Egypt

Egypt's energy dreams materialize

The Daily Star, Lebanon, by Mona Salem (Link: Egypt's energy dreams materialize) 

CAIRO: Egypt is looking to use its vast, newly tapped undersea gas reserves to establish itself as a key energy exporter and revive its flagging economy. Encouraged by the discovery of huge natural gas fields in the Mediterranean, Cairo has in recent months signed gas deals with neighboring Israel as well as with Cyprus and Greece.

Former Oil Minister Osama Kamal said Egypt has a “plan to become a regional energy hub.”

In the past year, gas has started flowing from four major fields off Egypt’s Mediterranean coast, including the vast Zohr field, inaugurated with a great ceremony by President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi.

Discovered in 2015 by Italian energy giant Eni, Zohr is the biggest gas field so far found in Egyptian waters.

The immediate upshot has been that since September, the Arab world’s most populous country has been able to halt imports of liquified natural gas, which last year cost it some $220 million per month.

Coming after a financial crisis that pushed Cairo in 2016 to take a $12 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund, the gas has been a lifeline.

Egypt’s budget deficit, which hit 10.9 percent of GDP in the financial year 2016-2017, has since fallen to 9.8 percent.

Gas production has now hit 184 million cubic meters a day.

Having met its own needs, Cairo is looking to kickstart exports and extend its regional influence.

It has signed deals to import gas from neighboring countries for liquefaction at installations on its Mediterranean coast, ready for re-export to Europe.

In September, Egypt signed a deal with Cyprus to build a pipeline to pump Cypriot gas hundreds of kilometers to Egypt for processing before being exported to Europe.

That came amid tensions between Egypt and Turkey which has supported the Muslim Brotherhood, seen by Cairo as a terrorist organization, and has troops in breakaway northern Cyprus.

In February, Egypt, which is the only Arab state apart from Jordan to have a peace deal with Israel, inked an agreement to import gas from the Jewish state’s Tamar and Leviathan reservoirs.

A U.S.-Israeli consortium leading the development of Israel’s offshore gas reserves in September announced it would buy part of a disused pipeline connecting the Israeli coastal city of Ashkelon with the northern Sinai peninsula.

That would bypass a land pipeline across the Sinai that was repeatedly targeted by militants in 2011 and 2012.

The $15-billion deal will see some 64 billion cubic meters of gas pumped in from the Israeli fields over 10 years.

Independent news website Mada Masr reported that Egypt’s General Intelligence Service is the majority shareholder in East Gas, which will earn the largest part of the profits from the import of Israeli gas and its resale to the Egyptian state.

Kamal said he sees “no problem” in that, adding that the agency has held a majority stake in the firm since 2003.

“That guarantees the protection of Egyptian interests,” he said.

Ezzat Abdel-Aziz, former president of the Egyptian Atomic Energy Agency, said the projects were “of vital importance for Egypt” and would have direct returns for the Egyptian economy.

They “confirm the strategic importance of Egypt and allow it to take advantage of its location between producing countries in the east and consuming countries of the West,” he said.

The Egyptian state is also hoping to rake in billions of dollars in revenues from petrochemicals.

Its regional energy ambitions are “not limited to the natural gas sector, but also involve major projects in the petroleum and petrochemical sectors,” Kamal, who is former oil minister, said.

Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister Tarek al-Molla recently announced a deal to expand the Midor refinery in the Egyptian capital to boost its output by some 60 percent.

On top of that, the new Mostorod refinery in northern Cairo is set to produce 4.4 million tons of petroleum products a year after it comes online by next May, according to Ahmed Heikal, president of Egyptian investment firm Citadel Capital.

That alone will save the state $2 billion a year on petrochemical imports, which last year cost it some $5.2 billion.

Egypt is also investing in a processing plant on the Red Sea that could produce some 4 million tons of petro-products a year as well as creating 3,000 jobs in a country where unemployment is rife.

 

 

Video: Egypt’s Cabinet reviews ‘1st smart parking in Middle East’ - Egypt Today

Egypt Today, by  Amr Mohamed Kandil

The Roxy Garage consists of four underground floors with an area of 10,000 square meters each – Screenshot of Cabinet’s video

CAIRO – 15 November 2018: The Egyptian Cabinet published a video showing the first phase of the “first smart parking in the Middle East” in Heliopolis’s Korba district, Cairo.
Maged Zarif, the operating manager of the Roxy Garage, said that the parking is the largest in the Middle East in terms of area and is the world’s largest garage regarding capacity as it can accommodate as many as 1,700 vehicles. The first phase will accommodate 900 cars, Zarif added.

