Egyptian officials are promising 5% gross domestic product growth this year and 6% in 2011, eventually matching the growth of 7% and higher that Egypt enjoyed for three years before the global economic crisis hit in late 2008.

If Cairo is even moderately successful, it could bode well for other countries in the region. Egypt's slower economic overhauls may emerge as a sustainable model for countries in the Middle East, such as Jordan and Syria, that have big populations but little of the region's oil wealth. Dubai and other Arab states of the Persian Gulf, for years the engine for rapid growth and investment in the Mideast, now suffer weakened banks, defaults and falling property markets brought by over-reliance on global credit.

To reach its goals, the Egyptian government plans to actively seek more foreign direct investment by emphasizing the country's comparative resiliency during the economic crisis, to push tax reform by streamlining the complicated income-tax and property-tax codes, and to curb widespread nonpayment of taxes with stricter enforcement. They also aim to reduce the drag created by Egypt's socialist-era subsidy programs.

A new set of property-tax laws just took effect, preceded by months of public-service announcements on radio and television to explain the changes.

A sustained expansion is needed to help put an end to Egypt's persistent economic ills. The inflation rate has slowed only slightly from a peak of 13.3% in November. The budget deficit, weighed down by high food and fuel subsidies, consumes about 8% of gross domestic product. Unemployment stands at an official 8%, but many economists say the figure is much higher and doesn't reflect rampant underemployment.

Ragui Assaad, an Egyptian-born economics professor at the University of Minnesota, estimates that only one in four new university graduates will find substantial jobs.

"Unemployment doesn't measure intermittent work, low productivity work or below-subsistence-level incomes," he says.

Few observers expect an easy path to growth. A recent report by the government's General Authority of Investment describes major structural obstacles to having economic policies benefit the majority of the population. It says that much of the foreign direct investment coming into the country targets the petroleum and financial sectors, which don't create large numbers of jobs. It also highlights policies such as fuel subsidies, which help big businesses keep costs low in factories and help trim car owners' household budgets, but don't help most people.

Economists inside and outside the country have criticized Egypt's education system for failing to provide job skills for a fast-growing youth population.

The government's past successes, however, offer reason for hope.

For several years, a small cadre of economic reformers, working under President Hosni Mubarak and his son, Gamal, pushed to liberalize Egypt's creaking, state-dominated economy. Overhauls focused on reducing bureaucratic red tape for business owners and foreign investors, as well as on privatizing or selling several state-owned banks and industrial companies. The process had its critics, but succeeded in pushing Egypt to growth peaks.

Things came unhinged in 2008, however, as the expansion stoked inflation and triggered unrest in some places, including the so-called bread riots in Cairo and in several rural cities in the Nile Delta.

Foreign direct investment fell to about $8.1 billion in the fiscal year ended June 2009 from a peak of $13.2 billion the previous year, according to the central bank. Suez Canal receipts fell to $4.74 billion for the year from a record high of $5.1 billion, says Suez Canal Authority Chairman Ahmed Ali Fadel. Tourism and remittances from workers overseas also slumped. Critics also complained that too much economic power was concentrated in the hands of an oligarchy with deep ties to the Mubarak family. The following global economic downturn further worsened the economy.

But last month, Minister of Investment Mahmoud Mohieldin said Egypt is optimistic again, setting a $10 billion target for FDI this year. Suez receipts rose 6.6% to nearly $390 million in December from the previous month, government data show.

Economists had expected remittances to plunge as Egyptian expats, especially in places like Dubai, lost jobs. But many brought savings home to Egypt, boosting the local economy.

High growth "will put Egypt back on foreign investors' maps," Egyptian Trade Minister Rachid Mohamed Rachid was quoted saying in Davos.

Egypt was protected somewhat from outside shock by a largely isolated economy, especially when it comes to the country's conservative banking industry. But modest reforms also played a role. Prof. Assaad applauds the previous privatization efforts and the new campaign to boost tax income and rein in spending, particularly subsidies. Still, he says, "The underlying structural problems in the Egyptian economy remain. The big problem has always been the growth trickling down."

Sheikh Tantawi was the Grand Imam of the al-Azhar mosque and head of the al-Azhar University, Sunni Islam's centre of learning and scholarship.

He died of a heart attack in the Saudi capital Riyadh, where he was attending a prize-giving ceremony.

Sheikh Tantawi had infuriated radical Islamists with his moderate views on women wearing the veil.

His body will be taken to the Saudi city of Medina, the burial place of the Prophet Muhammad, for burial, Egyptian authorities said.

An adviser to the Sheikh told Egyptian television Sheikh Tantawi's death was a shock, as before leaving for Saudi Arabia he had seemed in "excellent shape and health".

A member of Sheikh Tantawi's office, Ashraf Hassan, told news agency Reuters that Mohamed Wasel, Sheikh Tantawi's deputy, was expected to temporarily take over leading the institution until the Egyptian president appointed a new head for the body.

Moderate views

Sheikh Tantawi was appointed to his position by Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak in 1996.

But as a government appointee, he was always forced to negotiate a careful path between his religious imperatives and his government position, the BBC's Christian Fraser in Cairo says.

He was vocal in his opposition to female circumcision, which is common in Egypt, calling it "un-Islamic".

Last year, Sheikh Tantawi barred female students at the university from wearing the full-face covering niqab veil.

He also caused upset other Muslim scholars by saying that French Muslims should obey any law that France might enact banning the veil.

His views on the veil prompted Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood to accuse him of "harming the interests of Islam".

He has also condemned suicide attacks, saying extremists had hijacked Islamic principles for their own ends.

"I do not subscribe to the idea of a clash among civilizations. People of different beliefs should co-operate and not get into senseless conflicts and animosity," he told a conference in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur in 2003.

"Extremism is the enemy of Islam. Whereas, jihad is allowed in Islam to defend one's land, to help the oppressed. The difference between jihad in Islam and extremism is like the earth and the sky," Sheikh Tantawi said.

El Ridi received the award at a ceremony in Paris last week. The annual L’Oréal-UNESCO Awards for Women in Science honors five eminent women scientists, one from each region, for excellence in research.

“The ceremony was amazing, it gave an opportunity to show the world that Egypt, the land of civilization, is progressing,” El Ridi told Daily News Egypt.

“This award is extremely important as it also sheds light on countries such as Egypt, the Philippines and Mexico and shows their contribution to science,” she added.

The annual program aims at recognizing and promoting exceptional women throughout the world for their careers in scientific research, it also works on encouraging vocations in science among young women and supporting the creation of role models for current and future generations.

“A career in science requires energy spent on excellent work and taking excellent care of one’s children and spouse,” says El Ridi. “Dedication and hard work will lead to fulfillment, a secure and respectable position, financial independence, happiness and peace,” explained El Ridi.

The program wants to distinguish exceptional women in science who are helping change the world.

Each recipient is granted $100,000.

“In my eyes the UNESCO-L’Oréal for Women in Science partnership is an innovative alliance capable of making a concrete contribution to the quest of gender inequality,” said UNESCO Secretary General Irina Bokova.

“This partnership promotes not only women. By highlighting the role women must play in scientific research, the program emphasizes the importance of science as a source of progress,” she added.

The award’s recipients are chosen by a jury of leading scientist, it is headed by Nobel Prize winner in Medicine in 1999, Gunter Blobel, and the Founding President of the Awards, Professor Christian de Duve. She also won a Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1974.

“The recognition that comes with the UNESCO- L’Oréal Award is important, especially for women in developing countries; clearly it’s much easier to do science if you have wonderful labs and tremendous support,” said Blobel.

The partnership also includes the UNESCO-L’Oréal International Fellowships in which 15 fellowships are granted to young women researchers, three from each of five geo-cultural regions of UNESCO.

L’Oréal subsidiaries around the world also developed the National Fellowship Programs, with the support of the National Commissions for UNESCO.

This year, Ain Shams physics professor Hadeer El Dakhakhani was one of the fellowship’s recipients. She will study at the Institute of Physics and Chemistry of Materials in Strasbourg, France.

“Continuing my research in different countries means a lot to me. It exposes me to different cultures and points of views. I hope I will be able to give something back one day,” she said.

For the UNESCO-L’Oréal Fellowship, young women submit a doctorate or post-doctorate research project to the UNESCO National Commission that they propose to pursue in the life sciences at an institution outside their country of origin. The National Commission nominates the two most deserving candidates from its country to the Selection Committee in Paris, which makes a final choice of fellowship beneficiaries.

The value of the fellowship is up to $40,000 granted to each beneficiary over a two-year period.

This year marks the 12th year of the partnership, which began in 1998 and so far has awarded over 900 women from more than 80 countries.

L’Oréal says it is committed to recognizing the importance of the role of female researchers and their innovations and, to meet this challenge, it developed the For Women in Science partnership with UNESCO.

“We are impressed with the efforts of the leading companies on the stock exchange, and [their] progress in transparency, disclosure and investor relations efforts,” she added.

Trojan expressed admiration for the “strong economic fundamentals of the country,” speaking at a conference with Investment Minister Mahmoud Mohieldin.

Following meetings with potential investors in Singapore and the annual Euromoney Egypt Investor Conference in Hong Kong, Mohieldin addressed the question “Is Egypt Attractive for Investment?” before the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Cairo.

Representatives from Boston-based wealth management association Russell 20-20 joined the minister to convey how Egypt appears to large institutional investors such as the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, also represented.

The chairman of the Russell 20-20 Association and Chairman of Altaira Wealth Management Michael Phillips, explained that his company’s role was to “help our hosts get a better understanding of what’s important to global institutional investors.”

“We are particularly impressed with how the country [Egypt] has evolved after the reforms of 2003 and 2004,” Trojan said, adding that Egyptian companies expanding within the region serve as useful bellwethers for foreign investors.

Meanwhile, Trojan articulated the specifics of Egypt’s précis. Listing Egypt’s solid record of growth, its positive current account balance and positive sources of foreign exchange as assets, she emphasized the large population’s potential both for consumption and building a productive labor force.

She applauded Egypt’s “strong banks” on their potential for consumer lending, before addressing Egypt’s cons: inflation, fiscal deficit, high stock of government debt and risks posed by a high unemployment rate.

Donald Raymond, senior vice president of the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) investment board, spoke as an institutional investor. Although his data demonstrated that the largest share of CCP’s investments reside in foreign developed market equities at 22 percent, he said that investing in emerging markets is a growing priority.

Room for reform

Mohieldin acknowledged that many of the reforms that attract investors “would have been difficult to introduce a few years ago.”

He explained that efforts have been made in “fiscal reforms in particular, to generate sustainable funds, to work for reform of taxes implemented to generate required funding for development and growth. [Egypt is] working on…gaining credibility for maintaining the discipline required for the monetary sector.”

He spoke further about Egypt’s strengths, listing the latest inflation figures as “close to single digit” and the core inflation measure as close to the target range of 6 to 8 percent.

He addressed fears that foreign investors exploit emerging markets without offering long-term benefits in return; because Egypt is “not resource rich, investors aren’t after extraction, we have some natural gas and oil, but China and India…are mainly after the capacity of Egypt as a well-diversified economy…to be a gateway to region.”

Disappointments include Egypt’s delayed optimization of its “unique location” by not developing its ports, resulting in transaction costs remaining high.

Mohieldin lauded the financial services industry that “as a sector is growing at 8 to 12 percent, while communications and information technology is growing at 14 percent in real terms.”

“[Egypt has seen] 55 percent recovery last year after the crisis year…it is a liquid and vibrant market in general…[and has seen an] increase in net trading by 1.2 to 1.5 billion every year in the last five years.”

In his only reference to his meetings in Asia, he mentioned, “Many people I met in Hong Kong said, ‘Egypt has been there for 5,000 years. We know the history but were not interested in doing business there because of its sluggish growth in the 80s and early 90s. But with [pre-crisis] growth of 7 percent, we’re now keen to get into the country’.”

He finished by admitting, “Many of the measures are not pleasant; reforms mean bearing the pain of gains enjoyed today and in the future.”

The minister and panel responded to questions, first fielding an inquiry on whether the People’s Assembly had successfully halted the privatization process.

Mohieldin said, “We’re working on a draft law introduce to parliament to rely on the stock exchange for flotation of publicly owned companies.”

The panel was asked to give their opinions of rating companies, following the crisis and the on-going challenges in Dubai and Greece.

Phillips of Russell 20-20 answered, “Rating agencies… have a lot to answer for. I do not put the same credence to them as before the crisis.”

Vera suggested that ratings serve as a “report card,” where “you get a good grade for good performance.” In her opinion they “still have an important role to play… serve as an incentive for improving performance. The problem is not the idea, but with the rigor of the analysis.”

In response to a question about the determination of American regulators to oversee investment banks to avoid another global financial meltdown, Phillips explained the intention to “move to a new regulatory structure [of] activity-based regulation, not entity-based. Instead of bank regulators and investment bank regulators, you’d have some looking at credit, debt or derivatives, across entity barriers.”

Mohieldin expounded on the subject from an Egyptian perspective, saying “the issue of regulation is sensitive, because whatever is being said by leading countries impacts emerging markets. [We are] very much concerned… need effective regulation… [to] not micro-manage and prevent growth and mobilization of savings.

“[We] need to listen to the market and lawmakers at the same time, then develop an accurate framework of regulation that is not subject to the reaction of the general public.”

The decision to feature only Canadian and American representatives on a panel of this nature, only days after his return from Asia, seemed perhaps intended to reassure Egypt’s traditional investors in North America and Europe that Egypt has not completely given up on their slow rate of recovery in favor of Asian money.

However, the lack of dialogue on the changing landscape of foreign investors seemed pointedly west-biased, although the market itself has shifted decidedly eastward.

QIZ, which has helped foster Egypt’s textile and readymade garment industries, allows Egypt to export items to the United States duty-free, provided that part of the product includes an Israeli item. The intended result is cooperation between Israel and Arab states and growing industries in Egypt.

Haiti, which doesn’t have a developed export apparel industry, is seeking a similar agreement with the United States, as part of its effort to rebuild after the historic earthquake in January.

To hear the original broadcast, please click here.
 

In his lecture at the Academy’s Chauvenet 100 Hall, Ambassador Shoukry reiterated Egypt’s commitment to further strengthening its strategic partnership with the US, adding that Egypt brings unique strengths to this partnership with its large valuable human resources, its diverse well-known political and cultural impact on the Middle East, as well as its geo-strategic location and control of the most important waterways in the world. Ambassador Shoukry said that the chances of increasing areas of cooperation and understanding between the two countries were extremely high given the Obama Administration’s efforts to deal with global issues on the basis of dialogue, cooperation and mutual respect.

Ambassador Shoukry highlighted the military-to-military aspects of the Egypt-US relationship, stressing that bilateral military cooperation is strong and diverse. “Being a key partner to the US in the Middle East, Egypt is capable of promoting effectively the shared goals of peace and stability, not only in the immediate region but also in Southwest Asia, the horn of Africa and beyond.” Shoukry concluded that it was therefore natural that Egypt maintain a strong military force to carry out regional responsibilities and assist in defending shared interests.”

The Egyptian Ambassador expressed Egypt’s appreciation for the US military assistance it receives. He stressed that this assistance contributes to the pursuit of a suitable and modernized Egyptian military and bolsters Egypt’s ability to modernize its armed forces, thereby continuing to serve the ultimate goals of peace and stability.

Turning to regional issues, Ambassador Shoukry reaffirmed Egypt’s commitment to achieving comprehensive peace in the Middle East. “We have consistently upheld our peace accord with Israel, and we are re-doubling our efforts to achieve a comprehensive, just and lasting peace for all peoples of the Middle East,” he added. The Ambassador clarified that what Egypt is advocating, through its talks with all the relevant parties, is the need to demonstrate a political will committed to achieving peace, rather than aimless tactical maneuvering that prolongs the suffering of both peoples and forces Palestinians to continue to live under occupation. In Egypt’s view, “the human suffering in Gaza is enormous and unacceptable.”

On the Iranian nuclear issue, the Egyptian Ambassador said that while Egypt supports the international community’s efforts to fully verify the nature of Iran’s nuclear ventures, the question of Israel’s nuclear capabilities and its continuing rejection to accede to the NPT comes to light and needs to be properly addressed. “One standard must apply to all. Israel must adhere fully to the NPT, Iran must cooperate fully with the IAEA; hence a nuclear weapon-free zone in the Middle East becomes a reality.”

Ambassador Shoukry ended his speech by repeating that the US and Egypt are an asset to each other, adding “we will exert our utmost not only to safeguard it, but to lift it to elevated levels for the sake of our nations and peoples.”

The Egyptian Ambassador, who was accompanied by the Egyptian military attaché and Embassy staff, met with the Academy’s Superintendent Vice Admiral Jeffrey Fowler and political science professors at the Academy. All parties expressed a genuine interest in strengthening relations between the Egyptian and US Naval Academies. Ambassador Shoukry invited Vice Admiral Fowler to visit Egypt to explore means of enhancing this cooperation in the near future.

Address by H.E. Sameh Shoukry, Ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt at the U.S. Naval Academy
"Egypt - U.S. Relations and Recent Developments in the Middel East"
March 4, 2010

Good evening,

It is my distinct pleasure to be here today among the officers, servicemen and cadets of the United States Navy. Naval forces are traditionally at the front lines in defense of national security, in countering any impending threats and pursuing global security. This is definitely amplified in the case of a global actor like the United States with its most impressive naval capability, not only in terms of hardware but certainly also in the quality, training and commitment that all personnel of the Navy continue to demonstrate.

The young cadets here today are surely the seeds of future American pride, and an addition to the long history of U.S. dedication to realizing global peace and security. I salute you all; and I would like to thank in particular Professor Brannon Wheeler for organizing this wonderful visit.

Let me start by stressing that we are committed to our two countries’ strategic partnership. We have consistently worked on sustaining Egyptian-American relations and remain adamant in our efforts aimed at strengthening it even further. The shared conviction of the central role this relationship plays in our continuing efforts to stabilize the Middle East region has been the main engine behind increased cooperation.

Egypt brings unique strengths to this partnership, with its large valuable human resources, along with its diverse well known political and cultural impact on the Middle East. It’s geo-strategic location and control of one of the most important waterways in the world is also another testament to its value added contribution. In short, the role we continue to assume in the task of addressing tensions and promoting peace indeed provides the U.S. a strong proponent to advance common policies and objectives in the region.

This long-standing relationship has undoubtedly over the years witnessed times of converging views and approaches as regards the necessary means to achieve our common objectives. It also, at other times, had to deal with discrepancies in view or approaches. It is to the benefit of both our countries to have been able to deal with such situations on the basis of mutual respect and a common commitment to the strategic nature of our partnership, and its equally beneficial nature. It is this resilience and depth of our relations that guarantees that we will remain steadfast in our efforts to continue to develop and strengthen the bonds between us.

As the current administration strives to deal with global issues on the basis of dialogue, cooperation and mutual respect, we are greatly optimistic of increasing areas of understanding. In fact, clear indications of an improved bilateral relationship have been evident, with numerous diplomatic exchanges. President’s Obama’s visit to Cairo in June 2009 was a key milestone, along with President Mubarak’s trip to Washington last August, a first in over five years. More recently, the two governments held their annual strategic dialogue.

The choice of Cairo by President Obama to deliver his historic speech to the Arab and Muslim world is highly appreciated. It is a further demonstration of the special relationship that exists between us; as well as a recognition of Egypt’s unique political, economic, social and cultural role in the regional context and beyond. The speech brought enormous hope to the region, and granted a long-awaited desire for a restoration of the historical and deep ties between the two societies. It was also a message that reached out to all arenas of conflict with dialogue and reconciliation from a perspective of moral strength.

We view American interests in the Middle East and beyond as not being limited to the pursuit of securing global energy needs, combating radicalism that may impact the American homeland, or mere economic interests. But, as reflected in President Obama’s Cairo speech, these interests are well grounded in a genuine refocusing of efforts towards a more collaborative world order based on the rule of law and justice. Such policies and objectives are wholeheartedly supported by us.

There is indeed an abundance of common incentives for our two countries to double cooperation and strengthen dialogue in the future. Together, we will both remain engaged in developing relations with a focused eye on safeguarding the long term interests of the region.

I must stress that an essential element in this relationship is the military-to-military cooperation which I would like to briefly address.

As we both face many of the same challenges, it is imperative that cooperation between a world leader and the region’s largest state will contribute in attaining our shared objectives. Being a key partner to the U.S. in the Middle East, Egypt is capable of promoting effectively the shared goals of peace and stability, not only in the immediate region but also in Southwest Asia, the horn of Africa and beyond. It is therefore natural that Egypt should maintain a strong military force to carry out regional responsibilities and assist in defending shared interests.

In that context, U.S. military assistance is highly appreciated, something that contributes to pursuing a suitable, modernized and balanced military. It, in turn, boosts our effectiveness in continuing to serve the ultimate goals of peace and stability. And speaking of modernizing Egyptian forces, it is worthy to note that we are already more than half-way through the modernization plan, continuing to integrate U.S. military equipment as aging weapons are retired. This is a recognized priority so as to increase the synergy between our armed forces there by providing greater effectiveness in fields of cooperation.

Furthermore, an integral part of our military cooperation is training. In preparing our military personnel to operate and maintain U.S. systems, Egypt has sent officers to train at U.S. military institutions. This is definitely key to the professional development of the Egyptian military. In addition, it has created strong ties of personal friendships and mutual understanding of our respective cultures and the commonalities that exist in our value systems.

In addition to that, periodic joint training exercises that have continued for years have enhanced the interoperability and coordination between Egyptian and American armed forces. In that regard, the successive multinational “Bright Star” exercises are very beneficial to all participants as well as the US CENTCOM; as all parties train and learn to operate under challenging circumstances.

Another subset of this military cooperation is the security dimension, with continued intelligence cooperation and a coordinated approach to combating the threat of extremism in the Middle East.

Furthermore, the United States is provided access to vital air and sea routes through Egypt. For example, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, Egypt expedited about 1300 U.S. Naval transits through the Suez Canal, and provided security support for the U.S. ships passing. This, in addition to providing over flight permission to approximately 45,000 military aircrafts.

Indeed, Egypt’s importance is further accentuated as it has a coastline that extends on the Mediterranean and Red seas for almost 4,000 kilometers and controls a strategic waterway, namely the Suez Canal, being of crucial importance to international trade movement as well as strategic sea lifts.

Furthermore, on another field of cooperation to promote mutual security, Egypt and the U.S. are active participants in international peacekeeping operations. Egypt has contributed to peacekeeping operations throughout the world, including Sudan, Mozambique, Angola, Liberia, Rwanda and East Timor; in addition to deploying peacekeeping forces to Somalia and Bosnia to support UN troops and NATO forces.

I must also mention that with regard to Sudan, Egypt is the largest contributor to peacekeeping forces in the UN African Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) as it participates with over 2300 peace keepers in two mechanized infantry battalions, a transportation company, a military engineers company and one signal company.

Military partnership is only one main dimension of our cooperation that revolves around a mutual interest in guaranteeing development and prosperity for the Egyptian population, while ensuring the U.S. an effective partner striving to achieve our common objectives. We are certain that continuing to promote U.S.-Egyptian relations in all its avenues of cooperation will contribute positively to Egypt’s efforts towards political, economic and social development.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Allow me to turn now to provide you with more insight on developments in Egypt. I believe it’s important in a relationship of the magnitude that exists between us that both sides are well aware of achievements, challenges and aspirations that motivate their respective societies. Greater mutual awareness of our distinct circumstances will necessarily contribute to greater levels of understanding, and our ability to define more accurately areas of cooperation.

Egypt has been through tremendous political, economic and social turbulences and volatility during the second half of the last century. Despite having taken both courageous decisions of going to war and making peace to regain our sovereignty over every inch of our land, we have adopted a consistent course so as to provide the Egyptian people the prosperity and advancement they rightly deserve. Indeed, the government has, for more than twenty years now, been applying an ambitious reform program in all fields of life.

We are committed to political pluralism, democratization, freedom of expression, and promoting and protecting human rights. There are currently two dozen political parties in Egypt; and though most have not yet impacted the public, one must note that one-fourth of the Egyptian Parliament is comprised of independent and opposition representatives contributing to a healthy debate and oversight of government policies.

Egypt recognizes the value of the application of the principle of freedom of expression and its positive impact on societal development. It has, therefore, striven to reinforce its position as a major player in the region when it comes to the media with a Press that’s one of the most influential and widely-read.

Over half of Egypt’s 500 newspapers, journals and magazines are privately owned. It is also worthy to note that, unlike some other countries in the region, Egypt does not apply media censorship; hence promoting a wider space for freedom of expression. Egyptian satellite channels reaching out locally as well as to the region and beyond also attest to embracing the value of projecting divergent views in the process of developing national consensus. More than 162,000 of Egyptian citizens are bloggers, comprising 30% of the Arab world’s blogger community. And, the number of Egyptians with access to the internet has been growing at a remarkable pace.

There is also a rising recognition of the importance of promoting and protecting human rights from a governmental and non-governmental perspective. Legislation has been enacted in support of this objective. Enhancing national capacity building is key, raising greater public awareness and enforcing accountability. It is also noteworthy to mention the creation of the National Human Rights Council, headed by the former UN Secretary General Dr. Boutros Ghali, as one non-governmental watchdog, among many others, in the field of human rights that has had a definite impact on policy and public awareness.

Similarly, our commitment to empowering women in all walks of life is clear and have made leaps from the beginning of the 20th century. We are also committed to supporting civil society organizations as important tools for promoting the development of our people.

Having said that, it is important to understand that while political and social reform in Egypt is an ongoing process, it is our belief that dealing with such challenges must be derived from within, from the desire to reform and improve. Such actions are based on each country’s priorities and the value structure defined by each nation’s particular cultural and historical experiences.

Egypt has also developed ambitious economic agendas. U.S. assistance in this area is a source of appreciation having had a very direct impact in improving our economic potential. Continued interest in the promotion of foreign direct investment will provide for the crucially needed economic development, especially in light of the rising challenges to alleviate poverty, cope with a rapidly growing population and compete globally. The socio-economic well-being of our society can be greatly elevated through investing in education, technology and know-how transfer that would upgrade the platform of our human resources. This will ultimately prepare our nations’ youth for the future, helping them to integrate into, rather than be isolated from, a globalized world.

In all these areas, the U.S. has been a valuable partner supporting our capacity-building efforts.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Moving on to the regional situation, one must note that the dynamic relationship between Egypt and the United States is surely not divorced from the regional setting that constitutes an important component in the challenges we both face. So, a demonstration of how our bilateral partnership feeds into the accomplishment of shared regional objectives is warranted.

Egypt is steadfast in its commitment towards peace. It has continued to advocate the benefits that are derived from peace and also prove by example that cooperation and coexistence are the preferred course serving the peoples of the region. We have consistently upheld our peace accord with Israel, and we are re-doubling our efforts to achieve a comprehensive, just and lasting peace for all peoples of the Middle East.

