show begins airing throughout the Middle East on the first day of Ramadan (September 13) but it has already stirred controversy, as Arab satellite talk shows and the press debate whether the depiction and discussion of violent sexual trauma has a place during Ramadan.
Arab media reported that Yousra was injured during filming of the much-anticipated rape scene, and that she had suffered "psychological trauma". The reports left people speculating about the intensity of the scene and whether it will breach any taboos.
But the theme seems designed to go for the jugular. Many Egyptian women have stories, usually branded as "shameful" and "embarrassing", of public harassment and even outright sexual assault in public.
A recent statistical study carried out by the Egyptian Centre for Women's Rights revealed that 40 per cent of women have experienced sexual harassment.
In October 2006, Wael Abbas, a human rights activist, captured video images of throngs of men pulling scarves off veiled women and ganging up on two or three women at a time in downtown Cairo.
One picture even showed a group of girls taking sanctuary in a downtown store, crowds of men waiting at the door as a number of police officers seemed unable to contain the pandemonium.
"It is important that a big star like Yousra adopts such an issue," Wael Abbas told Al Jazeera.
Government agenda?
But some critics have questioned whether there is a government agenda behind A Case of Public Opinion and other shows similar in tone.
In recent years, Arab governments have endorsed the dramatisation of several issues, particularly terrorism, as a means to raise awareness.
After Saudi Arabia endured a rash of terror attacks, notably a November 2003 attack on a compound housing Arabs in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, regional production companies rolled out serials with a distinct anti-extremism message.
Abbas told Al Jazeera: "Sometimes these dramas are done to produce a desired calculated reaction in Arab and foreign circles. Ramadan shows are used as tools."
Noha Maarouf, a Cairo-based social psychologist, agrees, saying that many Arabic dramas propagate the political agendas of local governments.
"Some hot topics are raised in drama to keep people talking. People will be preoccupied discussing Ramadan soap operas for the next six months."
However, she believes Arab governments prefer controversy which could divert attention as cabinets are reshuffled and inflation soars.
"There is usually a sporadic reaction to these dramas and, even if people hate them, they serve as a good distraction," she told Al Jazeera.
"What would the government like more? If people criticise Ramadan television or [if they] criticise their policies and actions?"
Politics, corruption, and war
Nevertheless, Ramadan viewers this year will still get their share of political intrigue, cabinet betrayals, and the topic du jour – inheritance of power.
In the Egyptian-Syrian joint production King Farouk, the producers have promised a new reading of Egypt's monarchy set against post-World War I colonial occupation of Arab countries and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Abbas believes the choice to produce and air the serial is itself a political gambit.
"Today in Egypt we are passing through a stage where inheritance of power - not unlike the case when Egypt was a kingdom - is a likely scenario," he told Al Jazeera.
Opposition parties have accused Hosni Mubarak, the 79-year-old president of Egypt, of grooming his son, rising politician Gamal Mubarak, to inherit the presidency.
Mohammed Abu-Seif, a director of Arabic serials, says independent production houses are giving Ramadan audiences exactly what they clamour for - contentious political issues and scandal.
"Politics rules the state that we live in now as we have reached a point of frustration where we have nothing but words to offer," he told Al Jazeera.
"It's a [situation] where both the rich and the poor suffer and so politics is present in every drama."
In one such upcoming drama, Nour al-Sherif plays the character of Saad al-Daly, a crooked businessman-cum-cabinet minister who uses his position for personal wealth and latitude.
The drama, titled Al-Daly, unfolds between 1965 and 1997 and traces Egypt's history through a gamut of political events that include the 1967 war and resulting defeat, the 1973 Yom Kippur war, and the assassination of Anwar Sadat, the former Egyptian president.
Syrian TV revisits history
King Farouk and Al-Daly are the latest historical re-dramatisations based on a trend which vaulted Syrian productions into the limelight in recent years.
Since the late 1990s, Syrian serials, acclaimed for their historical themes and finger-in-the-eye satirical comedies, have slowly edged their Egyptian counterparts.
This has created often fierce rivalry as both countries vie for Arab audiences.
And this Ramadan is no different.
The 2006 war between Israel and Lebanon is a common plotline in at least two Syrian soap operas, while another two dramas recount the injustices of the Ottoman rule and the French occupation of Arab states.
Syrian producers are sticking with their formulae - revisiting bloody chapters in Arab history, ones riddled with tales of injustice and occupation.
"If you want to pass on certain information or wittingly avoid censorship, you can always escape to history," says Mona Wasef, a Syrian actor famous for her politically-charged roles.
"Sometimes you hide behind history when you want to present forbidden thought," she told Al Jazeera.
Abu-Seif agrees, adding that historical dramatisations are a serial writer's best tactics to evade censorship and avoid having their material end up on the cutting room floor.
History versus reality
Whether these themes are a subdued reminder of a poignant Arab reality, Saad al-Qassem, the Damascus-based editor of Al-Fonoun (Arts) magazine, is unsure.
"Why do certain historical shows surface at certain times? Well, it could be an undertone of the contemporary state of politics," al-Qassem said.
He believes Arab audiences like to compare between the political status quo and the historical dramas to examine whether history repeats itself after all.
He said: "People in Syria are more attracted now to dramas that speak of past glories. It is not a surprise that under our current political climate people derive collective strength from their history."
By Pakinam Amer in Cairo
This Ramadan, television serials depicting sex, politics and war will be beamed into Arab living rooms, raising the stakes on contentious socio-political issues and risking a backlash.
The themes have, over the years, become more brazen.
In the Egyptian programme A Case of Public Opinion (Kadeyet Ray Aam), Yousra, an Egyptian actor and former sex symbol, plays a prominent university professor who is one of three women violently raped while returning home from work.
She and the women are immediately victimised - not only by the violent act but by a society unwilling, and perhaps unprepared, to hear out their trauma and angst.
