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[مستر محمد سلام]

Chief presenter on the Quran Radio Station-Reda
Abdel-Salam
His story is an inspiration to all who meet him.
ALahram weekly 28 June - 4 July 2012
I LOVE him very much

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Born in the village of Kuwesena in the Menoufiya governorate in 1964, he graduated from the Faculty of Law in 1987 and then received a degree in Islamic studies and Sharia law, graduating in 1989. Throughout Abdel-Salam's life journey, from birth, education, marriage, fatherhood to work, his slogan has always been "yes, I can."

Abdel-Salam says that the life of any person with special needs, whether he is strong or not, is a series of obstacles and challenges. "Overcoming these obstacles differs from one person to another, depending on one's strength and readiness to accept the disability and make use of every tool one has to achieve one's targets," he says.
When he was born, his family have told him, silence fell over the house, as his parents were in shock at having a child with physical disabilities. "One family member began to shout apparently and my mother began to cry. It was grief mixed with anxiety about the future of this child. A lot of questions apparently were raised at the time, among them how I was going to be able to live with the disability. But my father held me in his arms and kissed my forehead and asked them all to stop crying. He prayed to God to bless me."
Abdel-Salam says that his family have told him that when he was a child there were signs that he was very smart. For example, he started crawling early on, and when he began to walk he would lean on the wall to keep his balance. For his family, these were signs that the child was going to be able to adapt to his condition.
When he was four years old, Abdel-Salam's father applied for him to go to school, and he was adamant that his son should be accepted in a normal school, where he could use his foot to hold a pen instead of his missing hands. However, Abdel-Salam was not accepted at school due to his condition, this becoming a first obstacle in life.
"My father argued for a year with the school administration for them to accept me, and then he decided to find a solution by meeting with an undersecretary at the ministry of education who was an officer in the army. I will never forget what my father said that day although I was only five. He told the officer, 'if your son was like mine, would you accept his being denied an education?' The officer didn't answer. Then my father told him that if he didn't accept me in the school he would go to president Gamal Abdel-Nasser in person."
Abdel-Salam remembers how his father put him in front of a desk and asked him to write. The officer was shocked to see that he could do so, and he ordered his immediate acceptance at school.
"I have always been blessed, even in school. I was very good at Arabic, and in a very short period I was known for being clever. When I reached third primary stage, they insisted on examining me in writing. If I failed the exam, they would kick me out of school. At that time, I learned with the help of my father how to use my mouth to write, as this was going to be easier than using my foot, and I succeeded in the exam."
Abdel-Salam said that he got an A in sixth primary, and all his family knew he was on the right track. He explains that he was very social and had many friends, among them the journalist Ibrahim Eissa. In the third secondary grade, he was the second-best student in the school and tenth on the governorate level.
He then registered at the Faculty of Law because he knew he had to study an academic subject and because studying law entailed reading books, one of his hobbies. In his second year at LawSchool, he came third in a class of 2,500 students.
Choosing to become a broadcaster at the Quran Radio Station was a decision he took overnight, although he also had what it took for the job. "My Arabic was very good, I enjoyed reading and done Islamic studies."
He asked Hossam Fathi, at that time a professor in the Faculty and now dean of the Faculty of Law, to help him achieve his goal. Fathi set up a meeting with the late writer Abdel-Wahab Metawe, who sent him to see Fahmi Omar.
"Omar saw my condition and asked me why I wanted to work for the radio. I answered confidently that I was a law graduate and that I wanted to work as a broadcaster. He sent me for three months training."
Then came the third obstacle, when Abdel-Salam was not appointed to the job he wanted. "I was rejected as a broadcaster after I had succeeded in the training, yet I was offered another administrative job. I went quite insane," he said. Instead of giving up, however, he took a job on the Middle of the Delta Radio in Tanta for two years.
Abdel-Salam said that he was still haunted by the dream of working on the Quran Radio Station, however, and he got another chance when it advertised for presenters.
"When I sat in front of the committee, I took off my jacket. Then I held the pen and started to write using my mouth. I asked Helmi Elbulak, the head of the committee, to imagine that the pen was a microphone and that I was doing an interview with him. Finally, I opened the door and closed it again. I turned to them then to ask them why they had refused me before and whether I was qualified now."
Elbulak was amazed by his performance and gave him the job on the spot.
"I can still remember my first day as a broadcaster," Abdel-Salam says. "I had the confidence, and of course the great faith in God, that I would succeed. They were all anxious about me, but as soon as I had finished broadcasting they all congratulated me and praised my performance. What made me extremely proud was the great happiness that I saw in the eyes of my father, which I will never forget."
Abdel-Salam added that in his 22 years at the station, he has targeted two things, first to respect the audience and second to meet their expectations. He has also tried to show society that people with special needs can work just as well and sometimes even better than fully able people._Highlights in Abdel-Salam's career include covering the international Holy Quran competition in Dubai in 2003 and covering the pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia in 2004, when he not only worked as an on-air broadcaster but also as a presenter.
His first programme was masajid laha tarek, or the history of mosques, followed by another called kutouf min al-sira, or stories from the life of the Prophet Mohamed. Today, he presents a programme called maa al-sahaba, or stories from the life of the Prophet Mohammed and his relationship with his Companions.
Abdel-Salam says that he has been so impressed with the content of the programmes that he has cried twice, although that wasn't very professional of him. The first time was when he was presenting an episode from his programme about the death of the Prophet Mohamed, and the second time was when he was covering the pilgrimage in 2004.
In many ways, Abdel-Salam has had a challenging life. He explained that what society sometimes forgets is that people with special needs are human beings. "They have the same rights that others have. They have the right to get married and have children, for example, just like everyone else."
While Abdel-Salam married his wife 18 years ago, the relationship wasn't an easy one at first. His wife was from the same town, and they were neighbours living in the same street. Her father accepted him at first, but then he was rejected as the father said his daughter would not be happy because of Abdel-Salam's special circumstances.
Nevertheless, his future wife insisted on marrying him, and eventually they did tie the knot. They now have a son, Abdel-Rahman, 17, and a daughter, Afnan, 13. Abdel-Salam says that his relationship with his children is based on friendship. "We even favoured different presidential candidates," he says.
He thinks that thus far he has succeeded in overcoming the obstacles he has faced in his life, except the ones he couldn't defeat, like riding bicycles and swimming. What he really wants as a person with special needs is people's help and not their sympathy.
"Sympathetic glances hurt us more than anyone can imagine," he explains, adding that he is astonished that despite the growing number of TV channels there are no media-awareness campaigns about how to help people with special needs or TV programmes dedicated to their problems.
Abdel-Salam also says that he is surprised that people with special needs have not complained more to the government. "There aren't enough jobs for people with special needs, and if there are any available they are small jobs. For example, there are no jobs for us in the petroleum sector, the judiciary and large companies."
Although the government has legislated to ensure that companies allocate five per cent of jobs to those with special needs, Abdel-Salam says that the fines for not doing so are too low (LE1,000) to act as a real incentive. After graduating, he says, he had applied to join the judiciary, but he was not even interviewed.
During the first round of the presidential elections, Abdel-Salam voted for Abdel-Moneim Abul-Fotouh, and in the second round he voted for Mohamed Mursi despite his reservations about what the Muslim Brotherhood has done over recent months.
"My message to the newly elected president is that people with special needs are Egyptian citizens who have the same rights and duties as everyone else," he says. "The new president should establish a ministry for people with special needs, in order to fight for their rights and help them fulfil their needs."
"My advice to other people with special needs who may wrongly feel that they are less than others, or that disability is the end of the world, is that they are simply incorrect. If I could do it, then so can you! You shouldn't wait for things to fall from the sky. You should work hard and use your mind."
"We should admit without being ashamed that yes, we are different from others, but that we can replace what we lack with abilities that God has given us. You will find them in yourself, if you try."

[مستر محمد سلام]

Commentary: On the brink of civil war
Syria's revolution might turn into an ethnic and sectarian infighting -- to Al-Assad's benefit of course, writes Jamal Kanj

ALahram weekly 28 June - 4 July 2012

What started as a revolt against the regime of Bashar Al-Assad -- as part of the Arab Spring that swept the Middle East -- is quickly pushing Syria to the verge of a civil war. Meanwhile, Al-Assad continues to blame the frustration of the Syrian people on a foreign conspiracy. He is delusional.

In fact, his denial of the truth on the ground is what could eventually justify outside intervention.

Moreover, the reckless attempts by some in the opposition to turn civil protests into an armed insurgency have played into the hands of the Syrian dictator. In an open military conflict, using disproportionate force, Al-Assad has proven to be true to his father's brutal reign.

Syria's best trained and supplied army units led by Al-Assad's family members have been instrumental in "Big Brother" practices aimed at maintaining internal dominance.

After 15 months, it has become more apparent that brutality alone is not enough to silence Syrian voices demanding genuine change. Likewise, the armed opposition is incapable of deposing the Al-Assad regime.

The Syrian opposition should look at what happened in Libya. Until direct NATO intervention, the armed rebellion failed badly in toppling Muammar Gaddafi. NATO interference brought both wanton destruction and lucrative business deals for Western companies to rebuild what their governments destroyed in the first place.

Arming the opposition means splitting Syria between two entrenched, diametrically opposed military camps and paves the way for an unwinnable war with divisions along sectarian and ethnic lines. Naturally, and to preserve their gains, each side is likely to compromise national interest by seeking foreign support.

Outside players with conflicting interests are vying to support one side or the other. Iran's indifference towards the people of Syria has led it to support the regime. But Israel has a vested interest in prolonging the conflict to drain Syria, irrespective of the outcome. To accomplish this, Israel has enlisted the US to do its work.

In a 15 June article, America's leading Zion-Con doctrinaire Elliot Abrams, after a visit to Tel Aviv, refers to discussions with Israeli officials pressing for US involvement: "No country in the world roots with more energy than Israel for American success and American power. So when we refuse to use it, they shake their heads and wonder why... What is Washington thinking?"

The fact is that Israel "roots" not "for American success", but for the Zion-Cons' to hoodwink gullible US politicians to fight its wars, as they did in Iraq and are preparing for in Iran.

If dragged by Israel into another Middle East conflict, the US is disposed to becoming a willing military agent executing Israeli strategic policies in the region.