The first issue that starkly confronts us in any analysis of the regional strife is undoubtedly its central core conflict: the Palestinian question. This unresolved issue has been festering for decades, deteriorating to greater and more dangerous magnitudes, adversely influencing other open conflicts in the region today. Whether in Iraq, Afghanistan, the situation in Lebanon or Iran, along with the challenges posed by extremism, the numerous crises in the Middle East are related to the Palestinian quest for justice and peace.

One may wonder how this one issue can be of such impact, yet the undeniable reality is that this conflict shapes the perception of Arabs and Muslims towards the West, and the U.S in particular. Without extracting a comprehensive just peace, this conflict will continue to serve the interests of those who seek to incite many around the region and the globe.

To that end, Egypt remains committed to pursuing a final lasting viable peace for both the Palestinians and the Israelis. The framework of such peace leading to a Palestinian state is not new, as the general structure of the solution is well known to the parties. Following many years of peace talks and negotiations, the main outline of a final settlement revolves around the following: that the border of the Palestinian state will be the June 1967 line, with minor land swaps agreed between both sides. Certain arrangements will have to be made on the Palestinian side to accommodate Israel’s security concerns and provide the security guarantees needed. Jerusalem will be the capital of both states; and finally there has to be a just settlement to the plight of the Palestinian refugees.

We are committed to the two-state solution as the political horizon of peace negotiations. The international community, including the U.S., fully supports this as the only credible means to bringing about peace and justice to the region. Nevertheless, the window of opportunity to fulfill this aspiration is continuing to close. The consequences will certainly adversely affect both the Israeli and Palestinian peoples, in addition to the states of the region and beyond.

Continued Israeli settlement activity in the occupied territories along with the separation wall, with its consumption of vast Palestinian land, erodes the very essence of the two-state solution.

What Egypt is advocating, through its talks with all the relevant parties, is the need to demonstrate a political will committed to achieving peace rather than aimless tactical maneuvering that prolongs the suffering of both people and forces Palestinians to continue to live under occupation.

We are well aware of the intricate and complicated nature of the political situation as relates to the pursuit of peace. This can only be overcome by the mutual recognition of both parties – Israelis and Palestinians – that the courageous compromises and flexibilities necessary to make peace contribute equally in providing a brighter future for generations to come.

And, though we believe that the political resolution of the conflict should be achieved today before tomorrow, we recognize that further efforts must continue by Egypt, the U.S. and the international community to assist the parties. Yet, at the same time, the tragic humanitarian conditions faced by the Palestinian population under occupation must be immediately addressed.

Conditions in the West bank are still bleak, despite recent relative improvement, which is limited in view of the low base of comparison. The human suffering in Gaza is enormous and unacceptable.

We remain cognizant of the far-reaching effects of this conflict, and continue to place it at the forefront of our dialogue with the US, which we look to its leadership and ability to assist the parties in undertaking the necessary courageous steps to achieve the needed peace.

As to the other regional hurdles, it is our belief that these are a reflection of a wider conflict among a number of regional and international actors and their conflicting interests. An open dialogue and cooperation in defining a course of action with this Administration continues on all these issues:

In Iraq, territorial integrity and stability is key. On our part, we are pursuing momentum in Egyptian-Iraqi bilateral relations. And, as the U.S. continues to complete its withdrawal plan, it is vital that every effort is exerted to avoid any deterioration of security in Iraq. The prime challenge is to deflect any political vacuum, rising sectarian strife and disintegration; all of which would have direct adverse consequences on the overall stability of the region and beyond.

Also, in Afghanistan, Egypt is closely engaged with the US and many other international partners to assist in alleviating the dire economic and social conditions there, and in confronting the roots of extremism.

Along with the challenge of the Iranian nuclear issue, the efforts by Tehran to expand its influence over the region is of great concern to us. Let me make this clear: while supporting the international community’s efforts to verify fully the nature of Iran’s nuclear ventures, the question of Israel’s nuclear capabilities and its continuing rejection to accede to the NPT comes to light and needs to be properly addressed, for one standard must apply to all. Israel must adhere fully to the NPT, Iran must cooperate fully with the IAEA; hence a nuclear weapon-free zone in the Middle East becomes a reality.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

To conclude, I would like to say that our aim, through cooperating with the United States, is to create a peaceful regional and international environment focusing on achieving stability and the prosperity of the people. We will continue to work to create a platform of mutual cooperation that involves Egypt and like-minded countries of the region, in order to confront all challenges.

The pivotal role that Egypt assumes as a regional leader grants the U.S. an effective partner able to deliver; one that would move forward with it. Through embarking on all avenues of cooperation, I am confident that the true potential of the Middle East will be realized, especially that we see many positive elements which can be harnessed towards creating what the region deserves.

Each — the U.S. and Egypt — is an asset to the other. We are proud of this relationship, and will exert our utmost not only to safeguard it, but to lift it to elevated levels for the sake of our nations and peoples.

Thank you…

El Safar explains that the stigma facing women manifests itself in unexpected ways. She cites difficulties getting loans for business start-ups as a prime example. Pressure on ambitious women is different than on their male counterparts, she says, and there are psychological barriers that need to be overcome along with more tangible obstacles. The gravity associated with requesting large loans often leads women to ask for less than their male colleagues might, she says.

But these entrepreneurial women do not seem phased by the things that set them apart from the men; in fact, they see them as an advantage. El Tahri believes that such differences are what make women more dedicated and eager to prove themselves. “I think it is part of our DNA and how we were brought up,” she says, explaining that from childhood girls are accustomed to gender disparities and that instills in them a drive to prove their capacity for success.

To read the entire article please click here.

For Muslims, peaceful coexistence is an obligation rather than a matter of choice. Prophet Muhammad was not only encouraged to engage the followers of Islam, Judaism and Christianity — the three monotheistic religions - in meaningful dialogue; he was commanded to do so.

This week in Washington, leaders of different Muslim and Christian faiths came together to discuss reconciliation between Islam and the Christian West at the Christian-Muslim Summit. I was honored to be a part of this dialogue and to join a myriad voices, from eminent religious leaders to the general public, to discuss ways to work together to promote peace efforts worldwide.

The 2007 open letter signed by 138 Muslim leaders, "A Common Word," has paved the way towards better understanding of religious diversity amongst Muslims. It opens with a line that best summarizes the Islamic position on interfaith dialogue: "Call unto the way of your Lord with wisdom and fair exhortation, and contend with them in the fairest way." (Ayah 125 of Surat Al-Nahl).

The Qur'anic command is also very clear on this topic: "Say: O People of the Book: Come to an agreement between us and you, that we worship none but God, and that we shall ascribe no partners to Him, and that none of us shall take others for lords beside God. And if they decline (your invitation for dialogue), then say: Bear witness that we shall (continue to) submit to God in Islam" (Al-Imran: 64). According to the Qur'an, interfaith dialogue should be proactively initiated by Muslims.

There are two important tenets to emphasize about the Islamic viewpoint on interfaith dialogue:

• The purpose of interfaith dialogue is not to necessarily conclude with a winner and a loser or to convert others, but rather to share one's principles. Sincere dialogue should strengthen a person's faith and at the same time break down barriers.

• Dialogue must not be confined to academic and intellectual circles. Its purpose is to demystify religious differences to everyday people and to uncover the words of truth that frequently get buried under human biases and tendencies to follow that which is convenient. Dialogue can only lead people to examine their religious identities more deeply.

With regard to interfaith dialogue and understanding taking place on an institutional level, al-Azhar University, the oldest, most respected and influential Sunni institution of higher education in the world, has long been active in reaching out to other religious communities, both within the Islamic world and on the international stage. This spirit of dialogue is evident in the fatwas, or rulings, of Al-Azhar Sheikhs, as well as in the activities of its scholars.

For example, in 1959, the Sheikh of Al-Azhar Mahmud Shaltut issued a fatwa proclaiming that the school of thought followed by Shiite Muslims is acceptable to Sunnis, bringing about a new era of dialogue and cooperation between the sects. Pope John Paul II visited Al-Azhar in 2000 after which a Muslim Catholic commission for dialogue that continues to meet regularly was founded.

More recently, in 2007, the Grand Mufti of Egypt, the head of Dar al-Ifta, one of the world's leading centers of Islamic authority, was a primary signatory of the "A Common Word" initiative which called for dialogue between Muslims and Christians based on the principles of love of God and love of neighbor. In a series of conferences based on this initiative, the Grand Mufti and other Muslim scholars from around the world have met with Christian leaders in the U.S, the UK, and with the Pope at the Vatican, where they discussed the importance of interfaith dialogue based on authentic scholarship and brotherly love.

Moreover, Al-Azhar University does not limit its involvement on the issue of interfaith dialogue to members of different faiths, but engages those within the Muslim community itself. Last year, Al-Azhar University devoted its annual international alumni conference to the theme of interfaith dialogue. The conference, which brought together former students from Egypt and around the Muslim World, explored the sources of inter-communal tension around the globe and stressed the importance of awareness of the common values shared by all the great faiths of the world.

It is not religion that is the root cause of world problems, as some people may want to assert, but rather the misunderstanding of religion that ends up plaguing the world. Interfaith dialogue can certainly serve to bring about a higher level of understanding of different religions on a global level, which will also hopefully lead to more tolerance, acceptance of others, and appreciation for all humanity.

Dr. Ahmad Mohamed El Tayeb is president of Cairo's Al-Azhar University and served as one of the principals in the Christian-Muslim Summit in Washington on March 1-3, 2010.

Arab foreign ministers meeting in Cairo have agreed to support a U.S. proposal for indirect peace talks between Palestinians and Israelis.

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told reporters Wednesday that members of the Arab League will back the talks for a period of four months.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who is attending the Cairo meeting, has said he would abide by the Arab League's decision.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also welcomed the decision.

The announcement follows a U.S. offer to mediate discussions between the two sides in an effort to revive the stalled peace process.

On Tuesday, a U.S. State Department spokesman, P.J. Crowley, said Washington believes Israel and the Palestinians are "getting closer" to starting a dialogue.

Talks broke down over a year ago. One of the biggest disputes is Israel's continued settlement activity in territory that Palestinians claim for a future state.

Egypt is well placed to help countries across Africa that struggle to feed their people, since it is rich in food supplies.

Poverty and food scarcity are crucial problems facing African nations, which is why leaders of the African Union met recently and approved a joint plan of action to enhance food security.

Only 4 percent of arable land in Africa and the Arab world is irrigated, leaving many countries to rely on rainfall for water. By comparison, Egypt has one of the oldest irrigation systems in the world and its vast experience has been sought out to help its African neighbors.

To view the original broadcast, please click here.

Speaking at her alma mater, the American University in Cairo (AUC), Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan called for reigniting the spark of civic engagement, calling it an “indispensible part” of social progress in the region.

“Social progress doesn’t come from governments looking down, directing change. It comes from communities, families and individuals looking up, driving society forward themselves, fuelled by nothing more than an idea or instinct to do good … It comes from civic engagement,” were the strong words her majesty began with as she addressed students, alumni and educators.

She noted that students need to recognize the importance of civic engagement, a principal that is rooted in our culture.

“We need to accept responsibility to our society and become part of the social web, as citizenship is the sense of duty and pride and doing social good,” she said, adding that that lately citizenship has been spelt with a ‘s’ for “sit back and sit still.”

“A man demonstrates his true worthiness when he participates in community,” Queen Rania pointed out.

She referred to two role models for civic engagement within the Arab World. The first is AUC alumnus, Raghda El Ebrahsi, who founded Alashanek Ya Baladi, which started off as a community service club at AUC in 2002 and after graduation she turned it into an active NGO that caters to the society as a whole, regardless of financial class.

“For me the story is symbolic to the spark needed to ignite civic engagement … there is more to life than just possessions …the true value [of life] lies in people,” said Queen Rania.

The second is Sweilem Rihani, who, at the age of 15, was diagnosed with cancer. But instead of giving in to the illness, he defeated it and volunteered his time and effort to help other cancer patients.

“Raghda and Sweilam saw no ceilings and they made a difference … we need more of them,” she said, adding that the region is drowning in problems so we need to “look up to the open sky for possibilities.”

Queen Rania told the hundreds of students in the audience that they are the force that will decide the future of the region.

“No one can change everything but each one can do something, you can be the spark that sets the chain of motion…and together be a generation that looks up, reaches out and lifts our region,” she said.

In addition, students will also learn from these experiences in a way that would help them in their careers, she explained. “You learn team work, leadership, communication, problem solving, adaptability and open mindedness.”

Questions from the student body were brought forward by Student Union President Omar Kandil, who first asked about the ways to motivate students to participate in civic engagement.

“Improve the quality of teachers as they shape the next generation,” replied Queen Rania. “They also need to take the students out of the classrooms and onto the streets, teaching them what’s relevant to what is going on outside,” she added.

Citizens, she explained, can’t wait for governments to make the change.

“There needs to be more activism and less passiveness in our society. We need to realize that civic engagement is a path to development and a symptom of it.”

She also spoke of Islam and how outside the region it has been associated with aggression, violence and oppression of women and within the region became associated with political play.

“We have become preoccupied with just the technical aspects of the religion [leaving] the spiritual side and the actual values of our religion,” she said, adding that “Civic engagement is a central part of our religion.”

She noted that, “Civic engagement alone cannot elevate the country’s standard but it is an indispensible part.”

The Prime Minister called on the members of the chamber to highlight the strength of the Egyptian economy and its success in withstanding the effects of the global financial crisis. He said the Egyptian economy had achieved a growth rate of 5 per cent, in spite of the crisis.

Cabinet Spokesman Dr. Magdy Radi said the assignment of the door- knocking mission comes within the framework of efforts by the American Chambers of Commerce to interact with the US market.

He said the meeting addressed a number of important issues, such as the state of the Egyptian economy and the global economic crisis impact.

Radi said the Prime Minister asked the members of the chamber to convey to the US side a number of messages: that the Egyptian economy had overcome the global financial crisis, and that investors were confident in the Egyptian economic performance. The Prime Minister told the members of the chamber that the Egyptian government was keen to bring about a qualitative development of relations between Egypt and the US administration.

Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) Barra calculates global stock market ratings for every country in its All Country World Index (ACWI), and includes Egypt in MSCI’s Emerging Market (EM) Index. The MSCI EM Index is a free-float weighted equity index; its 0.9 percent rise on Friday compared to only 0.4 percent increase seen by the MSCI World Index of securities from 23 developed countries.

Egypt’s upgrade follows a streak of optimism for emerging markets, although Michael Ganske, head of emerging-market research at Commerzbank AG in London, advised caution.

“Emerging markets are a strong, structural story… [But] today’s movement is a reaction to the market being quite depressed over the past couple of days. We are facing a period of higher volatility rather than a long-term, sustained rally,” Bloomberg quoted Ganske.

“There could be further to go in terms of a reversal in sentiment toward emerging markets,” said analysts Shanthi Nair and Rishav Dev at Nomura International Plc. “Valuations for emerging markets have still not moved into attractive territory,” stated the London-based analysts, according to Bloomberg, which added that “valuations in emerging markets remain expensive.”

Alarm that global recovery in 2010 remains slow has contributed to volatile markets worldwide. However, expectations for Egypt in 2010 remain robust.

Reham El Desoki, chief economist at investment bank Beltone Financial, commented on MSCI’s bullishness on Egypt. She told Daily News Egypt, “Most international organizations have been reporting positively on Egypt’s economy and its financial market, with the better than expected growth and the better financial performance compared to other emerging markets. We believe this could serve to attract more investors to Egypt in the short term, especially as organizations like the IMF and ratings agencies release positive views on Egypt.”

MSCI’s upgraded rating of Egyptian stock follows similar confidence expressed by Credit Suisse, which had upgraded its Egypt rating to “overweight” in September. In a report released at the time, Credit Suisse credited Egypt’s “attractive static and historic valuation levels relative to other emerging markets; third highest GDP growth rate for 2009 among emerging markets; expectations for the continuation of an expansionary money cycle.”

Credit Suisse’s preferred stock picks were Orascom Telecom, Orascom Construction, Telecom Egypt and EFG Hermes. In February Credit Suisse’s EMEA strategist Alex Redman maintained his ‘overweight’ stance.

Credit Suisse also cited Moody’s positive assessment of Egypt’s investment outlook. Although rising inflation in 2008 had caused the investor’s service to lower Egypt to a “negative” rating, as early as August 2009, Moody’s had upgraded Egypt to “stable.”

Although rampant inflation has been assuaged, according to Tristan Cooper, Moody’s Head Analyst for Middle East Sovereigns, inflationary pressure remains a concern. "This, combined with slower growth and rising unemployment, continues to present challenges in light of the country's poor social indicators," he explained following the release of Moody’s improved rating.

Moody’s listed the government’s ability to contain its deficit despite stimulus measures as a motivating factor for confidence in Egypt. Furthermore, Egypt was able to come through the global economic crisis due to a “moderate level of economic openness, a solid external position a well-diversified economy, and stable banking system with limited foreign exposure.”

However, on-going deficits and public debt burdens, credit concerns, and weak public finances are among the anxieties that prevent Moody’s from appearing as bullish on Egypt as some other rating agencies.

A note released Feb. 25 by investment bank EFG Hermes reported, “Having been the best stock market performer globally (up 12 percent) in the first seven weeks of 2010 … the market has fallen over the past week.” This recent downslide was attributable to local factors, “rising valuations, lower local cash positions, and worsening retail investor sentiment.”

The note explained that foreign investors bought heavily in early 2010, and therefore EFG Hermes anticipated short-term weakness while profits are taken.

Regarding the lack of retail investors, EFG Hermes gave two reasons: “ongoing and pending rights issues have reduced retail investors’ available cash positions … and retail investor sentiment has soured due to regulatory investigations into a number of local brokerages and small-cap stocks.”

EFG Hermes corroborated optimism in Telecom Egypt and Orascom Telecom, though admitted to possible high volatility especially for Orascom Telecom, which is still embroiled in an ownership dispute with France Telecom over mobile subscriber Mobinil. EFG Hermes recommends companies engaged in the government’s plans for infrastructure development. El Sewedy Cables and Orascom Construction are recommended, despite their relatively low upside potential, or likely stock price increase.

Analysis of Egypt’s 2010 forecast continues to call for GDP growth of 5 percent, with the caveat that internal consumption and government strategies will become unsustainable, should international investment fail to pick up.

President Hosni Mubarak criticized conferences on inter-religious dialogue in other countries, saying that because such conferences take place "behind closed doors, they don't reach the hearts and minds of the public."

The president's comments were part of a speech given on his behalf by Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif at the inaugural session of the 22nd International Islamic Conference of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, entitled "The Objectives of the Islamic Sharia and Contemporary Issues."

In his speech, Nazif mentioned several thoughts by President Mubarak on the subject of religious extremism and tolerance:

People from other religions misunderstand Islam, so Islamic scholars must double their efforts to promote the real image of Islam and Muslims;

The president renews calls for "an enlightened religious discourse based on tolerance and acceptance of others;”
Muslims are in need of an educational system and media outlets that embody these values;

Waves of fanaticism and extremism among youth hinder development efforts in the Islamic world and prevent Muslims from taking serious steps toward development and progress.

Egyptian Minister of Endowments Mahmoud Hamdi Zaqzoq attended the conference and said that all prejudice concerning Islam should be addressed. He criticized movements in the Islamic world that seek to instill false religious concepts among youth and push some of them to carry out foolish acts.

Pope Shenouda III, also present at the conference, focused his speech on the freedom of religion called for by Islam, citing a verse from the Quran that states that there should be no compulsion in religion. He also described religion as a private relationship between an individual and God.

To read the original article, please click here.

Though problems persist, NGOs are starting to make headway
By Jessica Gray and John Prosser

Before the Alwan wa Awtar (Colors and Strings) center opened in 2006, nine-year-old Hoda Moustafa had never held a crayon. Like most of her peers living in the shanty towns around the Moqattam Hills, Moustafa grew up in by abject poverty. Her parents, unable to afford basic school supplies, did the best they could to provide for her but were more concerned with where their next meal would come from than teaching their children to sing or draw. All that changed the day she was taken under the wing of Alwan wa Awtar founder Azza Kamel.

“Moustafa was a very shy and insecure child. Most of the children that come in are the same. They’re not used to speaking or thinking for themselves,” says Kamel. She remembers Moustafa’s fear of her first drawing lesson. “She kept saying, ‘I don’t know how to draw. I’m hopeless!’” Undaunted, staff continued to encourage Moustafa, refusing to allow the girl’s self-doubt to prevent her from reaching her potential.

Four years later, Moustafa, now 14, has become a role model in her community. She joined a choir, has been featured in television interviews about the center and even placed second in a national peace poster contest.

For Kamel, there is no greater reward than seeing these children conquer their fears and express themselves through art and performance. The center, which began with just 30 students, now caters to over 4,000 and employs over 40 staff members, volunteers and teachers dedicated to giving children a safe haven to escape the streets.

Alwan wa Awtar is just one of thousands of grassroots non-governmental organizations (NGOs) nationwide that have flourished in recent years. Born out of a public desire to improve peoples’ lives — from basic education, health and social services to poverty alleviation efforts, infrastructure development and environmental awareness — community development leaders say reduced bureaucracy and a steady supply of willing volunteers have given them a fertile environment in which to grow and prosper.

But it doesn’t stop there. The trend toward greater civil engagement has extended to big business through corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs and domestic involvement from international NGOs, establishing a new environment for public-private partnerships and innovation. While there are still concerns about Egypt’s seemingly insurmountable poverty rates and government reluctance to embrace change, social entrepreneurs aren’t prepared to let the challenges ahead keep them from making a difference.

Cutting Through Red Tape

Ministry of Social Solidarity figures show that the number of NGOs has risen substantially in recent years, from 15,000 in 1999 to over 27,000 as of 2008. Current estimates put that number at around 28,000. The ministry attributes the jump to Law 84/2002, which standardized registration procedures and revamped the rules and regulations governing NGOs. The law also exempted NGOs from certain fees and taxes, freeing up cash that could be better used to serve people in need. The government has also allotted LE 100 million in additional funds that NGOs can apply for through the NGOs Assistance Fund.

Wael El-Zoghby, executive director of the Baladna (Our Country) Foundation for Civil Society Development, says the 2002 law was instrumental to the growth of development organizations like his own. Baladna has trained more than 100 social entrepreneurs since it began operations in 2008. Currently finishing coursework in NGO management at Cairo University, El-Zoghby says his organization would never have gotten off the ground under the old law issued under former President Gamal Abdel Nasser.

“Law 84/2002 was implemented around 40 years after its predecessor. [] The [previous] law did not promote civil society or NGO work,” says El-Zoghby. “It let the government control everything and appoint each NGO’s board of trustees.”

Motaz Mahmoud Elewa is the community programs coordinator of Ofok Systems, an NGO providing information technology-based training to help individuals find employment and develop professionally. He agrees that government reins on NGOs have been loosened.

“In the last 10 years no NGO in Egypt could do anything without the government knowing exactly what it was,” says Elewa. “There’s no pressure anymore. ‘Why are you doing this? Why are you doing that?’ There’s more flexibility. Not because they don’t care but because they [recognize] NGOs are doing something positive.”

The ministry intends to further streamline the process and has created a committee supervised by the General Federation of NGOs and Civil Organizations, but the committee has yet to make any recommendations.

Dr. Adli Bishay, executive director and co-founder of the Friends of Environment and Development Association, says there is still too much red tape for NGOs that receive funding from international donors like the Egyptian Swiss Development Fund. In 2009, only 312 NGOs were allowed to accept international donations. His organization depends on funds from several global groups and would be unable to continue to support infrastructure development projects in Gamalia without access to that money.

“Once you get support, most of which comes from different international organizations, then you find another problem. The Ministry of Social Solidarity [examines] every small amount of support you get, in the name of security,” he says. “Every program that is foreign supported has to go through a number of security agencies before you get to use any of the money.”

He adds that the lengthy wait for funding approval can strain relationships with donors. Despite that, he admits that running an NGO is much easier than when he started in 1992.

Bishay says the constant requirement of documents and approvals at every stage before, during and after construction, was one of the main reasons that three buildings his organization built or renovated in Gamalia were finished years behind schedule. The most recent project, the establishment of an electrical and maintenance training center, officially opened at the beginning of 2008, long after Friends of Environment and Development Association had hoped it would.

Overlapping Enthusiasm

Despite some of the issues still facing NGOs, there is no shortage of willing volunteers looking to get involved — be they fresh university graduates or captains of industry. Many pioneers behind grassroots movements are young graduates, according to Ofok’s Elewa, but NGOs increasingly resemble big businesses in the way they are run.

“In the very beginning, civil society began by charity. People took care of each other [ by] making donations to each other,” says Elewa. “But this developed [and people began] to take this kind of charity to a bigger scale.”

A typical example is the Egyptian Food Bank (EFB), founded by a group of successful businessmen — with backgrounds as diverse as real estate and textiles — with the goal of utilizing their combined experience and connections to give something back to the community.

“God gave us a lot,” says Moez El Shohdi, CEO of the EFB, “and we thought we have to return some of that to the community — poor people especially.” He points out that this mentality is not necessarily limited to the wealthy, but manifests in anyone who wants to see an improvement in their surroundings. “It’s very easy [to find volunteers,]” says Shohdi, “but it’s a recent trend.”

Such eagerness to get involved with NGOs, however, needs to be better focused to avoid redundancy of organizations, says Iman Bibars, Ashoka Arab World’s MENA regional director. Instead of simply starting a new charity or development organization, people interested in civic duty should first see if there are any established groups that have similar programs in place.

“Some people have so much distrust of NGOs that they start their own, reinventing the wheel. This means they are competing with traditional NGOs. Very few business people from the private sector get involved in established NGOs,” she says.

Ashoka encourages this attitude by allowing established social entrepreneurs to access endowments worth LE 250,000 over the course of two years. The money is provided by private businesses and donors. Ashoka has so far awarded more than 50 such grants to Arab social entrepreneurs, many of them hailing from Egypt.

The future for NGOs in Egypt depends on a large number of factors, according to Ashoka’s Bibars, such as the political and economic stability of the region and how quickly donor money returns in the wake of the global economic slowdown.

There is also the question of how effective the majority of the country’s 27,000-plus NGOs are. That said, nobody can deny there are thousands of NGOs genuinely changing the lives of Egypt’s poorest citizens.

An attentive student and community activist in her own right, young Hoda Moustafa now wants to be a medical doctor; a dream she never would have pursued without the guidance of Kamel and her team at Alwan wa Awtar. Though Kamel has her doubts as to whether the government has made enough of an effort to promote social entrepreneurship here, she believes community leaders can still have a long-lasting effect on younger generations.

“Once youth actually get working with their communities they become really passionate about it,” she says. “We work with a lot of youth. I see a trend in that youth are leaving the private sector and high paid positions to work in development.” et

Egyptian Food Bank

F ormed four years ago by a group of successful businessman, the Egyptian Food Bank (EFB) has set itself the lofty aim of eradicating hunger in Egypt. Funded by commercial sponsors and private donations, the organization distributes food to underprivileged citizens — orphans, widows, the elderly and those unable to work — through 891 partner NGOs spread throughout the country.