But Yousra's character overcomes the shame and shunning associated with rape and persistently pushes the horror of the crime – and subsequently, women's role in a patriarchal community – to the fore.
Abier el-Barbary, a psychologist and member of a local women's rights group, believes Ramadan is an ideal time to raise awareness of issues that are otherwise ignored.
She said: "Yousra is a guaranteed role model for many generations of women. She's not a sex-symbol anymore and her western attire gives a message that she's easier to approach."
"To use her as an icon to spread a direly needed message is a great idea."
Social Trauma
The show begins airing throughout the Middle East on the first day of Ramadan (September 13) but it has already stirred controversy, as Arab satellite talk shows and the press debate whether the depiction and discussion of violent sexual trauma has a place during Ramadan.
Arab media reported that Yousra was injured during filming of the much-anticipated rape scene, and that she had suffered "psychological trauma". The reports left people speculating about the intensity of the scene and whether it will breach any taboos.
But the theme seems designed to go for the jugular. Many Egyptian women have stories, usually branded as "shameful" and "embarrassing", of public harassment and even outright sexual assault in public.
A recent statistical study carried out by the Egyptian Centre for Women's Rights revealed that 40 per cent of women have experienced sexual harassment.
In October 2006, Wael Abbas, a human rights activist, captured video images of throngs of men pulling scarves off veiled women and ganging up on two or three women at a time in downtown Cairo.
One picture even showed a group of girls taking sanctuary in a downtown store, crowds of men waiting at the door as a number of police officers seemed unable to contain the pandemonium.
"It is important that a big star like Yousra adopts such an issue," Wael Abbas told Al Jazeera.
Government agenda?
But some critics have questioned whether there is a government agenda behind A Case of Public Opinion and other shows similar in tone.
In recent years, Arab governments have endorsed the dramatisation of several issues, particularly terrorism, as a means to raise awareness.
After Saudi Arabia endured a rash of terror attacks, notably a November 2003 attack on a compound housing Arabs in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, regional production companies rolled out serials with a distinct anti-extremism message.
Abbas told Al Jazeera: "Sometimes these dramas are done to produce a desired calculated reaction in Arab and foreign circles. Ramadan shows are used as tools."
Noha Maarouf, a Cairo-based social psychologist, agrees, saying that many Arabic dramas propagate the political agendas of local governments.
"Some hot topics are raised in drama to keep people talking. People will be preoccupied discussing Ramadan soap operas for the next six months."
However, she believes Arab governments prefer controversy which could divert attention as cabinets are reshuffled and inflation soars.
"There is usually a sporadic reaction to these dramas and, even if people hate them, they serve as a good distraction," she told Al Jazeera.
"What would the government like more? If people criticise Ramadan television or [if they] criticise their policies and actions?"
Politics, corruption, and war
Nevertheless, Ramadan viewers this year will still get their share of political intrigue, cabinet betrayals, and the topic du jour – inheritance of power.
In the Egyptian-Syrian joint production King Farouk, the producers have promised a new reading of Egypt's monarchy set against post-World War I colonial occupation of Arab countries and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Abbas believes the choice to produce and air the serial is itself a political gambit.
"Today in Egypt we are passing through a stage where inheritance of power - not unlike the case when Egypt was a kingdom - is a likely scenario," he told Al Jazeera.
Opposition parties have accused Hosni Mubarak, the 79-year-old president of Egypt, of grooming his son, rising politician Gamal Mubarak, to inherit the presidency.
Mohammed Abu-Seif, a director of Arabic serials, says independent production houses are giving Ramadan audiences exactly what they clamour for - contentious political issues and scandal.
"Politics rules the state that we live in now as we have reached a point of frustration where we have nothing but words to offer," he told Al Jazeera.
"It's a [situation] where both the rich and the poor suffer and so politics is present in every drama."
In one such upcoming drama, Nour al-Sherif plays the character of Saad al-Daly, a crooked businessman-cum-cabinet minister who uses his position for personal wealth and latitude.
The drama, titled Al-Daly, unfolds between 1965 and 1997 and traces Egypt's history through a gamut of political events that include the 1967 war and resulting defeat, the 1973 Yom Kippur war, and the assassination of Anwar Sadat, the former Egyptian president.
Syrian TV revisits history
King Farouk and Al-Daly are the latest historical re-dramatisations based on a trend which vaulted Syrian productions into the limelight in recent years.
Since the late 1990s, Syrian serials, acclaimed for their historical themes and finger-in-the-eye satirical comedies, have slowly edged their Egyptian counterparts.
This has created often fierce rivalry as both countries vie for Arab audiences.
And this Ramadan is no different.
The 2006 war between Israel and Lebanon is a common plotline in at least two Syrian soap operas, while another two dramas recount the injustices of the Ottoman rule and the French occupation of Arab states.
Syrian producers are sticking with their formulae - revisiting bloody chapters in Arab history, ones riddled with tales of injustice and occupation.
"If you want to pass on certain information or wittingly avoid censorship, you can always escape to history," says Mona Wasef, a Syrian actor famous for her politically-charged roles.
"Sometimes you hide behind history when you want to present forbidden thought," she told Al Jazeera.
Abu-Seif agrees, adding that historical dramatisations are a serial writer's best tactics to evade censorship and avoid having their material end up on the cutting room floor.
History versus reality
Whether these themes are a subdued reminder of a poignant Arab reality, Saad al-Qassem, the Damascus-based editor of Al-Fonoun (Arts) magazine, is unsure.
"Why do certain historical shows surface at certain times? Well, it could be an undertone of the contemporary state of politics," al-Qassem said.
He believes Arab audiences like to compare between the political status quo and the historical dramas to examine whether history repeats itself after all.
He said: "People in Syria are more attracted now to dramas that speak of past glories. It is not a surprise that under our current political climate people derive collective strength from their history."