US politicians must heed warnings by top American military ****ysts that a Syrian venture would not be a jaunt, but long commitment in the quagmire of an emerging civil war.

Following Tuesday's Group of 20 Summit in Mexico, there is a ray of hope that the US and Russia will be working jointly on a zero-sum gain resolution to end the Syrian crisis.

Al-Assad and the opposition must seize the opportunity. The Syrian president needs to understand that his country is more important than his desire to maintain an inherited dictatorship; and the opposition must accept the country is superior to their vindictive ambitions.

The writer is author of Children of Catastrophe, Journey from a Palestinian Refugee Camp to America.

[مستر محمد سلام]

Though Egypt now has a freely elected president, the first of the second republic, it is not yet out of the dangerous waters into which it has ventured, writes Ayman El-Amir

ALahram weekly 28 June - 4 July 2012

By the power of Tahrir Square, the epicentre of the 25 January 2011 Revolution, Egypt has elected its first civilian president in six decades. The euphoria of victory is mixed with some fears of what comes next in a country where protest and great expectations reign.
The post-revolution conduct of policy was a comedy of errors. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) initially declared itself the guardian of the revolution and eventually took over all powers for an interim period. Like the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC) of the 1952 military coup, it had little experience in managing policy or state affairs. Unlike the 1952 RCC, which promptly imposed military dictatorship, SCAF slowly responded to the cacophony of slogans and agendas arising from Tahrir Square, all claiming to represent the revolution. In the course of 16 months, Egypt went through one referendum, two elections and a run-off, all in the wrong order. One major priority that was delayed, a sine qua non, was drafting a new constitution to replace the 1971 constitution. The threat of chaos still looms.
When SCAF began to respond to "the people's demands" from Tahrir Square, the loudest, most powerful and most sonorous sounds came from the Muslim Brotherhood. For the single-minded Brotherhood, it was an 82-year-old dream come true to rule Egypt and turn it into an Islamic model for all Muslims throughout the world to behold. Well-organised, disciplined, hungry for power and speaking in the name of God and His Prophet to a country that has revered religion for 6,000 years, they were unbeatable. They cleared Tahrir Square of most young men and women who triggered the revolution and allied themselves with SCAF in the name of fulfilling the objectives of the revolution -- in the same way they did during the 1952 coup. The alliance lasted only until the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, joined by a newly-born Salafist movement and the Nour Party, overwhelmingly won the legislative elections and moved into the People's Assembly. Heady with the wine of victory, the Brotherhood started their onslaught on SCAF and all state institutions, "in the name of the people" or "the revolution". They targeted the government of Kamal El-Ganzouri and tried to topple it. Then they sought to dominate the proposed Constituent Assembly by manipulating its composition to reserve the majority for the Brotherhood and its allies. Then they started attacking the judiciary, from the criminal court trying Hosni Mubarak all the way to the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Brotherhood used its effective weapon of mobilisation to confront SCAF's power-wielding authority. The Brotherhood/Freedom and Justice Party used the power of Tahrir Square to force the hand of SCAF and the Supreme Constitutional Court to abrogate all decisions and judicial rulings. The nation was divided.
This was the environment in which the run-off of the presidential elections and the vote counting took place. Following a laborious process, the Freedom and Justice Party candidate, Mohamed Mursi, was elected the first president of the second republic, beating his opponent, General Ahmed Shafik, by a vote of 51.7 per cent to 48.3 per cent in a round where 51 per cent of eligible Egyptian voters took part. It was a battle of polarisation and mobilisation par excellence. The Brotherhood and its party successfully painted Shafik, a former Air Force commander and the last prime minister under Mubarak, as a loyal follower of the former regime. Shafik's campaign, rather unsuccessfully, tried to intimidate Egyptians by portraying Mursi as the omen of a theocratic state. The Brotherhood won. Six hours after the start of vote counting by more than 13,000 electoral subcommittees nationwide, Mursi told a press conference he had won the presidency and warned of rigged results. He thus pre-empted the final outcome. Prior to the announcement of the results, the Brotherhood started a large-scale campaign in Tahrir Square and elsewhere to the effect that if Mursi were not declared the winner, it would be the result of fraud. This was combined with a virulent attack on the military and SCAF, all coordinated by the Brotherhood, which also threatened bloodshed on the streets if Mursi lost.
SCAF acted wisely in avoiding a confrontation. On 25 January 2011, the military sided with the revolution against Mubarak, who wanted to crush the uprising. The election of Mohamed Mursi as president is one important step towards rebuilding state institutions and establishing stability. It would mean that the uprising, like all previous revolutions, should yield revolutionary power to institutional political management. Tahrir Square should no longer dictate political change to the military or the government and especially to the judiciary. Political movements and activists should focus on building the foundations of a democratic political system without manipulating crowds in Tahrir Square.
Political arrangements prior to the elections left the new president without a parliament, important political portfolios, including defence and interior affairs, and the right to dissolve parliament or to appoint the prime minister. Most importantly, the president is straitjacketed by a supplementary constitutional declaration that primarily kept the armed forces out of the hands of the president. SCAF was protecting its vital interests and also the interests of the majority of Egyptians who were either not eligible to vote or chose against the winning candidate. However, it also created a political vacuum that should be resolved either by negotiations and compromise or by pressure from Tahrir Square where some protesters have staged a sit-in, vowing to hold their ground until their demands are met. Egypt has freely elected its first civilian president in 60 years, but still remains an incomplete democracy.
The election of Mursi will be viewed as a vindication of the decades-long struggle of the Muslim Brotherhood in the Arab region. This impetus will provide hope and encouragement to Muslim Brotherhood-backed parties in Tunisia, Libya, Syria, Algeria and Jordan. A regional alliance and mutual support among them is not far-fetched. Egypt has had its influence in the Arab region for decades, even in her moments of weakness. Mursi's victory will impact the Arab region in a way that would raise hopes but also promote a culture of opposition.
Differences between President Mursi, backed by the Freedom and Justice Party, and the military will persist. Egypt has not developed a culture of difference, debate and compromise -- a relic of six decades of dictatorship. Whether Egypt will pursue the Turkish model, which had been far from peaceful, or the Malaysian model of slow transformation is hard to tell. By all indications SCAF is averse to using military force to suppress protest but is equally unwilling to throw up its hands and give in to the loudest shriek coming out of Tahrir Square.
This is not the worst-case scenario facing President Mursi. The Salafis, with their newly won power are difficult to predict. They may be divided between the principles of obedience to the ruler and judging him by how closely is he abiding by the strictest principles of Islam and Sharia law. The seeds of conflict abound.
It was exactly one hundred years ago that the Titanic, the pride of ocean-liners of the early 20th century, hit an iceberg in the North Atlantic on its maiden voyage and sank. More than 1,450 passengers went down with it. After presidential elections and a run-off, Egypt is today in the same situation as the Titanic was when it hit the iceberg, and it needs a lifebuoy. Like the mammoth Titanic, Egypt has a lot to lose if it sinks into chaos.
The writer is former corespondent of Al-Ahram in Washington, DC, and former director of the UN Radio and Television in New York.

[مستر محمد سلام]