The Roxy Garage consists of four underground floors with an area of 10,000 square meters each, he said.

The parking operates automatically without human interference, Zarif said. Clients will put their cars inside elevators for parking and then use smart cards to restore them, he explained, adding that each of the two operations does not take more than three minutes.

Ebrahim Saber, deputy Cairo governor, said that the first phase of the Roxy Garage has been completed and is ready to operate, revealing that the current expense of the parking amounts to LE 230 million ($12.8 million).

The Roxy Garage is part of the government’s plan to resolve traffic congestion, especially that Korba is one of Egypt’s most crowded areas.

According to a study published by the World Bank in 2013 titled “Cairo Traffic Congestion", traffic congestion costs Egypt LE 50 billion ($8 billion) a year, which is four percent of Egypt’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

This loss is caused by the productivity wasted when citizens spend most of their time held up in traffic rather than at work, the fuel wasted and the pollution caused by vehicle emissions.

via www.egypttoday.com

اشاعات ...اشاعات ...اشاعات

ألاهرام اليومي 

د. عزة رضوان صدقى

منذ عدة سنوات وحتى قبيل ثورتى يناير ويونيو كنت متوجهة إلى منزلى فى تاكسي. أثار السائق فضولى عندما قال: فيه حاجة غريبة بتحصل، ده خامس واحد أشوفه يشترى كراتين مياه. وعند وصولى إلى المنزل، كانت شائعة أن المياه فى مصر قد لوُثت وأصبحت غير صالحه للشرب، قد وصلت لذروتها وكان لابد من ظهور وزير ما على التليفزيون لإنكار القصه وتهدئة الأعصاب

هناك احتمال أن تكون الشائعة افتُعلت من قبل شركة تعبئة مياه مثلا، فبالتأكيد ربحت شركات تعبئة المياه كثيرا فى هذا اليوم.. وهذا أسلوب متبع من بعض الشركات الدولية التى قد تلجأ للشائعات حتى ترتفع أسهمها أو تنخفض أسهم الشركات المنافسة أو حتى تحث المنافسين لتطوير منتجات أو التخلى عن بعض المنتجات. ولكن هناك من صدّق الشائعة واقتنع بشراء زجاجات مياه فورا وإلا فالعطش قادم لا محالة

تلفيق وبالتبعية تصديق الشائعات شيء متواجد فى كل العالم وبالذات فى الظروف العصيبة. فبعد إعصار كاترينا فى نيو أورلينز بالولايات المتحده سنة 2005 لم تكن المياه الشيء الوحيد الذى غمر المدينة بل هاجم سمك القرش منافذ المياه حول المدينة وزرع الإرهابيون قنابل عند حدودها وامتلأ الاستاد بجثث الأطفال. شائعات فى شائعات في شائعات

فى مصر، وبعد تنحى الرئيس مبارك عن الحكم، قالت الشائعات إنه زهد الحياة وفارقها، ثم قررت أنه رفض الدواء ثم دخل فى غيبوبة حتى تُوفي. كل هذا فى ظرف أيام معدودة فقط. كذلك قالت الشائعات إن السيدة سوزان مبارك هربت إلى لندن ومعها 90 حقيبة مليئة بالأموال وقالت الشائعة المتداولة فى ذاك الوقت إنها باعت تحفًا وكنوزًا مصرية. أما الأموال التى سُرقت فكانت تنمو وتزداد بمعدل فلكى حتى أصبحت رقمًا غير مفهوم بالنسبة لمعظم المصريين، وكان يتساءل بعضهم آنذاك: يعنى إيه 70 مليارا بالضبط؟

أخذت الحروب ضد مصر أشكالا متعددة. بدأت بالهجوم على وحدات القوات المسلحة والكنائس بعدها انفجرت القنابل أمام مبانى الحكومة والشرطة وفى بعض الأماكن العامه ثم جاءت انفجارات أبراج الكهرباء ثم الحرائق التى أصابت منازل ومصانع فى وسط القاهرة وخارجها. الآن هناك أسلوب جديد لغرس الخوف فى نفوس المصريين بشائعات نقص المواد والمأكولات، أو اختلاق الكوارث ونشر الأكاذيب. الشائعات هى أسلوب آخر من الحرب وهى وسيلة فعّاله للتدمير