Monday, September 10, 2007
NEWS FEATURE: Iraqis divided over results of US troop surge - dpa
Middle East NewsBy Kazem al-Akabi and Pakinam Amer
Sep 10, 2007, 14:57 GMT
Baghdad/Cairo - Debate over the achievements and shortcomings of the US troop surge plan has left Iraqis divided with many branding the strategy a failure.
US commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, and Ryan C Crocker, American ambassador to Iraq, were expected Monday to report to Congress about the progress made since US President George W Bush announced his revised Iraq strategy, in which he pledged in January to increase troop numbers by 20,000 soldiers.
The surge took place between February and June. In Baghdad, where a new security plan was enacted hand-in-hand with the increase in the number of troops last February, many Iraqis believed that the increased US presence would save the country from the horrors of civil war.
"The US presence stands as a barrier in the face of armed militias who want to provoke the country into civil war," says Tareq Ibrahim, a Baghdad-based engineer.
Others said that "independence" is the key to control the security situation but added that Iraq was torn between a continued military occupation and the subsequent loss of sovereignty, and a possible disintegration into total chaos if the US was to withdraw its troops.
"We have to depend on ourselves," says 23-year-old Wissam Mohamed."But how could our weaponless forces stand against armed militias?"
In oil-rich Kirkuk, a disputed northern territory shared between Kurds and Turkmen, a gamut of opinions accompanied the idea of possible US troop reduction or even withdrawal.
Abdullah Hamoud al-Rayashy, a local farmer, said that the US surge "did not create a tangible change."
"There's more terrorism, more arrests, kidnappings, deportation. The Bush administration has failed to change the government programme after Iraqi politicians proved their failure," he said.
A shop owner from Kirkuk, Aras Khorshid, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that the US administration did not solve problems, but described the possibility of withdrawal or a reduction in the US presence as a "disaster for Iraq."
He believes that the Americans are playing a negative role in the arguments over who should control Kirkuk - Kurds or Sunni Arabs and Turkmen.
But a withdrawal could mean more infiltration and shelling at the borders by neighbouring Iran and Turkey, according to Khorshid. Turksand Iranians are wreaking havoc in the autonomous Kurdish region while the government doesn't act, he says.
The armies of both Turkey and Iran have been engaged in a conflict with around 7,000 Kurdish rebels who are entrenched in the mountainous frontier region in northern Iraq.
Villages in northern Iraq have been shelled as militants belonging to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), outlawed in Turkey, and theParty for Freedom and Life in Kurdistan (PJAK) from Iran, are constantly targeted.
"The Americans should exercise pressure (on the Iraqis) to overhaul the army and police sources," said Omar Ouji, a Turkman."Meanwhile, they should slowly and gradually decrease their presence."
Accusations of violence have been levelled at Iraqi police and army forces whose ranks are believed to be infiltrated by members of sectarian militias.
Security elements, which ideally act as a source of protection, bear allegiances to different political factions and are said to have contributed to fomenting violence.
Meanwhile, during the two-day hearing General Petraeus is expected to try and curtail major moves to cut the number of US troops in Iraq in the forthcoming months. Democratic lawmakers in Congress have been pushing for a timetable for the US forces' withdrawal as Bush and his backers continue to warn against premature cuts.
The architect of this year's so-called surge, Petraeus is suggesting that only one brigade, about 4,000 troops, could go back home in December without being replaced but that larger cuts should wait until recommendations on such adjustments are presented in March 2008, according to the New York Times on Monday.
His surge, which only reached full strength during the summer, has reportedly produced some improvements in security in parts of Iraq,especially in and around Baghdad where the US-backed Fard al-Qanoun (Law Enforcement) security plan was put into effect.
However, amid growing debate on the degree of success and failure in Iraq, the Democrats want statistics.
Bush hinted at the possibility of withdrawal during a recent trip to Anbar province.
"When we begin to draw down, it will be from a position of strength and success, not from fear and failure," the US president said.
Egyptian journalist probed over Mubarak health rumours - dpa
Middle East FeaturesBy Pakinam Amer
Sep 5, 2007, 14:42 GMT
Cairo - In a country regularly shaken by political paranoia, Egyptian investigators are probing a popular opposition journalist for allegedly spreading 'dangerous' rumours about the health of President Hosny Mubarak which have gripped the nation in recent weeks.
On Wednesday morning, Ibrahim Eissa, editor-at-large of the opposition daily al-Dostour, was questioned by Egypt's Supreme State Security Prosecution.
Eissa was queried in relation to accusations of 'humiliating the president, broadcasting false stories, disrupting the peace and harming the national interests,' as 20 of his supporters chanted anti-government slogans outside of the prosecutor's office.
If indicted he may face a harsh punishment, according to journalists' union lawyer Sayyed Abu-Zeid, also one of Eissa's attorneys.
Over the past few weeks rumours have abounded about the state of the president's health, with some going as far as to as claim that Egypt's ruling party was clandestinely preparing a replacement for Mubarak as he lay on his death bed.
Only last week was the 'harmful' rumour officially, albeit aggressively, challenged.
Mubarak's wife Susan was the first to frankly dismiss the rumours, describing the president's health as 'really great' in an interview with an Arab broadcaster.
Surprise visits by the apparently well president to factories near Alexandria meanwhile received blanket media coverage.
Government mouthpieces then began levelling blame at a number of independent and opposition figures, pointing accusing fingers at al- Dostour newspaper in what Eissa described as a 'black climate.'
The ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) tagged the rumours 'dangerous,' while the government-run Supreme Counci of Journalists gave the independent Union of Journalists a deadline to 'punish the scaremongers.'
Some top editors even pushed for Eissa's arrest.
Eissa, described by his lawyer as a 'scapegoat,' dismisses the case as purely political.
'(The government) is settling scores with me,' said Eissa, who was sentenced to a year in prison in 2006 for 'insulting the head of the state.' Eissa did not serve the sentence but instead paid a heavy fine. However his scathing criticism of the President, his wife and influential son Gamal Mubarak did not cease.