Mursi's first messages

Dina Ezzat reports on the first week in office for Egypt's new president

Click to view captionFrom Top: Mursi's first speech as president at Cairo University; swearing in at the Supreme Constitutional Court...
In the heart of Heliopolis, at the presidential palace, and while the newly sworn-in president, Mohamed Mursi, was in his office, dozens of angry Egyptians gathered at the palace gates to voice social and economic grievances.
Also present before the presidential palace are families of those injured due to police brutality during the 25 January Revolution.
"We are here to ask the president to intervene and to get us our rights. This president is an ordinary Egyptian; he, like us, comes from a humble background and he should feel our grievances," said Ibrahim, one of the demonstrating workers.
For three days Ibrahim has been joining friends outside the presidential palace and his calls have been echoed inside the palace itself, although not inside the office of the new president.
"He knows that there are demonstrators and he said they should be allowed to express their views. He did not say anything else," commented an administration staff member at the palace.
The mere fact that these demonstrators have been able to gather and protest before the presidential palace is in itself an indication of the change in posture of Egypt's new president whose security requirements have been significantly reduced compared to those of his predecessor.
In an inaugural speech delivered Friday evening in Tahrir Square, Mursi made a point of moving away from the presidential security detail to get closer to the cheering masses and to affirm that he does not fear for his life and that he is determined to communicate directly with the people.
"We will always be in continuous touch. I shall not be isolated away from you and will always be coming to see you here in Tahrir Square," Mursi said to the Tahrir crowd to their delight.
Establishing his intention to be -- unlike his isolated predecessor -- a president in permanent touch with the people was a key message of the Mursi speech, the first he made since he announced his victory in the elections almost a week before the result was confirmed. Then too he made a point of underlining his commitment to avoiding losing touch with the masses that voted him into office.
Before going to Tahrir Square, Mursi had also on Friday made a public appearance at Al-Azhar Mosque where his motorcade arrived with limited security measures. Worshipers seeking to join the new president in his first Friday prayers were unconditionally allowed into the mosque.
Apart from presenting himself as the president of the masses, Mursi had several other messages to put across during his first week in office.
A key message is his commitment to work for the development of a "civil, constitutional and modern state" -- something that supporting non-Islamist political forces had insisted on before agreeing to lend him their support in a very tight contest against Hosni Mubarak's last premier, Ahmed Shafik.
The phrase "civil state" was absent in the speech made by Mursi announcing his victory, but it was firmly accentuated during the Tahrir speech and in a subsequent speech that he delivered at Cairo University in a ceremony held for his inauguration.
Relevant to Mursi's commitment to the "civil state", there was clear reference made in Tahrir Square to the literary and art community. "I had missed expressing my support and appreciation for them when I made my first speech but this was not intentional and I wish to underline my respect and appreciation to all of them; together we will work to restore Egypt's cultural leadership," Mursi said Friday.
The new president who comes from the ranks of the Muslim Brotherhood, which he had represented as an MP in previous parliamentary elections, and who headed the Freedom and Justice Party, the political arm of the Brotherhood, resigned from the organisation and the leadership of its party.
And while not disassociating himself from the Islamist current in Egyptian politics, in his recognition of Egypt as a civil state and in his acknowledgement of the country's cultural status, Mursi was aiming to reassure those who fear alleged Islamist schemes to turn Egypt into a semi-theocracy or to bring under wraps the otherwise vivid cultural production of the country.
A third message put across this week by the new president was sent to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) that ran the country since ousted president Hosni Mubarak was forced to step down on 11 February 2011 until 30 June of this year when formally power was transferred to the new president. Regardless of ceremony, SCAF remain partners with Mursi by virtue of their recently issued addendum to the March 2011 Constitutional Declaration, which gives SCAF full legislative powers in lieu of the recently dissolved parliament, and that puts SCAF at the forefront of certain executive matters, including passing the state budget and deciding the affairs of the military.
The message that Mursi sent to SCAF seemed to carry in equal measure elements of approval and elements of defiance.
Following his announced victory, Mursi went to visit SCAF at the Defence Ministry headquarters -- a move perceived as an acknowledgement of the unsaid but obvious fact that this president will not overrule SCAF as Mubarak or any of his predecessors could.
And despite the fact that Mursi received a military salute from SCAF head Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, it was clear by gestures that Tantawi is not subordinate to Mursi.
A clear sign of Mursi's recognition of the continued influence of SCAF was his decision to accept taking the presidential oath before the Supreme Constitutional Court, in line with the addendum to the Constitutional Declaration, despite the previously announced opposition of Mursi supporters from within to the Muslim Brotherhood, and elsewhere in Islamist and wider revolutionary quarters, to this addendum.
Moreover, Mursi who had declined to have the official oath aired on television, finally had to succumb to the wish of the judges of the Supreme Constitutional Court -- whose association with SCAF is subject to considerable debate -- to have the ceremony put on TV.
While in practice Mursi was accommodating SCAF, in rhetoric he was sending them messages of defiance -- sometimes starkly.
Speaking in Tahrir Square Friday evening, Mursi said that the masses are the source of legitimacy and he promised not to see undermined any presidential prerogatives. Speaking on Saturday at Cairo University, Mursi insisted, in the presence of Tantawi and his right hand man, Sami Anan, that "elected" individuals and bodies will be in charge of the country.
Still, at Cairo University and during a speech that he made also on Saturday during a military parade, Mursi paid tribute to the role that SCAF and the Armed Forces had played in administrating the country's affairs during the past year and a half.
Moreover, Mursi's supporters, who had pledged to stage an open-ended sit at Tahrir Square if SCAF did not eliminate the addendum to the Constitutional Declaration decided to go home to "allow the president the chance to negotiate the matter with SCAF".
According to sources close to SCAF, the addendum will not be an******. It would only be put aside when a new constitution is drafted by a committee whose composition and work have been disrupted by endless disagreements and quarrels on large and small issues, including on the role of Islamic Sharia law -- a matter many see as the lynchpin of whether Egypt will be a civil state or turn eventually into a semi-theocracy.
Sources in the Muslim Brotherhood told Al-Ahram Weekly that representatives of the group and its political party in the constitution drafting committee -- whose fate will be decided by a court ruling in September -- were instructed to be more flexible. But this is not proving easy in the face of the hardline approach adopted by Salafis who seem to be making a point of dragging the Muslim Brotherhood into more radical circles.
"We know that people are afraid that we are going to [attack] their lifestyles Òê¦ and we are trying very hard in every way possible to dispel these concerns. Of course this would consolidate the position of Dr Mursi," said a member of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Mursi himself had made a point of assuring scared liberals and seculars that he is not planning, for now, to impose any strict Islamic rulings on society. No particular dress code would be imposed on the Muslim women of Egypt, Mursi told a group of editors and TV anchors, including unveiled women, which he met during his first week in office.
Mursi also aimed to reassure the clearly apprehensive Coptic community of Egypt, whose numbers are estimated as between five and 15 million. "I am a president for all Egyptians -- Muslims and Christians alike," said the president in his victory announcement speech.
Mursi who comes from the ranks of a group that only a few years ago declined to acknowledge the rights of Copts and women to assume top executive posts promised that in the presidential advisory board he is planning to establish he would have Copts and women. He also pledged that among some five vice presidents he is considering appointing, there would be a seat dedicated to a Coptic politician and another for a woman -- something Salafis are publicly opposed to.
Moreover, Mursi is planning, according to sources close to the president, to allocate no less than five seats in his first cabinet to Copts and women.
In his first week in office, Mursi met with representatives of the leading churches of Egypt (the Coptic Orthodox, the Catholic and the Anglican churches). In the meeting, the president made direct statements of commitment to the equal rights of all citizens of Egypt.
Speaking to State Radio following the meeting, the acting patriarch of the Coptic Church, which almost unanimously voted for Shafik during the second round, expressed satisfaction with the statements made by Mursi.
Western diplomats and human rights groups who have been closely monitoring Mursi's statements in this regard have all expressed initial optimism on the positions Egypt's first ever Islamist president has taken towards Copts in Egypt.
Meanwhile, Mursi also opted to send reassuring messages on the foreign front. Egypt, he said repeatedly, in every statement he made, is committed to its international obligations set under existing treaties it has signed -- a clear reference to the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty of 1979.
Egypt, Mursi added in a direct message to clearly worried Gulf countries, is not planning to export its revolution and will not interfere in the internal affairs of any country. This statement was made during a meeting that Mursi held at the presidential palace with the first foreign dignitary to visit, the foreign minister of Kuwait.
This said; Egypt would not take insults from anyone, Mursi said. Yesterday, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry summoned the ambassador of the United Arab Emirates -- which plays host to some of Mubarak's top aides -- to complain about a Twitter incident in which Dubai's chief of police wrote negatively about Mursi and the Muslim Brotherhood.
Meanwhile, Mursi made it clear in his speeches that Cairo would support Syrian opposition groups and the Syrian and Palestinian peoples.
Later this month, Mursi may make his first foreign trip as president if he decides to head the country's delegation to the Addis Ababa hosted African Summit. "Most probably he would; he seems keen to affirm Egypt's relation with Africa and it is clear that he realises that Ethiopia is a crucial country to befriend if we want to find an agreed arrangement over disputed Nile water shares," said an Egyptian diplomat.
During the next two weeks, Mursi will be receiving several Western and Arab diplomats keen to form their own first impressions of the man and to gain clues to his
agenda as Egypt's first democratically elected leader

http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2012/1105/eg1.htm
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[مستر محمد سلام]

The drums of war

A Turkish military build-up on the border with Syria is causing apprehension in the region, writes Sayed Abdel-Meguid in Ankara

A mood of apprehension is gripping the cities of southeast Anatolia. While the inhabitants of Gaziantep, Hatay and Mardin, many of whom are of Kurdish origin, are no strangers to the sight of military reinforcements on the borders, the build-up over the last few weeks has been on a different scale.
It resembles that last seen in the late 1990s, when Turkey was about to invade Syria, which was then assisting the leader of the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan.
Hafez Al-Assad, the Syrian president at the time, thought better than to fight the Turkish military, which has the second-largest army in NATO. Within weeks, he had kicked out Ocalan and other PKK leaders and mended fences with Turkey.
Since then, there had been no major cause of friction between the two countries until two weeks ago when Syrian air defences brought down a Turkish F-4 plane, causing immediate Turkish indignation.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that his country would change the rules of engagement with the Syrian army, and the threat was backed by a show of force on the ground as thousands of troops backed with anti-aircraft batteries deployed along the borders with Syria.
On Sunday and then again on Monday, Turkish military aircraft chased Syrian helicopters without firing on them. Turkey also deployed Stinger missiles and air-defence systems on the Syrian side of the border, practically creating a no-fly zone.
The measures were taken in consultation with Washington, with a senior Pentagon official saying that the Turks intended to create a no-fly zone inside Syria close to Deir al-Zur and Qameshli.
Yet, as Turkish politicians, led by officials from the ruling Justice and Development Party, called for swift action against Syria, the country seemed to be seeking more of a middle course.
Senior Turkish officials say they have no intention of waging punitive attacks on Syria and that the build-up on the borders is only a precautionary measure and has no offensive significance.
The domestic mood in Turkey has also dampened. Opposition members of parliament have asked the government to desist from waging a military assault that could cost Turkish lives.
Erdogan's critics claim that the government has deliberately concealed information relating to the downing of the F-4 reconnaissance plane. According to the leftwing Cumhuriyet newspaper, opposition parliamentarian Orhand Duzgout had demanded that Erdogan reveal the nationality of the plane that was escorting the F-4 before it was downed.
According to Duzgout, the unidentified plane belonged to a NATO country.
Turkey's neighbours do not seem keen about the prospect of hostilities in their vicinity either. The newspaper Redical quoted Iraqi spokesman Ali Al-Dabbagh as saying that the downing of the plane was a "private matter" between Turkey and Syria.
While the drums of war are being sounded, they are being sounded softly. Yet, their impact has been unmistakable, and inhabitants of the Turkish border towns have complained that business has ground to a halt because of the tensions.
They may remember what tensions on the Turkish borders with Iraq did to nearby Turkish towns, and they may be

praying that their fate will be different

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[مستر محمد سلام]

Pressing the press

Journalists are living a current crisis with the Shura Council. They fear the new criteria for choosing editors-in-chief of different publications would Islamise the country's press, Reem Leila reports