A distinguishing feature of the EFB is its business-minded approach to non-profit work. Although it accepts all kinds of donations, the organization insists on funding any promotional campaigns itself and produces branded food products and distribution containers at its own factories operated at a profit — all benefits get put to good use elsewhere.

The breadth of experience garnered by EFB board members gives them diverse contacts through which innovative collaborations with the private sector can be established. Just one example: The EFB provides more than 17 million meals per month by redistributing leftover food from hotels and resorts — a scheme championed by the EFB CEO Moez El Shohdi, a former hotelier.

Friends of Environment and Development Association

Friends of Environment and Development Association was established in 1992 to bring attention to the importance of environmental issues and extreme poverty in Egypt. The association began its work by spending two years researching these issues, only to find that few cared when the paper was published and distributed. Undaunted, the association’s members decided to take matters into their own hands and rebuild and/or renovate three buildings in the Gamalia district of Cairo, one of the city’s poorest areas, best-known as the neighborhood of Naguib Mahfouz’s youth. The final building of the project, which houses a training center for electricians and appliance mechanics, was completed in 2008. The association operates thanks to international donors.

Alwan wa Awtar

A lwan wa Awtar began connecting impoverished children in Moqattam with art in February 2006. Starting with just 30 students, the center now serves over 4,000. The aim is to develop soft skills through performance art, music and drawing. The center also promotes education and has a community library. The goal for Alwan wa Awtar is getting youth off the streets and into an environment where they are free to express themselves and grow without fear of being discriminated against because of their poverty. Azza Kamel, the center’s founder, hopes to expand on the center’s course offerings with the help of over 40 staff members, volunteers and teachers with whom she collaborates.

Ashoka

A shoka is a global organization dedicated to supporting social entrepreneurship through endowments. The group’s regional office opened in Cairo in 2004. Since then, Ashoka Arab World has welcomed over 50 Ashoka Fellows, many of whom are from Egypt. Some of last year’s fellows include Azza Kamel from Alwan wa Awtar and Mohamed Sawy of the Sawy Culture Wheel. Ashoka also hosts social entrepreneurship conferences and has initiated several programs of its own to support the community at large, such as the Housing for All program, dedicated to providing affordable housing for low-income families, and the Ashoka Youth Venture to encourage young people to get involved in social entrepreneurship.
Ofok

O fok is a community-focused NGO helping individuals develop skills for the workplace through training in a range of information technology skills. Classes held at their offices in Mohandiseen also offer students business advice so they can optimize their career efforts, either by setting up their own enterprises or through partnership schemes with global IT firms such as Cisco Systems, Sun Microsystems and Microsoft.

Investigators released a genetic and medical profile of King Tut's family Tuesday, led by Egyptologist Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities. We asked Hawass to comment on the Journal of the American Medical Association study findings by email:

1. What do you see as the role of Molecular Egyptology in answering outstanding questions in the field?

A: Molecular Egyptology shows great promise for helping us solve many Egyptological mysteries. We can find out many things about family relationships, and also about some diseases. If this work is done scientifically, it an help Egyptology and can open a new and larger role for forensic science in the reconstruction of history.

2. How do you see these results affecting the view of the 18th dynasty family?

A: The history of the 18th Dynasty has many questions. The Amarna period, to which Tutankhamun belonged, has been especially vague. In the Family of Tutankhamun project, we will continue to work to try to identify both the mother and wife of Tutankhamun, and also study other family relationships.

3. How promising are the prospects for a similar examination of other royal (or other) mummies?

A: Yes, we will also study other family relationships. Next we will study the family of Ramesses II, where there are still a number of questions to be answered.

We hope to be able to put names to some of the other unidentified mummies, as we have done for Akhenaten and Tiye, from caches of royal mummies that were hidden after the end of the New Kingdom (the period when Tutankhamun and Ramesses II lived). You have to know that these mummies were hidden away at night by later priests, and they made some mistakes because they were human beings like us. So it is fascinating for us to try to use science to trace the truth.

4. What other points do you see as important about the study?

A: I am also very proud that we were able to do this work in Egypt, with an Egyptian team. The participation of our international consultants was certainly essential to the process, but our team was Egyptian, and this is very important for the future.

By Dan Vergano

Flush with ticket revenue from international exhibitions and local tourist sites, the SCA is in the midst of a project that will see 20 new museums covering every governorate, and long-closed favorites re-opening to the public over the next five years. More than just cash cows feeding on tourist dollars, however, the new museums are also hope to reconnect Egyptians with their own heritage, in their own neighborhoods.

“Ten years ago, we didn’t have any [major] museum, only the Egyptian Museum,” says Mohamed Abdel Fattah, head of the SCA’s Museum Sector.

Indeed, the nation’s most famous museum is also its most infamous, with many visitors complaining about poor lighting and labels, crowded displays and no air conditioning.
Renovation projects have added new display spaces for the royal mummies, temporary exhibitions and a revamped outdoor museum in the back garden. In January, a permanent children’s museum opened on the premises. The fact remains, however, that the nation’s collection of Pharaonic artifacts alone had outgrown the Egyptian Museum almost as soon as it opened in Tahrir Square in 1902.

The Downtown location was also considered a problem. “The people [in other governorates] are not able [] to come to Cairo to see the museum,” says Abdel Fattah. “We have to reach out to these people. We have to tell them about their civilization, about the history of their governorate.”

Until 2002, the museums were focused almost solely on the major tourist centers. Opened in 1892, Alexandria’s Greco-Roman Museum had a similar storehouse feel until it closed for renovation in 2005. The Luxor Museum opened in 1975, with a renovation and new annex completed in 2005. The Nubia Museum in Aswan opened in 1997, after 30 years in the planning.

When Dr. Zahi Hawass was appointed head of the SCA in 2002, he aggressively pushed for the new museums, according to Abdel Fattah. The SCA drafted a plan to build a museum in every governorate, as well as jumpstart stalled renovations on several others, including the Sohag Museum, delayed since 1998 and now set to open within a year.

Since then, the SCA has seen the Alexandria National Museum open in 2003, the Coptic Museum in Cairo reopen in 2006 after a complete makeover; a new site museum about the Pharaonic architect Imhotep open at Saqqara and, in November 2009, the re-opening of Howard Carter’s dig house on Luxor’s West Bank as a museum about the man who discovered King Tut.

Part of the SCA’s plan is to air out the Egyptian Museum, transferring more than 20 percent of the objects, including the famed royal mummies, to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC) in El Fustat, due to open in two years. King Tutankhamun’s treasures will be moved to the new Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) being built at the Giza Plateau, which the Museum Sector head confirms is on schedule to open in five years. Abdel Fattah emphasizes that after an extensive renovation, the Egyptian Museum will still showcase some of the best antiquities.

In the short term, the Suez Museum, focused on the Suez Canal, is the first to be unveiled, expected to open in April this year. The renovation of Alexandria’s Royal Jewelry Museum is also near completion; according to Abdel Fattah, the SCA is “reviewing the labels” on exhibits while preparing for the opening ceremony.

Several other regional museums have already been built and are awaiting the next step. The Aten Museum in Minya — a 25-feddan complex dedicated to Akhenaten, the first monotheist pharaoh — is awaiting only on interior design work. The Sohag Museum, looking at the pre-dynastic period circa 4000 BC, is at a similar stage, as is the regional museum in Sharm El-Sheikh, which, according to Abdel Fattah, will open in a year and a half. The Crocodile Museum, next to the Temple of Kom Ombo, is complete and will open soon.

The SCA sees museums as a self-generating investment. Revenues from existing museums and international exhibitions have padded the SCA’s coffers, according to Abdel Fattah. In 2008, Dr. Hawass told Al Ahram Weekly that the SCA earned nearly $350 million (LE 1.9 billion) from 23 international exhibitions, such as the still-touring Tutankhamun and The Golden Age of the Pharaohs, over the last five years. The money is being funneled back into SCA projects with potential for big returns.

“I think within five years, the whole map [of Egyptian museums] will change,” says Abdel Fattah.

To that end, these new museums represent more than an attractive way to house artifacts: They symbolize a new way of thinking about how the country’s antiquities are preserved and presented to the public, especially to the nation’s youth. In addition to on-site conservation labs to preserve the artifacts, features like the Egyptian Museum’s new children’s exhibit will be a staple at all the new museums.

Egypt’s first Public-Private Partnership (PPP) venture is on track to be completed in 2012, announced the Egyptian Ministry of Finance and the International Finance Corporation (IFC). The IFC hopes to finance five such projects in Egypt, and the first PPP venture will see the construction of an approximately $150 million wastewater facility on the outskirts of Cairo.

In May 2009, the government closed the international bidding for the project and awarded it to Orasqualia, a consortium between Egypt's Orascom Construction Industries and Spain's Aqualia and Aqualia Infrastructure.

With a capacity of 250,000 m3 the facility is expected to satisfy the sanitation needs of the growing settlements of New Cairo. The current population of New Cairo is 500,000 and is expected to increase to 3.8 million by 2029.

"We are actively working to collaborate with the private sector to meet the growing infrastructure demands in Egypt. This project is an important step towards setting the stage for future PPPs," said Rania Zayed, head of the PPP Central Unit at Egypt's Ministry of Finance.

To read the original article, please click here.

Egypt’s national security, understood comprehensively, is my primary responsibility, and I will accept neither complacency nor half-measures in regards to it.

We live in an unstable world, and a difficult region. It would be a mistake to ignore the growing ring of instability extending from Afghanistan and Pakistan, through Iran, Iraq and Yemen, and to Somalia and Sudan.

It would be a mistake to ignore the growing tides of sectarianism in the Arab & African regions and the world as a whole, nor attempts to ignite discord between the people of one nation such as demands for quotas, incidents of violence and bloodshed, and attempts to use foreign powers for domestic leverage; and external interferences that fuels fires, and which act according to their own interests and agendas.

The criminal attack in Nagaa Hamaady has shaken the nation’s conscience, shocked our sensibilities, and pained the hearts of Muslim and Coptic Egyptians.

Notwithstanding the execution of my orders to quickly capture the perpetrators, and refer them to the Emergency State Security Court, this horrific incident against the Copts on the Christmas Eve demands that all of us, Muslims and Copts, take a serious and forthright stand with ourselves.

I have received numerous reports from state agencies, and fact finding missions, which lay out the details of this sinful attack, including its background, details, and possible motives.

I, as President of the Republic, and of all Egyptians, warn against the dangers of undermining the unity of our people, and of conflict between its Muslims and Copts, and I state, in the clearest possible terms, that I will not be lenient with those, from either side, who attempt to undermine it or show contempt for it.

I was commander of the Air College in 1968, when Israeli warplanes bombed Nagaa Hammadi, and destroyed the Qena bridge. On that day, there was no difference between the blood of a Muslim and a Christian among the victims of that aggression. When we fought the October War, the people of Egypt, from all sides, sacrificed their blood and lives, and lifted the Egyptian flag over Sinai.

We are witnessing incidents and phenomena that are alien to our society, driving it to ignorance and fanaticism, and fed by the absence of an enlightened religious discourse from the men of Al-Azhar and the Church.

A religious discourse that must be supported by our educational system, our media, and our writers and thinkers; One that confirms the values of citizenship, that religion belongs to God, and the nation belongs to all; One that promotes the understanding that religion is a matter between a human and his Lord, and that Muslim and Christian Egyptians are partners in one nation, and that they are faced with the same difficulties, and that they share the same aspirations for a better future for themselves, their children, and grandchildren.

This is a necessary and vital role that must be played by the wise and the reasoned of our nation from all sides; One that confronts sectarian incitement, contains extremism, and which strives to build an advanced Egyptian society and modern and civil state; One which calls upon Muslims and Copts to strive to build schools and hospitals, assist the poor, and serve the nation.

The normal frictions of the daily lives of citizens, if they should develop a sectarian dimension, become a time bomb that ignites discord, undermines both pillars of the nation, and harms the image of our society, opening the door to foreign attempts, which we refuse, to interfere in purely Egyptian affairs that concern the children of a single family, and single Egyptian society.

To both wings of our society, I say, in the clearest possible terms, that we shall confront any sectarian crimes, acts or behaviors with the force and resolve of the law, with swift and effective justice, and stern sentences that will impose the severest penalties against their perpetrators and inciters, and which will deter those who make light of the security of our nation and the unity of its people.

Egypt’s national security, understood comprehensively, is my primary responsibility, and I will accept neither complacency nor half-measures in regards to it.

We live in an unstable world, and a difficult region. It would be a mistake to ignore the growing ring of instability extending from Afghanistan and Pakistan, through Iran, Iraq and Yemen, and to Somalia and Sudan.

It would be a mistake to ignore the growing tides of sectarianism in the Arab & African regions and the world as a whole, nor attempts to ignite discord between the people of one nation such as demands for quotas, incidents of violence and bloodshed, and attempts to use foreign powers for domestic leverage; and external interferences that fuels fires, and which act according to their own interests and agendas.

The criminal attack in Nagaa Hamaady has shaken the nation’s conscience, shocked our sensibilities, and pained the hearts of Muslim and Coptic Egyptians.

Notwithstanding the execution of my orders to quickly capture the perpetrators, and refer them to the Emergency State Security Court, this horrific incident against the Copts on the Christmas Eve demands that all of us, Muslims and Copts, take a serious and forthright stand with ourselves.

I have received numerous reports from state agencies, and fact finding missions, which lay out the details of this sinful attack, including its background, details, and possible motives.

I, as President of the Republic, and of all Egyptians, warn against the dangers of undermining the unity of our people, and of conflict between its Muslims and Copts, and I state, in the clearest possible terms, that I will not be lenient with those, from either side, who attempt to undermine it or show contempt for it.

I was commander of the Air College in 1968, when Israeli warplanes bombed Nagaa Hammadi, and destroyed the Qena bridge. On that day, there was no difference between the blood of a Muslim and a Christian among the victims of that aggression. When we fought the October War, the people of Egypt, from all sides, sacrificed their blood and lives, and lifted the Egyptian flag over Sinai.

We are witnessing incidents and phenomena that are alien to our society, driving it to ignorance and fanaticism, and fed by the absence of an enlightened religious discourse from the men of Al-Azhar and the Church.

A religious discourse that must be supported by our educational system, our media, and our writers and thinkers; One that confirms the values of citizenship, that religion belongs to God, and the nation belongs to all; One that promotes the understanding that religion is a matter between a human and his Lord, and that Muslim and Christian Egyptians are partners in one nation, and that they are faced with the same difficulties, and that they share the same aspirations for a better future for themselves, their children, and grandchildren.

This is a necessary and vital role that must be played by the wise and the reasoned of our nation from all sides; One that confronts sectarian incitement, contains extremism, and which strives to build an advanced Egyptian society and modern and civil state; One which calls upon Muslims and Copts to strive to build schools and hospitals, assist the poor, and serve the nation.

The normal frictions of the daily lives of citizens, if they should develop a sectarian dimension, become a time bomb that ignites discord, undermines both pillars of the nation, and harms the image of our society, opening the door to foreign attempts, which we refuse, to interfere in purely Egyptian affairs that concern the children of a single family, and single Egyptian society.

To both wings of our society, I say, in the clearest possible terms, that we shall confront any sectarian crimes, acts or behaviors with the force and resolve of the law, with swift and effective justice, and stern sentences that will impose the severest penalties against their perpetrators and inciters, and which will deter those who make light of the security of our nation and the unity of its people.

The announcement at the 1,600-year-old St. Anthony's Monastery came a month after Egypt's worst incident of sectarian violence in over a decade, when a shooting on a church on Orthodox Christmas Eve killed seven people.
The attack raised heavy criticism of the Egyptian government abroad and at home, by critics who say it has not done enough to address tensions between the country's Muslim majority and its Christian population, estimated at 10 percent of the 79 million population.

The government insists the shooting was a purely criminal act with no sectarian motives, and officials persistently deny the existence of significant Muslim-Christian frictions.

Top archaeologist Zahi Hawass took the opportunity to reiterate that stance as he showed journalists the work at St. Anthony's, an ancient compound at the foot of the desert mountains near Egypt's Red Sea coast.

"The announcement we are making today shows to the world how we are keen to restore the monuments of our past, whether Coptic, Jewish or Muslim," he said, referring to the dominant Orthodox Coptic Christian sect in Egypt.

"The incident in Upper Egypt can happen between two brothers," said Hawass when asked if there was any correction between the Dec. 6 shooting and the timing of his announcement at the monastery. "I want everyone to forgot this incident."

Hawass noted that the restoration work at the monastery was carried out by Muslims.

St. Anthony, widely revered as the founder of Christian monasticism, settled in this remote mountainous area at the end of the 3rd century to live in isolation. Upon his death, his followers built the monastery, which was completed around A.D. 350 remains in use to this day.

In the government-sponsored project, workers renovated the fortress-like ancient wall surrounding the monastery and the walls of its two main churches - the 14th century Church of the Apostles and the 6th century Church of St. Anthony. They also renovated monks' quarters and a 6th century tower into which monks would retreat during attacks by marauding Bedouin tribes throughout the Middle Ages.

A modern sewage system was also installed for the monastery, which is home to several dozen monks and is frequently visited by Christian pilgrims.

Amid the renovations, archaeologists from the American Research Center in Egypt discovered the remains of the original monks' cells dating back to the 4th century under the Church of the Apostles. After they were excavated, archeologists in 2008 covered them with thick glass so that visitors to the church can see them below their feet. ARCE also renovated stucco paintings in Church of St. Anthony.

The Egyptian holiday resort of Sharm el-Sheikh intends to slash its carbon emissions in the next decade to woo a growing class of eco-tourists, a senior government official who heads the $238 million project says.

Tourism is a crucial source of foreign currency and jobs in Egypt, accounting for about 11 percent of GDP.

"Tourists will pick places that are environmentally friendly and taking positive steps to reduce their carbon emissions," said Hisham Zaazou, a top official at the Tourism Ministry.

The plan is to introduce renewable energy schemes, cut water use and improve waste management to boost the environmental credentials of a resort where sprawling concrete hotel complexes have sprung up in recent decades.
Zaazou said the project would cost about 3 percent of the resort's annual revenues and the aim was for private investors to meet 48 percent of this.

"We are trying to entice the private sector to move in this direction," he said. He also added that several banks had indicated they would help with finance and some hotels were looking at putting in place energy saving schemes in their complexes.

To read the original article, please click here.
 

Egypt's economy will continue to defy headwinds from the developed world this year, helped by a strong consumer and banking sector and by sustained inward investment, Trade and Industry Minister Rachid Mohamad Rachid said Wednesday.

One of Africa's largest economies, Egypt managed to grow by 4.5% in 2009, a year when Europe and most of the developed world suffered its worst recession in 60 years, and Rachid said the government expects growth to quicken to 5% this year and 7% in 2011.

Rachid also said that the government is keen to attract more investment in renewable energy, especially wind power along the Red Sea coast in the east of the country--"one of the best natural wind tunnels in the world," as he described it.

Egypt, whose production of natural gas has trebled in the last decade, has set itself the target of sourcing 20% of its energy needs from renewable sources by 2020.

To read the original article, please click here.

Egyptian Minister of Electricity and Energy Hassan Yunis said Friday Egypt and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) would soon hammer out a framework deal for a 200 megawatts wind farm at the Gulf of Suez region in Egypt.

Egypt's New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) and the UAE's state-owned Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company will be involved in the project, he added.

Egypt has already allowed the private sector to launch the first private wind farm project in Egypt with a capacity of 250 megawatts under the building, operating and transferring (BOT) system, he said.

The electricity sector in the country has taken all guarantees to ensure successful investment in wind farms, the minister added.

He expected Egypt's wind capacity to reach 7,200 megawatts by 2020.

To read the original article, please click here.
 

Fatakat, the first and largest of Egypt’s Internet forums geared to women has become a forum where friends share conversation and discourse on topics that range from modern Egyptian home-life to politics. It has been reported to be the second most-visited site in Egypt in 2009, according to Ratteb, a statistical source for Arabic websites.

Attracting the site's 180,000 members are Fatakat's 256,500 topics related to women, and the site has clocked up some five million visits since it went online in July 2007. Today, Fatakat attracts some 150,000 hits daily. The site aims to be for women "who have various experiences and knowledge that have enabled them to solve problems," Riri, co-founder of Fatakat, says.

Above all, for Riri the site is intended as an information platform for its members and a place where they can share stories and experiences, whether marital, financial, professional or parental. "[Members] teach each other foreign languages, recite the Quran and practise hobbies and handicrafts," she says.

Though all the members of the site have nicknames, many of them also know each other personally. "Some of our members visited my mother when she was in hospital last week. There is a good spirit among members, and I sometimes feel that Fatakat is like one big family," The Reality, a 21-year-old member of the site says.

To read the original article, please click here.

Today, President Hosni Mubarak gave orders to the Egyptian Government to send urgent medical relief to Haiti, following the devastating earthquake of January 11.

Egyptian humanitarian and medical relief will be sent in coordination with the international community's efforts to provide aid for the victims in Haiti.

Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit placed several calls to his Latin American counterparts to discuss the most efficient means to deliver relief. Aboul Gheit is currently urging Arab countries and members of the Non-Alignment Movement—currently chaired by Egypt—to provide medical and humanitarian relief to the people of Haiti.

To read the original article, please click here.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday to discuss the resumption of peace talks with Israel.

Israel, Egypt and the United States want Abbas to resume negotiations broken off a year ago over the Gaza war, but he refuses to sit down to talks as long as Israel allows construction of any kind in Jewish West Bank settlements.

There have been signs that progress was being made toward renewing the negotiations. An aide to Abbas said last week the region would "see important political activity in the next two weeks." Israel's ambassador to Washington Michael Oren has said Mubarak has a key role to play in resuming talks.

U.S. President Barack Obama's Middle East envoy George Mitchell is expected to return to the region early this year, and Egypt's Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit and Intelligence Head Omar Suleiman are due to visit Washington on Friday.

Abbas said he did not know what had happened in talks between Mubarak and Netanyahu in Cairo last week, and added he did not wish to comment on that meeting until after Aboul Gheit and Suleiman returned from Washington.

To read the full article please click here.

The initiative to boost use of Arabic on the Web was launched on Monday following the domain name registration, which opened the Internet to millions of Arabic speakers put off by a language barrier.

Analysts say Arabic is just 1 per cent of Web content.

Egypt, the first of nine Arab countries to have registered so far, has adopted the domain name .misr -- the Arabic word for Egypt and which will be spelt in Arabic script.

Minister of Communications and Information Technology Tarek Kamel said both initiatives are part of the country's push to boost Arabic e-content and broaden access to Arabic speakers.

"In the future this (digital processing of Egypt's National Archives) will be very useful when we have the Arabic domain really operational," Communications and Information Technology Minister Tarek Kamel told Reuters.

"We are now preparing the content in Arabic that really reflects the long history of Egypt in digital form," he added.

Internet regulator ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, says the new Arabic domains are expected to start working during 2010.

Technology services firm IBM and Egypt's government led the project for digitally documenting the National Archives to set up a database for the country's cultural heritage.

"Arabic content on the Web will be increased by 25 million records in the National Archive's database," IBM Project Manager Ahmed Amr Ali told Reuters, adding that the National Archives' website had a sample of 1 million documents on the Web so far.

ICANN, which oversees Web addresses and records the names of their sponsors, voted to allow non-Latin script to be used in Web addresses in mid-November.

"Domain names will give millions of users access to Web addresses in their own language," said ICANN's Baher Essam.

"If you go out in rural areas and places outside big cities the majority are much more comfortable using all electronic services in Arabic," he said, adding mobile use would not have risen so fast in Egypt, where about 50 million of its 77 million people are users, without Arabic-language ability on phones.

Analysts said launching Arabic domain names was only a first step and Arab states should do more to help build up content.

"There are about 300 million Arabs and Arab content on the Web is only 1 percent of the global content ... this is abysmal," American University in Cairo assistant professor Rasha Abdulla said.

The two-day gathering focused on finding ways to build on the momentum and goodwill  generated by the speech that US President Barack Obama delivered in Cairo in June in which he  sought “a new beginning” in relations between the United States and Muslims. The long-term aim  of the Forum is “to contribute to accelerating the integration of the Arab world into the global  economy,” explained Claude Smadja, President, Smadja & Associates, Switzerland and cofounder  of the Arab Global Forum.

Through discussions and debates during several highly interactive sessions, participants identified  key areas on which the private sector can focus. Among them: education, the promotion of technology and communications especially the Internet, the expansion of microfinance, and the development of the rule of law particularly through judicial reform.
On education, participants put forward proposals to increase youth exchange programs and improve the quality of teaching in the Arab world. The goal is to provide adequate training for the growing ranks of young people in the region so that they are able to find employment.

“The demographic explosion is the single greatest threat to Arab prosperity and well-being,” warned Judith Kipper, Director, Middle East Programs, Institute of World Affairs, United States, in the closing plenary. “The answer is education.” Speaking in a morning session, Jeffrey D. Feltman, the US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, said: “If this rising generation can acquire the tools to achieve their potential, then they can be a powerful force not just for growth but also for good.”

In a keynote address earlier in the day, US Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, the only Arab-American member of President Obama’s Cabinet, told participants that the US is ready to reach out to the international community, including the Arab world. “We will continue to work with any country to do all that we can to collaborate together,” LaHood said. “We want to build bridges and share expertise.” LaHood urged business leaders impatient for concrete results following President Obama’s Cairo speech to “be patient” and “stay tuned.”

The next Arab Global Forum will take place in the Middle East in June 2010. The Forum’s US meeting will be held in the first week of December next year in Washington, DC. Said Smadja: This is a process, not a one-shot event.”

Please click here to visit the Arab Global Forum website.

The Arab Global Forum will take place December 7-8, 2009, in Washington, D.C. This groundbreaking event will bring together Arab business leaders, along with experts, policy-makers and senior executives of international corporations with direct involvement or keen interest in the Arab region to lay the foundations for expanding business and economic cooperation.

Today, the Arab world countries represent a total GDP of about 2.5 trillion U.S. dollars. Under the theme, “The Arab World in a New Global Context: Challenges, Choices and Opportunities,” this first meeting of the Arab Global Forum will look into changes in the region and at emerging business forces in the Arab World.

Shafik Gabr, the founder and convener of the conference, is not only a prominent Egyptian investor and philanthropist, but also a man with a vision for his country and the Arab world. The level of hope and energy President Obama injected into the region last June has been astounding, and Shafik wants both Americans and Arabs to harness that energy into concrete action.

On Wednesday, December 2, Shafik did a live interview with FoxBusiness where he discussed the current stock market crisis in Dubai and how it impacts investment in the Middle East.

Come learn about Egypt during an information display at the Rayburn House Office. There will be posters with facts about Egypt, as part of the Egyptian Press & Information Office's 100 Facts campaign. You can also peruse the Press Office's new Web site, www.modernegypt.info, or sign-up to receive updates and e-alerts about Egypt.

The Rayburn House Office Building is located southwest of the Capitol, between Independence Avenue and South Capitol Street and First Street and C Street, S.W. The display will be in the foyer of the first floor.