Al-Dostour last week published several reports about the flurry of rumours.
According to Eissa's lawyer however, the rumours had already spread 'from Aswan (in the south) to Alexandria (in the north)' before Eissa approved publication of these reports.
'Talking about the president should not be an insult,' said Eissa, shortly before his interrogation. Displaying typical cynicism, the journalist said he considers the investigation 'an award for all my works.'
'This is the typical conduct of a police state,' he said.
The rumour had struck a chord. Its timing coincided with NDP internal elections and with rising speculation that Mubarak's son Gamal, currently the party's deputy leader, may replace his father as head.
Observers say the rumoured health scare also comes against a shifting political landscape.
Premier Ahmed Nazif's cabinet is weighed down by an avalanche of criticism, while the NDP is also under pressure from the 88 MPs allied to the Muslim Brotherhood movement, now considered the regime's number one adversary.
Media circles are meanwhile teeming with journalists who are candidly setting themselves against the regime and the Mubarak family.
Some voices have claimed the rumours were part of a psychological warfare campaign by the Muslim Brotherhood. Others blamed the United States.
'The source of the rumour could be anybody,' said Eissa however. '
And the worst is yet to come.'
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
© Copyright 2007 by monstersandcritics.com.
This notice cannot be removed without permission.
Link: http://news.monstersandcritics.com/middleeast/features/article_1352119.php/Egyptian_journalist_probed_over_Mubarak_health_rumours
* image from www.egypttoday.com
Egypt queries new Muslim Brotherhood crackdown - dpa
Middle East FeaturesBy Pakinam Amer
Aug 21, 2007, 12:18 GMT
Cairo - With a fresh crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's strongest opposition group, Egyptians are wondering if incarceration is enough to bring it to its knees.
The group, which has weathered consecutive blows, said its members were accustomed to being prosecuted. 'When they don't like what I say, they take me away,' says the group's political council head, Essam al-Erian.
Al-Erian, who was imprisoned in 1981, 1995, 2005 and again in 2006, is among 28 group members who were detained in a police swoop targeting its leaders this week.
The Brotherhood is a popular movement that adopts 'Islam is the Solution' as its political motto. Eighty-eight members of Egypt's People's Assembly - the lower-house of parliament - are loyal to the outlawed group.
As its charismatic spokesperson, al-Erian has always been in the spotlight whenever the movement made significant announcements. Recently, al-Erian and some of his colleagues have floated the idea of launching a civil political party based on their publicized 'reform programme.'
They reiterated their emphasis on Islamic principles as the basis for a civil state and a ban on all forms of economic activity that contradict Islamic sharia Law, according to Gamal Essam el-Din, a political analyst.
'No sooner had the programme been released than it came under attack,' said Essam el-Din.
The Muslim Brotherhood's leaders were arrested on charges of 'belonging to a banned group, possession of anti-government publications and holding a meeting where internal issues were exploited to justify attacks against the regime.'
State-owned newspapers predict that the hard blow that left four of the group's leadership behind bars will send a tremor through its ranks.
But observers question if arrests will affect the pragmatic movement, whose members sometimes even meet the crackdowns with humour.
'Recent times have proved that the brotherhood is the only organized force in the political arena that is capable of confronting the ruling regime,' Amr Al-Shobaky, an Egyptian analyst, told the independent newspaper, al-Masri al-Yom.
According to al-Shobaky, every time the government attempts to introduce a modified reform programme, it finds itself head-to-head with the brotherhood - generally seen as receiving the lion's share of the regime's 'harassment.'
The members' finger-in-the-eye and even humourous attitude towards imprisonment does not amuse the regime, say analysts.
'The fact that I land in prison for (defending) an idea gives me peace,' said al-Erian a few weeks before he was re-arrested. 'That's why prison will never break us.'
The group claims that, in total, 600 of its members are currently behind bars.
By confining their most powerful leaders, some analysts claim that the regime is trying to provoke the Muslim brothers into using violence in order to justify its own action.
'But the brothers will not be lured into clashes with the regime, they will pass this time too,' said Magdi Qarqar, the general secretary of Egypt's Labour party.
The movement in lieu of aggression usually resort to a passionate war of words.
Abdel-Hamid al-Ghazali, an advisor to the group's so-called Supreme Guide, Mohammed Mahdi Akef, was quick to call the crackdown a form of 'state-terrorism.'
A young leader of the movement, Ibrahim al-Houdaiby, whose own grandfather once headed the group, wrote: 'The arrest of al-Erian is a clear attempt by the regime to crackdown on the moderate leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood who could push the group towards more moderate stances.
'The question remains: Who does that serve?'
Apparently in defiance of the regime, al-Erian's daughter told al- Dostour newspaper that this time her father and his colleagues refused to answer questions in custody since they 'said enough during previous questioning.'
The daughter also claimed the police broke into their house and seized cuttings of newspaper columns that her father had written as well as personal documents.
Such incidents, when put under the spotlight, quickly become human rights issues, prompting civil right groups to release statements condemning the regime's abuses--another 'score' for the movement.
In Egypt's largely conservative society where forms of religiosity are increasing, group members are some of the few to associate their cause with strict Islamic concepts, giving their struggle a holy touch.
As the government fails to give itself the image of the 'pious' or the 'God-fearing,' people like el-Erian come out and say that imprisonment is a time where the Brotherhood 'nurture their spiritual connection with God.'
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
© Copyright 2007 by monstersandcritics.com.
This notice cannot be removed without permission.
Link: http://news.monstersandcritics.com/middleeast/features/article_1345721.php/Egypt_queries_new_Muslim_Brotherhood_crackdown
*image from www.copticpolitics.org
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
ANALYSIS: Iraqi politicians' summit postponed amid speculation (dpa)
Middle East NewsBy Ziad Haris and Pakinam Amer
Aug 14, 2007, 15:27 GMT
Baghdad - A 'defining' crisis summit meeting of Iraq's main political factions which was scheduled to begin Tuesday afternoon in Baghdad was postponed amid speculation about the reasons for the move.