Click to view captionJournalists protested in front of Al-Ahram building on Tuesday
The country's continuous crises with the government since the 25 January Revolution seems to be non stop. Reporters and journalists are currently witnessing a serious crisis with the Islamist-dominated Shura Council for the nonsense criteria the council has put, according to which editors-in-chief of different publications are to be selected. Journalists are objecting on the formation of the preliminary committee which will choose editors-in-chief. The committee is formed of 14 members, six members of the Shura Council, four veteran journalists and four mass communication university professors.
On Tuesday, more than 200 angry journalists of Al-Ahram, Al-Akhbar and Al-Gomhouriya newspapers protested in front of Al-Ahram building. Slogans as "Down, down with the Shura Council," "Down, down with ruling of SCAF", "Down, down with head of Press Syndicate," "Down, down with the Islamisation of press," were chanted by disappointed journalists. After more than two hours of protest, journalists moved to the premises of the Press Syndicate, where they decided to start an open strike in front of the Shura Council on 5 July.
However, the newly elected president Mohamed Mursi met with the board directors and editors-in-chief of newspapers on 28 June, where he reassured them that there will not be any kind of restrictions on the freedom of press, yet journalists are not secured as they fear the consequences of the criteria set by the Shura Council. The council is responsible for choosing and appointing editors-in-chief as well as the board of directors of state-owned newspapers. Under the previous regime of ousted president Hosni Mubarak, the Shura Council used to benefit of this authority by hiring certain calibers who would serve the government's political agenda.
The whole crisis began when the Shura Council decided to put certain criteria for choosing the editors-in-chief of state-run newspapers. These new measures would affect more than 50 current editors-in-chief. According to the council's criteria, whoever sees himself qualified for the post can submit his papers to the committee. Whoever wants to be editor-in-chief must be with an experience of not less than 15 years, not more than 60-year-old, has spent at least 10 years in the same publication, did not participate in corrupting political life, does not have opinions or writings supporting normalisation with Israel and did not work in the business of press advertisement. Fathi Shehab, head of Culture and Media Committee of the Shura Council, pointed out that an editor-in-chief of any publication would last for three years. "Annual reports will be conducted in case any of the editors was not performing his job properly, he would be immediately eliminated from his post," Shehab said.
According to Shehab, the 14-member committee will screen the candidates for the post. "Screened members will be referred to another committee formed of members of the Shura Council only to select from them those appropriate for the post," said Shehab. After screening, the committee will come up with a short list comprising of three nominees for daily publications and only two for the weekly newspapers.
The Shura Council announced that nominees will be able to submit their papers for a whole week starting 3 July. "None of the members of the second committee which will have the final word will be of the profession. Accordingly, the council is actually the entity which is having the final word of choosing the editors-in-chief. Therefore, journalists have full right to fear the Islamisation of newspapers," said Salah Eissa, a veteran writer.
Shehab believes that the process of selecting new editors-in-chief is due to the deteriorating financial and administrative conditions of these newspapers which resulted from the interference of power in the management of chairmen and editors-in-chief of these publications.
Unlike Shehab, most journalists are against the whole project. "The regulations and criteria which the Shura Council has set them do not suit all journalists," said Eissa. "How are nominees going to be assessed? Most of the 14-member committee are not professionals. How will they judge? Will it be according to their performance as journalists or according to the income they bring to their publications?" asked Eissa.
Veteran writer also raised another important point, the committee has ignored a very important variable in choosing the editor-in chief, which is the nominee's experience in running and managing the publication. "The committee missed this important condition, I wonder why," added Eissa.
At the same time Hisham Younis, member of the Press Syndicate council, believes the Shura Council, though freely elected, should not have any authority or control over state-owned newspapers. In a statement issued by the syndicate, journalists expressed their deep refutation and objections to the council's attempts to interfere in the affairs of state-owned press organisations. The statement stressed the fact that the council's attempt to interfere in the affairs of press institutions raises suspicions regarding its desperate attempt to Islamise the state-owned organisations. "They are playing the same role of the dismantled National Democratic Party, no doubt about that," said Younis. "Journalists will be forced to write what the Islamists like. If they did not, definitely they will be penalised," added Younis.
In the same context, Younis fears that the set criteria will facilitate the appointment of calibers who will be loyal to the Muslim Brotherhood. "No one can hide the fact that many journalists have submitted their papers to join the Freedom and Justice Party. They are hypocrites and weak journalists as they are trying to protect themselves by doing this," said Younis.
At the same time, Eissa is scared of the rise of Islamists to power in Egypt which could easily affect the freedom of expression, especially the press. Eissa said that "it would definitely have a huge negative effect. None of their newspapers was a success, all of them closed after a short while. They have strict restrictions on published photos and advertisements. If they applied this on publications of state-owned organisations, they will be doomed to failure and closure at the end. Is this what they want? I wonder," asked Eissa.
In the time being, journalists are exerting their utmost effort to pressure the Shura Council to preparing a new law on stipulating that state-owned organisations should be affiliated to a National Council which does not have any political preferences. "This is the only way to guarantee independence of the press," said Eissa.
However, things are likely to get more complicated as the Administrative Court will refer a lawsuit filed in front of it to dismantle the Shura Council as in the case of the People's Assembly. Under such a scenario, the issue will be on hold until new elections are held months from now. "The best thing in the time being, is to postpone everything until the issuing of the constitution. We need to figure out what will the constitution do about the profession of journalism and the status of the state-owned organisations. Until then, there will always be the question of, will the rise of Islamists affect freedom of expression?" added Eissa

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[مستر محمد سلام]

Speaking up and speaking out

harassment of women may be on the rise, but more and more victims are coming forward with their stories, writes Sarah Amos

Click to view captionAn artwork from the exhibition
As Cairo's Tahrir Square swelled with thousands of people last Sunday following the announcement of Mohamed Mursi's victory in the presidential elections, the iconic square once again found itself plunged into the international media's spotlight -- this time not as an icon of democracy, but rather as the setting for ***ual violence against women.
Twenty-one-year-old student journalist Natasha Smith was heading towards the square over Qasr Al-Nil Bridge that night to film the jubilant scene for a documentary about the status of women in post-revolutionary Egypt. Instead of filming footage, she was swallowed quickly by the crowd and became the victim of ***ual abuse.
"Men began to rip off my clothes. I was stripped *****," she wrote on her blog later. "Their insatiable appetite to hurt me was heightened. These men, hundreds of them, had turned from humans to animals."
Her blog post, entitled "Please God, Make it Stop" quickly went viral, with over 10,000 Facebook visits over the past week. The post graphically details the assault Smith suffered from at the hands of "hundreds" of unidentified men, before being brought to a tent where she was disguised in men's clothing and a veil and taken to hospital. Smith noted that she did not intend to enter the square, but had been swept away by the crowd and separated from her two male friends who were accompanying her.
"I think [the assault] may have been because of rumours of my being a foreign spy, or it could just have been because of an explosion of activity," Smith said in a phone interview with Al-Ahram Weekly. Although she was dressed in a conservative long-sleeved blouse and ankle-length skirt, Smith still stood out as a foreigner, which she thinks was among the reasons why she was targeted.
"On the one hand, I was attacked because I am a western girl.... But I recently found out that a married Egyptian woman was also attacked that night, not long after I was," Smith said. "That makes me think, was it just because of the way I looked? Or was it because I was a woman? Or was it because of the atmosphere? It's hard to say."
According to a 2008 study by the Egyptian Centre for Women's Rights (ECWR), 83 per cent of Egyptian women said they had experienced ***ual harassment, defined as "unwanted ***ual contact" which ranges from name-calling to rape and includes ogling, whistling and shouting, touching, following or exposing the genitals. For foreign women, the number shoots up to 98 per cent of those surveyed. The problem is thus undeniably widespread, although only 2.4 per cent of victims report it to the police.
Dissecting the causes behind the prevalence of ***ual harassment of women, which some believe has surged during Egypt's transition, reveals a toxic mix of forces: mob mentality, rigid cultural norms, victim-blaming and a culture of impunity. However, Egyptian journalist Mona El-Tahawi, herself a victim of ***ual assault last November, dismisses the theory that this phenomenon erupted after the ousting of former president Hosni Mubarak.
According to El-Tahawi, the first systematic assaults on female activists and journalists began in 2005, following protests in response to the referendum allowing for multiple presidential candidates.
"Women were holding up their ripped clothes, and we saw video uploaded on YouTube where women were pinned to the ground and had to suffer simulated rape. No one was held accountable because the regime said there was no proof," El-Tahawi told the Weekly. "When the regime does this, it gives the green light to men to think that women's bodies are fair game, and then things are done with impunity."
The following year in 2006, attacks during Eid celebrations occurred in downtown Cairo, when a mob of young men went on the rampage, attacking women openly in the streets. "Looking back now, it's not so shocking after all," El-Tahawi said of the alarming trend of increased ***ual violence that has continued to exist both on a systemic level and is experienced everyday by Egyptian women.
In spite of the rampancy of ***ual assault, both international readers and Egyptians were shocked by the young British woman's explicit account after it appeared on social media sites. Comments on the blog numbered over 2,000 in less than a week and quickly degenerated into indictments of Smith's actions, or even rejections of the validity of her testimony altogether.
"I understand why people are sceptical, but I just want to contribute to a situation where women can stand up when these attacks occur and not just hide away," Smith said, defending her choice to speak out. Some critics claim that a similar story with an Egyptian female victim, instead of a western, blonde girl, wouldn't have garnered the same international attention.
"Very few Egyptian women feel comfortable about speaking out about this, and when they do speak out hardly any attention is paid to them," El-Tahawi said. "And so there's this idea that only when western women are attacked does anyone pay attention. So it's like Egyptian women don't count."
However, she adds, when a Western woman comes forward the international uproar often overshadows the actual crime committed, as was seen in another assault last year. It becomes a case of "Egypt versus the West", and the debate quickly deteriorates, as defensiveness, racism and Islamophobia then begin to enter the fray, she said.
"I want to move beyond that. I want to talk about the woman that survived this attack," El-Tahawi said. However, for every Natasha Smith, there may well be scores of Egyptian women and girls who have suffered similar attacks. But few of these come forward.
"I think one of the hardest things is for women to speak out because of the environment they live in, and I'm hoping that we will now have a social revolution to go hand-in-hand with our political revolution," El-Tahawi said. Returning to Egypt after years abroad, El-Tahawi plans to launch the National Campaign Against ***ual Violence, which will serve as an umbrella organisation for existing women's groups and NGOs. Part advocacy and awareness, the campaign has already garnered attention from the thousands of El-Tahawi's twitter followers, as well as Egyptian women on the ground, such as Samira Ibrahim, the woman who publicly came forward to denounce SCAF "virginity tests". El-Tahawi hopes to provide services ranging from teaching young girls about safety to training doctors about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, a psychological ailment that often follows assault. El-Tahawi believes that without a social revolution, the political revolution will fail. "And for me this is the real revolution," she said.
Twenty-one-year-old Salma Hegab, a smartphone-toting, constantly tweeting student activist who believes such a shift is possible, is a scholarship student from Nasr City at the American University in Cairo studying mass communication. Hegab said that in her view the tide was turning, albeit gradually, when it comes to the stigma of speaking out against harassment.
Hegab said it had not been uncommon for her to experience harassment walking home from school when she was younger. One time, when she was just a girl, a man in a car had even exposed himself to her. "In the past, I used to feel guilty about this," Hegab said. "I never told that stuff to my parents or anyone else. You hide that stuff from your parents and from society, because you don't know how they would react to hearing such things."
As she got older and entered secondary school in an attempt to dress more conservatively Hegab began to wear the abaya, "a jeans one -- it's cooler than the regular black abaya," she said with a laugh. But that didn't stop the harassment. In fact, according the ECWR survey, 72.5 per cent of harassment victims were veiled.
"In the community I was raised in, harassment was seen as the girls' fault because she was not dressed moderately, or was not walking moderately. They used to tell us this stuff," Hegab said. "After I had experiences of being harassed, even though I was dressed moderately and walking in a moderate way, I came home and asked my family what I was supposed to have done wrong. Why do I have to hear men calling me stuff I don't want to hear?"
Her questions went unanswered. "In the years before the revolution, nobody had an answer to this problem," Hegab said. She thinks that since the revolution's opening up of cultural norms, outlets now exist where women can express their frustrations over this epidemic. She said that using Twitter to highlight the problem to a greater audience had helped her realise it wasn't her fault, and she had stopped blaming herself.
"I used to be disgusted with the term '***ual harassment,'" she admitted. "But now I see that in order to do something about this, we have to bring this subject up all the time." She hopes the collective voices of women will pressure the government into implementing rules against assault that would put the perpetrators into jail.
The Egyptian penal code doesn't consider ***ual harassment to be a crime at present, though "immoral acts on public highways" and "indecent assault" when presented with irrefutable proof can be considered forms of ***ual harassment. Yet, the legal foundation of such crimes still differs from those found in other countries, including even Gulf states such as the UAE and Qatar.
Because Egyptian culture is deeply rooted in ideas of shame and honour, Hegab believes, if the law began to punish men for committing harassment this "would be a stain on his reputation forever."
But legal enforcement does not appear to be on the immediate horizon. The country is still grappling with the law-and-order vacuum due to the tug-of-war between the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) and the newly elected president. As the country remains distracted by political issues, ***ual harassment and assault continues.
"I'm fed up with it. Most girls I know can't have a normal life because they're afraid to go to places by themselves," Noha Sabri, a student from Minya studying at AUC said. "And I don't have a person to take me from one point to another, so I started fighting it."
Sabri became involved with the initiative HarassMap, which utilises mobile technology and Internet mapping to report ***ual harassments as they occur, spreading awareness of the phenomenon. By sending an SMS after experiencing or witnessing a ***ual attack, the incident is marked on an Internet map, which then identifies "hotspots" to alert the police.
After a victim sends the text, she or he will receive a number of services, ranging from filing a police report to accessing psychological assistance. On the ground, activists such as Sabri, captain of the Zamalek team in Cairo, are talking with local populations about the prevalence of harassment.
"They often don't understand how bad the situation is, or how it affects the girl," Sabri said about the reactions of many men she talks to. Once when she was speaking to a man about the problems of harassment, he blatantly ogled a girl at the same time while claiming to understand how bad the phenomenon was. Sabri has even spoken to men who admit to harassing girls, or who perpetuate the stereotype that the "woman wanted it" or "deserved it" because of her clothing. She said it was not an easy job to raise awareness of such issues, but "we have begun to see a difference in many of the people we are talking to."
Coming forward and breaking the silence on harassment is something that some young women have been doing in Egypt, like Smith has done.
"I want to say to Egyptian women that this is not about me," Smith said. Instead of focussing on her story, she said she hopes that women will now move forward in order to figure out the source of the intimidation of women, as well as a possible solution.
"I think that I could be the catalyst for a much bigger movement, and I want to be a part of that movement now to help many other women who suffer attacks," Smith said