Minister of Communications and Information Technology Dr. Tarek Kamel and Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Dr. Hani Helal announced today that Egypt had signed up to acquire the first Arabic domain name suffixed ".misr.”

According to Kamel, Egypt is the first Arab nation to apply for a non-Latin character domain. The effort is part of a broader push to expand both access and content in developing nations, where the Internet remains out of reach for wide swaths of the population. Domain names ended by “.misr” will then be available on search engines for internet users to find.

"It is a great moment for us," Kamel said of the domain name, which translates as ".Egypt".

The registering of the domain "will offer new avenues for innovation, investment and growth, and hence we can truly and gladly say ... the Internet now speaks Arabic," Kamel said at the start of the Internet Governance Forum — a U.N. - sponsored gathering that drew Net legends like Yahoo Inc.'s Jerry Yang and Tim Berners-Lee, known as one of the Internet's founding fathers.

The new domains stem from a decision taken at the end of October by the board of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, a key Internet oversight agency, to develop a "fast-track" mechanism for domain names in languages such as Chinese, Korean, Arabic and others that do not use the Latin alphabet.

Yang said that while there are over 300 million Arabic speakers in the world, less than 1 percent of the content online is in Arabic.

The challenge "isn't just about getting as many people online as possible, but making sure that once they get online, they have something productive to do, something to gain, something meaningful to experience."

To read the November 15th AP article, please click here.

To read the press release put out by the Egypt Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, please click here.

Cairo, Egypt -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said last Wednesday she took on the "complicated and difficult" task of trying to restart talks on Israeli-Palestinian peace during her talks with Egypt's leaders.

Egypt is "an essential partner" in that effort, she said.

"President Obama, special envoy [George] Mitchell -- who is here with me today -- and I are all deeply and personally committed to achieving a two-state solution and comprehensive peace between Israelis, Palestinians and all of their Arab neighbors," Clinton said at a joint news conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Ali Aboul Gheit.

Clinton met with Aboul Gheit and other Egyptian leaders before consulting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. She said she felt "very satisfied by what we accomplished on this trip" despite the complex issues at hand.

Sharif Kamal Shahin, a diplomat with 27 years' experience and a former ambassador to Zambia, arrived in Iraq on Friday, the source said.

Egypt's foreign ministry spokesman has described the move as an "important step to promote relations between the two Arab countries."

Shahin's arrival in Baghdad comes just days after a visit to Egypt by Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari.

Cairo has had no official diplomatic representative in Iraq since the July 2005 abduction and murder by Al-Qaeda of its diplomat Ihab al-Sharif in Baghdad.

In October 2008, Ahmed Abul Gheit made the first visit by an Egyptian foreign minister to Iraq in 18 years.

Egyptian oil companies have said they are studying infrastructure and refining operations in Iraq.

"The Islam that we were taught in our youth is a religion that calls for peace and mercy. The first prophetic saying that is taught to a student of Islam is "Those who show mercy are shown mercy by the All-Merciful. Show mercy to those who are on earth and the One in the heavens will show mercy to you. What we have learnt about Islam has been taken from the clear, pristine, and scholarly understanding of the Quran, "O people we have created you from a single male and female and divided you into nations and tribes so that you may know one another." When God said "to know one another" He did not mean in order to kill one another. All religions have forbidden the killing of innocents. To kill an innocent human being is tantamount to killing the entire humanity.

"Let me be clear by reiterating that Islam is utterly against extremism and terrorism but unless we understand the factors that provide a rationalization for terrorism and extremism we will never be able to eradicate this scourge. This must be understood in order to build a better future that can bring an end to this grave situation that is destroying the world.

"My heart, my thoughts, and my prayers go out to the families who lost their loved ones. We offer our deepest and sincerest condolences to the families of the victims and pray for a speedy recovery of the wounded. We demand the perpetrator to be brought to justice and stand the trial.

Click here to read the rest of the article

“Human Rights, Democracy & Legislative Reforms: A Vision From Egypt” 

Sponsored by:
Georgetown University’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies
Wednesday, November 4, 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
CCAS Boardroom, ICC 241

Please join us for a lecture by H.E. Dr. Ahmed Fathi Sorour, President of the People's Assembly of Egypt, which will focus on political reform in support of human rights and democracy in Egypt from past to present to future.

Dr. Sorour is the President of the People's Assembly of Egypt, one of the two houses that constitute Egypt's parliament. Throughout his career he has held many distinguished positions, including that of Minister of Education, President of the Supreme Council of Universities and several high-level administrative roles at Cairo University.

He obtained his PhD in Criminal Law from Cairo University, his LLM from the University of Michigan, and his BS from Cairo University. Dr. Fathi Sorour is the President of the Egyptian People's Assembly, one of the two houses that constitute Egypt's parliament.

To attend this event, please RSVP here.

Contact:

Center for Contemporary Arab Studies

E-mail: ccasevents@georgetown.edu

But what is less noticed by the media is the other way in which America’s armed forces interact in the Middle East and the Arab world — namely through training missions with key allies. If asked in what region does the U.S. military for 30 years hold its largest foreign training exercise, few people would guess the Middle East. Yet right now, we are seeing such an exercise with American forces taking place in the desert sands of Egypt.

Bright Star, as this exercise is called, takes place every two years and is a direct outcome of the 1979 Camp David Accords. For nearly three decades the U.S. and Egyptian militaries have worked together — a relationship that is highlighted and strengthened when our forces go to Egypt for Bright Star. These two weeks of training are now an invaluable part of U.S. Central Command’s engagement strategy, dramatically improving our readiness and interoperability.

What began as small-unit training between the U.S. and Egyptian armies has grown into a joint/combined coalition, computer-aided command post exercise with tactical air, ground, naval and Special Forces components. The exercise now involves more than a dozen countries and usually includes more than 70,000 troops. But it is also a living embodiment of the peace that has existed for three decades between the U.S., Egypt and Israel.

The exercise is a two-way street: Our forces learn how to operate in desert conditions and are exposed to one of the world’s great Arab cultures, and the Egyptians gain from our technical knowledge and the professionalization of our armed forces. As Defense Secretary Robert Gates recently put it, “We have benefited from the interaction with the Egyptian armed forces, one of the most professional and capable in the region.”

Over the course of three decades, our engagement with Egypt has expanded into a number of other fields. Egypt’s support was central to Arab participation in the first Gulf War. When U.S. forces withdrew from Somalia in 1993, Egyptian soldiers safeguarded the American troops. The country’s willingness to keep the Suez Canal open to U.S. transit and to allow U.S. air operations have made our many missions in the Middle East possible. The Egyptian hospital at Bagram Air Field in Afghanistan sees more than 7,200 patients a month, significantly aiding our readiness. And Egyptian efforts to end the conflict in the Sudan through both peacekeeping operations and diplomacy are helping to destabilize radical elements that threaten the entire African continent.

Egypt benefits from U.S. military training and technical knowledge and an average of $1.3 billion a year in military and security aid. Expertise and resources are constantly being exchanged. In the past year alone, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has taught Egyptian troops to use advanced equipment to find and destroy tunnels used in illegal smuggling across its border with Gaza and significantly strengthened Egyptian efforts to tighten border security.

Egypt and the U.S. share the goals of destabilizing radical elements through moderation and creating lasting peace among all nations in the region. Our dynamic defense relationship sends a broad signal of deterrence through partnership and shows the world we value having strong Arab allies.

We welcome the chance of training with allies whenever we can get it, anywhere in the world. U.S. foreign policy and military decisions constantly stretch and alter our relationships with our allies. The value of a partner who has remained steadfast and dependable through difficult periods in a critical part of the world cannot be overestimated. Through operations like Bright Star we learn the true value of our friendships with other nations and, for our military, this kind of exercise is a vital part of how we keep America safe from attack.

Anthony C. Zinni is a retired four-star general in the U.S. Marine Corps and a former commander in chief of U.S. Central Command.
 

Retired Four Star Marine Corps General and former commander of U.S. Central Command, Anthony C. Zinni, commented on the history and benefits of the biennial Bright Star military exercises, currently taking place in Egypt, in today’s Stars and Stripes. For nearly thirty years the United States has taken part in the exercises, training in Egypt along side Egyptian and coalition troops, to improve interoperability and foster better cooperation among allied nations.

Zinni writes: “To keep our borders safe, sometimes it is necessary to project power outside them. Afghanistan is the obvious example of this — the mission to ensure that Afghanistan does not once again become a breeding ground from which terrorists can attack America and the rest of the world is a complicated-but-necessary one.

But what is less noticed by the media is the other way in which America’s armed forces interact in the Middle East and the Arab world — namely through training missions with key allies. If asked in what region does the U.S. military for 30 years hold its largest foreign training exercise, few people would guess the Middle East. Yet right now, we are seeing such an exercise with American forces taking place in the desert sands of Egypt.

Bright Star, as this exercise is called, takes place every two years and is a direct outcome of the 1979 Camp David Accords. For nearly three decades the U.S. and Egyptian militaries have worked together — a relationship that is highlighted and strengthened when our forces go to Egypt for Bright Star. These two weeks of training are now an invaluable part of U.S. Central Command’s engagement strategy, dramatically improving our readiness and interoperability.”

To read the full text of the op-ed, please click here.

The race is being organized under the direction of First Lady Suzanne Mubarak and supported by different organizations from Egypt and the U.S. Breast cancer advocates from the U.S. and the Middle East will gather in Egypt to increase breast cancer awareness throughout the region.

Dr. Mohamed Shaalan, chairman of the Breast Cancer Foundation in Egypt, said “the week’s events are a demonstration of the cooperation between countries, governments, civil society, advocates, survivors and the global community as a whole. It shows that breast cancer has no boundaries and reveals the beauty of the world’s unity in its fight against breast cancer …”

A series of events will take place during the week of October 21-27, including the training and commemorations in Alexandria on October 21-22 and the University of Florida’s Multidisciplinary Symposium on Breast Cancer Disease on October 24-27.

To read the full text of the article, please click here.

Egypt's GB Auto will form a subsidiary to help buyers purchase on credit vehicles from India's Bajaj a move that would allow GB to expand sales among lower income groups, GB said on Thursday.

The venture would acquire Bajaj-branded motorcycles and threewheelers (tuk tuks) already imported and assembled by GB Auto and allow them to be sold to consumers unable to obtain mainstream financing, the company said in a statement.

"This venture will bring GB Auto products to new customers and address a gap in available credit that is restricting sales in a fast-growing line of business," Chief Executive Officer Raouf Ghabbour said in the statement.

GB Auto, Egypt's biggest listed automobile maker and assembler, said motorcycle and threewheeler sales totaled 500 million Egyptian pounds ($91.3 million) in 2008 and would more than double over the next three years.

Threewheelers made by Bajaj hold a 95 percent market share of such vehicles sold in Egypt and its motorcycles account for one of every four motorcycles sold in the most populous Arab country.

Read the article here.

United Arab Emirates-based Dana Gas said on Tuesday it had made two gas finds in Egypt with reserves totaling an estimated 86 billion cubic feet.

The gas was located in Faraskur-1 and Marzouk-2 in one of its concessions in the Egyptian Nile Delta, the company said in a statement.

"The discoveries at the Marzouk-2 and Faraskur-1 wells represent the eighth and ninth discoveries from our 2008-09 drilling campaign in the Nile Delta," said Chief Executive Ahmed al-Arbeed.

"The ... drilling campaign is continuing to yield very positive results, boosting Dana Gas' production and profitability," he added.

The Faraskur-1 discovery, which is alone expected to add up to 73 billion cubic feet to the company's Egyptian reserves, is located in the West El Manzala Concession, the statement said.

Dana Gas, which relies on Egypt for the bulk of its income, said last year that it planned to invest about $500 million in Egypt and Iraq's Kurdish region in 2009 to boost natural gas output.

To read the full article, please click here.

America and the West have been victims of violent extremists acting in the name of Islam, the tragic events of 9/11 being only the most egregious of their attacks. Western officials and commentators are consumed by the question, "Where are the moderates?" Many, seeing only the extremism perpetuated by a radical few, despair of finding progressive and peaceful partners of standing in the Muslim world.

However, reconciling Islam with modernity has been an imperative for Muslims before it became a preoccupation for the West. In particular, the process dates back to the 19th century, when what became known as the Islamic reform movement was born in Al Azhar University in Cairo, Islam's premiere institution of learning.

At the Dar al Iftaa, Egypt's supreme body for Islamic legal edicts over which I preside, we wrestle constantly with the issue of applying Islam to the modern world. We issue thousands of fatwas or authoritative legal edicts—for example affirming the right of women to dignity, education and employment, and to hold political office, and condemning violence against them. We have upheld the right of freedom of conscience, and of freedom of expression within the bounds of common decency. We have promoted the common ground that exists between Islam, Christianity and Judaism. We have underscored that governance must be based on justice and popular sovereignty. We are committed to human liberty within the bounds of Islamic law. Nonetheless, we must make more tangible progress on these and other issues.

We unequivocally condemned violence against the innocent during Egypt's own struggle with terrorism in the 1980s and 90's, and after the heinous sin of 9/11. We continue to do so in public debates with extremists on their views of Islam, in our outreach to schools and youth organizations, in our training of students from all across the world at Egypt's theological institutions, and in our counseling of captured terrorists. As the head of the one of the foremost Islamic authorities in the world, let me restate: The murder of civilians is a crime against humanity and God punishable in this life and the next.

Yet, just as we recommit to reinforcing the values of moderation in our faith, we look to the United States to assume its responsibility for the sake of a better relationship between the West and Islam.

First, it is essential that the U.S. confront the fear and misunderstanding that has often pervaded the public discourse about Islam, especially in the media.

Second, while we must strive to reinforce the common principles that we share, we must also accept the reality of differences in our values and in our outlook. Islam and the West have distinct value systems. Respect for our differences is a foundation for coexistence, and never for conflict.

Finally, there must a true commitment to the rule of law, and to sovereign equality, as the legitimate basis for international relations. While some of the divide between Islam and the West lies in the realm of ideas, it lies mostly in the realm of politics. The violence and the aggression to which many Muslim countries have been subjected are the main sources of a deep and legitimate sense of grievance, and they must be addressed.

Israel's occupation of Palestine must be brought to an end; its continuation is an affront to the fundamental tenets of justice and freedom that we all seek to uphold. In Iraq and Afghanistan, full sovereignty and independence must be restored to their people with the withdrawal of all foreign forces. President Barack Obama's historic address to the Muslim world from Cairo on June 4 was a landmark event that opened the door to a new relationship between Islam and the West, precisely because it acknowledged these imperatives. Yet much work needs to be done by both sides.

This week in Washington I am participating in the Common Word Initiative, a group of religious leaders hosted by Georgetown University's Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding. While the focus of this initiative has been to foster dialogue between Islam and Christianity, I will call for its expansion to include representatives of all the Abrahamic faiths. The road ahead will be difficult, but we can, God willing, arrive at a more peaceful future together.

Dr. Gomaa is one of the world’s preeminent scholars of Islamic Law. He presides over the Dar Al Ifta, Egypt’s supreme body for Islamic legal edicts, advising Muslims on how to abide by their faith in an enlightened manner while dealing with the changing circumstances of a modern world. This week he is visiting Washington D.C. to attend a meeting of the Common Word, a global initiative to explore and promote the common ground between two great faiths: Christianity and Islam.

To read the full piece in the Wall Street Journal, click here.

Islam, Israel and the United States

Peace among the Abrahamic faiths will be built on respect and the law.

By SHEIKH ALI GOMAA, WSJ, 10/8/09

America and the West have been victims of violent extremists acting in the name of Islam, the tragic events of 9/11 being only the most egregious of their attacks. Western officials and commentators are consumed by the question, "Where are the moderates?" Many, seeing only the extremism perpetuated by a radical few, despair of finding progressive and peaceful partners of standing in the Muslim world.

However, reconciling Islam with modernity has been an imperative for Muslims before it became a preoccupation for the West. In particular, the process dates back to the 19th century, when what became known as the Islamic reform movement was born in Al Azhar University in Cairo, Islam's premiere institution of learning.

At the Dar al Iftaa, Egypt's supreme body for Islamic legal edicts over which I preside, we wrestle constantly with the issue of applying Islam to the modern world. We issue thousands of fatwas or authoritative legal edicts—for example affirming the right of women to dignity, education and employment, and to hold political office, and condemning violence against them. We have upheld the right of freedom of conscience, and of freedom of expression within the bounds of common decency. We have promoted the common ground that exists between Islam, Christianity and Judaism. We have underscored that governance must be based on justice and popular sovereignty. We are committed to human liberty within the bounds of Islamic law. Nonetheless, we must make more tangible progress on these and other issues.

Yet, just as we recommit to reinforcing the values of moderation in our faith, we look to the United States to assume its responsibility for the sake of a better relationship between the West and Islam.

First, it is essential that the U.S. confront the fear and misunderstanding that has often pervaded the public discourse about Islam, especially in the media.

Second, while we must strive to reinforce the common principles that we share, we must also accept the reality of differences in our values and in our outlook. Islam and the West have distinct value systems. Respect for our differences is a foundation for coexistence, and never for conflict.

Finally, there must a true commitment to the rule of law, and to sovereign equality, as the legitimate basis for international relations. While some of the divide between Islam and the West lies in the realm of ideas, it lies mostly in the realm of politics. The violence and the aggression to which many Muslim countries have been subjected are the main sources of a deep and legitimate sense of grievance, and they must be addressed.

Israel's occupation of Palestine must be brought to an end; its continuation is an affront to the fundamental tenets of justice and freedom that we all seek to uphold. In Iraq and Afghanistan, full sovereignty and independence must be restored to their people with the withdrawal of all foreign forces. President Barack Obama's historic address to the Muslim world from Cairo on June 4 was a landmark event that opened the door to a new relationship between Islam and the West, precisely because it acknowledged these imperatives. Yet much work needs to be done by both sides.

WASHINGTON – Yesterday, in an event entitled, "The Challenge of Moderation in Islam: Egypt's Religious Institution Versus Extremism" the Grand Mufti of Egypt Dr. Ali Gomaa told a crowd of roughly 100 people that radicalism has no place in Islam. The event was co-sponsored by the Middle East Studies program at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies and the Religion and Peacemaking program at the U.S. Institute of Peace.

At the event, the Grand Mufti stressed the importance of understanding the true nature of Islam – a religion based on principles of peace, respect and moderation. He referenced the ease with which people can take messages from the Koran out of context, often interpreting these hallowed principles to mean the exact opposite of their original objective. He also answered questions on ways to promote moderation in Islam, how to combat terrorism and extremism in Islam and the Muslim viewpoint of terrorism and the West in a post-9/11 world.

Dr. Gomaa spoke about Egypt’s experience in fighting terrorism since the assassination of the late President Anwar Sadat in 1981, describing a two-pronged strategy; religious leaders work to rehabilitate violent extremists while public campaigns are mounted to deny religious legitimacy to extremist ideology and acts of violence.

The Grand Mufti said in his speech, “I’m here to express myself and to state (these) realities that I know to be true and which I have written a great deal about, and I do this to get rid of a lot of the misconceptions that may be around about Islam and its realities so that we can together move forward and enter into true relations and dialogue between the East and the West.”

Sheikh Gomaa continued to say, “The common ground that is shared between us is that we must respect human beings for their humanity. And for that reason we call to peace, and to rejecting and eradicating violence, and to rejecting and eradicating extremism.”

In today’s Wall Street Journal, Sheikh Gomaa writes that Muslims must “recommit to reinforcing the values of moderation in our faith” and called for the U.S. to “assume its responsibility for the sake of a better relationship between the West and Islam.”

The Grand Mufti is in Washington, D.C. attending the Common Word conference at Georgetown University, the fourth major Muslim-Christian dialogue conference of its kind.

Dr. Gomaa was appointed Grand Mufti of Egypt, and head of Dar Al Ifta, Egypt’s supreme body for Islamic legal edicts, in 2003 by President Hosni Mubarak, making him the senior interpreter of Islamic law in the country. He is active in global interfaith efforts, including the Common Word initiative launched by senior Islamic leaders in 2007, arguing that dialogue can dissolve barriers.

Dr. Gomaa has been a regular critic of interpretations of Islam that condone violence, and has written extensively on spirituality, prevention of violence, human rights, women's equality and peacemaking. The Grand Mufti greatly welcomed President Obama’s speech in Cairo, which called for greater interaction to forge new relations between the Islamic world and the West. On that occasion, Dar Al Ifta issued a document entitled "Our Faith," explaining the basic tenants of Islam.

The document can be read here.

The full audio of the lecture and Q&A session can be found here.

For more information on the Grand Mufti, please visit his official English Web site here.

To read the full text Grand Mufti’s Op/Ed in the Wall Street Journal please click here.

"We reject... any form of rebellion and any foreign interference (in Yemen). Egypt is supporting its sister state Yemen by all means at its disposal," he told reporters in Sanaa. 

The visit comes as Arab governments moved on Sunday to support Sanaa in its bid to crush rebels in northern Yemen, while clashes erupted in the southern city of Dhaleh over the detention of southerners viewed by the authorities as secessionists. 

Arab League chief Amr Moussa is due in Sanaa on Tuesday to meet President Ali Abdullah Saleh and discuss efforts to restore calm. 

Click here to read more

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has urged Israel to open talks with the Palestinians on the full range of issues blocking the path to peace.

Mubarak said they should move straight to the six "final status" issues: borders, the status of Jerusalem, refugees, Israeli settlements in occupied territory, security and use of water.

"What is required now is political will, particularly by the leaders of Israel," Mubarak said in an interview with the newspaper al-Quwat al-Musallaha (The Armed Forces).

Mubarak said he was in regular contact with Israeli leaders including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Shimon Peres and Defense Minister Ehud Barak.

He said talks should resume where they left off under the previous Israeli government.

"It is not reasonable or acceptable to start from scratch. I told them that the negotiations should address all six final status issues without exception," he said.

Egypt signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1979, the first Arab state to do so.

Mubarak said that agreement, which saw Israel withdraw troops and settlers from Egypt's Sinai peninsula, should be seen as a model for future pacts between Israel and the Palestinians and other Arab states.

To read the full article please click here.

Egypt will offer two licenses to provide telecommunications services for upscale suburbs outside the capital, including fixed lines, a government official said Wednesday, in a move expected to bring in $1 billion worth of investments over the next five years.

Communication and Information Technology Minister Tarek Kamel said the licenses will be granted to a pair of consortia to operate internet, cable TV and phone services within these communities springing up around Cairo.

"These two additional licenses are for inviting consortia to come in from the private sector whether locally or internationally," said Kamel, speaking on the sidelines of the Euromoney Egypt conference.

The companies will not be required to submit an upfront payment, but the licenses would be based on a revenue sharing program in which the government would get 8 percent of the proceeds of operations within these compounds.

Telecom Egypt, the state-owned company, would still operate in these communities, including fixed line services.

Over the last few years, Cairo has been expanding and its developers have invested billions of dollars in new housing communities in the desert catering to upper- and middle-income Egyptians.

The government's move also indicates a shift in the responsibility for providing infrastructure from the state to private developers. 

Click here to read more

September 29, 2009

Egypt’s government expects to attract about $10 billion in foreign direct investment in the fiscal year through June 2010, up from $8.1 billion the previous year, Investment Minister Mahmoud Mohieldin said.

“This is not hard to get,” Mohieldin said today at a conference in Cairo. The government will promote 52 projects to foreign investors, including Asian and Gulf Arab sovereign wealth funds, he said.

The government expects growth of more than 5 percent in the fiscal year through June 30 and is drafting a law to encourage companies to invest in infrastructure, Mohieldin said.

Egypt’s economy expanded 4.7 percent in the fiscal year, exceeding the International Monetary Fund’s forecast of 4 percent to 4.5 percent. That compares with the 7 percent growth that the country achieved in the previous three years.

The 52 projects that the government is promoting include energy, housing, water distillation and roads, Mohieldin said.

A support package of up to 15 billion Egyptian pounds ($2.7 billion) for infrastructure, proposed by the Economic Development Ministry last month, won’t be necessary unless investment by Egyptian or foreign companies falls short of targets, the minister said.

Click here for the full article

Egypt's economy is projected to grow by over 5 percent in the fiscal year ending in June 2010, the country's investment minister said Tuesday. This latest projection is higher than the 4.7 percent growth achieved in the last fiscal year

Foreign direct investment, which along with tourism, the Suez Canal and worker remittances, make up the key revenue sources for the country, is expected to be about $10 billion in the coming fiscal year, Mohieddin said.

That is a rebound from the $8.1 billion level reported in the last fiscal year as the financial crisis squeezed the global economy.

Egypt had embarked on a sweeping financial and economic reform program several years ago. The country reformed its banking sector and is working on simplifying other business services.

It was ranked for the fourth year in a row among the Global Top 10 Reforming Governments by the World Bank.

Click here to read the full article

100 Facts about Egypt, Fact #3

The Affordable Mortgage Finance Program seeks to fulfill one of the government’s key priorities in providing affordable housing for low and middle-income households.

The Program is a result of the strong partnership established between the Ministry of Investment, the Ministry of Housing, Utilities and Urban Development, and the World Bank.

“We are pleased to support the ongoing development of the mortgage market and the creation of a more efficient housing finance market that targets low and middle income groups,” said Emmanuel Mbi, Country Director for Egypt , Yemen and Djibouti .

The Program has three main components: Strengthening the legal, regulatory and institutional framework for the Mortgage Finance Subsidies Program; developing an effective and efficient mortgage finance subsidy mechanism; and improving the institutional framework to enhance transparency and targeting of housing subsidies. 

Click here to read the full article

Minister of Communications and Information Technology Dr. Tarek Kamel said that one of the most important usages of e-signature would be to issue permits, collect taxes and tariffs.

The E-Signature law reflects the Government's belief that facilitating IT tools and applications in using e-signature supports the transformation into an electronic world where the security of people's money and papers is further guaranteed.

In addition, the expansion in the use of e-signature adds to Egypt's competitiveness and is expected to boost investments.

Government’s savings as a result of this electronic authentication system are expected to be diverged into funding for social and development programs.

Click here to read the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology Press Release

Aboul Gheit said Israel is assumed to possess nuclear weapons, and if Iran is also acquiring a nuclear capability many countries in the Middle East would be uneasy, triggering an arms race.

Reacting to the news about Iran’s recently revealed uranium plant, Ahmed Abul Gheit told the daily Asharq Al-Awsat that the new uranium enrichment plant triggered "mounting suspicions", noting that the new plant in Qom signals intentions that should not be allowed"

The discovery of the plant's existence "is a negative development and we believe that Iran should have notified the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) years ago."

He stressed the necessity for the region, including Israel, to be free of nuclear weapons.

Click here and here to read more

Egypt's first solar power station will operate at full capacity in 2010, state news agency MENA reported on Monday.

The agency quoted Minister of Electricity Hassan Younes saying the station, located just south of Cairo in Koraymat, would have a capacity of 140 megawatts.

The power station is part of a larger facility that also includes three non-solar units and is expected to generate 2,900 megawatts once it comes on-stream.