The meeting was to be held in an effort to save al-Maliki's coalition from collapsing after Sunni leaders walked out and others boycotted his government.
Disagreement between participants over the meeting's agenda is said to be the reason behind putting off the meeting, said observers. Some political blocs are also said to be awaiting their leaders' decision on whether or not to participate.
Hours before the meeting, members of different political factions voiced their anger, with some claiming that they had been elbowed out of the parley which should ideally be representative of Iraq's political forces. Turkmen leaders said they were not invited and decried what they called 'a conspiracy against Turkmen's interests.'
'Any decision that the meeting reaches will be considered fraud in the eyes of the Turkmen,' said Fawzi Akram Tarzi, a Turkmen policymaker shortly before the set time for the meeting.
Hossam al-Azzawi, a member of the Iraqi National List, which has 25 seats in parliament, said that his bloc was also overlooked.
Meanwhile, five of the nation's leaders - including al-Maliki and President Jalal Talibani - were holding a preparatory session on Tuesday to set an outline for the upcoming conference whose precise date has yet to be set.
The parley was called for last Sunday by al-Maliki, whose cabinet meetings currently have 17 empty seats. Five ministers and Deputy Prime Minister Salam al-Zubaie of the Sunni Iraqi Accord Front announced their withdrawal from government earlier this month.
In April, six ministers of the movement led by the radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr resigned in protest at al-Maliki's failure to provide a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign troops.
Others from the Iraqi National List have boycotted the government. These moves have left al-Maliki's cabinet with mainly Shiites and Kurds.
The political standoff and the demands of the various blocs were said to be priorities on the meeting's agena, at least officially. The summit was also expected to take up the issue of political reforms and the establishment of a moderate front.
Observers insist, however, that these are all mere side issues - the main goal of the summit remains to be naming new substitute ministers from al-Maliki's governing coalition instead of those who quit from the Sadr bloc.
Tough negotiations are predicted by many, including al-Maliki himself.
Naming new Sunni ministers to replace the Accord ministers is still a tricky issue, as Sunnis decry discrimination against them.
Ahead of the conference, Adnan al-Duleimi, the head of the Sunni Accord, claimed in statements to the press that Sunnis are experiencing an 'annihilation campaign' of sorts that aims at giving pro-Iranian Muslims a tight grip on Baghdad.
In Tuesday statements to Arab broadcaster al-Jazeera, al-Duleimi reiterated some of his claims saying that the government was 'ignoring' the demands of the Sunni representatives.
However, according to the BBC, Selim Gabouri, spokesman for the Accord, said that his bloc had no objection to participating in the meeting, in principle.
But the party has no plans to return to the unity government under the current conditions, Gabouri added. It is not clear yet whether the meeting will feature Sunni participation or not.
Still, it is expected by many observers that the outcome of the meeting would be 'defining.' In a statement to Deutsche Presse- Agentur dpa, Selim Abdullah, a member of the Accord, described the parley as 'decisive for all political blocs.'
Regarding the Sunni issue, al-Maliki seemed to have been treading cautiously so far. He did not promise that Sunni ministers would be immediately substituted. Instead, he said that he hoped that the crisis will end and the Accord ministers be back to the cabinet.
'But if they refused to do so we will find ourselves obliged to replace them,' he was quoted by the Voices of Iraq news agency as saying, arguably placing the ball in their court.
He dismissed speculation that his government could fall apart. 'It is a wish by some but it is far the day when people would see the government in its countdown.'
On the streets of Baghdad, amongst some Iraqis there was anger at their leaders. Tamim Nasry, a 27-year-old man, said that the Iraqis have given their political leaders many chances, but 'they failed every time.'
'The problem with Iraq is the problem of its leaders. They plant terror and fear in the country because of their failure to manage the affairs of the nation.
'We expect what will happen. The leaders will appear at a press conference(after the meeting has taken place) to announce the problems of Iraq solved; (they will say) all is well, peace and security are near. But the reality is that all will remain as it is. We have been used to this for years now,' added Nasry.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
© Copyright 2007 by monstersandcritics.com.
This notice cannot be removed without permission.
Link: http://news.monstersandcritics.com/middleeast/news/article_1342945.php/ANALYSIS_Iraqi_politicians_summit_postponed_amid_speculation
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Reconsidering jihad: the view from within - dpa
Middle East FeaturesBy Pakinam Amer
Jul 20, 2007, 5:19 GMT
Cairo - Inside Egyptian prisons a profound change has been taking place around the Islamic ideology of jihad (literally 'struggle' but often taken to mean 'holy war').
Top militant leaders serving long sentences have been given the chance to gain their freedom by reneging on their previous ideas of establishing Islamist societies by violent means.
Kamal Habib is an example of one such man who made the transition.
A former member of Egyptian Jihad (also known as Egyptian Islamic Jihad), Habib served a 10-year prison sentence in connection with that group's assassination of former Egyptian president Anwar Sadat.
Fawaz Gergis, a university professor and an authority on Islamic militancy and Jihadist groups, speaks of Habib in his book Journey of the Jihadist.
'Habib was a key figure in the first generation of Muslim militants, who in the 1970s had planted the seeds of jihad throughout Muslim lands,' Gergis said.
'(He) graduated from Cairo University in 1979 at the top of his class, with a degree in political science. Charismatic and ambitious, he could have trained to become an academic. But neither money nor the allure of ascending the ladder in jahili (non-Islamic or 'pagan') institutions appealed to him,' Gergis added.
Of his reasons for joining the Egyptian Jihad group Habib to Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that 'most Egyptians wanted to get rid of Sadat.'
Sadat, who was the first Arab leader to make peace with Israel, also was known for his government's oppressive policies domestically.