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[مستر محمد سلام]

Fifty-fifty

It is time that the relationship between the Muslim Brotherhood, the Freedom and Justice Party and Egypt's new president was more clearly defined, writes Ahmed El-Tonsi
Apart from the common advice to the new president of Egypt, like the need to build national consensus and that he should be the president of all Egyptians, Mohamed Mursi, the newly elected president, should carefully watch his next steps in the light of the unique political scene reflected in the run-off election results.
Now is a heady time for the new president, who has been met with extreme enthusiasm, albeit for various reasons, by 50 per cent of the voters, while the other half has basically been against him. Moreover, the turnout in the elections was relatively low, denoting a sceptical if not a negative attitude towards the elections, the candidates, and the whole transition period. Around 50 per cent of the electorate turned out to vote in the run-off elections. Mursi was partially voted for, in as much as he was the candidate of Egypt's largest political party, the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP). Others voted for Mursi because they could not perceive Egypt's presidency going to anyone with links to the regime of ousted former president Hosni Mubarak, as was the case with the other candidate, Ahmed Shafik.
Based upon the results of the first round, the anti-Shafik component among those voting for Mursi could have been approximately 50 per cent. Such an uncertain majority and only mathematical victory should not obscure the facts underneath. One such fact is that Mursi is the first elected, as well as the first partisan, president. Belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood, second only to the Wafd in terms of its age, Mursi benefited from the political strength of his power base. Ideologically as well as organisationally, Mursi has been a front-line leader in the Brotherhood, which duly nominated and campaigned for him in the elections. He would not have become president had the FJP not fielded him as its candidate, capitalising on the presidential elections law that permits each party represented in the parliament to nominate a presidential candidate.
Put differently, Mursi was thus absolutely a party nominee, in contrast to Khairat El-Shater, the previous Brotherhood candidate, whose candidacy was refused despite his endorsement by FJP MPs in the now-dissolved parliament. Another 50 per cent supported Mursi here, as he shared the FJP nomination with El-Shater before the latter's disqualification. Moreover, Mursi's electoral platform was formally that of the Brotherhood, including its famous Renaissance Project, to which he allocated a great part of his electoral campaign.
Among such an array of fifties, what cannot be perceived in this fifty-fifty ratio is the relationship between the Brotherhood, the FJP, and Egypt's new president. Mursi has been elected as president as a member of the Muslim Brotherhood and as chair of the FJP, with an electoral platform that consisted of the Brotherhood's own political programme. There seems to be no convincing legal, political or practical reason for Mursi to relinquish his relationship with the parent association or its surrogate political party.
Mursi's resignation from the Brotherhood and its political wing the FJP would be meaningless, if not utterly incorrect, in terms of his previous commitment and in terms of the fact that many people voted for his electoral platform and not for him as an individual. Did Mursi come to the presidential elections with no platform? No, he did not. He was a strong advocate for the Renaissance Project, which contains the Brotherhood's views on Egypt's current situation and its proposals for addressing the country's appalling socioeconomic conditions. As such, it is Mursi's right, as well his organisation's right, to see such electoral promises fulfilled. This is the basis of any electoral contest that ends with the triumph of only one bidder, who is then entitled by majority vote to implement a platform that presumably formed the major thrust of his campaign and supposedly the major rationale behind the people's votes.
The platform advocated by Mursi while campaigning for the elections was that of the Muslim Brotherhood, and people voted for Mursi in the full awareness that he was the presidential candidate of the Brotherhood. Many people will have voted for Mursi for that reason alone. Fundraising for Mursi's electoral campaign was also done by the Brotherhood and its supporters. Paradoxically, the FJP, among other political forces, pressed hard to delete the amendment proposed by the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) regarding the legislative elections law prohibiting independent members from rejoining political parties after they had been elected as non-partisan MPs.
The Brotherhood's decision now to distance itself from its own presidential candidate is unpractical, and it is unthinkable that it will now seek to become part of the opposition to Mursi or that it will abandon its own Renaissance Project, in its own words the outcome of intellectual debate in the association over the last 20 years. Evidently, the Brotherhood, even though one of its leading political figures has been elected as head of state in a fair-and-free election, has become addicted to continuing as an underground movement that needlessly works behind closed doors. What more senior job could move the Brotherhood to become a fully transparent legal entity in order to perform its purported objectives?
When millions have chosen the Brotherhood's nominee in the elections and have endorsed its sacred project, there is a need for the organisation to change its preferred clandestine nature and to play a full part in Egypt's politics and society. The organisation may want to sustain its clandestine modus operandi, which has kept it at arms' length from any supervision by the law or by an independent national regulator. Some have also claimed that it does not want to become "burned out" by day-to-day politics that accompany its direct running of the state in a highly volatile political and social context. At the same time, the organisation may have thought that this manoeuvre would diminish its political accountability.
Herein lies a major issue, since the electoral commitments made by Mursi are those of the Brotherhood, and the latter should be held accountable for their fulfilment during the coming presidential term. In other words, political accountability should be the responsibility of the Brotherhood and its candidate, otherwise there would be no reason to have political parties or associations that nurture, develop and guide their cadres. Political parties sustain their electoral victories through the performance of their representatives in the executive, as well as the legislative, branches of government, and not just through political manoeuvring. Accountability is basic to democracy as it breeds the transfer and sharing of power, and this should be considered by the Brotherhood.
The delegation of accountability is one of the worst mistakes that the management of any given enterprise can make. On the other hand, Mursi is in massive need of the support of his parent organisation, and the latter has the greatest stake in his future success. That Mursi is the president of all Egyptians is axiomatic: this is his basic job description that cannot and should not be eroded by his membership of the Muslim Brotherhood. Ironically, many of the country's political forces have been adamant in their demands that Mursi resign from the FJP and the Brotherhood, though they have also been quite satisfied with their efforts to gain concessions from the organisation.
To achieve its multiple objectives, the Brotherhood has been pursuing the idea of rescinding its formal relationship with Mursi. Obviously, there is no need for such manoeuvres, which will add more uncertainties rather than clear up ambiguities. Furthermore, the association's current endeavours to formally keep a distance from the presidential institution have been quite incredible. For example, in his first few hours after the announcement of the election results Mursi highlighted that he would start work with the Renaissance Project, even as a number of FJP members gave statements about Mursi and plans to end ties with the Brotherhood.
Any move to resign on the part of Mursi from the Brotherhood would be perceived by many as a typical "division of roles", something identified in the way the organisation does things from its management of the various professional syndicates. The Brotherhood dominates most of the syndicates, but it has always done business behind the scenes. Ruling Egypt is more complex than managing the board of a professional syndicate, however, and the Brotherhood should reconsider its steps. Once more, it is Mursi's right to form a team that will implement his electoral platform. Such a team should consist of elements that are fully convinced of the major premises of his platform. There is no time to be wrong about this, and accordingly there is no time for the appeasement of other political forces either, or for pacifying the anxieties of certain groups inside Egypt. Deliverables are what are expected from Mursi and his team.
The Muslim Brotherhood should now change its old paradigms and meet new political realities with their formidable challenges. Political cunning has been a major trait of the Brotherhood and many of its leaders, and there should be no problem living with such a fundamental feature that has long been characteristic of the political culture of the organisation. Yet, there is a need for the currently deliberately ill-defined boundaries between the Brotherhood, the FJP, and the new president to be clearly marked. It cannot be accepted that such ill-defined borders, existing between the Brotherhood and the FJP, now expand to encompass Egypt's new president. The organisation should aim to halt its old secretive style, which has been surpassed by the changing political landscape as well as the organisation's greater visibility. It should work on establishing itself as a formal entity that is transparent and accountable before the whole nation.
The Brotherhood should learn from its past and its historical ebbs and flows. Obviously, it cannot leap from being an outlawed organisation to a legal one easily or in one movement, as has been reflected in the current debate on the verdict of the Supreme Constitutional Court dissolving the parliament. As the country's leading political organisation, particularly given its overarching Islamic reference, the Brotherhood has to set an example. Otherwise, it will act like the protagonist of the famous Greek myth of Sisyphus.
According to The Odyssey, Sisyphus was a king who was compelled to roll a stone up a steep hill. When he reached the top, the stone always rolled down again, and Sisyphus was condemned to do this for eternity. In the Greek myth, Sisyphus was predestined to suffer. In the Egyptian political reality, the Muslim Brotherhood needs to think and act differently, lest it and more importantly also Egypt suffer.