Younes said the project was already connected to the national electricity distribution grid, adding that 99 percent of Egypt's population was connected to the grid, the highest rate in Africa.

Egypt aims to generate 20 percent of its power from renewable sources by 2020.

Click here to read more

100 Facts about Egypt, Fact # 7

A 6,000-square-foot exhibit titled “Lost Egypt: Ancient Secrets, Modern Science” opens in October at the Cincinnati Museum Center. On display will be the mummy of a 4 year old boy, along with real artifacts and hands on activities illustrating Egypt’s culture and people.

The exhibit was created and produced by the Center of Science and Industry in Columbus, where it premiered in May, and was built by the Science Museum of Minnesota. It includes human and animal mummies and scans showing what's inside them, a life-size rapid prototype of a mummy in a stage of unwrapping, forensic facial reconstructions and videos and photos showing Egyptology experts in the field.

The mummy of the young boy will appear at the exhibit's stop at the Museum Center, which received it as a gift from the Cincinnati Art Museum earlier this month. Museum Center officials believe Lost Egypt will mark the first time the mummy has been on exhibit. With no hieroglyphs to indicate his real name on the linen wrappings, they have named him Umi, which is pronounced "OO-me" and means "life."

"It hasn't been treated with total care, but it's still in remarkable condition," says Gene Kritsky, a biology professor at the College of Mount St. Joseph and a former Fulbright scholar in Egypt who has studied Egyptian amulets and hieroglyphics extensively.

The 38-inch-long mummy first arrived in Cincinnati in 1950, when the Cincinnati Art Museum acquired it from Edward L. Bernays of New York, a nephew of Sigmund Freud and a public relations pioneer whose clients included Procter & Gamble. In a 1949 letter, Bernays wrote that he obtained the mummy from "a distinguished student of the Near East," according to the Museum Center.

The University of Cincinnati took radiographic scans of the mummy in 1983, which revealed 24 small amulets and that the mummy likely was a 3- or 4-year-old boy based on its teeth and skeleton. The mummy originally had been identified as that of an 8- or 9-year-old princess.

But further investigation conducted this year has revealed much more about the mummy. University of Cincinnati radiologists conducted CT (computerized tomography) scans that produced high-resolution images showing things the 1983 scans could not detect: Molded reliefs of the amulets of Egyptian deities, animals and symbols and a wooden board, painted with hieroglyphs, on which the skeleton rests. With carbon dating, the board could help determine the child's age.

Click here to read more

Click here for more information on the exhibit

* Negotiations must begin at the earliest possible opportunity, with the international community providing a clear vision for a final settlement
* Israel must commit to and abide by a complete settlement freeze in all the occupied territories including East Jerusalem
* The settlement freeze must continue in parallel with the negotiating process to strengthen Palestinian confidence in Israel intentions.
* If an agreement on final borders is reached, and they will be based on the 1967 borders as agreed during US-sponsored negotiations in 2008, that agreement may implemented in a gradual manner on a time table agreed to by the parties.
* East Jerusalem in as integral and inalienable part of the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and a final status issue which must be part of any upcoming negotiations
* Israel’s engagement in serious, credible, clearly-defined and time bound negotiations may restore Arab engagement with Israel with a view to supporting mutual trust, and the negotiating process as a whole

On a related noted, the Egyptian Foreign minister along with the Secretary-General of the Arab League urged President Barack Obama on Friday to present his own outline of an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, in order to break the current deadlock and spur negotiations.

Aboul Gheit said such a deal should be based on the idea of a Palestinian state in the territories occupied by Israel in the 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital. A framework should also state that Israelis and Palestinians agree to live in peace and security, and outline steps toward normalization, he said.

This outline "would allow the parties to negotiate the end game," Aboul Gheit told The Associated Press in an interview, after meeting earlier in the day with Obama's Mideast envoy, George Mitchell.

Click here to read more

Click here to read Minister Aboul Gheit’s full speech at the United Nations

Egypt’s ambassador to the United States told a standingroom-only-crowd at the Clinton School of Public Service on Wednesday that resolving the many challenges in the Middle East, particularly the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, is in the world’s best interest.

“The Israeli-Palestian conflict remains the most pressing issue in the Middle East,” Sameh Shoukry said during the lunchtime speech in Little Rock.

Shoukry acknowledged that Iran’s nuclear ambitions must be addressed and extremism must be combated, but said reaching a settlement for Mideast peace is vital.

“Resolving the conflict permanently and comprehensively with the goal of establishing ... a viable and sovereign Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza would first and foremost put an end to more than six decades of Palestinian suffering and contribute significantly to the security and stability of all the states of the Middle East,” he said.

The United States, he said, has a responsibility to play a key role in brokering an agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.

Shoukry’s speech came a day after President Barack Obama met with Israeli and Palestinian leaders to urge them to restart the Middle East peace process.

“Simply put, it is past time to talk about starting negotiations - it is time to move forward,” Obama said Tues- day after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

“It is time to show the flexibility and common sense and sense of compromise that’s necessary to achieve our goals. Permanent status negotiations must begin and begin soon.”

Shoukry lauded Obama’s commitment to making progress in negotiations, especially at a time when Obama is dealing with issues such as a weakened economy and health care in the United States.

He also praised Obama for flying to Egypt in June to address Muslims and Arabs around the world.

In his speech, Obama said that as long as the relationship between Muslims and the West is defined by differences, “we will empower those who sow hatred rather than peace, and who promote conflict rather than the cooperation that can help all of our people achieve justice and prosperity.”

Shoukry said Obama has made a commitment to improving those relationships, but he must follow through.

“Although President Obama won the first round in the battle of captivating the hearts and minds, we all understand that one impressive speech will not erase years of mistrust and missed opportunities,” he said. “Deeds will have to follow words.”

Ambassador Fahmy is the Dean of the School of Public Affairs at the American University in Cairo and Chair of the Center for Nonproliferation studies in the Middle East.

To read the full piece on The Huffington Post website, click here.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

A Clear Path Forward for the UN on Nuclear Disarmament

By Nabil Fahmy

This week, President Obama will chair a UN Security Council meeting on nuclear nonproliferation – the first time that a US president has ever done this.

In April, the U.S. president called for a nuclear free world in a keynote speech in Prague. At the time, many dismissed the remarks as the dreamy notions of a young administration with little national security experience. But President Obama's speech was not a lone shot in the dark. Several months earlier, four Cold War era American elder statesmen - Henry Kissinger, William Perry, George Shultz and Sam Nunn - had issued a similar call.

There is a new consensus forming around the nuclear issue and a new willingness for countries to act. For years, the nuclear debate revolved around those few countries that had nuclear weapons and those - equally small in number - trying to get them. Today, the security paradigm for the nuclear world has altered. The imminent threat no longer comes from a handful of superpowers, but the potential for the acquisition of nuclear weapons by unstable regimes and non-state entities. This reality affects us all. This status quo is not acceptable.

To read more, click here.

"We are reassured that everything is in place; no country could have done more than what Egypt achieved in such a period of time," Jack A. Warner, FIFA vice-president and Organizing Committee chairman, said in a press conference Wednesday.

"We are happy that Egypt, a country where football is like a religion, is hosting the second biggest tournament organized by FIFA with all this business and governmental support to the tournament," he added.

While all eyes will be on Egypt, more than 60 talent scouts representing top European clubs will be looking for future talents like Lionel Messi, Ronaldinho and Luis Figo whose launching pad was the U-20 World Cup.
With players like Mohamed Talaat, Ahmed Shokry, Moaz El Henawy and Mohamed Abu Gabal, the Egyptian team is aiming for the top spot and breaking their third place record reached in Argentina in 2001.

Click here to read more

The most compelling problems in the Middle East, from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to prospects of a nuclear-armed Iran, require full engagement by the United States to solve, Egypt’s ambassador to the U.S. said today.

“We are encouraged by signs of determination by the (Obama) administration,” Ambassador Sameh Shoukry said during a speech to students at the Clinton School of Public Service.

“These challenges have a wide-ranging impact both on the region and beyond,” Shoukry said. “This has led us to an obvious conclusion, in that positive engagement with the U.S. and rallying behind the international community is crucial to address these challenges.”

He said the U.S.-Egyptian partnership is strong, and he encouraged President Obama to move forward in efforts to help negotiate a lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

Shoukry also said Egypt supports Obama’s desire to “seek a world free of nuclear weapons,” and he warned that Iran’s development of nuclear weapons would set off a dangerous arms race in the Middle East.

Click here to read the full text of the article

Check back here for a video of the Ambassador’s full speech

A third Egyptian medical convey began its mission in Darfur on September 16 according to a statement by the spokesman for the Egyptian Foreign Ministry.

The spokesman noted that Egypt had dispatched a medical convoy in April 2009 that included 40 physicians that were assigned to the main hospitals of the three capitals of the Darfur region, and that a medical convoy that had treated 18,000 Darfurians was also sent in mid-July.

Egypt’s assistance to Darfur also includes sending food aid to various cities (at a cost of approximately USD 1 million from January to July 2008), digging wells in Darfur, providing training programs in agriculture, health and education to governmental and non governmental agencies. Egypt’s assistance aims at supporting peace, stability and development in Darfur.

Please click here to read the article on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website.

In partnership with Travco, a tourism group in Egypt, Air Arabia has announced its plans to launch a new low-cost airline in Egypt with destinations to Europe, Middle East and Africa. Air Arabia, the first low-cost airline in the Middle East, has announced a 21 percent increase in net profits for the first half of 2009 despite its many competitors and the global financial downturn. Egypt is the airline’s third hub after Morocco and UAE.

Cairo International Airport is already the second busiest airport in Africa, after Johannesburg International in South Africa, and also the fastest growing airport in the Middle East. The Air Arabia expansion is expected to boost the Egyptian tourism sector even more - a significant benefit to the Egyptian economy, which has already outperformed expectations this year growing at 4.7 percent.

Click here to read more

Ambassador Mushira Mhamoud Khatab, Minister of State for Family and Population, headed the Egyptian delegation to the International Conference on Violence against women in Rome last week, where she chaired a special session on the right to education and gave a presentation on the Egyptian initiative on girls education which is being implemented under the auspices of the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood. 

Ambassador Khatab asserted Egypt’s commitment to the United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative, which aims to reduce the gender gap in schooling and to give girls equal access to all levels of education. 

The Egyptian Girls Education Initiative has been described in a United Nations Children’s Fund report as being “the creation of a new generation of schools for a new generation of women—women who are educated, empowered, and eager to take their rightful place in society, as equal partners in its development, be it in the family, in the community, or beyond”. 

Please click here to read the article on the Al-Ahram website. 

Please click here to read the UNICEF report, "The Girls' Education Initiative in Egypt."

Washington — Despite global economic distress, Egypt has once again been lauded for its reforms to promote ease of doing business by both the World Bank and the World Economic Forum.

For the fourth year in a row, Egypt ranked among the Global Top 10 Reforming Governments by the World Bank. Doing Business 2010: Reforming through Difficult Times evaluates countries based on government regulations and their impact on business prosperity. Egypt also jumped 10 places in the report’s global ranking of countries, and was among the top 50 in the categories of starting a business and trading across borders.

“Among the world’s 10 most active reformers for the fourth time, Egypt made business start-up less costly, expedited the construction permit process, expanded the information available from the private credit bureau, and created commercial courts to speed up contract dispute settlements,” the World Bank said in a press release.

Commenting on the report USAID said it was “honored to have partnered with eight of the top-ten countries,” adding that it had worked with Egypt “on reforms that reduced the capital required for new business registrations, made it faster to obtain required construction permits, and created specialized commercial courts to reduce the time required to resolve disputes,” and that “these reforms build on a history of USAID assistance in Egypt that since 2006 have reduced the time to register a business from 34 days to seven, reduced the time to register property by more than 100 days, and cut in half the time to export/import goods.”

Egypt also moved up 11 places in the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report. According to the report, the improvement stems from Egypt’s reforms to improve the efficiency of labor and financial markets. It also notes the size of Egypt’s economy, stable private institutions and the quality of “transport and energy networks.”

“The indicator of starting a business has seen great progress since 2007, thanks to a package of institutional and legislative reforms: the cancellation of the minimum capital of the limited liability companies, cost reduction, setting up One Stop Shop service settlements at the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI), reducing the time needed to start a business to only three days and enforcing a taxation registration mechanization system so that taxation cards and social insurance cards now only take a single day to obtain. This helped improve Egypt’s rank in that indicator from 126 in 2007 to 41 in 2008 and 24 in 2009,” said Egypt Minister of Investment, Mahmoud Mohieldin.

According to the World Bank, healthy competition in the North Africa and Middle East region has spurred 17 of the 19 countries to reform business regulations. Egypt has been a leader in this development by implementing multiple reforms: cutting the corporate tax rate in half, simplifying tariffs and lowering personal taxes. As a result of these efforts, the unemployment rate fell from 11 percent in 2005 to 9 percent in 2009. The Egyptian economy outpaced expectations when it expanded 4.7 percent in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2009.

The other countries named in the Doing Business top 10 are Rwanda, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Belarus, United Arab Emirates, Moldova, Colombia, Tajikistan and Liberia.

The National Center for Social and Criminological Research signed an agreement on Saturday with UNDP “Benaa Program”, a human rights capacity building initiative, to conduct a comprehensive study on human trafficking in Egypt. 

Ambassador Wael Aboul-Magd, Director of the Human Rights department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that the National Committee for Combating Human Trafficking, which has worked on addressing all aspects of human trafficking since 2007, saw the need for a comprehensive study to provide research based guidance to national policy making on this issue, and, in particular, to focus government efforts to combat this these illicit activities, and plan public awareness campaigns. 

On a related issue, Ambassador Naela Gabr, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for International Agencies, and chairwoman of National Committee, organized a meeting with representatives of civil society to explain and consult with them on proposed Anti-Human Trafficking Legislation. She stated that “the proposed law is based on the need to protect the rights of victims, and stress [their lack of criminal responsibility] for any illegal acts they may commit as victims, as well as providing them with all necessary health, legal, social and economic assistance”.

Please click here to read the article on the Al-Masry Al-Youm website.
 

The mayor of Tianjin Huang Xingguo is seeking to boost cooperation with the Northwest Gulf of Suez in order to increase the flow of investments in the region after Tiida Egypt, a Chinese company, won a bid to develop the North West Suez Economic Zone.

In a meeting with Egyptian Investment Minister Mahmoud Mohieldin on Thursday 9/10/2009, Huang said that Beijing will be offering a USD 20-million grant to establish an investment service building in the area. According to Mohiedlin, the project will not only attract investors but it will also create jobs in the region.

Chinese investments in Egypt have recently increased with China owing shares in 865 Egyptian companies.

Please click here to read the original article. 

Minister of Investment Mahmoud Mohieldin will be attending a special summer session of the World Economic Forum in the city of Dalian in China today. The minister and his delegation also plan on touring three high tech zones in the province and meeting with Chinese officials.

The minister said that his visit to China had been very fruitful having achieved its main goals and that other Egyptian delegations will also be visiting China soon, including the planned visit by the prime minister next year.

Mohieldin also inaugurated on Saturday the Egyptian-Chinese Investment Forum, which will support economic cooperation between the two countries.

Please click here to read the original article.

Please click here to read more.
 

The initiative, which was initiated in 2006 by Minister of Communications and Information Technology Tarek Kamal is part of the government’s commitment to increase access to technology and the internet, and is one of the components of the Egyptian Information Society Initiative (EISI), which the Ministry is implementing jointly with all Egyptian ministries and authorities to turn Egypt into a digital society through the spread of ICT tools. 

Please click here to read the original article on Al-Ahram news. 

Please click here to read the press release from the Egyptian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.

CAIRO: Egypt’s world ranking has improved a dramatic 11 places. Unfortunately for football fans, Egypt’s dramatic rise was in the World Economic Forum’s “World Competitiveness Report 2009/2010” and not the recent FIFA rankings.
Egypt is now ranked 70 in global competitiveness, up from 81 in the 2008/2009 edition of the report.

The report was generated based on surveys of business executives coupled with publicly available databases. Saudi Arabia and Bahrain moved just a single place forward. Qatar and the UAE remain the highest ranked in the region, both were in the top 30. 

Algeria’s shift was even more dramatic than Egypt’s, moving from 99 up to 83rd place. While Tunisia and Oman tripped a few spots in the ratings, Syria took a tumble from 78 to 94.

The report notes the pros and cons of doing business in Egypt. Executives highlighted the size of the Egyptian market, which was ranked 26, as well as the recent improvements in infrastructure.

Egypt has been heavily investing in infrastructure to boost the local economy: a new terminal at Cairo International Airport, completing the Ring Road in Cairo and accompanying bridge. Work has also begun on a new metro line and turning the Cairo-Alexandria Desert Road into a freeway.

Much of the government’s stimulus package was spent on these improvements, which will assist the flow of goods and labor domestically.

Egypt also gets good marks for streamlining procedures to start a business, removing barriers to entering the market and most recently launching e-registration for new companies.

Those surveys noticed it now costs less time and money to begin new entrepreneurial efforts. Entrepreneurship is important to Egypt as it struggles to deal with unemployment.

At the same time, the report criticized the inflexibility of the local labor market, taking issue with the difficulty and high cost of firing employees. This makes employers reluctant to hire and serves to depress employment, especially for women, which prompts many to turn to the informal sector.

Malak Reda, of the Egyptian Center for Economic Studies, which contributed to the World Economic Forum report, noted that, “The situation approaches a dichotomy between the formal and informal labor sector. In the informal sector of course there is no firing and women’s participation in informal and agriculture is huge so we must be
cautious with official figures.” 

Nagla Rizk, a development economist at the American University of Cairo, concurred, noting that “Egypt, like any developing country, has a huge informal sector which sometimes gets left out of the national survey… micro-finance efforts also go uncounted.”

Both executives surveyed and Malak Reda noted that corruption is a problem in Egypt where baksheeh is a cultural phenomena. “Dealing with corruption is critical and there must be more effort,” Reda said, “The corruption laws need to be enforced and serious penalties need to be applied for those engaging in corruption.” 

Commenting on the World Economic Forum report, CI Capital said, “Since the onset of the global economic crisis, the government has shown continuous commitment to support Egypt's economy. By pumping in a LE 15 billion stimulus package; announcing a new set of investment incentives; and loosening monetary policy which was reflected in a GDP growth of 4.7 percent in fiscal year 2008/09.” 

The formalization of the informal sector is also essential, though Reda noted the problems inherent in formalization. “It is quiet difficult you don’t pay taxes and all the sudden you have to deal with a property tax and you don’t understand how it is calculated — it gives more incentive to avoid areas with taxes.” 

Increasing revenues from taxes is key to economic growth and one of the major reforms the country has undertaken in the past years. “Slowing expenditure, and aided by implementing an efficient tax collection system the fiscal deficit was contained to 6.9 percent of GDP versus a budgeted ratio of 8 percent. Such efforts have been reflected in the improvement in the investment climate and the country’s ranking amid the region,” said CI Capital. 

Reda doubts the government will be able to fulfill its commitment to reducing the budget deficit. “If they maintain the budget deficit I will be very happy, though of course at the present the government is in need of liquidity,” she said.

Egypt also did well in specific categories. Egypt was number 78 in basic requirements, 80 in efficiency enhancers, 71 in business sophistication and innovation. 

Please click here to read the article on The Daily News Egypt.

For the beautiful people, Azza Fahmy may be one of the best-known names in Egypt. 

A high-end jewelry designer, Fahmy's creations have adorned such beauties as supermodel Naomi Campbell and Queen Rania of Jordan. 

Her international luxury brand, Azza Fahmy Jewelries, blends Egyptian motifs and modern design to create high-end pieces. Working with precious metals and stones, Fahmy's work is inspired by the distinctive shapes, colors, textures and calligraphy of the country.

Cairo, the largest city in the Arab world nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets," is Fahmy's home. She thinks she may have lived a previous life in old Cairo, which has now grown into a mega-city of almost 20 million inhabitants.
"It's a strong feeling when I'm walking in the streets going to old houses, churchs and old mosques," Fahmy told CNN. "It's something inside me which I can't describe, as if I've lived before in these places." 

In the 1960s, Fahmy was the first woman to apprentice in Cairo's jewelry district. She says she'd whither and die if she ever had to leave Egypt. 

She takes us on a personal tour of the beguiling Egyptian capital, where she finds inspiration in almost everything she sees. "Everything in my mind is jewelry," she explains. "I turn it into jewelry." 

Ibn Tulun Mosque 

The sprawling Ibn Tulun Mosque, the largest mosque in Cairo in terms of land area, is also considered the oldest mosque in the city to have survived in its original form. 

"It's one of my favorite mosques in Cairo," Fahmy says. "The beautiful windows of this mosque give me a lot of joy."
Fahmy says she's always fantasized about the windows of Ibn Tulun. "One day I'll do a project called the Ibn Tulun collection, because they have 126 windows, I think, and each one is different. I see them as earrings, hanging earrings," she says, laughing. 

"They are geometrical designs each one different from the other, "she explains.

The jewelry designer says Ibn Tulun makes her feel serene, inspires her to "sit and meditate. The mosque is very strong, very discreet and very beautiful at the same time." 

The Hanging Church 

Fahmy explains that the 7th century Hanging Church, known in Arabic as Al-Muallaqah ("The Suspended"), is the most famous Coptic -- a sect of Christianity native to Egypt and Ethiopia -- church in Cairo. The church is dedicated to the Virgin Mary. 

"Each civilization gives the other civilization something and each civilization takes something from the other civilization," Fahmy explains about the different faiths in the Egyptian capital. "There is a continuity in the art."
"Look at the details of the wood carving!" she exclaims there. "Look how they mix the pattern," she says, gently tracing it with her finger.

"You see this pattern? The cross in the middle and four rectangles around it? I want to do the design of this as a rectangle and then the motifs in metal." 

Fahmy says she she's always searching for beautiful text -- inspiring calligraphy -- to use in her work. The Egyptian designer describes calligraphy as an art in itself, "the movement of the lines and the balance of the lines and the meaning in the text." 

El Moez Street 

"This is one of the oldest streets in Cairo," Fahmy explains as she walks along the colourful street bursting with life. "This street is part of me. It's my history, my life, my youth. This is the real soul of Cairo." 

Fahmy stands in front of the Al Aqmar Mosque, known as "the moonlit," and says she's inspired by the details in the architecture. Her eyes are immediately drawn to details throughout the city, she says. "All my life is details, details, details. You become specific about everything." 

"Do you notice these black and white stripes?" she asks. 

Fahmy says she loves the way black and white are mixed together in Cairo to "create all this balance."
"Art is all about balance. They are perfect in how they balance things." 

Workshop 

"I used to work in this place, Rabeh El-Selehdar," Fahmy explains as she enters the workshop where she trained as a young jewelry-making apprentice. "It was 40 years ago." 

"I went to the workshop, I introduced myself to a man named Hajj Said and then I worked with him for about three years," she said, no small feat for an Egyptian woman in the 1960s. 

She warmly greets one of the men working at the workshop. 

"He is the nephew of my master. He still remembers me," she explains. "I used to sit on this table and I used to help them file and solder. It was the beginning of my life." 

Fahmy's business, which evolved into the first Egyptian designer brand, is a family affair. Her daughters, Fatima and Amina, work with her. 

"I love the idea of the family business," she says. "I'd like to give this to my daughters [to] continue. I want to have a design house which can continue with the same message of carrying the Arab culture to the world."

Please click here to read the article on CNN.com.

The three-time world champion raced through the opening two games with some astonishing winners to delight a sell-out crowd around the glass court set up in the open air off Chicago’s Michigan Avenue, known as the Magnificent Mile. 

Number two seed Shabana was certainly in magnificent form and a quick finish seemed on the cards as he won the second 11-2. Shabana opened up a 4-0 lead in the third game but Ashour began to work his way into the match, taking control from 4-6 down to win 11-7. 

Despite that confidence booster, the 21-year-old reigning world champion made a slow start to the fourth game and Shabana won the first five points and maintained that lead to stand within three points of the title at 8-3. 

However, Ashour stepped up the pace and produced a succession of blinding winners as the crowd roared their encouragement. Shabana held match ball at 10-7 but Ashour won five points in a row to force the tiebreak and lead 12-11. Shabana leveled at 12-12 but Ashour maintained his push to clinch the game 14-12. 

The crowd, boosted by hundreds of spectators enjoying a free view of the action through the front wall, were delighted that the match was heading for a fifth game. Ashour led 3-1 at the start of the final game but Shabana regained control to lead 9-5. Ashour won the next two points and then sportingly conceded that a backhand drop shot was down as Shabana screamed at the referee. 

That gesture gave Shabana match ball at 10-7 and, although Ashour claimed one more point, the 30-year-old closed out an entertaining contest in 57 minutes of spellbinding squash. 

“Ramy is such a great player and as a world champion at 21 years old he seems to have been around for years,” said Shabana after his epic 11-7, 11-2, 7-11, 12-14, 11-8 victory. 

“He came back very strongly to win the third and fourth games and I was pleased to win the fifth game.

“The players have all enjoyed this tournament in Chicago and it’s great to see such big crowds around the court every night.” 

The players earned warm applause for providing an evening of outstanding entertainment and Ashour was given an extra ovation for his sportsmanship. 

He said: “As professional players, we have to be honest with each other on court, even though it gave Shabana match ball. Shabana played very well tonight and made it hard for me in large parts of the match. 

“I know I should be angry for losing but I am happy that we made the match very entertaining for the crowd.”
The triumph extends Shabana’s tour title tally to 24 – and also endorses the latest September Dunlop PSA World Rankings in which the former world number one leapfrogged younger rival Ashour to take third place. 

The win, which also extends his head-to-head count against Ashour to 7-5, will boost Shabana’s hopes in this week’s British Open in Manchester, where the third seed is expected to face compatriot Karim Darwish – his successor as world number one – for a place in the final. Runner-up in 2004, Shabana has yet to win the longest-standing title in world squash.

Please click here to read the article on World Squash.

The Egyptian government targets export growth of as much as 15 percent in the fiscal year through June 2010, Trade and Industry Minister Rachid Mohamed Rachid said.

“This all depends on the rest of the world, because our main targets, our main markets are the United States and Europe,” Rachid said today in an interview at his office in central Cairo.

The global financial crisis dragged Egypt’s exports down 14.3 percent to $25.2 billion in the past fiscal year, according to the central bank.

Expansion of the domestic construction and communications industries offset the decline in Egypt’s main hard currency earners, helping the economy beat IMF forecast and expand 4.7 percent.

Expectations for strong growth in exports are backed by the fact that the so-called “capacity utilization” in Egyptian factories has been maintained during the height of the financial crisis, Rachid said.

“We haven’t seen layoffs. We haven’t seen any drop in production,” he said. “So if that had been the case during the crisis, I am hoping that we are going to resume growth next year.”

The government has allocated 4 billion Egyptian pounds ($724 million) in the current budget to support exports, the minister said.