اليوم فى مصر قصص خزعبلية تارة وأكاذيب تارة أخرى تنهمر علينا لتصيبنا فى الصميم، وتضاعفت آثارها بسبب سهولة وسرعة وصول المعلومة عبر المواقع الاجتماعية والتليفونات الذكية، وسهولة تعديل الصور أو تلفيقها وطبعا سهولة إقناع الإنسان الطيب. سمعنا عن الأرز البلاستيك والبيض البلاستيك والعجيب أننا شهدنا المنتج البلاستيكى بالصوت والصورة. وسمعنا عن ضريبة استعمال الآيفون. وسمعنا عن إعداد الحكومة قاعدة بيانات متكاملة للمصريين فى الخارج لمعرفة رواتبهم تمهيدا لفرض الضرائب *عليهم. وسمعنا عن قانون بناء الكنائس الذى منع وضع الصلبان فوق الكنائس. وسمعنا عن موت الفنان فلان وزواج الفنان علان. شائعات فى شائعات فى شائعات

هناك احتمال أن الشائعة تبدأ بزلة لسان أو سوء فهم أو حتى نكتة فى غير محلها، ولكن فى معظم الأحيان يكون الهدف هو إحداث بلبلة وفوضى وضرب الاستقرار. وأسوأ الشائعات هى التى تأمل فى كسر المعنويات وزعزعة الثقة وبث الرعب وهى إذ تستغل المواطن البسيط فى تداولها وتعميمها سرعان ما تصل إلى الملايين

سرعة تعامل السلطات المصرية مع الشائعة والتفاعل معها يقلِّل من أثرها الخطير على المجتمع. بإمكان المسئولين غلق الطريق أمام الشائعات بالشفافية والدقة والاستباقية فى التعامل مع أى قصة مفتعلة. كذلك إذا خاف المجتمع فسيسهل على الشائعة التسلل داخله. بالتأكيد مصر فى أيدٍ أمينة، ورجالها ونساؤها يعملون من أجلها وهذا الشعور بالاطمئنان يقلِّل من القلق ومحاولة اختراق المعنويات

والأهم هو كيفية تعامل الفرد مع الشائعات. أولا علينا أن نسأل أنفسنا إذا كانت الشائعة منطقية أو غير منطقية قبل تداولها. كذلك لابد من التحقق من مصداقية المعلومة من المصادر الموثوق بها مثل الأهرام اليومى أو جوجل أو الإنترنت عامة. إذا لم تذكر القصة إلا فى مصدر واحد فهى شائعة وبالذات إذا كان المصدر مشكوكا فيه. كذلك فالشائعة تصبح حقيقة عندما تصدر من أكثر من مصدر، لذلك يجب التغلب على الشائعة من أولها بعدم إرسالها للآخرين. وكلمة "بيقولوا" كما هو فى المقولة: بيقولوا فيه عصابات بتخطف فى الستات، لابد من مقاومتها لأنها بمثابة إثبات أن القصة ماهى إلا شائعة. من المقولات المشهوره: اكذب ثم اكذب ثم اكذب حتى يصدقك الناس ثم تصدق أنت نفسك.

اشاعات ... اشاعات... اشاعات خربت بيتنا الشائعات.

 أستاذة إعلام بكندا

لمزيد من مقالات د. عزة رضوان صدقى

رابط دائم: 

https://www.ahram.org.eg/NewsQ/678751.aspx

What’s behind Nikki Haley’s resignation?

Ahram Weekly and Ahram Online, by Azza Radwan Sedky

The world may not have seen the back of US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, despite her recently announced resignation

In an abrupt and unforeseen move, Nikki Haley resigned from her post as US ambassador to the United Nations recently.

The resignation left friends and foes, including White House staff, baffled. Many have reflected on Haley’s future, asking some plausible questions and making a few conceivable predications.

Analysts have asked if Haley’s departure was done in good faith or whether it was a tactic meant to see her return to office stronger, and, if so, what the world should expect.

Haley’s wheeling and dealing have been atypical, and it would pay in the long run to try to make sense of this important politician.

I doubt that Nikki Haley plans on withdrawing from the political arena altogether. In fact, it may be truer to say that she has perfected her exit in the hope of a more profound re-entry at a future date.

Having reached the peak of what the UN can offer her, and since her aspirations do not stop there, Haley is moving on. She also did not leave US President Donald Trump in the lurch, but instead gave him time to find a replacement as she will formally leave office at the end of the year. Her resignation has been the only recent White House resignation that was not fraught, but instead ended on mutually friendly terms.

On her way up, Haley faced hurdles that she easily overcame. Her Indian origins and her parents’ religious affiliation as Sikhs could have been considered as hurdles by some, but they do not seem to have been so for Haley who took up Christianity later in life possibly to avoid any racial discrimination she may have faced.

Once assigned the UN position, Haley made a powerful impact on deliberations in the organisation, mainly due to her hardline bias in favour of the US and Israel. She snubbed many in the process, but she never flinched.