The writer is a political ****yst

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[مستر محمد سلام]

A marriage made in hell

Washington's wedding of democratic evangelism to destructive military campaigns and quasi-racist wars has set democratisation back by decades, writes Gamil Mattar*
Have the brakes been put on the progress of democracy? Is, indeed, the process actually moving in reverse? To ask such questions would once have seemed implausible to the positivists who, with a sweep of the hand across a map of the world, pointed complacently to the countries that were advancing by leaps and bounds towards democracy or, if not by leaps and bounds, at least moving inexorably forward.
The train has started moving and has picked up too much speed to stop, they insisted. Democratisation is both a pledge and an imperative, they said. It was a pledge on the part of Third World governments to the international community which had declared it would no longer put up with non-democratic regimes. And it was a prerequisite for world peace. Peace is only possible between democratic nations which don't go around attacking other nations, said Bush. With Sharansky's book on democracy firmly tucked beneath his arm the US president promised that peace in the Middle East would follow in the wake of democracy. In so saying he raised the neo-conservatives' romantic, if not entirely innocent, banner, "make democracy not war", launched a campaign to impose democracy on the region using all the violence and coercion available to the world's only superpower, and drove the Middle East further away from peace than it has been for centuries.
The Arab public quickly sniffed out the hypocrisy in the Bush administration's appeals. There was too much wavering, procrastination and lack of coordination, and it was not long before the people lost whatever confidence they had in the efficacy of American support for democratisation in the region. This erosion of confidence occurred a time when voices from within America's ruling conservative right began to protest against the squandering of US material and political resources on policies that only seemed to augment the power and influence of Muslim fundamentalists in the Middle East. Washington stopped talking about democracy as a condition for peace and Bush stopped citing Sharansky as one of his primary sources of inspiration.
The tide of democratisation is once again ebbing in the Middle East. Nor is this a situation unique to the region. In the Philippines President Arroyo has declared a state of emergency following an alleged military coup. Most observers believe the coup attempt to be a fiction, suggesting that Arroyo has taken advantage of recent unrest in order to replace Major-General Renato Miranda as chief of the marines. The president of the Philippines, who used corruption in the army as a tool to secure her grip over the country, is now moving to make an accommodation with the army in order to remain in power. The Manila crisis underscores the extent to which the democratic experience in the Philippines failed to separate the military from politics and to offset the demagogic powers of the church and big business, the two forces that triggered the popular unrest that led to the overthrow of the countries two previous presidents.
This, then, is the Philippines that Bush has so frequently lauded as a model of democracy. That Nigeria, Uganda and other countries have won similar praise only makes one wonder what Bush means by democracy. Nigeria, apparently, is democratic because it has a government that came to power through elections. But Nigeria is riddled with sectarian strife that subsides for days then flares up for months. It has a separatist movement pushing for independence for the oil-rich Niger Delta. It could well be the most corrupt and crime-ridden country in Africa. Uganda, too, recently held elections, though they were hardly free and fair. They took place against a nightmarish backdrop in which the insurgent Rabb Army reigns by night while the government reasserts itself by day.
In Thailand, that new bastion of democracy and free-market economy, thousands of demonstrators took to the streets to protest against the prime minister's abuse of constitutional powers and his encouragement of corruption, especially the nepotism of which his own family is the primary beneficiary. Nor is Thailand alone in confusing the worship of money and the sanctity of the free market over true democratisation and constitutional reform.
One of the aims of democratic evangelism, in its heyday, was to herald the victory of the "Bush principle". Many non-democratic regimes played along, holding elections so Washington could in turn welcome them to the democratic club. In most cases progress towards democratisation ground to a halt as soon as the ballots closed. In other cases the process went into reverse as forces not officially entitled to participate in the political process succeeded in circumventing obstacles to their participation, or the polls brought results of which both the domestic authorities and the Americans disapproved.
Elections were held in Haiti a few weeks ago. Once the results were announced the bloodshed resumed, to the extent that the US was forced to intervene to halt the chaos. Washington brought in legal experts who reread Haiti's electoral laws in such a way as allow Rene Perval to claim victory. Everyone -- the Americans included -- know that Haiti under Perval was a haven for drug smuggling and organised crime, in which government officials and the police are involved up to their necks. But what was important in that corrupt and poverty-stricken nation was that it emerge from the elections unchanged -- i.e. dependent upon the US and the UN for its security, for which read the safety of its ruling elite and of foreign interests. Yet Bush administration officials appeared on cue to announce Haiti was experiencing an unprecedented period of "democratic stability".
The Congo has a democratically elected government. Apparently it doesn't count that two-thirds of the country is under the control of rebel forces and that foreign companies and fortune hunters are sapping the wealth of a country that must count as the most plundered in history.
In ***ovo elections brought a new government to power. Not that it does that much. NATO forces still run the country. Washington, though, could not be happier about democracy in ***ovo, which is still deprived of its right to be recognised as a fully independent sovereign state.
King Gyanendra of Nepal has just held fraudulent municipal elections. He then called a halt to democratisation on the grounds that elections would bring terrorists and extremists to power. Washington says nothing against government corruption in Nepal, agreeing, instead, with New Delhi, its up and coming southern Asia ally, that Nepal is India's concern. New Delhi takes a similar position towards Burma. India has learned a great deal from watching the US protect dictatorial regimes while somehow keeping its democratic reputation intact. It has seen the US at work in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Middle East in general, and learned much.
In Kabul a unique balloting process was held, bringing to power an equally unique legislature. Afghanistan outside of Kabul is another story. It exists beyond electoral processes, party plurality and democracy. In the rest of Afghanistan life goes on, just as it did before the Taliban.
Across the border Pakistani propaganda and American support of President Musharraf have failed to convince the rest of the world that Pakistan is a democracy simply because it holds elections. Yet while the Bush administration absolves Pakistan for its military order it heaps scorn on the religious order in Iran, though Iranian elections are freer and fairer than any held in Pakistan. It is Palestine, however, that holds the record for the fairest and most transparent election in the history of this region. But Palestine, along with Iran, has no place on the Bush list of democracies.
The Bush administration's greatest boast is that series of revolutions of many blossoms -- the Rose Revolution in Georgia, the Orange Revolution in Ukraine, the Tulip Revolution in Kyrgyz. Today, though, Moscow is more confident than ever that the chain reaction has reached its end, and the Russians are undoubtedly content that these revolutions changed nothing more than a few faces at the top. Policies remain the same. Corruption is as rife as ever.
In Ukraine an election campaign is currently in progress, and it is Yankovitch, the man whose vote rigging sparked the orange revolution in the first place, who has emerged as front runner. Yankovitch now accuses his opponents of attempting to rig the elections to keep him from reaching power by democratic means. Meanwhile, he still tells his supporters that democracy is impossible in poor countries.
Another global phenomenon is the campaign against "tyranny by democracy". Vladimir Putin's NGO law, for example, aims to keep the activities of local and foreign human and civil rights agencies under his thumb. In Tajikistan the government has taken measures to prevent foreign embassies and agencies from establishing contacts with local individuals and organisations. The Chinese Communist Party has taken a firm stand against the "IT invasion," lashing out against the spread of immorality which, it says, serves as a screen for Western interests. In Zimbabwe the government has expelled the representatives of foreign NGOs and closed down the offices of many local civil society organisations. Ethiopia kicked out the representatives of foreign funding agencies and Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has pledged that the country will experience no revolution, of whatever hue. Eritrea has suspended the activities of several NGOs and USAID agencies while in Latin America, the Organisation of American Unity rejected a US-sponsored bill calling for a body to monitor Latin American governments' respect for "democratic ethics".
Meanwhile, the drive of Arab governments to repel the democratic invasion has been resumed with renewed vigour, with some regimes busy recuperating authoritarian territory many believed had been lost forever.
There are many reasons behind the rising anti- democratic tide. Bush's foreign policy and his government's flagrant human rights violations top the list. Washington's determination to turn Iraq into a model of democracy to be emulated throughout the region has also set the cause of democratisation back by decades. All any anti-democrat now has to do is point to the disaster the US has wrought in Iraq. Washington's erratic fluctuations between ideological fervour and pragmatism have also been inimical to the spread of democracy. When Washington turns a blind eye to the anti-democratic behaviour of some of its allies while lashing out at other countries for the same sins, one cannot avoid the conclusion that Washington is manipulating the appeal to democracy for its own ends. Such cynicism, sadly, is contagious. Another reason, impacting the Middle East in particular, is growing anti-Arab and anti-Muslim feeling on the part of the West. This, combined with growing Western support for Israeli terrorism, compounds suspicions over US intentions and frustrates the efforts of Arab democrats.
Whatever the cause -- or causes -- behind the retreat from democracy, there is no doubt that the US has squandered immense moral capital by wedding democratic evangelism to destructive military campaigns and quasi-racist wars. This mad concoction has, more than anything else, placed freedom and political rights out of the reach of many of the world's peoples, particularly those in the Middle East. Now, in the name of the war against terrorism, anti-democratic governments are being given ample time to absorb lessons from the first campaign to promote democracy and to entrench themselves behind stronger and more sophisticated defences than ever in the case of any renewed democratic offensive,
however far off that might seem