The government is targeting an economic expansion of as much as 5.5 percent in the current fiscal year, Economic Development Minister Osman Mohamed Osman, said last month.

“I am a bit cautious about how fast we will recover from 4.7 percent to 6, 7 percent,” Rachid said, forecasting that the economy would expand about 5 percent.

Please click here to read the original article.

The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of the Press and Information Office and are the sole responsibility of the original author/source.
 

The report, in the Egyptian daily newspaper El-Sherouk, added that the IDSC had stated that there had been only one H1N1-related fatality to date and that of the 743 cases of infection reported so far, 626 had recovered completely, and the remaining 116 are in good condition.

Please click here to read the original article.

The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of the Press and Information Office and are the sole responsibility of the original author/source.
 

To read the original article, please click here. 

To read more, please click here.

The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of the Press and Information Office and are the sole responsibility of the original author/source.

President Mubarak met with EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana for talks on the situation in the Middle East Peace Process, and other regional issues of common concern to Egypt and the EU, including the situations in Iraq, Sudan and Afghanistan. 

At a press conference after their meeting, Mr. Solana said that their talks were focused on the need to drive the peace process forward, particularly before the next session of the UN General Assembly this month, noting that in this regards the EU and Egypt share the same perspective. Asked to explain the EU’s policy on a settlement freeze by Israel at a press conference after their meeting, Mr. Solana said that “The position of the European Union is very clear, and it is that all [forms] of settlement activity must be frozen”.

In related news the Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abu El-Gheit, speaking at a press conference after a meeting with the Turkish Foreign Minister on regional issues, including difficulties in the formation of a new Lebanese government and tensions between Syria and Iraq, stated that the Palestinians and the Arab states insist that the Israeli government declare a clear, and international acceptable position on a complete settlement freeze, including East Jerusalem. The Egyptian Foreign Minister also stated that the if an appropriate temporary freeze was announced, direct talks could begin, but that they would be co-terminus with a settlement-freeze period, adding that Egypt rejected an open ended commitment to negotiations coupled with a fixed-term freeze to settlements.

Please click here to read the article on the Al-Ahram website.

The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of the Press and Information Office and are the sole responsibility of the original author/source.


 

The State Council, or Council of State, is the administrative court that presides over disputes pertaining to contracts and decrees issued by government officials and ministries. Governmental agencies often have in-house representatives from the State Council who advise on all administrative law matters.

State Council head Mohammad Husseini said nothing exists in the Egyptian Constitution or under Islamic law that prevents a woman from occupying an administrative judicial post, and women are employed in high ranking judicial positions in Gulf States.

Husseini added that the decision was taken on the basis of intense discussions within the State Council and that the decision was not imposed by an external political authority.

Leaders of women’s rights organizations praised President Hosni Mubarak’s work to end discrimination. Farkhanda Hassan, Secretary General of the National Council for Women, said, “this approach truly reflects the equality women achieve and it came in light of the implementation of President Mubarak’s directives to stop discrimination against women, and expressed its confidence in the ability of women to work in the judiciary sector.”

Between 2000 and 2008, Annual NET Foreign Direct Investment in Egypt has grown 26 fold, attracting USD 38 Billion.

For more information on investment in Egypt visit: http://www.gafinet.org/English/Pages/default.aspx

Please click here to read the original article.

The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of the Press and Information Office and are the sole responsibility of the original author/source.
 

The president of Qatari Diar, announced his firm plans to invest nearly USD 5.4 Billion to build a new residential city in Hurghada. The Qatari real estate, which has been operating in Egypt since 2006, is also involved in major investments in Sharm El-Sheikh on the Sinai Peninsula, and in Cairo. The project will spread over an area of 29 km and will be completed over 15 years.

Between 2000 and 2008, Annual NET Foreign Direct Investment in Egypt has grown 26 fold, attracting USD 38 Billion.

Please click here for more information on investment in Egypt.

Please click here to read the article on the El Sherouk website. 

The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of the Press and Information Office and are the sole responsibility of the original author/source.

During Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's visit to the US capital earlier this month, comments and media reports focused on the possible restarting of the diplomatic process between Israel and the Palestinians. Little was said on the other issues, which is what the two leaders intended.

However, the main purpose of the visit had been to achieve a thaw between Egypt and the United States after an estrangement of some years which had become an embarrassment to both countries.

It had started with former US president George W. Bush and secretary of state Condoleezza Rice's well-meaning efforts to bring democracy to the Middle East.

Intense pressure was brought to bear on the Egyptian president to convince him to do something about human rights and to hold free and transparent elections.

Mubarak gave in against his better judgment. The November 2005 elections brought 88 opposition members - closely affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood - into the parliament. That was a fifth of the total number of representatives and it would have been more if the government had not taken some last minute (and highly undemocratic) measures to stop the trend.

Even the Bush administration took fright at this undesirable result.

It was too late: Congress had already cut American help to Egypt by $100 million and allotted $50m. to Egyptian NGOs fighting for human rights.

Since then a deeply offended Mubarak had refrained from visiting the United States. The strategic dialogue between the two countries went on, however, since it is of paramount importance for both, and included such issues as containing Iran, fighting terror, and the diplomatic process between Israel and the Palestinians.

Then Obama was elected and everything changed. He came to Cairo in June to deliver his message of reconciliation to the Muslim world, had talks with Mubarak at the G-8 meeting in Italy last month and warmly invited him to a much publicized visit to Washington.

The old leader met all the important players, from Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, to National Security Adviser James Jones and CIA director Leon Panetta. Mubarak also found time for a meeting with representatives of Jewish organizations to explain his policy towards Israel, a time honored tradition.
Following his talks with Obama, Mubarak declared that his Cairo speech had removed all doubts concerning the new American policy towards the Muslim world, thus giving Obama Egypt's seal of approval and putting an end to the coolness between the two countries.

After all, in Cairo the American president had given low priority to human rights issues, and the message had been well received by Arab leaders and particularly by Mubarak.

Arab media sources did report that the rais had discussed with his hosts in Washington some of the most pressing issues affecting the Middle East: Iran's aggressive policy and the situation in Sudan and in Somalia, which are perceived as a threat to the stability of the region as a whole, but more specifically of Egypt.

Also discussed was the war on global terror and the latest developments in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Egypt was wary of Obama's stated intention of opening a dialogue with Iran, because it would weaken the position of the Gulf States and of the moderate Arabs.

Cooperation between the intelligence services of Egypt and the United States was also emphasized, as a means to help Cairo since it is a prime target of terrorist organizations. However, the subject is all important to America as well since US and other countries's warships transit the Suez Canal on their way to the Persian Gulf.

Much had been made of the fact that an Israeli submarine and two missile boats had gone through the Canal the month before, in a clear attempt to illustrate the ongoing dialogue among the US, Egypt and Israel concerning the Iranian threat.

At the same time, in an effort to defuse potential negative reactions in Arab public opinion, Egypt was at pains to stress that it would not allow foreign troops or missiles on its soil. While clearly positioning itself at the head of the moderate Arab camp against Iran, Egypt still sends mixed signals. That's the way things are done in the Middle East.
From Arab sources one can infer that the situation inside Egypt and the social and economic reforms needed were discussed at length, as well as the way the country is gearing itself towards the general elections in 2010 and the presidential election scheduled for 2011.

According to the recently released findings of the United Nations Development Program, 41 percent of Egyptians live below a poverty line set at $2 a day, 12% suffer from Hepatitis C, and 40% are illiterate. Unemployment has reached 25%. These are the critical issues as far as Mubarak is concerned. He is well aware of the fact that holding elections as things stand could open the door to mass demonstrations. The past two years have seen a number of strikes - a previously unprecedented occurrence - and the government had to raise salaries.

To fund that step, subsidies of basic foodstuffs were slashed and their price went up accordingly. Most badly hit was bread, and this led to a new crisis. Army bakeries had to be pressed into service to produce bread at government approved prices. Whatever reforms Mubarak promised Obama, it is therefore highly doubtful that he can deliver, and there is little hope for a bettering of the economic situation.

To all intent and purposes, election campaigning has already started. Popular opposition movement "Kefaya" (Enough!) is already calling for a boycott of the forthcoming elections since, it says, "they can't possibly be free," and is trying to convince opposition parties to join. On the other hand, the Egyptian government is working hard to weaken the Muslim Brotherhood, which it sees as the main opposition force. Hundreds of its militants, including a number of leaders, have been arrested.

Hosni Mubarak turned 81 this year. He has been in power for 28 years. Though he is not known as suffering from significant health problems, one can see that the man is tired. The untimely death of his favorite grandson has taken its toll. He is therefore unlikely to seek reelection in 2011.

He might even resign earlier in order to hold presidential elections closely after the parliamentary elections. The seasoned leader wants to leave the country in safe hands and not risk an open election which might lead to the surprise victory of an untried politician or worse of a Muslim Brother. Such an outcome would probably provoke an army intervention and total chaos, not only in Egypt but throughout the Middle East.

This is why Mubarak, while denying having such an intention, seems to be grooming his 47-year-old son Gamal for the job. He made him deputy secretary-general of the ruling National Democratic Party and the head of its political commission.

In 2007, the elder Mubarak initiated an amendment to the constitution making it possible for Gamal to be the sole candidate of the party while making it more difficult for independent or opposition candidates to run.

At the same time, the name of Omar Suleiman, head of the intelligence services who holds ministerial rank, is often put forward by the media as a possible successor.

As things stand today there is no legal way he could be a candidate, since he does not have any position in the party institutions.

The fact that Gamal Mubarak came with his father to Washington is worthy of notice. It was probably intended to give him some much needed experience as well as to get him to know and be known by policy=makers in the American capital.

The younger Mubarak also launched an Internet dialogue with an Egyptian youth... as did Barak Obama at the beginning of his own campaign. By "coincidence," a well-known Egyptian singer launched a song asking, "Why should he not rule? Why should he not take the reins... Gamal Mubarak, president, son of president, don't listen to gossip on inheriting the power..."

Protests organized by the Coptic minority and Muslim opposition elements in front of the White House under the aegis of Saad Eddin Ibrahim failed miserably and barely made it into the news.

As we have seen, the media focused on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Prior to his arrival, Mubarak had stated time and time again that he was against normalization between Arab states and Israel as long as the peace negotiations had not been completed, adding that there should be a freeze on construction in the settlements, though he stressed that negotiations were the main point.

He also said that Arabs were weary of the endless Palestinian issue but that without a solution more violence would occur.

Obama took pain to praise Israel for taking down illegal outposts and eliminating a number of road blocks in the West Bank. He stressed the need for a courageous leadership not only in Israel and on the Palestinian side but also in Arab countries.

The two presidents are in agreement on the urgency of the issue, though well aware of the impossibility of making progress as long as Hamas rules half of the Palestinian population. They are also aware of the fact that Israel will never accept an imposed solution, not from the American president nor from Arab countries in the guise of the "Arab initiative."

Mubarak did say that Obama would present a new initiative at the UN General Assembly in September, but this was denied by a State Department spokesman. There is no doubt, however, that the American president will address the issue on that occasion.

Mubarak has no illusions about the likelihood of Palestinians and Israelis reaching an agreement under present circumstances.

Egypt has launched an all-out effort to bring about reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah, but has little to show after a year. Still, demonstrating that it is a main player on issues affecting its own security is of paramount importance for Cairo.

Egypt is also trying to mediate between Israel and Hamas on the issue of Gilad Schalit, but lack of results has led it to agree to let a German mediator have a go.

The problem is that radical forces in the region, such as Iran, Syria, Hizbullah and Hamas, no long accept long-established understandings. They exhibit an irrational stubbornness even at the price of causing great suffering to civilian populations such as in Gaza.

Egypt had to increase its control over the border, and indeed has managed to greatly diminish the flow of contraband weapons into the Strip.

To sum up, it was indeed an important visit even if little has transpired of the contents of the talks. Egypt after all is not only the largest Arab country, with the largest Arab army; it is also a much needed US ally.

Obama who now understands much better the difficult situation of his visitor, will probably tone down his criticism in order not to further destabilize the country. He also developed warmer relations with the aging leader. Altogether, a very positive development.

Please click here to read the article on the Jerusalem Post website.

“The Egyptian economy is starting to overcome the financial crisis,” government spokesman Magdy Rady told reporters today in Cairo. Economic Development Minister Osman Mohamed Osman and Finance Minister Youssef Boutros-Ghali had announced the data earlier to Bloomberg News.

In the third quarter of the 2009 fiscal year the economy’s growth rate was 4.3 percent, and in the fourth quarter the growth rate increased to 4.6 percent.

“This proves that the economy was more resilient than expected,” said Mohamed Abu Basha, an economist at Cairo-based investment bank EFG-Hermes.

Acknowledging that the Middle East peace process is in a "rut," President Obama nonetheless voiced confidence Tuesday that a breakthrough can be achieved -- and he thanked Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, whom he hosted for meetings at the White House, for playing a constructive role.

"There has been movement in the right direction," Obama said. "If all sides are willing to move off of the rut that we're in currently, then I think there is an extraordinary opportunity to make real progress. But we're not there yet."

Mubarak, addressing reporters alongside Obama, conveyed his willingness to aid the effort. "We are trying and working on this goal, to bring the two parties to sit together and to get something from the Israeli party and to get something from the Palestinian party. If we, perhaps, can get them to sit together, we will help," he said.

Mubarak and Obama's meeting, their third in three months, marked a significant departure from the previous administration -- when Mubarak and President George W. Bush divided over human rights and U.S. policy in the Middle East.

Tuesday's events reaffirmed that relations have become warmer. But it was unclear how much progress the two would make on their top priority: jump-starting the Middle East peace process.

Soliman Awaad, Mubarak's spokesman, said Obama told the Egyptian president that a blueprint for such a process should be ready next month. Next week, George J. Mitchell, the special U.S. envoy for Middle East peace, and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu are scheduled to meet.

Obama has sought to persuade Arab nations to move forward with concessions to Israel, but has found little success. Mubarak, in an interview published Monday, said it is up to Israel to take the next step. And he said he told Obama in June, at the time of the U.S. president's address in Cairo to the Muslim world, that Israel must stop the expansion of its settlements.

"Some Arab countries that exchanged representatives and trade offices might think of reopening these offices if Israel committed itself to stop settlement expansion and to resume final status peace negotiations," Mubarak said in an interview with his country's state-controlled newspaper. Egypt and Jordan are the two Arab nations that have peace agreements with Israel.

Mubarak, who met with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday, had a one-on-one session with Obama in the Oval Office, then joined a session involving other participants before a working lunch in the Cabinet Room.

In the Bush era, relations were strained over the U.S. push for democratic reforms in Egypt. Human rights groups say that country's authoritarian government detains people arbitrarily and puts them on trial in security courts that do not meet international standards for fairness.

The government also jails people for peacefully expressing opinions, the groups said.

State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley told reporters after Mubarak's meeting with Clinton on Monday that the democracy and human rights situation in Egypt was "an ongoing source of concern to the United States" and added: "It is something that we raise in every high-level meeting that we have. We would like to see Egypt embark on a path to expand political dialogue in its country, expand political participation in the Egyptian political process."

Steven A. Cook, a Middle East expert at the Council on Foreign Relations, said it appeared that the Obama administration did not want to view the U.S. relationship with Egypt mainly through the prism of democracy.

"I think there is an effort to see the relationship in broader terms, because the experience of looking at it through the straw hole of democracy and democracy promotion and reform proved damaging to the relationship," he said. "Let's be realistic, Hosni Mubarak and the people in the regime don't really have an interest in reform."

After Obama met with the Egyptian leader, he held separate meetings with Clinton, who just returned from an 11-day trip to Africa, and former president Bill Clinton, who recently brought home two U.S. journalists jailed in North Korea. The latter meeting prompted Clinton's first trip to the White House since Obama took office.

Bill Clinton avoided reporters by taking a side entrance into his former residence. Hillary Clinton did not attend; a spokesman said she was scheduled to meet with the foreign minister of Colombia.

Please click here to read the article on the Washington Post website.

President Obama's second meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, scheduled to take place today, presents an opportunity to view this important bilateral relationship from a proper perspective. For too long, U.S.-Egyptian relations have focused, somewhat myopically, on only two things: the state of Egypt's peace with Israel and its progress toward democratization.

Both issues are critical to the Middle East, and for years I have written about the imperatives for a deeper peace and have been critical of the slow pace and the procrastination of Egypt's democratization process. But the two presidents must also focus on the newest threat to the region -- the ubiquity of fragile states that are crumbling under the pressures of demography, resource scarcity and internal strife.

Western analysts understandably have an instinctual suspicion of the all-encompassing power of the "typical" Middle Eastern state. But this view is outdated. The fracturing of state structures has become widespread. Start with the biggest worry -- Pakistan. Its recent efforts to militarily reassert lost state authority over swaths of national territory that had careened out of control have been the subject of discussion, and headlines, around the world. Trouble does not end there. In Yemen, Somalia, Sudan, Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine, the cohesion of the state is under assault.

These countries are buckling under the weight of shriveling institutional authority. Laws are not enforced. Economies cannot be regulated. Jobs are not created. Parts of national territory are ceded to non-state actors. Health care, education and basic services don't get delivered. In this context, Egypt stands out. Not only because Egypt is the epicenter of the Arab world; the largest, oldest and most populous Arab country; the first Arab nation to have made peace with Israel; and America's closest ally in the region. Rather, Egypt is increasingly an exception because it is one of the few Middle Eastern countries with strong, evolving institutions able to advance domestic development even while the nation remains the key player for strategic action regionally.

This reality is reflected on two fronts.

First, the Egyptian state has remained stable while accommodating change. The changes are far from sufficient, but society's transformation is indisputable. The monolithic one-party state of a quarter-century is gone. Direct, multicandidate presidential elections have replaced previous presidential referendums. More than 500 newspapers, journals and magazines are published in the country, and Egyptians have access to some 400 Arabic-speaking free-to-air satellite TV channels that compete for news and critical views.

Egypt's reform effort has been especially significant on economic issues. The country was named the top regional reformer in 2009, for the third year in a row, by the World Bank publication Doing Business. Investments have increased significantly, bringing down unemployment from 11.8 percent in 2005 to 8.6 percent last year. Since 2005, the growth rate of Egypt's gross domestic product has outpaced some of the newly industrialized Asian economies. Egypt appears certain to sustain its position as one of the world's rising economies well into the future.

Second, the Egyptian state has kept the peace in a region where everything and everyone seem to push toward war. Its 1979 peace with Israel has held firm and expanded to Jordan, often against difficult odds.

While peace brought criticism from many Arab quarters, Egypt remains the only Arab country all parties look to for strategic consensus and rational thinking. With the region divided among numerous fault lines, Egypt still convenes all groups to dialogue -- the Palestinian factions, Israelis, Sudanese and Iraqis. These parties rarely agree, but all want Egyptian fingers plugging the region's violent dikes. Over decades, Egypt has consolidated its role as the indisputable arbiter of peace.

This only highlights Egypt's centrality as the United States prepares to face the strategic challenges of forging a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace settlement, halting Iran's nuclear program and ensuring Iraq's stability after the U.S. military withdrawal.

Beyond those, the United States and Egypt must contend with the looming prospect of regional state fragmentation.

The Middle East must have a way to deal with the chaos of failed states. Together, the United States and Egypt should seek out a coalition of like-minded regional and international actors to design new mechanisms targeted toward averting collapse in failing nations. Solutions might sometimes be political, and other times they might require financial or managerial intervention. Washington and Cairo must recognize that staving off further state deterioration in the Middle East will require new international and regional solutions and creative statecraft. In this endeavor, Egypt is an ally and an example.

Abdelmonem Said is chairman of the Al-Ahram Establishment in Cairo and a senior fellow at Brandeis University's Crown Center for Middle East Studies.

WASHINGTON – Today, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak pressured the U.S. not to accept any “temporary solutions” by Israel in negotiating Middle East peace. During a State Visit at the White House on Tuesday, President Mubarak asked U.S. President Barack Obama to “move to the final status solution” on a Palestinian state.

Mubarak said of Israel: “I told them forget about a temporary solution and forget about temporary borders.” The Egyptian President indicated that the moment for peace is now, saying “we cannot afford to waste more time because violence will increase.”

“The two presidents agreed that time is of essence,” said Presidential Spokesperson Ambassador Soliman Awaad in a press briefing after the White House visit. Referencing a multitude of previous peace plans, Mubarak told Obama more literature on peace was not needed, according to Awaad. President Mubarak asked the U.S. to “declare a plan to achieve peace in the Middle East” and encouraged President Obama not to start from scratch. The Egyptian Spokesperson said a move to final status talks on a Palestinian state will require risks and “courage from all parties.”

During the White House meeting, President Mubarak said that full normalization with Israel will come when there is full peace. According to his spokesperson, President Mubarak indicated to the U.S. President that an Israeli moratorium on settlements, including natural growth, would be a positive step.

Awaad told U.S. and Egyptian media that Egypt is exerting all efforts to strike a deal to swap Israeli and Palestinian prisoners. “This could be part of confidence building measures between Israel and Arab states.”

The two Presidents discussed a wide range of regional issues at today’s meeting, including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Sudan and Somalia. In remarks after the meeting, President Obama thanked Egypt “for being an Arab country that has moved forward to try to strengthen Iraq as it emerges from a wartime footing and a transition to a more stable democracy” and called President Mubarak “a friend of the U.S.” and a “leader in the region.”

President Mubarak said Egypt supports the efforts of the United States to move towards finding a solution for peace in the Middle East and thanked President Obama “for all his efforts with regard to the Palestinian issue.” Mubarak also said President Obama’s address in Cairo in June had “removed all doubts about the United States and the Muslim world.”

In an exclusive interview with PBS’s Charlie Rose, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak stressed the need for a holistic and lasting solution for peace between Israel and the Palestinians. He highlighted Egypt’s “laborious efforts” to unify Hamas and Fatah, acknowledging that unity has to occur before there can be peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

Defining the borders of a Palestinian state will unlock many of the other issues of a final agreement, Mubarak said, adding that the Israeli government’s recent acceptance of a two-state solution was a positive first step.

“What I can say is that we have to consider the whole issue holistically, to negotiate on the final resolution,” Mubarak said in the interview.

Please click here to watch the entire original interview on Charlie Rose.

Time is Now: Abu Mazen Position Strengthened; Parameters for Peace Well Known

WASHINGTON – In meetings with top U.S. officials today, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak called on the U.S. Administration to quickly re-engage in negotiations over the final status of the Israeli-Palestinian issue. President Mubarak met today with Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton accompanied by Special Envoy George Mitchell, as well as Jewish groups ahead of Tuesday’s State Visit with U.S. President Barack Obama.

In his meetings today, President Mubarak noted that this month’s Fatah General Congress had significantly strengthened Palestinian Authority President Abu Mazen’s position as a partner for peace. It is now no longer possible to use the divided Palestinian leadership as an excuse for avoiding negotiations, the President told U.S. audiences. Urging U.S. involvement, President Mubarak stressed that the two sides cannot be left to resolve the fundamental issues of a final settlement by themselves.

In an interview with PBS’s Charlie Rose due to air Monday night, President Mubarak also highlighted Egypt’s “laborious efforts” to unify Hamas and Fatah, acknowledging that unity has to occur before there can be peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

Defining the borders of a Palestinian state will unlock many of the other issues of a final agreement, Mubarak said today, adding that the Israeli government’s recent acceptance of a two-state solution was a positive first step.

“Instead of saying stopping more settlements and we heard this many times, now for over ten years. And never come to a stop. What I can say is that we have to consider the whole issue holistically, to negotiate on the final resolution,” Mubarak said in the PBS interview.

President Mubarak told Charlie Rose of what he called an “awakening in the Arab region.” In Egypt, these changes have been fueled by economic liberalization under President Mubarak’s leadership. Egypt has seen record GDP growth and falling unemployment rates, from 11.8 percent in 2005 to 8.6 percent in 2008. The media and broadcast sectors have been opened up to private investment; in 2009, Egypt was named the top regional economic reformer for the third year in a row by the World Bank.

The full Charlie Rose interview with President Mubarak can be seen at 11 p.m. ET on Monday, August 17 on PBS.

This week’s State Visit marks the first visit by President Mubarak to the United States since 2004. The two presidents are expected to discuss the Administration’s proposals for Middle East peace, as well as other regional issues such as Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

There will be a briefing for U.S. media immediately following the Tuesday summit. Details follow:

U.S.-Egypt Summit Media Briefing
Ambassador Soliman Awaad, Official Spokesperson for the Presidency
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
12:30 p.m.
Chandelier Room, St. Regis Hotel
923 K St NW
Washington, D.C.
RSVP: info@modernegypt.info

Dr. Abdel Monem Said Aly is Chairman of the Board of the Al Ahram Newspaper and Publishing House and Director of the Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies in Cairo.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu spoke on the phone with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Monday and thanked him for the country's "security steps taken for the sake of the region and Israel," Army Radio reported.

It came after security around Israeli Ambassador to Egypt Shalom Cohen was tightened following the discovery of a plot to assassinate him.

Meanwhile, National Security Adviser Uzi Arad headed out to Cairo, with the Prime Minister's Office stressing that his meetings there would have nothing to do with the Gilad Schalit issue.

On Sunday, Palestinian media reported that the captured IDF soldier would be released in a prisoner swap deal by September. 

Please click here to read the article on the Jerusalem Post website.

Minister Abu El-Gheit described the upcoming visit as extremely important particularly in light of the fact that it comes on the heels of a period of distance between Cairo and Washington, adding that there was a desire by both sides to restore these relations to their natural track.

Minister Abu El-Gheit noted that the President Mubarak’s discussions in the Washington would be focused on strengthening bilateral relations, and on regional issues, foremost among which are Palestine, and American efforts to push the peace process between Israel and her Arab neighbors forward, particularly in light of the new American Administration’s desire to cooperate with Egypt on the situation in the region. The Minister added that these discussions would also address the situation in Sudan and Darfur and steps towards the implementation of the comprehensive peace agreement between the North and South, which are challenges that are of mutual concern to Cairo and Washington, as well as on exchanging views on how to deal with the Iranian nuclear file.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit discussed Middle East tensions with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva during a visit on Wednesday.

The meeting, which played to Brazil's ambition of having a role in helping negotiate peace in the Middle East, took place a week after Lula talked over the same issues with visiting Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.

Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim, who also took part in the discussions, reiterated the view that peace in the Middle East could only be achieved through the creation of an "economically viable" Palestinian state that was not broken up by Israeli control lines.
He also lent Brazil's voice to the international community's consensus that Israel should immediately cease expanding settlements in occupied Palestinian territory.

Abul Gheit hailed Brazil's stance, saying: "Brazil can play a role (in the Middle East peace negotiations) because it has political as well as economic potential."

Brazil plans to extend its Middle East mediating position by receiving Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the next few weeks, followed by Israeli President Shimon Peres in November.

Latin America's biggest economy is seeking the extra clout as part of its longterm ambition to one day join the UN Security Council as a permanent member. 

Please click here to read the article on the Agence France Presse website.