'At the beginning,' Habib said,'(Islamists) didn't advocate violence against individuals, that happened much later, in the 1990s, when retaliation by killing police officers and other violent acts took place.'
Many experts, including Islamists, have argued explicitly and implicitly that torture was behind much of the so-called prison revisions of the extremists in the al-Jamaa al-Islamiya (The Islamic Group) and Egyptian Jihad groups.
During a 2001 interview with the US broadcaster CNN, Habib had claimed severe torture in Egyptian prisons was something everyone knew about.
'I prefer not to talk about it. But back then, it was on a very large scale,' he said.
One of the victims of torture after the Sadat assassination was Ayman al-Zawahiri, now second-in-command of the al-Qaeda terrorist network.
Addressing the press in 1983 al-Zawahiri said about his three-year jail term as one of the 300 people tried for involvement in the Sadat case: 'They whipped us with electric cables, they shocked us with electricity, and they used their wild dogs.'
Habib denies the torture of the early days in prison had anything to do with this revision. Revisionism, he said, 'was something that was growing inside me, as a result of thinking, reading and talking to other people.'
Habib eventually used his term in jail to write a doctoral thesis in political science and revise much of his previous ideas.
When asked about the evidence used to advocate then reject violence, Habib says his sources - Sharia (Islamic law) and the Koran - did not change, only the interpretation did.
'This has to do with one's vision and mental state at a given time. I read differently into Islam and the Koran while reviewing the experience. The understanding was different,' said Habib.
The result was a book he published in the early 2000's titled The Islamist Movement from Confrontation to Revision.
But despite revising many of his earlier beliefs, Habib continues to blame the West, saying the conditioning of the country by Western imperialism ultimately produced the violence of the 1990s.
'The prevailing social and political context ... directed us to seek change in that way, so that we could drive out the occupiers of our homeland,' he said, explaining how militant Islamists like himself and his fellow prisoners felt.
Habib unapologetically justifies the position of the top two al- Qaeda leaders Osama bin Laden and al-Zawahiri, arguing that it was the environment they lived under that guided their steps toward fundamentalism.
'If Western policies change,' Habib said, 'then perhaps these forms of violence and confrontation will take a different turn - the concept of the clash of civilizations, of demonizing Islam. All this has created supporters for Bin Laden's and al-Zawahiri's project across the Muslim World.'
For Habib, the terrorists are driven by feelings shared by many Muslims: the lack of hope of a better future, be it for Muslims as a 'nation' or as individuals.
'They see the injustice done to them, and perceive their religion and identity as being threatened. This is the main source of their fear and anger. These people were not born violent.'
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
© Copyright 2007 by monstersandcritics.com.
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Link: http://news.monstersandcritics.com/middleeast/features/article_1332486.php/Reconsidering_jihad_the_view_from_within
http://www.indianmuslims.info/news/2007/jul/21/reconsidering_jehad_view_within.html
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Children for Freedom, the Muslim Brothers' youngest wing
By Pakinam AmerJul 18, 2007, 3:56 GMT
Cairo - 'The court acquitted my father. Why didn't he come home?' read a statement printed on T-Shirts often worn by the sons, daughters and grandchildren of a group of court-martialed top leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest opposition group.
The children and grandchildren of imprisoned leaders have formed a league of their own, backed by their parents.
'It is an exercise on channeling their anger through peaceful means of protest,' explained Zahraa, the daughter of Khairat el- Shater, the number one defendant in the Brotherhood case and second deputy of the group's leader.
Zahraa says that she is worried about her children's future 'in a world where there is chaos and no rule of law.'
Relatives wore the T-shirts as they watched their parents behind bars during military court sessions. Although the families of the 40 tried Brotherhood leaders say that the trial did not break their faith, they said that President Hosni Mubarak's jail experience has tormented their children and left them confused.
Nine-year-old Aisha, daughter of Hassan Malek, remembers running to the defendant's cage in the court room, waving at her father and asking if he could see her through the wire cage where the defendants are kept.
Her father, not unlike the other high-profile Brothers, is a civilian who is being tried in a military court for charges of money laundering, belonging to and financing a banned group 'that uses terrorism to achieve its ends,' disrupting public peace and endangering civil liberties.
The Brothers' chief attorney Abdel-Moneim Abdel-Maksoud claims that the court does not possess any admissible evidence to prove these allegations.
The lawyer says the trial is politically motivated.
The Brothers and their zealous supporters have been deemed a growing threat to the hegemony of the ruling National Democratic Party, according to independent observers.
The Islamic group, which draws on significant support through charity work and civil service, scored a sweeping victory in 2005 parliamentary elections, defying an official ban to form the biggest opposition bloc.
Most of the defendants in the much-criticized trial were arrested last November.
Acquitted three times by different Cairo courts, the leaders were kept in custody and transferred to a military court upon a presidential decree. The decree was revoked by Cairo's Supreme Administrative Court, but the decision was soon reversed when the state appealed.
'This is the worst sight ever; a parent behind bars,' whispered a daughter of one the defendants as she gave her caged father a feeble smile.
She stays strong for the sake of her parents, she said. 'But my baby brothers and sisters cannot do the same, simply because they don't understand what's happening. They are angry,' she adds.
'My daughter Aisha wants us to leave Egypt after the trial is over and live abroad,' said Malek's wife. 'My children saw a sad reality, it doesn't make sense to them and I have failed to explain it.'
More often than not, the Brotherhood leaders were rounded-up as their families watched. Currently, 34 leaders of the accused group of 40 are incarcerated, while the rest reside outside the country.
Most of the imprisoned were arrested from their own houses in rowdy, overnight raids.
'I feel insecure when I go to sleep at night,' said el-Shater's daughter. She is also the wife of another defendant. In addition to being top members of the Brotherhood's politburo, her father and her husband are businessmen and engineers.