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* The writer is the director of the Arab Centre for Development and Futuristic Research


http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2006/788/op2.htm

http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2006/788/economy.htm
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[مستر محمد سلام]

Up to it

Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa says he's ready for a second five-year term in office even though he predicts tough times ahead for the Arab world and the entire Middle East. On the sidelines of the Khartoum summit which renewed his mandate, Moussa spoke to Dina Ezzat

Amr Moussa

On the eve of the Arab summit that gave the Arab League secretary-general five more years, Amr Moussa is pensive, pre-occupied and a little apprehensive


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The seasoned Egyptian diplomat whose first term at the head of the archaic Arab organisation was anything but smooth, is not at all deterred by the colossal challenges he has encountered, including the occupation of Iraq, the total collapse of the Arab-Israeli peace process, the fall-out between Syria and Lebanon and the aggressive personal assault launched against him by envious political figures in the Arab world. In the next term, he says with unmistakable resolve, he will continue to speak out in support of Arab interests irrespective of any assault that might aim to reverse commitments to that goal. "I have thick political skin," he said in defiance.
Moussa admits that during the past five years he had "moments of deep frustration".
"I was anguished by the vast potentials that the Arab world possesses and the obstacles and challenges preventing the optimum exploitation of such assets to serve the interests of the Arab world."
When pressed, Moussa confessed he thought about relinquishing his post during moments of serious collapse in the collective Arab performance. "It crossed my mind once or twice." He would not specifically say when but some of his closest aides pinpoint 20 March 2003 when the war on Iraq was launched, and a year later when the Arab summit was abruptly called off by its Tunisian host in what seemed then as the beginning of the end, or rather the final chapter of the end of the Arab League.
The advice of his aides plus urgings from some Arab capitals persuaded him to continue to shoulder the responsibilities he was entrusted with. The decision to stay the course might have primarily been for political pride -- or as some would say, ego -- of Moussa, a popular foreign minister of Egypt from 1991 to 2001 before he moved to the Arab organisation in what many perceived was a removal from the Egyptian system where he occasioned numerous instances of envy.
Today, the story is behind Moussa who seems concerned about fulfilling a mission that he had to accept.
"I cannot say I was particularly enthusiastic or interested in pursuing a second term," Moussa said, though Arab leaders argued it was a matter of responsibility, not preference.
Moussa does not lose his poise when confronted with ****ysis suggesting that Cairo, for fear of losing the almost exclusive monopoly of the post of Arab League secretary- general, had to re-nominate Moussa for lack of other candidates who would be safely granted Arab support by consensus. "The discussion on this issue included several Arab capitals and many Arab leaders. It was not just Cairo that said that this was not the time to exit the stage," he recounted.
It is when Moussa hears questions about the consent allegedly given by the US to his second term in office that he expresses astonishment, puts his expensive cigar in the ashtray and utters, "This is ridiculous." Moussa believes it is absurd for anyone to suggest that he was assuming his second term in office on the basis of an American vote as the question suggests. "Why would the Americans do this? And who can sanely say they were consulted?"
The Americans, he said, could not have endorsed his second term in hope of a continuous effort by the Arab League to contain the growing civil strife that has turned the US invasion of Iraq into a quagmire.
And, when pressed on the role of the US administration in instigating what many found a premature eclipse of his mission at the top of Egyptian diplomacy, Moussa is equally unamused. The Americans, he said, are not particularly concerned about his political career and were not involved in the Egyptian decision in 2001 to nominate him for the Arab League in the first place. "This is all very silly," he reaffirmed.
Moussa, however, is willing to acknowledge that the Americans have a keen interest in the region and as such it is essential for Arabs and Americans to pursue a strategic dialogue to streamline their interests and disagreements in a way compatible with the complex Arab-American relationship and for the benefit of both sides. He credits the Arab League -- rather than the Arab League secretary-general in an occasional but not very convincing exercise of modesty -- for making a breakthrough in promoting better and closer dialogue between the US and the Arab League in the wake of the 11 September attacks. He insists that during his second term, he would continue efforts to promote the Arab-American dialogue "in a way that is based on mutual respect and equity".
"I was never an advocate of undue confrontation with the US. I express disagreement when it is time to do so but I do not pursue a fight," he said. Moussa argues that he will still count on the support of American-Arab groups in this respect. "We had the first Arab-American dialogue in September 2003 and the next round is in Houston in June."
Moussa also asserts that much attention during his second term in office will be accorded to promoting Arab-European relations, with the upcoming Arab-European dialogue scheduled to convene in France in a few weeks acting as a launch pad. In this respect, Moussa stresses that Arabs should not allow their occasional disappointment with the Europeans to set back the development of this naturally crucial relationship, not just for political and economic purposes but for cultural dialogue as well.
In fact, Moussa intends to use his second five-year term to promote closer rapport with many foreign circles including Latin America, Asia and Africa which were areas of initial diplomatic approaches during his first term in office.
It is precisely this cosmopolitan approach by the Arab League during the past five years that Moussa is particularly proud of. "The Arab League has become a full partner with other international, regional and sub-regional organisations." During such encounters, Moussa argues, the Arab League has expressed the views and legitimate demands of the Arab world. And this is an essential matter at this crucial point of new international and regional dynamics that could take the Arab world by storm.
"When I assumed office [as Arab League secretary-general in 2001] I saw that our region was steadily approaching a worst case scenario of chaos. Unfortunately, this scenario has been unfolding aggressively," he said. Moussa said that his concerns today are by no means less dramatic.
"The world is going through an unprecedented phase of instability and as such we cannot exclude further disorder in our part of the world," he said. He added that with these developments in mind, it would be almost naive to exclude the possibility of a serious shake-up in the region. "My worst fear is the disintegration of any Arab country," he said without naming names.
It does not take an expert to list obvious candidates. Iraq is the worry of the moment. "Iraq is a key country in our Arab world. It is currently suffering a serious state of violence and chaos that demands full Arab support for its political process on the basis of national unity that says Iraq belongs to its entire people without any ethnic or religiously-based discrimination."
At this point Moussa again puts down his cigar and affirms, "The future of Iraq cannot be decided away from the will of the Iraqi people or the support and contribution of Arabs."
Moussa is not willing to directly attack Iranian intervention in Iraq or Turkish tampering in the affairs of north Iraq. He rather insists that he has plans to visit Tehran and Ankara in the near future to pursue closer cooperation between the Arab world and both Muslim countries.
However, he stressed in no uncertain terms that Arabs are determined to pursue efforts to promote national unity in Iraq just as much as they are committed to securing an Arab- Israeli peace deal which will have to be within the accepted Arab parametres as defined in the Arab peace initiative.
During the next five years, Moussa can foresee three types of problems: inter-Arab disputes encompassing some serious cases, the internal problems of some Arab states that evolve in a way that prompts regional intervention as in the case of the multi-shaded civil strife in Sudan, and cultural attacks targeting the Arab world in its entirety.
The new regional set-up and the daunting challenges, Moussa agrees, would require a reconceptualisation, in a way, of the role of the Arab League. Previously, this 60-year-old establishment was prevented from intervening in the internal affairs of Arab countries. This is no longer the case. Moreover, the Arab League was previously not responsible for carving a safe niche for the Arab world in the new world order. This, too, has changed. "Of course, the role of the Arab League is being reformulated by force of international and regional developments.
This, however, would require modifying the work mechanisms of the pan-Arab organisation and a more advanced approach towards its modernisation .
"We do not need to worry about the amendment of the constitution. What we, not just as the Arab League but as the Arab world, need to worry about is the evolving face of the Middle East and the role of the Arab world therein. This is our biggest challenge," Moussa said. "It is clear that due to our current state of weakness we cannot impose our rules." At the same time, despite this weakness, Arab countries cannot succumb to an imposed agenda, he added. "So what we really need is a formula accepted by both sides."
But as Moussa firmly stressed, none of the challenges facing the Arab League can be properly dealt with in the absence of the strong support of its 22 member states on the political and financial levels. "Arab countries need to support the Arab League; it represents them all, defends their interest and carries the banner of their rights in a way compatible with the modern world."
Moussa's affirmation of the need of the support of Arab countries is made in a tone marked by the frustrations of the past five years when many a project, developmental and cultural, including the collective Arab participation in the international Frankfurt Book Fair, was hampered by lack of resources and even the not forthcoming political will on the part of some.
Some Arab diplomats have suggested that it is due to Moussa's strict style of exercising politics, that some Arab capitals were not forthcoming with their support. He does not like to dwell on this matter. He entertains no questions, direct or indirect, on whether his style has prompted non- cooperation on the part of some Arab officials, especially in Arab Gulf capitals, where there is ample sensitivity to an alleged Egyptian chauvinism.
Moussa, who is hailed by Arab individuals as one of the Arab world's best politicians, firmly declines to take questions suggesting that much of the problems that came his way as secretary-general were the deliberate work of envious Arab officials who are, for personal rather than professional reasons, uncomfortable with the "charisma of Amr Moussa" that they can neither compete with nor ignore.
But there is a limit to Moussa's ability to exercise modesty, genuine or otherwise. A few steps away from his 70th birthday and with a record of serious objective criticism of the performance of the Arab League during his tenure, that many sincere critics found unbecoming of his political aptitude, Moussa still commands respect and certainly admiration in the Arab street. His popularity as Arab League secretary-general may be less than the level of political and personal popularity he enjoyed as Egypt's foreign minister. However, judging by the account of foes and friends alike, Moussa is still projecting a unique charisma which may not make everyone, himself included, happy. "It is something that you have to live with," he said with a rare glimpse of profound modesty

http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2006/788/re3.htm
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2006/788/re3.htm

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[مستر محمد سلام]

Egypt top court says ruling nullifying parliament 'binding'


Monday, July 9, 2012 04:54:22 PM

CAIRO - Egypt's Supreme Constitutional Court said on Monday that all of its rulings were "binding," in response to a presidential decree reinstating parliament after the court ruled the
house invalid

A file photo showing the headquarter of Supreme Constitutional Court in Maadi, Cairo.
"All the rulings and decisions of the Supreme Constitutional Court are final and not subject to appeal... and are binding for all state institutions," the court said in a statement.
Several people have gone to court to challenge President Mohammed Morsi's decision ordering the return of the Parliament, and the Supreme Constitutional Court said it would look into these cases.
The court also stressed that it was "not a part of any political conflict... but the limit of its sacred duty is the protection of the texts of the constitution."
The Supreme Constitutional Court had said certain articles in the law governing parliamentary elections were invalid, annulling the Islamist-led house.
On Sunday, Morsi in turn an****** the court's decision, putting himself on a collision course with the judiciary and the military that enforced the ruling when it was in power.