Even before giving his phenomenal speech in Cairo, Egypt, President Barack Obama was already popular in the Arab world’s most populous country. In less than six months in office, Obama was able to overcome eight years of profound distrust and frustration during the Bush administration and dramatically boost America's image in Egypt.

For most Egyptians, Obama -- unlike his predecessor -- is sincere and even-handed, with the potential to bring peace to the region. Most important, Obama is viewed as someone able to make a distinction between Islam and terrorism, which for the majority of Muslims is a huge leap forward.

It is not surprising, then, that a survey released this month by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center found that positive public attitudes toward the United States have surged in U.S.-allied Egypt and Jordan since Obama took office.

More and more Egyptians view Obama as a “star.” Young Egyptians often comment on his attractive looks, physical fitness and charisma. Elder Egyptians cite specific policies such as Obama's pledge to close the U.S.-run detention facility for terrorist suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and the U.S. timeline for withdrawing troops from Iraq. In total, the Pew study shows confidence that Obama will "do the right thing in world affairs" is quadruple that for Bush in Egypt and Jordan.

However, not surprisingly, the study finds attitudes toward the United States continued to be dismal in many other predominantly Muslim countries. Only 14% of those surveyed in Turkey, 15% in Palestinian Territories and 16% in Pakistan had a favorable view of America.

Undoubtedly, the main reason for this in the Middle East, at least, is that people want to see real progress made in resolving the conflict between Israel and Palestinians. For eight years, they saw negotiations and heard an American President promising to leave a legacy of peace in the region. But no solutions were delivered. It is only natural that people in the region are skeptical.

What is important for both Middle Easterners and Americans to realize is Obama cannot wave a magic wand and quickly deliver results or instantly fix his country’s image in eyes of the Mideast. It is wrong to assume Obama can simply turn on peace like a light bulb or improve America’s image in the region overnight. Nevertheless, the poll has some good news and the Pew’s findings should sit well with the White House. 

Please click here to read the article on the Los Angeles Times website.

Voice of America

Special U.S. peace envoy George Mitchell is in Egypt as part of a push to resume Arab-Israeli peace talks.

George Mitchell looked tired but sounded upbeat, on the latest lap of his shuttle mission that has brought him from Syria and Israel to Egypt.

The visit was his fifth to Cairo and the second in just more than a month and a half. One Egyptian analyst quipped Senator Mitchell is starting to become "a household name in Egypt and the Arab world."

Egyptian TV showed the envoy meeting with President Hosni Mubarak and Foreign Minister Ahmed Abou Gheit, reporting that he briefed them about his weekend talks with Syrian President Bashar al Assad and Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak.

After the meetings, Mitchell told journalists it is imperative to achieve a full and comprehensive peace in the region to improve the lives of everyone

"We believe that a full comprehensive peace represents the best way to help all of the people of the region achieve the security, the peace, and the prospect for prosperity for individual citizens that all deserve," Mitchell said.

The former senator said he has taken his plea for normalization in relations with Israel to various Arab leaders during his travels across the region.

"We are also meeting with the leaders of many of the Arab nations of the region to encourage them to take genuine steps toward normalization," he said. "We are not asking anyone to achieve full normalization at this time, we recognize that that will come further down the road in this process."

Egypt has had full diplomatic relations with Israel since the 1979 Camp David peace accords were signed by former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin. But Israelis often complain that it is a "cold peace."

The Arab daily al Hayat headlined that Syrian President Bashar al Assad told Mitchell, over the weekend, that "Arab rights and the return of the Golan Heights," were at the top of his agenda.

An Arab summit, earlier this year, called for Israel to accept a 2002 Arab peace plan, which calls for "full normalization, in exchange for the return of occupied lands."

Please click here to read the article on the Voice of America website.

Yossi Gal, the director of Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday arrived in Cairo at the head of an Israeli diplomatic delegation.

Gal would meet with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit and other senior Egyptian diplomats over the course of his afternoon visit, the Israeli Embassy in Cairo said.

'The visit, which aims to promote relations between Egypt and Israel, is part of the regular contact maintained by the two states,' Israeli Embassy spokeswoman Shani Cooper-Zubida said.

Gal's visit comes amid a US diplomatic blitz to restart negotiations for a 'comprehensive' Middle East peace.

George Mitchell, US President Barack Obama's special envoy to the region, met with Abul Gheit and Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak on Monday morning, and left Cairo shortly before Gal arrived.

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates was in Israel Monday, and is to continue on to Jordan. National Security Advisor James Jones and administration official Dennis Ross were also expected in the coming days.

A Middle East peace deal remains one of Obama's 'top priorities,' Mitchell told reporters in Cairo.

'We believe that a full, comprehensive peace presents the best way for all the people of the region to achieve the security, peace and prosperity all its citizens deserve,' he said, and urged a 'prompt' return to 'successful negotiations.'

Mitchell arrived in Cairo on Sunday night, in an unscheduled stop after meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus and Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak in Tel Aviv.

Speaking from Cairo Monday, he again called on Middle Eastern countries to normalize their relations with Israel.

Mitchell said he would be meeting with leaders in the region 'to encourage them to take meaningful steps toward normalization.'
But, he noted, 'We don't expect anyone to take steps toward full normalization at this time; we expect this will come further down the road in this process.'

He said his efforts were now focused on preparing 'the context' for meaningful negotiations soon, based on 'mutual respect and mutual interests.'

Please click here to read the article on the Monsters & Critics website.

US Middle East peace envoy George Mitchell called on Arab states on Monday to fully normalise ties with Israel, after meeting Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on the latest leg of a regional tour.

Mitchell told reporters after the talks that Washington was asking countries in the region to set the "context" for comprehensive peace negotiations between Israel and the Arab world.

"By comprehensive I mean peace between Israel and Palestinians, between Israel and Syria, between Israel and Lebanon and the full normalisation of relations between Israel and the countries of the region," he said.

"We're not asking anyone to achieve full normalisation at this time, we recognise that will come further down the road in this process," he said.

But he added that the US administration wanted to see "meaningful steps by individual countries."

Egypt and Jordan are the only two Arab countries to have signed peace treaties with Israel, but neither have fully normalised ties. Some other Arab countries, such as Qatar, have trade relations with Israel.

After the Mubarak meeting, Mitchell headed to the occupied West Bank where he is to meet Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas. On Tuesday he will hold talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, likely to focus on US demands that Israel halt settlement activity in the West Bank.

On Sunday, he met Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus and Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Olmert in Tel Aviv. 

Please click here to read the article on the Agence France Presse website.

Ministers from the 10 African countries on the Nile river began crucial discussions Monday over drafting a new water sharing agreement, which is hampered by Egypt's refusal to reduce its share of world's longest river.

In an opening address to the Nile Basin Initiative, held in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria, Egypt's Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif urged for a "return of the cooperation and harmony" among the group's members, describing the ongoing dispute as a "misunderstanding."

In the two-day meeting, participants are hoping to conclude the Nile Cooperative Framework Agreement, which establishes a permanent body to oversee water allocation along the Nile.

During talks last month in Kinshasa, Congo, officials from the 10 countries of the Nile basin, failed to agree over a new system of water sharing desired by a majority of the members.

A 1929 agreement between Egypt and Britain, acting on behalf of its then east African colonies, set up the original sharing framework and gave Cairo the right to veto upstream projects.

In a 1959 agreement with Sudan, Egypt was awarded an annual 55.5 billion cubic meters of Nile water, the largest share of any country along the river.

The remaining eight riparian states resent Egypt's quota and want to draft a new agreement.

Egyptian Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Mohammed Nasreddin Allam has repeatedly said that his country will not accept any change to its quota.

Egypt's cabinet issued a report last week that the country needed 86.2 billion cubic meters of water in 2017 and only has resources of 71.4 billion cubic meters.

A country of vast deserts, only around 6 percent of Egypt is arable, almost entirely due to the Nile.

Egypt's water resources stood at 64 billion cubic meters in 2006, of which the River Nile provided or 86.7 percent, the report said. By 2017 the Nile is expected to supply only 80.5 percent of Egypt's resources.

Due to the absence of any major dams or hydroelectric projects upstream of it, experts say Egypt can afford to be dismissive of the other states' concerns since there is little they can do to impede the Nile's flow.

Talks in Kinshasa ended with Egypt refusing to ratify the new pact without the other signatories explicitly agreeing to its original share of Nile water and a veto for Cairo over any future upstream projects. 

The other Nile basin countries are Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Congo, Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda and Burundi. 

Please click here to read the article on the San Francisco Chronicle website.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Thursday called on the Arab world to engage with Israel and praised the opportunity afforded by the Arab initiative for regional peace.

"I believe that this spirit can help create an atmosphere in which a comprehensive peace is possible," Netanyahu said in a reception at the residence of Egyptian Ambassador Yasser Reda in Herzliya.

"We appreciate the efforts by Arab states to advance the peace initiative," the prime minister said, adding that "If these proposals are not final, they can create an atmosphere in which a comprehensive peace can be reached."

Netanyahu said that he nevertheless hoped to "forge peace with the Palestinians" in the coming months and years "and to expand that into a vision of a broader regional peace."

The prime minister extolled the leadership of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, saying, "We appreciate (Egyptian President Hosni) Mubarak's efforts to ward off the radical forces and push towards peace. Egypt is our cornerstone for peace with our neighbors."

He qualified his positive remarks regarding Cairo to a certain degree, however, when he added that the two countries were still far from a "very warm" peace.

Netanyahu also praised Bahraini Crown Prince Shaikh Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa for a Washington Postop-ed in which he said that the Arab world had "not done enough to communicate directly with the people of Israel."

The Arab Peace Initiative was presented by Saudi King Abdullah in 2002. It calls for normalizing relations between Arab states and Israel in exchange for a total Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 armistice lines and a "just solution" to the Palestinian demand for the return of refugees from the War of Independence.

Please click here to read the article on the Jerusalem Post website.

Omar Suleiman, the director of Egypt’s general intelligence service and a possible successor to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, has been named the most powerful intelligence chief in the Middle East by Foreign Policy Magazine. 

It is widely believed the president is grooming his son, Gamal Mubarak, to succeed him, but Suleiman is very popular and may have the backing of factions within the military.

Some Egyptian analysts see his popularity as a staged buffer to help Gamal succeed his father in a smooth transition, while others see him as one of various powerful contenders for the presidency.

Dalia Ziada, an Egyptian liberal activist and blogger, said that were Suleiman to run in the next presidential election she did not believe he would have a good chance of winning.

“Maybe the ruling National Democratic Party will support him,” she told The Media Line, “but at the end of the day, he’s a national security man, he’s not a politician. He’s not good in dealing with internal and external politics.”

Ziada predicted the Egyptian government would use Suleiman as a mediator, putting him in power straight after Mubarak so that it will not look as though Mubarak were passing on the throne to his son.

Suleiman’s apparent popularity was highlighted in a recent survey Ziada carried out independently on her blog, in which she asked participants to rank their choice for the next president.

In the first phase of the survey, she provided the participants with six candidates, and asked that they propose other candidates if they were not satisfied with the selection.

Many wrote back asking her to add Suleiman into the mix, she said.

In the second phase of the survey, however, Suleiman only garnered four percent of the 3,000 votes received.

Ziada argued that Suleiman’s popularity was to a large degree confined and would not lead him to presidency.

“He’s popular, because he’s leading a very critical authority in Egypt, which is the Mukhabarat [intelligence service],” Ziada said. “Anyone in his position must be respected by Egyptians, but it does not mean they’ll select him when it comes to their future.”

Suleiman, 74, became director of the country’s intelligence service in 1993 after an extensive military career, and is said to be one of a very small circle of people in whom Mubarak trusts.

Suleiman has helped Mubarak clamp down on Islamist opponents and the intelligence chief’s combating of Islamist terrorists increased his standing in the eyes of Western intelligence services after 9/11.

More recently, Suleiman has been serving as a high-ranking diplomat and has been the main mediator in the indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas.

He is also Cairo’s main interlocutor for several Palestinian groups engaged in reconciliation talks.

Mubarak has been president for the past 28 years and there is wide speculation that the 81-year-old leader will not be seeking another term in office. Some believe the President may even step down before the end of the his current tenure, set to come to an end with presidential elections slated for 2011.

Analysts say that even if Suleiman does not succeed Mubarak, he is still likely to maintain a powerful role in the regional scene.

Hala Mustafa, editor in chief of the Democracy Review, a political quarterly published by the Al-Ahram Institute, said it was very difficult to measure anyone’s popularity in Egypt outside of the ballot box.

“But I can say [Suleiman] is respected among the elite and among the ruling party and ruling elite in general,” she told The Media Line.

Rather than have Suleiman and Gamal Mubarak run against each other, she said it was more likely that Gamal would be groomed for the presidency and Suleiman for the vice presidency.

If Suleiman wishes to run for president he would have to resign from his position as intelligence chief and run either as an independent or as a candidate of the ruling party, Mustafa said.

The Foreign Policy Magazine report, authored by U.S. Department of Defense employee Patrick Devenny, places Suleiman at the head of a list of five other “spooks” who include Israel’s Mossad Chief Meir Dagan, head of the Iranian Quds Force Qassem Suleimani, the Syrian military’s deputy chief of staff Assef Shawkat and Saudi Prince Muqrin Bin ‘Abd Al-‘Aziz, the director general of the Kingdom’s General Intelligence Presidency.

Please click here to read the article on the Israel National News website.

Egypt's UAE investments increased to $3.9 billion by the end of April, a 34.5 percent increase over the previous year, according to Abdel Rahman A. Raouf, Commercial Counselor at the Egyptian Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The Counselor commented that there are still significant opportunities to increase the volume of trade exchange between Egypt and the UAE.

"Trade exchange between Egypt and the UAE increased threefold in 2007 and 2008, as it rose from $390 million in 2007 to $1.4 billion in 2008. We noticed in 2008 and the beginning of 2009 there is a big increase in exports and imports between the two countries and this is a result of the development of political relations," Counselor Raouf said.

The Counselor added, "Official statistics show foreign direct investments (FDI) in Egypt rose from $354.6 million in 2000 to $13.2 billion in 2008. The FDI in oil sector totaled $4.1 billion, while they arrived at $9.1 billion in non-oil sectors."

Egypt is an attractive investment for other countries and, based on the depth of its domestic economy, has enormous growth potential. In addition, it is close in proximity to key markets such as Europe, the Mediterranean, Africa and the Gulf states.

To read the full text of the article, please click here.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Monday arrived for talks in Paris to revive the Mediterranean Union initiative and the Middle East peace process, the foreign ministry said.

Mubarak who was to see his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy over lunch on Tuesday, held talks with Prime Minister Francois Fillon at his Paris hotel after arriving in the afternoon, Fillon's office said.

Fillon did not give details about the talks which lasted 45 minutes.
No statements were expected Tuesday after Mubarak's meeting with Sarkozy.

The French foreign ministry said the visit was "taking place within the normal framework of bilateral relations".

Mubarak and Sarkozy are expected to discuss "regional issues, the Middle East peace process and to assess the relaunch of the Mediterranean Union as well as the [G8] summit" earlier this month, the ministry said.

At the July 8-10 summit Mubarak had urged the leaders of the world's richest countries to freeze repayments due on loans to Africa in order to help the poorest through the economic crisis.

The Egyptian leader addressed a working meeting between the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States and eight African leaders on the closing day of the G8 summit in Italy.

Launched at a summit in Paris a year ago, the Mediterranean Union brings together EU members with states from north Africa, the Balkans, the Arab world and Israel in a bid to foster cooperation in one of the world's most volatile regions.

But like its regional predecessor, the Barcelona Process which stalled in large part over Arab-Israeli disputes, the Mediterranean Union got bogged down by Israel's attack on the Gaza Strip in response to Hamas missile strikes.

The initiative, championed by Sarkozy, resumed last month when environment ministers, including representatives from Israel and the Palestinian territories, met in Paris.

The union's priorities are to fight pollution in the Mediterranean, increase solar energy use, build land and sea highways and cooperate on higher education and research.

They are to be achieved by joint projects, which it is hoped would also help improve regional integration.

Please click here to read the article on Agence France Presse.

"Egyptian officials decided that some issues required further discussion and efforts. The date for the last round of talks, July 25, does not leave enough time to resolve the differences," MENA quotes Palestinian officials as saying.

"So it was agreed to delay the talks until August 25," the officials said.

The rival Palestinian factions resumed reconciliation talks in February and had agreed to begin what they said would be a final round on Saturday.

Cairo has been mediating the talks between president Mahmud Abbas's secular Fatah party and the Islamists of Hamas aimed at healing bitter divisions between the two, aggravated when Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007.

Hamas and Fatah delegations have been meeting in Cairo over the last two days to discuss the talks' progress.

The talks hope to seal a deal which will lay out a new electoral law as well as define the make-up of security forces and of a committee to liaise between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank ahead of an election in 2010.

Hamas has demanded that Abbas's Palestinian Authority release all "political prisoners" -- referring to the scores of Hamas members arrested in the Israeli-occupied West Bank -- or provide a timetable for their release.

Both sides have since announced the release of dozens of prisoners.

Fatah and Hamas have accused each other of persecuting their rival's supporters in the territories under their control, while human rights groups have accused both groups of making arbitrary arrests and mistreating detainees.

The two groups deny they make political arrests, saying the arrests are made on security grounds.

In an effort to secure peace in Darfur, President Hosni Mubarak hosts talks with the Sudanese government and rebel groups.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak recently held talks with the President of Sudan, Omar al-Bashir. The meeting is part of efforts by Egypt to encourage negotiations between the Sudanese government and rebel groups. Egyptian officials had previously met with leaders of six guerrilla groups.

Bahar Idriss Abu Garda, leader of the United Resistance Front, one of the rebel groups attending the talks, said Egypt would "play a very important" unifying role in the coming days.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said his country had a strategic interest in helping to secure peace in Darfur.

"There may be friendly countries or the United Nations or regional countries which have interests and try to achieve peace and stability in Darfur, and this is something we support and push for...but Egypt has shared borders with Sudan," he said.

To read the full text of the article, please click here.

A summit of the Non-Aligned Movement opened at this Egyptian Red Sea resort town Wednesday with a call from Cuban President Raul Castro for a new international financial system to shield developing nations from the global recession.

Castro was addressing the opening session of the movement's two-day summit at Sharm el-Sheikh, the 15th such gathering since the group was founded in the 1950s.

"We demand the establishment of a new international financial and economic structure that relies on the participation of all countries," Castro said. "There must be a new framework that doesn't depend solely on the economic stability and the political decision of only one country," the Cuban leader said, apparently referring to the United States.

The new system, he said, must give developing countries "preferential treatment." He did not elaborate.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon also touched on the global economic crisis when he addressed the summit, echoing Castro's demand that more must be done to protect the economies of developing nations and give them a bigger say.

"The economic crisis has revealed the need to improve the international financial architecture, so we may see the developing world and emerging powers gain more of a say in that realm," he said. "That would be a welcome step toward realizing the NAM's (Non-Aligned Movement's) long-standing goal of making the international system more fair and balanced."

Castro later handed the movement's presidency over to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, whose country will head the group for the next three years. Egypt, India and the former Yugoslavia are the movement's founding members.

The 118-nation Non-Aligned Movement was born during the Cold War more than five decades ago as a group of countries that is neither allied with the U.S.-led camp or the Soviet bloc. A middle course, they argued then, was in their best interest.

However, the movement has lost much of its relevance when the Cold War ended nearly two decades ago. Made up mostly of African, Asian and Latin American nations, it has since become primarily an international speaking forum for developing nations.

Mubarak, in his address, recognized the "challenge" facing the movement's founding principles, which he said seek dialogue with the developed world. He also joined Castro in calling for the rehabilitation of the international financial system. Terrorism, nuclear weapons and the Palestinian issue are among issues requiring collective action, he said.

Castro's call for a new world financial system follows a similar demand by foreign ministers and senior officials from the movement who warned after four days of meetings here that the global financial crisis will adversely affect their developing nations the most. Joint action, they said, was needed to ward off its impact.

The summit's draft declaration also calls for the group to coordinate with China - attending the summit as an observer - to have their voices heard at international financial institutions like the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

The focus on the world economy coincides with U.S. efforts to build what it says is a stronger financial foundation for the world.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was in the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday, the second and final day of a tour of Gulf Arab nations. He met Tuesday with Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah and businessmen in the oil-rich kingdom and had a closed-door breakfast meeting Wednesday with the Emirates' Foreign Trade Minister Sheikha Lubna al-Qasimi and other UAE officials.

"We of course want to not just address the immediate causes of the financial crisis," Geithner said after Wednesday's meeting. "We want to rebuild a stronger foundation for more balanced growth globally."

The prime ministers of nuclear powers Pakistan and India, meanwhile, were expected to meet on the sidelines of the summit in what would be one of the conference's highlights. The two leaders met in Russia last month for the first time since the Mumbai terror attacks last year, but they made little headway in defusing the tension in their relations.

India blamed Pakistan-trained militants for the attacks, which killed 166 people.

The two countries' foreign secretaries met for 90 minutes on the sidelines of the Sharm el-Sheik's meeting Tuesday night, apparently to prepare for Wednesday's meeting of the two prime ministers, according to a diplomat familiar with the meeting but who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Mr Abdel Wahab already has E£25m ($4.5m) of equity in the business, and an established record exporting pads to Europe, but even so, lenders have been balking.

“Last year it would have been easier,” says Mr Abdel Wahab. “I have not failed yet. There are promising negotiations with a bank. But it has not been easy.”

Raising funds for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Egypt has always been difficult but Mr Abdel Wahab, who also heads the Engineering Exports Council, says the financial crisis has made banks even more cautious.

SMEs make up the majority of the industrial private sector in Egypt, says Adham Nadim, executive director of the government’s Industrial Modernisation Centre.

The centre deals with 12,400 companies that account for more than 95 per cent of Egyptian manufacturers, says Mr Nadim. Most of these are small businesses, of which only 13 per cent employ more than 200 workers.

Mr Nadim says that times are harder for the sector but most entrepreneurs are still managing to hang on and “that there is no huge trend to let workers go”.

The Egyptian economy grew by 4.3 per cent in the first quarter of 2009, up from 4.1 per cent in the previous quarter.
Analysts, however, caution that this rate may not be sustainable given the weakness of external demand. In the preceding three years growth averaged 7 per cent.

Mr Nadim says securing funding for SMEs has become more difficult in spite of the healthy state of Egyptian banking, with a high deposit-to-loans ratio.

“Access to finance is disastrous because you have a lot of people who don’t want to take a bold decision in the banking sector,” says Mr Nadim, whose organisation is negotiating with 17 banks to improve access to credit.

He also says that increased government borrowing may have depressed banks’ appetite for lending to SMEs, especially in an atmosphere of enhanced sensitivity to risk.

“Treasury bills are in direct competition with the private sector,” he says. “Why would a credit officer lend to the private sector when he can just give the money to the government and wait for it to come back.”

In the case of Mr Abdel Wahab, the brake-pad manufacturer, the problems of the automotive industry both internationally and domestically have made bankers wary.

But he argues that in Egypt the psychological effect of the crisis has often been greater than its real impact. Many people, he says, who can afford to buy cars, have held back expecting prices to drop, while lenders have scaled down their car loans, which has also affected the market.

“We saw in the earlier part of the year a drop in demand for cars by 50 to 60 per cent,” he says. “But we didn’t really see anything to justify it.

“Now we are seeing more activity in the car market. In other areas, such as white goods, demand is also starting to increase. Companies are not complaining as they used to.”

Nihal Badawi, the head of SME banking at Commercial International Bank, the country’s biggest bank by market capitalisation, says that SMEs, especially those that do not rely on exports, have been in a better position to cope with the crisis than bigger export-dependent companies.

All the same, she says the crisis has meant the bank has revised its risk management practices by, for instance, limiting exposure to certain sectors.

“For example there are industry limits, reviews to certain exposures and we also ensure full compliance with Central Bank of Egypt standards,” she says.

However, she denies that banks are reluctant to lend. The problem, she says, is that such companies often fail to keep orderly books or they “don’t have the proper structure, so the owner may be running everything. Sometimes they might not even have a business plan. To be bankable we need to educate them.”

Banks, too, she says, are still building up capacity to deal with SMEs and understand the risks involved.

Restrictions on funding have not been the only impact of the financial crisis on SMEs. The contraction in export markets coupled with what Egyptian industrialists allege is dumping by Asian companies has also led to a tougher business environment.

“Egypt is a target for dumping because it has not been so affected by the crisis,” says Mr Nadim.

“Everything is being shipped over here. Access to credit locally is very harsh, so when someone offers an importer a product with a four-year interest free loan and nothing to pay in the first 12 months, in my book this is dumping.” 

Please click here to read the story on the Financial Times website.
 

Egypt will play host to the 15th Non-Aligned Movement Summit on July 15-16th and the two prime ministers are scheduled to meet beforehand.

An AFP article cited the reasons for the meeting as being an effort to achieve a normalcy of relations between the two countries; peace talks between the two countries have been suspended since the Mumbai terror attacks in November 2008.

To read the full text of the CNN article, please click here.

To read the full text of the AFP article, please click here.

The two presidents will discuss the latest developments in the Middle East peace process and the issue of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who was seized by Gaza Strip militants three years ago, it said in a statement.

Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement have been holding indirect talks via Egypt on a prisoner exchange that would see Shalit freed in return for the release of hundreds of Palestinians in Israeli jails.

Egypt is Israel's most important Arab ally and the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with the Jewish state.

A marked economic slowdown in the global economy and rising fuel and food prices combined to make the world a "slightly less peaceful place" according to the latest Global Peace Index.

Countries registering the biggest improvement in their levels of peace were Bosnia-Herzegovina, Angola, Congo Brazzaville, Egypt, and Trinidad and Tobago.

Not surprisingly, Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Israel and Sudan made up the bottom rankings, as they are the most affected by military conflict, civil war, and threat of attack.

To read the complete text of the article, please click here.

To view Global Peace Index Rankings, please click here.

Washington Times reporter Mark Kellner met with the Minister last week to discuss the Google deal, Egypt as an ICT hub in the Middle East, and internet freedom and governance issues.

During the interview, the Minister told the Times, "our (Egypt's) policy line has been always trying to keep the Internet open, trying to keep it as a platform really for development, socioeconomic development, open as much as we can."

"We try, on a regional level within the councils that we are a member [of], whether it is the African Council of Ministers ICT or the Arab Council of Ministers or ICT, to deliver the message to keep the Internet as open as we can, and as much as we can," he added.

Egypt is due to host the Internet Governance Forum in November at Sharm el Sheikh.

To read the full text of the article, please click here.

Washington Times reporter Mark Kellner met with the Minister last week to discuss the Google deal, Egypt as an ICT hub in the Middle East, and internet freedom and governance issues.

During the interview, the Minister told the Times, "our (Egypt's) policy line has been always trying to keep the Internet open, trying to keep it as a platform really for development, socioeconomic development, open as much as we can."

"We try, on a regional level within the councils that we are a member [of], whether it is the African Council of Ministers ICT or the Arab Council of Ministers or ICT, to deliver the message to keep the Internet as open as we can, and as much as we can," he added.