Her father was arrested four times, while her husband was detained five times. She remembers that as a child her father used to tell her that 'police arrests (of political activists) are like death, they come suddenly and without reason.'
'The police pound on the door knocking it off its hinges, they scare the children,' said el-Shater's daughter, who has four children. 'Everytime it is more frightening. My children wake up to the sight of machine guns.'
Zahraa said her tragedy is due to the regime's fierce clampdown on the Brotherhood's rank - a crackdown that was partially linked to the Brotherhood's radical Islamic identity.
Though she was brought up to be a 'peaceful Islamist' and in turn wanted to instil the idea of non-violent resistance in her children, Zahraa is finding it difficult to do so under the circumstances.
'I have trouble explaining to them that the (police) officer who takes their father away should be a source of protection, hard to explain why we're reacting non-violently to (the arrests).
'We're against 9/11 attacks or any violent attacks. But this treatment could give rise to a generation who believes in terrorism,' said the young mother.
Nodding her on, Malek's wife added that her children often ask her 'why don't we beat-up the officers who take our father away, or even kill them?'
'When they saw their father being arrested aggressively for the first time, the children (wrongfully) thought that the police officers will kill their father,' says the tearful mother, who insisted on being referred to as 'Malek's wife' and not by her own name.
The families' message is clear - they want justice and wish they wouldn't be viewed solely as Brothers.
'The criminals get more rights than Islamists in a political trial,' says el-Shater's daughter, 'Why not treat us the same way they treat criminals. My daughter says she wishes her father was a thief.'
During a long, controversial court session held on Sunday, the children in the courtroom were getting impatient and weary, they did not understand the legal jargon.
Lawyers, who contested the competency of the military court to deal with this case, were no less exhausted.
Abdel-Maksoud, the Brotherhood's lawyer for many years, insisted that despite the unconstitutionality of the procedure, the defence team will not boycott the trial as they 'cannot abandon people in need, even if we anticipate the worst.'
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
© Copyright 2007 by monstersandcritics.com.
This notice cannot be removed without permission.
*image from ensaa.blogspot.com
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
International figures huddle around Egypt's Brotherhood
By Pakinam Amer
Jul 16, 2007, 19:49 GMT
Cairo - International figures, representatives of international rights groups, journalists and members of the legal profession, continue to huddle around Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood following a trial session of its top members that was described as 'shameful' and its legality was seriously questioned.
During a conference in downtown Cairo hosted by Egypt's Bar Association on Monday, several of these figures raised their voices in protest of the procedures of a military tribunal trying 40 leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest opposition group.
Among them were, United States attorney general Ramsey Clarke, award-winning British journalist Yvonne Ridley and Samih Khrais, the regional representative of the London-based Amnesty International.
Clark urged Egyptians to 'organize and effectively protect their own rights,' as the Brotherhood leaders continue to face the scrutiny of Hosni Mubarak's government.
'People in Egypt should not wait and believe that some remedy will come from abroad,' said Clark who believes that the US government is a major ally of Mubarak and so will not interfere to bring justice in Egypt.
He added that it was 'pitiful' how the country's biggest opposition group, was being clamped down upon by the government and called on authorities to 'recognize the error that they are in.'
The high-profile Brotherhood, although civilians, are being tried in a military court for charges of money laundering, belonging to and financing a banned group 'that uses terrorism to achieve its ends,' disrupting public peace and endangering civil liberties.
Ridley described the Brotherhood's trial as 'unprecedented' and a 'miscarriage of justice' adding that the hearing 'brought shame on the Egyptian government.'
'We are not going to get justice in a military court. We're not going to get justice from dictators and scholars for dollars who do not recognize the injustice (that happened) yesterday,' said Ridley referring to the third session of the trial, which took place on Sunday.
The seven-hour session took place amidst wide protests regarding the legality of trying civilians before military courts where the Muslim Brotherhood leaders and their supporters were in uproar.
Only lawyers and family members of the defendants were allowed inside the courtroom, after standing for hours in the blistering sun and agreeing to leave cell phones, cameras, notebooks, and even pens outside the courtroom. Every single attendee was searched thoroughly, and they were not allowed to set foot outside the military facility for as long as the trial was in session.
At one point during the trial, several civilians stepped in and screamed their protests to the panel of judges. One attendee described his treatment at the court door as 'humiliating and demeaning.'
The authorities refused to permit representatives of international human rights groups, pro-democracy activists - including Clark, Ridley and Khrais - and bloggers to attend as observers.
Very few female members of the press who wore Islamic scarves - succeeded in sneaking inside by pretending to be relatives. The rest were pushed and shoved at the door of the court.
'I tried to get in and I am an impartial witness,' said Khrais of Amnesty International on Monday, but 'I waited for my pass for three hours then I was turned back.'
'What happened defames the trial and the Egyptian government's interests because (Amnesty's) presence could have added legitimacy to the procedure,' he added.
Clark, who was also banned from the trail, added that he will try to get in again, but if he fails he will have to leave because 'it will be a waste of time.'
Ridley, who was similarly barred from the trials, said that the alternative now is 'to name and shame the judges, the prosecutors, (and) the police.'
'It's a great shame and I really feel your pain,' she said addressing the families of the accused, 'but we have to try to make a difference and get your (families) out of these prisons.'
Egypt's government wants to promote what Ridley referred to as 'a diluted form of Islam' and so they have always feared the 'real Islam' that the Brotherhood practices.
'(They want) a pacified Islam that means that we submit to the West and not to Allah,' she said in her fiery statement, calling on the people to 'expose the government for what its is; a puppet for America (and) a complete sham.'
Ridley said that she believed the Brotherhood leaders were punished not because they're Egypt's foremost opposition group but because 'neo-conservative think tanks in America have been trying to link the Brotherhood to Hamas.'