[مستر محمد سلام]

Egyptian president reinstates parliame
(+Video)

Reuters

Sunday, July 8, 2012 06:46:45 PM

CAIRO - Egypt's new president decreed on Sunday that the dissolved Islamist-led parliament should reconvene until a new one was elected, apparently reversing a decision by generals who had dismissed the assembly based on a court ruling

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President Mohamed Mursi

"President Mohamed Mursi ordered the reconvening of sessions of the elected parliament," according to a presidential statement read out by Mursi's aide Yasser Ali. An early parliamentary election will be held within 60 days of a new constitution being approved by the nation, Ali said.

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The Supreme Constitutional Court ordered the lower house of parliament dissolved last month after finding fault with the election process. The generals, Egypt's interim rulers until they handed powers to Mursi on June 30, implemented the decision and gave themselves legislative powers






. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=9KwbgkZVa84

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=9KwbgkZVa84

http://213.158.162.45/~egyptian/index.php?action=news&id=26743&title=Egyptian president reinstates parliame (+Video)

[مستر محمد سلام]

Syria tests missiles against coastal attack

(+Video)

Reuters

Sunday, July 8, 2012 07:48:03 PM

BEIRUT - Syria's navy fired live missiles from ships and helicopters over the weekend, state media said on Sunday, in an exercise aiming at showcasing its ability to "defend Syria's shores against any possible aggression


"
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Syrian TV airs video of coastal and naval missile firing drills


Syrian television aired video of a variety of missiles being fired from launchers on land and from ships and showed the Syrian Defence Minister Dawud Abdallah Rahijia in attendance.
"Naval Forces conducted an operational live fire exercise on Saturday, using missiles launched from the sea and coast, helicopters and missile boats, simulating a scenario of repelling a sudden attack from the sea," Syrian news agency SANA said, adding manoeuvres would continue for several days.
Opposition figures have been calling for a no-fly zone and NATO strikes against Syrian forces, similar to those carried out in Libya last year which enabled rebel ground forces to end the rule of Muammar Gaddafi.




But while President Bashar al-Assad has faced sanctions and international condemnation over his *****down on dissent which has left thousands dead, major Western and Arab powers have shied away from the idea of direct military action.
Turkey has reinforced its border and scrambled fighter aircraft several times since Syria shot down a Turkish reconnaissance jet on June 22 over what Damascus said were Syrian territorial waters in the Mediterranean. Ankara said the incident occurred in international air space.
More than 30 people were killed on Sunday during a government bombardment and clashes between Syrian forces and Free Syrian Army rebels fighting to oust Assad, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Activists reported heavy shelling in residential areas of Deir al-Zor city and in Deraa province, the birthplace of the revolt near the Jordanian border.
Rami Abdelrahman, head of the Observatory, said that residents of al-Sharifa in the wider Deir al-Zor province said rebels had taken control of a tank looted in combat for the first time and were using it to attack army positions.
In recent weeks, rebels have become more and more brazen in their attacks, holding small areas of territory across the country and clashing with troops only a few miles from the presidential palace in Damascus





http://213.158.162.45/~egyptian/inde...50&title=Syria tests missiles against coastal attack (+Video)

http://213.158.162.45/~egyptian/inde...&title=Smoking victimises more youngsters-survey

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[مستر محمد سلام]

Smoking victimises more youngsters-survey
By Amina Abdul Salam-The Gazette Online

Monday, May 16, 2011 03:17:55 PM

CAIRO - A survey on tobacco usage by adults revealed that the rate of smokers was 20 per cent for those up to the age of 15 and nearly 38 per cent for male adult smokers, who had been smoking for more than 15 years

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The rate of Shisha (water pipe) smoking among Egyptian adults is on the rise, Ministry of Health officials warn.
The highest rate of smokers was in the category of males between 25 and 64. The survey was conducted among 25,000 smokers, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, the Central Statistics and Mobilising Agency and the World Health Organisation.
The rate of Shisha (water pipe) smoking reached 3.3 per cent among adults. 56 per cent smoked Shisha at home, which exposed all family members to passive smoking. 36 per cent smoked Shisha in coffee shops.
Dr Mustafa Lutfi, responsible for the fight against smoking at the World Health Organisation in Cairo, made these comments at a conference marking the celebration of 'World Day of Bronchial Asthma'.
The survey also showed that 71 per cent of Egyptians were allowed to smoke at home. 50 per cent of people frequenting medical establishments were exposed to passive smoking. 80 per cent of passengers were subject to passive smoking, when using public transport, and up to 60 per cent of employees suffered from smoking hazards at their work place.
The average smoker spent LE110 per month on tobacco; 98 per cent were fully aware that tobacco caused dangerous diseases, and 96 per cent knew that passive smoking was equally dangerous.
Dr Hisham Taraf, professor of allergy and immunity at Qasr el-Aini School of Medicine at Cairo University, who was chairing the conference, noted that medication and other means of treatment helped to control bronchial asthma.
He added that modern electronic devices contributed to an accurate diagnosis on inflammations of the respiratory system, including bronchial illnesses and tuberculosis.
The use of such devices on a wide scale would contribute to fighting the spread of bronchial illnesses.
Dr Mohamed Awad Tag el-Din, professor of chest diseases, noted that 10 per cent of children had asthma, while the figure for adults was 7 to 8 per cent. He attributed this to genetic and environmental reasons.
There was a big crisis among children exposed to passive smoking. The accumulative impact constituted a big danger to their respiratory systems and hearts, he added.
Quitting smoking could prevent health deterioration, particularly among young people, because they did not yet feel any ill effects.
Dr Mayssa Sharf Eddin, professor of chest diseases, told Al-Ahram semi-official newspaper that new laws were the only way to overcome the problems caused by smoking.
There had to be a complete ban, not only in medical establishments, but also in governmental buildings, educational institutions and sports clubs.
She stressed that early detection and diagnosis would prevent patients with asthma from having severe complications. According to Dr Mona el-Falk, in 80 per cent of patients the symptoms appeared when they were five
years old

.http://213.158.162.45/~egyptian/inde...&title=Smoking victimises more youngsters-survey

[مستر محمد سلام]

Egypt'd Parliament in legal limbo in power struggle

AFP
Wednesday, July 11, 2012 02:47:28 PM

CAIRO - Egypt's parliament was hanging in legal limbo on Wednesday after a top court overruled a presidential decree reinstating the dissolved house, stepping up a power
struggle between the president and the army

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Thousands of Egyptians gather in Cairo's landmark Tahrir Square for a rally in support of newly-elected Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi (portrait) on July 10 as Egypt's Supreme Constitutional Court froze a presidential decree reinstating the Islamist-le



"The battle for power centred around the judiciary," read the headline of independent daily Al-Watan.
The Supreme Constitutional Court on Tuesday annuled a decree by newly-elected
President Mohammed Morsi reinstating the Islamist-led lower house of parliament, after the top court last month ruled it was invalid.
"The court ordered the freeze of the president's decree," a judicial source said, adding that it "ordered that its previous ruling be implemented."
Morsi had on Sunday ordered back parliament and invited it to convene. Taking its cue from the president, the People's Assembly met on Tuesday.
"We are gathered today to review the court rulings, the ruling of the Supreme Constitutional Court," Speaker Saad al-Katatni said.
"I want to stress, we are not contradicting the ruling, but looking at a mechanism for the implementation of the ruling of the respected court. There is no other agenda today," he added.
The origins of the battle for parliament lay in a constitutional declaration issued by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), which ruled Egypt during its transition after president Hosni Mubarak was ousted last year.
The declaration, which acts as a temporary constitution until a new charter is drafted, granted the military sweeping powers, including legislative control, rendering the presidential post little more than symbolic.
The SCAF consists of generals appointed by Mubarak, as was the head of the constitutional court which annuled parliament because it found that certain articles of the law governing its election invalid.
Critics said the decision was politically motivated.
"The constitutional court whose judges were appointed by Mubarak has cancelled the president's decree and restored the field marshal's decree," wrote prominent writer and commentator Alaa el-Aswani referring to SCAF head Hussein Tantawi.
"The message is clear, the elected president is not to exercise power without the military," he said.
But others saw in Morsi's decree a constitutional coup which showed little regard for the judiciary or democracy.
"The constitutional court returns the slap to the president," wrote the liberal Al-Wafd, mouthpiece for the Wafd Party whose MPs boycotted Tuesday's parliamentary session.
Lawyers representing Morsi criticised the court's latest decision and said Tuesday's ruling was a political move that would further complicate the crisis.
"This ruling is null and void," lawyer Abdel Moneim Abdel Maqsud told reporters, while another member of the team, Mamduh Ismail, called it a "political decision".
Thousands of protesters rallied Tuesday evening in Tahrir Square, hub of the 2011 revolution, in support of Morsi and chanting "Down with the military" and other slogans hostile to judges and allegedly anti-Islamist TV anchors.
Opponents of Morsi's decree earlier protested outside the presidential palace.
The decree was hailed by those who want to see the army return to barracks, but it was criticised by those who fear an Islamist monopolisation of power as a "constitutional coup".
Speaker Katatni said the Parliament had referred the case invalidating the house to the Court of Cassation.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who is due to visit Cairo on Saturday, urged all parties to engage in dialogue.
"We urge that there be intensive dialogue among all of the stakeholders in order to ensure that there is a clear path for them to be following," the chief US diplomat said after talks in Vietnam.
The Egyptian people should "get what they protested for and what they voted for, which is a fully elected government making the decisions for the country going forward," she added.

http://213.158.162.45/~egyptian/inde...le=Egypt'd Parliament in legal limbo in power struggle