Egypt is due to host the Internet Governance Forum in November at Sharm el Sheikh.

To read the full text of the article, please click here.

The outlines of the settlement are obvious.

President Barack Obama's seminal address in Cairo marked a turning point in America's relations with the Muslim world. His message was clear and incontrovertible: It is issues of politics and policy, not a clash of values, that separate the Muslim world and America. It is the resolution of these issues that will heal the divide.

The ambitious agenda outlined by President Obama must now be followed by forward-looking steps in order to chart a new course in America's relationship with the Arab and Muslim world. I look forward to working with the president to achieve that objective.

For decades, the Arab world has been engaged in a process of intense soul-searching as to how to cope with the forces of change in its midst, including the rising expectations of a rapidly growing younger generation, the destabilizing escalation of regional conflicts, and the swelling tide of radicalism and extremism.

Egypt has long been at the forefront of confronting these challenges, whether in being the first to extend our hand for peace with Israel, addressing the dangers posed by the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, or confronting the threat of terrorism through the moderation and tolerance at the heart of our religious heritage. Through these challenges and beyond, Egypt has engaged in a process of reform that is succeeding in providing greater opportunities for our youth, more empowerment for women, as well as greater pluralism and internal debate. We openly acknowledge that this process still has a way to go in fulfilling our aspirations.

The time has come to renew our commitment to address these many challenges. Among the host of challenges before us, it is the Palestinian issue that requires the greatest urgency, given the precarious state of the peace process after years of stalemate. President Obama has shown a willingness to lead to achieve peace in the Middle East; the Arab world must reciprocate with forthright leadership of its own.

Despite the setbacks of the last few years, it is important to remember that many of the elements of a solution have already been negotiated. After nearly two decades of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations since the initiation of the Oslo peace process, many of the details of a final settlement are well known. Furthermore, the Arab Peace Initiative, adopted at the Beirut summit of 2002, provides a regional framework for such a settlement. For the first time in the history of the conflict, the Arab states unanimously committed to full normalization and security for Israel in exchange for a full withdrawal to the 1967 lines and a negotiated resolution of the Palestinian refugee issue.

The road to a final settlement will now require leadership and concerted effort from all sides. Over the last few years, Egypt has worked exhaustively to unite the Palestinian leadership in a manner that upholds their commitment to a negotiated two-state solution. Egypt has also tried to broker a durable cease-fire between Hamas and Israel, in parallel with our mediation on a prisoner exchange. During Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Egypt last month I renewed our commitment to resume these efforts.

These steps must now be joined with a serious process to negotiate a final status agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. The priority should be to resolve the permanent borders of a sovereign and territorially contiguous Palestinian state, based on the 1967 lines, as this would unlock most of the other permanent status issues, including settlements, security, water and Jerusalem.

Success of these negotiations will depend on firm commitments from both sides to uphold the credibility of the process. Israel's relentless settlement expansion, which has seriously eroded the prospects for a two-state solution, must cease, together with its closure of Gaza. For their part, the Palestinians must continue to develop their institutional capacity while overcoming their division to achieve their aspirations for statehood.

While full normalization with Israel can only result from a comprehensive settlement including the Syrian, Lebanese as well as Palestinian track, the Arab side stands ready to reciprocate serious steps towards peace undertaken by Israel.

A historic settlement is within reach, one that would give the Palestinians their state and freedom from occupation while granting Israel recognition and security to live in peace. With President Obama's reassertion of U.S. leadership in the region, a rare moment of opportunity presents itself. Egypt stands ready to seize that moment, and I am confident that the Arab world will do the same.

Mr. Mubarak is president of Egypt.

President Barack Obama's seminal address in Cairo marked a turning point in America's relations with the Muslim world. His message was clear and incontrovertible: It is issues of politics and policy, not a clash of values, that separate the Muslim world and America. It is the resolution of these issues that will heal the divide. Click here to read more

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak outlined his vision for peace in the Middle East and a settlement between Israelis and Palestinians in an op-ed in today's Wall Street Journal.

"A historic settlement is within reach, one that would give the Palestinians their state and freedom from occupation while granting Israel recognition and security to live in peace. With President Obama's reassertion of U.S. leadership in the region, a rare moment of opportunity presents itself. Egypt stands ready to seize that moment, and I am confident that the Arab world will do the same." wrote Mubarak.

To read the full text of the op-ed, please click here.

To read coverage of the op-ed from Reuters, please click here.

CAIRO - Egypt's parliament has passed a law allocating a quota of 64 seats in the lower house to women, in what a minister said on Monday was aimed at promoting their role in society.

The new law adopted on Sunday will give women more than 12 percent of the seats in an expanded parliament after the next election in 2010, Minister of Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Mufid Shehab said.

It raises the total number of seats in the People's Assembly from 454 - including 10 appointed by the president - to 518. Nine women were elected to parliament in the last election in 2005.

Parliament speaker Fathi Sorour described the law's approval as "an historic event" for Egyptian women.

To read the full text of the article, please click here.

Cairo, Egypt - It looks like there may be more women in the stuffy chambers of the Egyptian parliament. A new election law is set to include an additional 56 seats, all of which will be allocated to female candidates, according to Gamal Mubarak, the son of President Hosni Mubarak and a key figure in the ruling National Democratic Party.

In its convention this week, the NDP's policies committee agreed on a proposal to increase the number of seats in the People's Assembly to 510 from 454 during the next elections. Mubarak confirmed that the new elections law amendments should guarantee that at least 11 percent of the new parliament members will be women.

To read the full text of the article, please click here.

Egypt's 11 percent female representation in the legislature is not far behind the United States, where women make up 17 percent of the U.S. Congress. Conversely, Egypt is ahead of its neighbors: women make up 8 percent of Kuwait's parliament and women hold 2 percent of parliamentary seats in Lebanon.

CAIRO, June 9 (Reuters) - Egypt's intelligence chief held talks with Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal on Tuesday aimed at containing a crisis after West Bank raids by Western-backed Palestinian security forces on Hamas targets sparked clashes.

Damascus-based Meshaal's visit to Cairo is his first in many months, and the talks come two days after Egyptian officials met leaders from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah group, which launched last week's raids that killed nine people in ensuing violence in the West Bank city of Qalqilya.

Egyptian officials met with Ahmed Qurei on Sunday, who leads Fatah negotiators in Cairo-sponsored reconciliation talks, to find ways to sustain talks and end clashes, arrests and counter-arrests by forces loyal to Fatah and Hamas.

Hamas spokesman Taher al-Nono said Tuesday's talks would focus on the repercussions of last week's raids and hoped Egypt would help "compel the Palestinian Authority to stop the assaults against our people in the West Bank".

Egyptian mediators stepped up pressure on the groups to form a unity government by setting a July 7 deadline to bridge divisions. That would prepare the ground for a gradual restoration of unity and allow holding presidential and parliamentary election in January 2010.

To read the full text of the article, please click here.

On June 2, 2009, President Obama gave his first interview to the BBC, and spoke to North America Correspondent Justin Webb about the Middle East. The interview took place two days before President Obama gave an historic address to the Muslim World from Cairo, Egypt. In the interview, President Obama was asked for his opinion of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Justin Webb: Do you regard President Mubarak as an authoritarian ruler?

President Obama: No, I tend not to use labels for folks. I haven't met him. I've spoken to him on the phone.

He has been a stalwart ally in many respects, to the United States. He has sustained peace with Israel, which is a very difficult thing to do in that region.

But he has never resorted to, you know, unnecessary demagoging of the issue, and has tried to maintain that relationship. So I think he has been a force for stability. And good in the region.

To read the full text of the article, please click here.

Mr. Mubarak commented on the U.S. role in the Middle East and President Obama's trip to the Middle East, "If you really want to address the real issue in the region, if you are to re-establish U.S. leadership in that very important part of the world, this is the beginning and the start of a message of respect, a message of understanding, a message of reaching out... this is a sign of strength."

Mr. Mubarak currently holds the position of Deputy Secretary General of the National Democratic Party (NDP) of Egypt, which holds a large majority of seats in the Egyptian parliament. He also heads the party's policies-setting committee within the NDP.

Please click here for video of the interview

Egyptian Prime Minister Doctor Ahmed Nazif was interviewed by CBS News Correspondent Lara Logan; the interview aired on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric Wednesday evening, June 3.

Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif told Lara Logan that the speech came at a critical time. "Time is working against us," Nazif said. "I think time is of the essence - we need to work fast and this is the message we've been getting from the administration...and I think it's very important that it would happen in the first year of this administration."

The Prime Minister was primarily talking about ending violence between Israelis and Palestinians, "The Israeli-Palestinian issue is the core - you solve this problem and you'll find that many other issues have to fall in line," Nazif said.

Prime Minister Nazif, the second youngest prime minister in the history of modern Egypt, has led a team of technocrats which has successfully modernized Egypt's economy, reduced inflation and produced a number of significant constitutional reforms. He is also known for his expertise in information technology (IT) and telecommunications.

Egyptian Prime Minister Doctor Ahmed Nazif was interviewed by CBS News Correspondent Lara Logan. The interview aired on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric Wednesday evening, June 3 in advance of U.S. President Barack Obama's address to the Muslim World.

In the interview with Ms. Logan, Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif said that the speech came at a critical time:

"Time is working against us," Nazif said. "I think time is of the essence - we need to work fast and this is the message we've been getting from the administration... I think it's very important that it would happen in the first year of this administration." He continued, "The Israeli-Palestinian issue is the core - you solve this problem and you'll find that many other issues have to fall in line."

Prime Minister Nazif, the second youngest prime minister in the history of modern Egypt, has led a team of technocrats which has successfully modernized Egypt's economy, reduced inflation and produced a number of significant constitutional reforms. He is also known for his expertise in information technology (IT) and telecommunications.

For more on the interview, please click here.

Mr. Gamal Mubarak, son of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, was interviewed by ABC Co-Anchor Christopher Cuomo. The interview aired this morning on ABC's Good Morning America immediately following President Obama's address to the Muslim World.

Mr. Mubarak commented on the U.S. role in the Middle East and President Obama's trip to the Middle East:

"If you really want to address the real issue in the region, if you are to re-establish U.S. leadership in that very important part of the world, this is the beginning and the start of a message of respect, a message of understanding, a message of reaching out... this is a sign of strength."

Mr. Mubarak currently holds the position of Deputy Secretary General of the National Democratic Party (NDP) of Egypt, which holds a large majority of seats in the Egyptian parliament. He also heads the party's policies-setting committee within the NDP.

Please click here for video of the interview.

The Islamic Research Council (IRS) is one of the premier Islamic authorities that primarily speaks in the name of Al-Azhar, the most respected and influential Sunni institution in the Muslim world. IRC is a compendium of 50 senior Muslim Scholars from various Muslim countries headed by the Grand Imam Sheikh Mohammad Syed Tantawi.

Cairo, Egypt - On the occasion of President Barack Obama's historic visit to Egypt and his speech to the Muslim World which he gave today at Cairo University, the Members of the Islamic Research Council (IRC) welcome President Obama's visit as a clear gesture of goodwill and respect.

This gesture is particularly welcome given the fact that President Obama chose Egypt as the venue of his speech to the Muslim World, in recognition of its rich legacy and profound influence on the Islamic World, by virtue of it taking place at Al-Azhar - the seat of the most respected and influential Sunni institution of Islamic scholarship and education in the world.

The Members of the IRC view President Obama's speech as indicative of a promising new era in relations between America and the Arab and the Muslim worlds, and that paves the way for real dialogue among civilizations, rather than conflict, which some may want us to believe is unavoidable.

The Members commend President Obama for his deep appreciation for the Islamic faith and the contributions of Islamic civilization over the centuries in shaping the world for the better, and for his assertion that America seeks greater engagement and a true partnership with the Muslim world based upon mutual respect.

The Members wish to assert that they share with President Obama the goal of a just, comprehensive, and lasting peace in the Middle East, particularly between Palestine and Israel. The IRC strongly calls upon him to make progress towards achieving such a peace in the region. They also welcome his initiative to end the occupation of Iraq and withdraw U.S. forces. The Members stress that a similar initiative should be made in Afghanistan.

The Members assure the American people that the concerns of most Muslims are identical to those of most Americans, and that they have a common desire to lead a peaceful and dignified life. Both Muslims and Americans face a common threat posed by extremism and terrorism, which people of all religions reject.

The IRC Members affirm that throughout its long history, Al-Azhar has provided equal educational opportunities for men and women, and has been devoted to spreading a balanced vision of Islam based on the various recognized Schools of Islamic law and orthodox theology infused with spiritual depth.

Students at Al-Azhar have been taught not only how to master grammar, logic, and law, but also have been given instruction in Islamic ethics and spirituality, qualities which are considered integral parts of effective religious leadership, and development of a culture of dialogue and tolerance. Combined with an understanding of contemporary issues, this holistic approach to religious education continues to draw students from all over the world to study at Al-Azhar. These students return to their countries not only with knowledge, but with the example of a balanced religiosity that, while remaining true to its principles, is able to address the needs of Muslim society in a changing world.

Al-Azhar has long been active in reaching out to other religious communities, both within the Islamic world, and at the international level. This spirit of dialogue can be found in the statements and fatwas of Al-Azhar's Sheikhs, as well as in the activities of its scholars.

The Members of the IRC affirm that there is a great and vast field in which both the Muslim world and the United States can act together, including rejecting terror; defending and promoting the moral values of compassion and justice; spreading goodwill and bridging misunderstandings; and overcoming misconceptions and stereotypes among all peoples of the world.

The Members recognize the necessity of translating these shared commitments into tangible deeds and programs to achieve these noble goals.

H.E. Dr. Mohamed El-Sayed El-Tantawy
Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar
President of the Islamic Research Council

About the Islamic Research Council (IRC)

Islamic Research Council (IRS) is one of the premier Islamic authorities in the Muslim world that primarily speaks in the name of Al-Azhar, the most respected and influential Sunni institution in the Muslim world and the most sought out seminary for Islamic instruction.

IRC is a compendium of 50 senior Muslim Scholars from various Muslim countries headed by the Grand Imam of Al Azhar Sheikh Mohammad Syed Tantawi. Other notable member Scholars include: Dr Mahmoud Hamdi Zaqzoq, the Minister of Endowment and Islamic affairs; Sheikh Ali Gomaa, the Grand Mufti of Egypt; and Dr Ahmad El Tayyib, the Rector of Al Azhar University.

IRC was established in 1961 with the purpose of being the supreme arbitrator of Islamic legal and cultural discourse. Since its inception, IRC has established itself as one of the world's leading councils of Islamic authority, and has offered wisdom and clarity to Muslims worldwide.

The Grand Mufti of Egypt Ali Gomaa said the use of Weapons of Mass Destruction would violate Islamic teachings, as Muslims as well as non-Muslims could be killed.

He issued the religious ruling, or fatwa, following reports that the use of such weapons was legitimate, the state news agency Mena said.

The Associated Press quoted the Grand Mufti as saying, "This constitutes a surprise (attack), and killing of the unaware. It is not sanctioned to kill them," Gomaa said. "This act also would necessitate killing and annihilating Muslims in those countries," which is unlawful in Islam. - Associated Press, May 31, 2009

His ruling comes just days before the visit to Cairo of U.S. President Barack Obama. Mr. Obama, who arrives on 4 June, is expected to give a speech on U.S. relations with the Muslim world.

To read the full text of the article, click here.

Egypt's ambassador to the United States

The White House recently announced that President Barack Obama will deliver his much-anticipated address to the Muslim world from Egypt in early June. This decision has been warmly received and appreciated by Egyptians, Arabs and the Muslim world at large. Some may wonder why President Obama chose Egypt rather than other attractive venues

In my view, President Obama chose to address the leaders and people of the Muslim world from the very heart of the old world. His decision reflects an understanding of Egypt's rich civilization and its valuable contributions to intellectual thought and cultural exchange throughout the millennia. Along with its promotion of international tolerance, understanding and reconciliation in the modern world, these factors make Egypt the springboard of U.S. engagement in the Middle East.

Moreover, Egypt has long been the locomotive for political, economic and social development in the modern Middle East. It was in Egypt that the region saw its first constitution, its first parliament, and indeed the first to embody the institutions of a modern nation state, all of this dating to the early 19th century.

Thirty years ago, Egypt became the first Arab country to sign a peace accord with Israel and established the framework by which other Arab states and Israel have created their own peace. To this day, Egypt continues to work toward fostering a lasting peace between its neighbors, brokering a permanent cessation of hostilities in Gaza, holding Palestinian unity talks and confronting radical ideology within its own borders. In many ways, Egypt is the arbiter of peace and the force of moderation in the Middle East.

With more than 500 newspapers, journals and magazines and an estimated 162,000 bloggers, making up 30 percent of Arab bloggers worldwide, political discussion and debate within Egypt about the future of the Arab and Muslim world is extensive, and tends to set the tone for such debate among Arabs and Muslims.

Beyond the politics of the Middle East, Egypt is the Arab world's largest and most populous nation. Long at the center of Islamic intellectual thought and learning, Egypt's tradition of religious tolerance and cultural diversity embodies the ideals and values of moderate Islam. The Al Azhar University in Cairo is considered among the oldest seats of Islamic learning and has historically embodied the tradition of moderation and tolerance that characterized Egypt's religious heritage. Egypt is also home to the largest and one of the oldest Christian communities in the Middle East, making it a melting pot of religions and civilizations.

Egypt's broad efforts at economic liberalization have also been recognized by global leaders. For the third year in a row, Egypt has been named the top economic reformer in the Middle East by the World Bank's Doing Business project. This year, Egypt was also named one of the top 10 global reformers, and when many countries are seeing their economies contract, Egypt is expecting sustained growth.

Bilaterally, the United States and Egypt have enjoyed a mutually beneficial relationship for decades. Defense Secretary Robert Gates recently stressed from Cairo that the United States considered Egypt one of its most important partners.

As President Obama eloquently put it, America "is not and will never be at war with Islam." His initiative comes at a very opportune time, and Egypt, America's longstanding friend and ally, is eager to work with the U.S. in advancing the causes of peace and stability in today's troubled world, and mending current relations between the West and Islam.

The White House recently announced that President Barack Obama will deliver his much-anticipated address to the Muslim world from Egypt in early June. This decision has been warmly received and appreciated by Egyptians, Arabs and the Muslim world at large. Some may wonder why President Obama chose Egypt rather than other attractive venues.

In my view, President Obama chose to address the leaders and people of the Muslim world from the very heart of the old world. His decision reflects an understanding of Egypt's rich civilization and its valuable contributions to intellectual thought and cultural exchange throughout the millennia. Along with its promotion of international tolerance, understanding and reconciliation in the modern world, these factors make Egypt the springboard of U.S. engagement in the Middle East.

Moreover, Egypt has long been the locomotive for political, economic and social development in the modern Middle East. It was in Egypt that the region saw its first constitution, its first parliament, and indeed the first to embody the institutions of a modern nation state, all of this dating to the early 19th century.

Thirty years ago, Egypt became the first Arab country to sign a peace accord with Israel and established the framework by which other Arab states and Israel have created their own peace. To this day, Egypt continues to work toward fostering a lasting peace between its neighbors, brokering a permanent cessation of hostilities in Gaza, holding Palestinian unity talks and confronting radical ideology within its own borders. In many ways, Egypt is the arbiter of peace and the force of moderation in the Middle East.

With more than 500 newspapers, journals and magazines and an estimated 162,000 bloggers, making up 30 percent of Arab bloggers worldwide, political discussion and debate within Egypt about the future of the Arab and Muslim world is extensive, and tends to set the tone for such debate among Arabs and Muslims.

Beyond the politics of the Middle East, Egypt is the Arab world's largest and most populous nation. Long at the center of Islamic intellectual thought and learning, Egypt's tradition of religious tolerance and cultural diversity embodies the ideals and values of moderate Islam. The Al Azhar University in Cairo is considered among the oldest seats of Islamic learning and has historically embodied the tradition of moderation and tolerance that characterized Egypt's religious heritage. Egypt is also home to the largest and one of the oldest Christian communities in the Middle East, making it a melting pot of religions and civilizations.

Egypt's broad efforts at economic liberalization have also been recognized by global leaders. For the third year in a row, Egypt has been named the top economic reformer in the Middle East by the World Bank's Doing Business project. This year, Egypt was also named one of the top 10 global reformers, and when many countries are seeing their economies contract, Egypt is expecting sustained growth.

Bilaterally, the United States and Egypt have enjoyed a mutually beneficial relationship for decades. Defense Secretary Robert Gates recently stressed from Cairo that the United States considered Egypt one of its most important partners.

As President Obama eloquently put it, America "is not and will never be at war with Islam." His initiative comes at a very opportune time, and Egypt, America's longstanding friend and ally, is eager to work with the U.S. in advancing the causes of peace and stability in today's troubled world, and mending current relations between the West and Islam.

Special Report: Palestine-Israel Conflicts

On Monday evening, Egypt allowed a European aid-laden convoy to cross into the blockaded Gaza Strip which is ruled by Islamic Hamas movement, officials in Gaza said.

The European aid convoy, called "Hope," included 39 European activists and 40 wagons of humanitarian aid holding food and medicine. It arrived at the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza on Sunday.

...Since June 2007... Israel and Egypt have only opened their border crossings with the Gaza Strip for humanitarian aids, fuels and medicine. Egypt, from time to time, opened its borders for Palestinians to receive medical treatment in Egypt.

The Hope aid convoy is the second that reaches Gaza since the end of Israel's 22-day military offensive on the Gaza Strip which ended on Jan. 18.

The first aid convoy with vehicles, ambulances and trucks, which was led by British member of Common House George Galloway, arrived in the Gaza Strip two weeks after the end of the Israeli offensive."

Arab Republic of Egypt
Press Office - Minister's Cabinet

Cairo, Egypt - Egypt has sent 40 doctors to the western Sudan region to fill the gap which was the result of the expulsion of 13 aid groups working there. Sudanese authorities ordered out 13 foreign aid groups working in Darfur at the beginning of March following the ICC arrest warrant issued against Sudanese President Omer Al-Bashir.

A spokesman for the Egyptian Foreign Ministry stated that the convoy of doctors and medical supplies left Egypt on April 28th.

The Spokesman added that this convoy follows on Egypt's ongoing contribution to the peacekeeping efforts in Darfur, shown through Egypt's participation in a hybrid peacekeeping mission in Darfur at the end of March, as well as by projects that Egypt is undertaking to dig wells which will serve the inhabitants of the Sudan.

These initiatives reflect Egypt's intent to support the Sudanese people's efforts in their path towards peace and stability.

Obama to Make Speech to Muslim World from Cairo

WASHINGTON, DC, May 8, 2009 - The Egyptian government warmly welcomes today's announcement by the White House that President Obama will visit Egypt in early June to make his keynote address to the Muslim World.

"President Obama's speech offers an important opportunity to deepen America's engagement with the Arab and Muslim world, and Egypt is a unique venue for that objective," said Sameh Shoukry, Egypt's Ambassador to the United States. Egypt is the Arab world's largest and most populous nation and has long been at the center of Islamic intellectual thought.

Egypt's long tradition of religious tolerance and diversity embodies the ideals and values of moderate Islam. "The true nature of Islam lies in its moderate heart, not at its radical fringes. Egypt is very hopeful that President Obama's speech will mark a watershed in America's relations with the Muslim world," said Ambassador Shoukry.

President's Obama's initiative comes at a very opportune time. There are many challenges facing the Middle East, in particular the need to achieve peace for the people of the region and to reduce the threat posed by the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

"It is important that America's relations with the Muslim World be based on mutual respect and understanding. Egypt stands ready to work with President Obama and his Administration towards that objective, in accordance with our longstanding friendship," concluded Ambassador Shoukry.

CONTACT: Karim Haggag
(202) 372 - 7799
karimhaggag@gmail.com

Cairo's desire for Mideast peace threatens Tehran's ambitions.

On April 8, Egypt announced it had uncovered a Hezbollah cell operating inside its borders. This startling pronouncement offers a rare insight into the way Iran and its proxies are manipulating Middle East politics.

According to Egyptian authorities, the cell was tasked with planning attacks against tourist sites in Sinai, conducting surveillance on strategic targets including the Suez Canal, and funneling arms and money to Hamas. Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, has admitted that the ringleader of the cell was indeed a member of his organization to provide "logistical support to help the Palestinian brothers in transporting ammunition and individuals."

These latest actions by an emboldened Hezbollah have been spurred on by Iran, which is seeking to further its quest for power in the Arab Middle East. In the past six months, there have been irrefutable signs of Iran's determined effort to sabotage Egypt's attempts at regional stability. At Tehran's instigation, Hamas rejected the renewal of the six-month, Egypt-brokered cease-fire last summer between it and Israel. This rejection led to the Gaza war in December. At the height of that war, Mr. Nasrallah called on the people of Egypt and its army to march on the city of Rafah to open the border to Gaza by force, a highly inflammatory appeal aimed at causing insurrection.

After the war ended, Egypt resumed its efforts to reach a long-term cease-fire. Iran pressured the Hamas leadership to resist. Cairo's ongoing effort to build a Palestinian unity government, by bringing together Fatah and Hamas, has also been undermined by intense Iranian pressure on Hamas.

Tehran sees Egypt as its greatest rival in the region, and the most formidable Arab bulwark opposing its influence. It is in this context that Hezbollah actions in Egypt should be assessed. Acting as a front for Iranian objectives, Hezbollah is tasked with distracting Egypt from the diplomatic process that will hopefully lead one day to a two-state solution in the Palestine-Israel conflict.

Egypt's persistent attempts to bring about peace in this arena and its encouragement of other Arab countries to follow its path with Israel threaten to deprive Iran of the single most potent regional issue that it can exploit to further its radical agenda. Thus Tehran seeks to undermine the prospects for this peace -- and it, along with its clients, believe the way to do this is by undermining Egypt. Similarly, Egypt's security interests in the Gulf, and its traditional role as a force for regional stability, present a clear obstacle to Iran's wider regional ambitions.

For President Barack Obama and members of his administration watching from the sidelines, the implications should be clear. A final settlement of the Palestine-Israel conflict is indispensable if the U.S. wishes to check Iran's expanding influence in the Middle East.

Meanwhile, the U.S. administration will have to contend with a right-wing Israeli government that has yet to subscribe to the principle of a two-state solution in defiance of international consensus. It will also have to press Israel to halt its illegal settlement activity, which now more than ever endangers the fundamental basis for a solution.

The administration's focus on the immediate issue of Iran's nuclear program should not distract it from addressing Tehran's overall posture towards the peace process or its support for terrorism. Iran's challenge to the regional status quo is multifaceted, which is why Washington must adopt a comprehensive approach as it formulates its nascent engagement with Iran.

It is said that Mr. Obama is still weighing when and where to deliver a major speech to the Arab world. If he were to make such a speech in Cairo, it would give heart to millions in the region who want to see the peace process succeed. It would also send a firm message to Tehran that America stands with Egypt on the side of peace and stability.

Mr. Aly is director of the Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies in Cairo.