Hamas is a Palestinian militant group that has recently taken control of the Gaza Strip. The Islamic group, which was born out of the womb of Egypt's Brotherhood, had succeeded in achieving unprecedented victory in the latest Palestinian parliamentary elections, gripping the majority of seats.
The Hamas experiment is said to have constituted a threat to the governments of neighbouring countries whose lands harbour Islamic groups that are popular among the grassroots, as in the case of Egypt and Jordan.
Meanwhile, most of the defendants in the protested trial were arrested last November in a fierce security crackdown where the leaders were charged with membership of a banned organization, and with 'providing students with weapons and military training.'
Although acquitted three times by different Cairo courts, the leaders were kept in custody and were transferred to a military court upon a presidential decree.
The decree was revoked by Cairo's Supreme Administrative Court, but the decision was soon reversed when the state appealed.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
© Copyright 2006,2007 by monstersandcritics.com.
This notice cannot be removed without permission.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Brotherhood court session chaotic, 'disappointing'
By Pakinam Amer
Jul 16, 2007, 1:10 GMT
Cairo - A military tribunal appointed to try 40 Muslim Brotherhood leaders held its third session Sunday, amid protests by international rights groups and Egyptian lawyers who contested the legality of prosecuting civilians in military courts.
The Supreme Military Court in Heikstep, several kilometres north- east of Cairo, witnessed the presence of 33 of the defendants and their attorneys, who had boycotted the first session in protest.
Six of the leaders outside Egypt were tried in absentia, while one was being treated at a prison hospital after suffering a heart attack shortly before the court session.
The high-profile Muslim Brothers are civilians but are being tried in a military court on charges of money laundering, belonging to and financing a banned group 'that uses terrorism to achieve its ends,' disrupting public peace and endangering civil liberties, according to a brief statement Sunday by the chief judge.
Behind bars in the courtroom stood many of the Brotherhood's most popular faces: atop the list was Khairat el-Shater, the group's third-in-command, a top consultant engineer by profession and successful businessman.
El-Shater, a member of the Brotherhood's so-called Guidance Bureau, or politburo, was dressed in white and often interrupted the court proceedings with loud protests.
'What is being done here (in the court) is nothing but a play, a farce,' the bearded el-Shater told the panel of judges. 'State Security Police have orchestrated this. It's a farce, politically motivated and unclean. The present regime bears responsibility for it.'
During a review of evidence allegedly confiscated from the defendants' houses, el-Shater claimed that some of the exhibited items - including laptops, CDs, video tapes, books and documents - did not belong to him.
He accused police of 'planting' evidence in an attempt to frame him. The court was in complicity and had instructions on his sentence in advance, el-Shater said.
El-Shater's statements were accompanied each time by cheering from the defendants' families, whose shouts of 'God is great' echoed across the courtroom.
Most of the defendants were arrested in November, shortly following a 'military parade' performed by Brotherhood-affiliated students at Azhar University in Cairo.
As a protest against what they deemed 'blatant security interference' in student-union elections, a few dozen students had demonstrated in black uniforms and headbands, and performed a choreographed martial-arts fight sequence on campus.
A fierce security crackdown followed, with the regime using the Azhar University incident as 'proof' that the Brotherhood was reviving its paramilitary wing.
The Brothers officially denounced violence three decades ago. The Azhar students, who later apologized for what they called 'shameful behaviour,' did not brandish weapons during their protest.
A group of alleged top leaders was rounded up from their homes in rowdy, overnight raids. According to the daughter of one defendant, police left no stone unturned during their search, confiscating even children's computer games and 'terrorizing the whole family.'
In a procedure documented by the London-based non-governmental organization Amnesty International, the leaders were charged with membership in a banned organization and with 'providing students with weapons and military training.'
In January, a Cairo criminal court acquitted el-Shater and his codefendants and ordered their immediate release.
Shortly after the acquittal, the leaders were transferred to a military court after a presidential decree. The decree was revoked by Cairo's Supreme Administrative Court, but that decision was soon reversed when the state appealed.
During Sunday's bench trial, one attorney after the other demanded a change of court, insisting that the case should not come under the jurisdiction of military courts. As they challenged the court, the chief judge agreed to 'look into' the matter but refused to dismiss the case all together from his court.
Sunday's hearing was delayed for more than two hours and was generally marked by chaos.
Families of defendants said that the atmosphere surrounding the case did not bode well. Their purpose in attending was to support their loved ones in hardship, but they had no faith in the fairness of the trial.
Before the session started, and in what appeared to be an act of protest, one the 33 defendants stood up, calling for noon prayers. The Brothers behind bars performed both the noon and afternoon prayers, joined by their wives, sons and daughters in the courtroom.
After praying, one the defendants started a series of supplications, wishing in a loud, firm voice that those who did them 'injustice would suffer the same way.' Court officials could only listen as family members, some weeping, repeated the supplication.
Only attorneys and family members of the defendants were allowed inside the courtroom.
Authorities refused to permit representatives of international human-rights groups, bloggers and pro-democracy activists to attend as observers. Among those turned away was former US attorney general Ramsey Clark, a human-rights activist who served on the defence team of hanged Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
Any reporters who were present only gained entry by pretending to be a relative of one of the defendants. They had to be fully veiled and to carry identification cards that did not identify them as media personnel.
All mobile phones, cameras, tape recorders and even pens and notebooks were confiscated before entering the courtroom. Copies of the Koran were checked page-by-page, and even women were fully searched in private rooms. Everyone was eyed suspiciously.
Authorities refused to let some of the families leave the courtroom before the session closed.
A security man murmured to a protesting attendant who had wished to leave that 'the rules' had it that no one was allowed to set a foot outside the courtroom before the hearing has ended, so that 'undercover' reporters could not hurry to their editors with the session's coverage.
The hearing, which lasted for more than seven hours, ended at night, after the court ruled that the next session would be held August 5.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
© Copyright 2006,2007 by monstersandcritics.com.
This notice cannot be removed without permission.
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