Cairo Magazine - The week in review

Egypt

The Interior Ministry’s Sinai security chiefs, Major Generals Hamdi Ghali and Mohieddin Al Gamal, were dismissed on 24 July. Opposition voices said the decision constitutes a tacit admission that there has been a security breakdown.

Hundreds of people marched through the Naama Bay area of Sharm Al Sheikh on 25 July in protest against the attacks. Hotel workers, diving instructors and other local employees joined the march. They chanted slogans in support of peace and held “No to terrorism” banners.

President Hosni Mubarak announced he would run for a fifth six-year term at a speech at his childhood school Shibin Al Kom on 29 July. He promised constitutional and legislative changes if re-elected, including the replacement of the emergency law with ‘anti-terror’ legislation.

Al Ghad party leader Ayman Nour was the first candidate to register for the upcoming 7 September presidential elections. Nour arrived early in the morning on 29 July at the Presidential Elections Commission office, which is now accepting nomination documents submitted by hopeful candidates. Fourteen other candidates registered on the same day.

The government allocated LE250 million on 30 July to wash out canals and the sewage system as part of a program to reduce pollution in the Nile. Minister of Water and Irrigation Mahmoud Abou Zeid said the government has allotted LE10 billion to reduce water pollution over the next 12 years.

Kifaya leaders were detained following an anti-Mubarak demonstration that was violently dispersed by security personnel near Midan Tahrir on 30 July. Dozens of protestors were beaten by riot police and detained.

Deputy Sheikh of Al Ahzar Said Askar issued a fatwa on 31 July stating that the Qualified Industrial Zones (QIZ) trade agreement and the sale of natural gas to Israel are religiously forbidden. Askar said whoever helps Israel in development is standing against the Palestinian people and criticized the complacency of Sheikh of Al Azhar Mohammed Sayed Tantawi with regard to Egypt’s normalization policies with Israel.

Region

Lebanon’s parliament approved the country’s new government on 30 July, endorsing a program that is based on balanced ties with Syria but does not mention a UN demand that Hizbullah disarm. The cabinet, led by Fouad Siniora, won the support of 92 members of the 128-seat assembly. Prime Minister Siniora met with Syrian President Bashar Al Assad in Damascus on 31 July to negotiate normalizing political relations between the two states.

Sudanese Vice President John Garang was reported dead in a helicopter crash that occurred on 31 July. Garang, who was the leader of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army, was a key figure in Sudan’s fledgling peace process and was made vice president on 9 July, ending a 20-year insurgency against President Omar Hassan Al Bashir. Violence broke out in Khartoum after Garang’s death was confirmed, as gangs of Muslims and Christians reportedly exchanged gunfire and set fire to property.

Saudi King Fahd died in a hospital on 1 August. While his age remains uncertain, the monarch was believed to be between 82 and 84 years old. Crown Prince Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz, Fahd’s half-brother, succeeded him on the throne, having served as regent since King Fahd suffered a debilitating stroke in 1995. Abdullah was the chief architect of the kingdom’s oil market moderation policies. Riyadh has raised production in recent months to 9.5 million barrels per day, supplying 11 percent of the world’s crude and leading OPEC to a 25-year high in production.

After months of negotiations, Egypt and Israel agreed on a deal that would allow 750 Egyptian soldiers to patrol the border along the Gaza strip. The deal, announced on 1 August, comes ahead of the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza scheduled for mid-August and will necessitate an addition or amendment to the 1979 Camp David accords, which severely restrict Egyptian security presence in Sinai.

Business

The Lafarge Group, the world’s largest construction materials firm, decided on 28 July to invest $10 million in Egypt to set up a new gypsum-mining facility and factory, due to start production by the end of the year. The Lafarge Group was among the first global companies to enter Egypt’s construction industry in 1999, when it acquired a 95 percent stake in Misr Beni Suef Cement.

Civil Aviation Minister Ahmed Shafiq ordered a 50 percent cut on all airline fees for Sharm Al Sheikh’s airport on 29 July in an attempt to encourage flights to the resort, which is still reeling from the recent terror attacks. The reduced rates will be granted to all airlines and charters.

$1.55 billion worth of bonds, part of state-owned Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC), attracted significant attention from 30 international institutions as the bonds were oversubscribed by 150 percent on 29 July. EGPC’s bonds marked the first time that the state-owned oil company has attempted to borrow such a significant amount from the international market.

Libya announced on 31 July that it would reduce customs rate of over 3,500 Egyptian exports from 10 percent to 4 percent. The reductions include consumer goods and food products, but customs will remain at the same levels for other goods such as automobiles, cigarettes and tobacco.