When Trump recognised Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, for example, Egypt put forward a draft UN resolution criticising this move. Haley then issued a direct threat, warning delegates not to vote for the resolution. She also sent a letter to UN delegations saying that the president “will be watching the vote carefully” and that she would “report back on those who voted against us”.

She has defended Trump unreservedly. For instance, when delegates at the UN laughed at him during the General Assembly meetings in September, Haley said that this was prompted “by respect” as they “love his honesty”. Later, she said that delegates at the UN were “falling over themselves trying to get a picture with the president and praising his speech,” a comment that bemused many critics.

As she resigned her office, Haley considered her achievements at the UN. “Now the United States is respected. Countries may not like what we do, but they respect what we do,” she said, even as the polls showed otherwise.

Expectations regarding Haley’s future are tremendous. Some say that she exited her UN post in defiance of Trump since he had bypassed her for the position of US secretary of state twice. Others warn that Haley could be in the White House in 2024.

In the meantime, Haley has announced that she has no intention of running in the 2020 US presidential elections, but that she will support Trump. As for 2024, that will be a different ballgame, and by then Haley will still only be 52 years old.

What does the world, in particular the Arab world, gain or lose from Haley’s resignation from the UN and her continuing presence in the political realm? She has proven to be a staunch ally of Israel, and at meetings of the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), a pressure group, she has proclaimed her allegiance to the country. “The US will always stand with Israel,” she has said more than once.

In contrast, Haley views Palestine as not a “UN member state or any state at all,” and she has adamantly supported Trump’s withholding of aid to the Palestinians. She has even questioned the Palestinian right of return to their land as part of any negotiated peace settlement.

US policy will not change with Haley’s departure, but no one can deny that Haley’s views resonated powerfully in the hallways of the UN. It was she who said loud and clear that “I wear heels, but it’s not a fashion statement. It’s because if I see something wrong, I’m gonna kick ‘em every single time.”

It seems likely that despite her recent resignation as US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley will be back with a vengeance, and the world, in particular the Arab world, should be forewarned.

* The writer is a political analyst.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 1 November, 2018 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly under the headline:  What’s behind Nikki Haley’s resignation? 

via english.ahram.org.eg

‘No One Issued Orders to Open Prisons in 2011’: Habib El-Adly

Egyptian Streets (Link: No one issued orders to oper prisons in 2011)

During the retrial of ex-president Mohamed Morsi on charges of prison breakout, former interior minister Habib El Adly testified on court on Sunday that there were no orders issued by anyone in the Ministry of Interior to open the prisons during the 25 Jan protests in 2011, Al Ahram reports.

The ex minister added that these prison breakouts were part of a ‘clear conspiracy’ to destroy the Egyptian state by Islamist groups like Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood.

Initially, El Adly stated that the ministry received information on 28 January that several marches were about to take place across the country, so he ordered for these marches to be controlled by unarmed personnel.

However, the ministry was then “taken by surprise” after some “armed foreign elements” began to infiltrate these marches, El Adly adds.

“The vehicles armed with cannons infiltrated the eastern borders and had started attacking police departments, prisons and state security buildings, which prove there was a pre-set plan to destroy the state,” he said.

The former interior minister also referred to a meeting that took place in 2009 between Hamas leader Khaled Mashal and Khaled Farouk, a leading Muslim Brotherhood member, which set out plans to depose the Egyptian regime.

Members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard were also given fake passports by Khaled Mashal in order to allow them to enter Egypt during the revolution, El Adly noted.

The prison breakout occurred on 30 January during the 2011 protests, when thousands of prisoners escaped from at least four jails across the country.

Among those who escaped were 30 leaders of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood and ex president Mohamed Morsi.

At the time, many Egyptians claimed that these prison breakouts were orchestrated by the government in order to create chaos in the streets and reduce the likelihood of people protesting.

In 2015, a Cairo criminal court sentenced Morsi and other top Brotherhood figures, to death on charges of “damaging and setting fire to prison buildings” and escaping from the Wadi Al-Natroun prison during the 2011 uprisings.

Link: No one issued order to open prisons in 2011: Habib El-Adly

Battle of the niqab moves to Egypt

The Arab Weekly, by Amr Amin (excerpt. Read on Battle of the niqab moves to Egypt)

Lawmakers are seeking to link a ban to security concerns, not wider political or social issues.

CAIRO - Calls for banning the full-face veil known as the niqab have moved from Algeria to Egypt, where lawmakers are calling for outlawing the wearing of the garment, especially in state and educational institutions.

Those making the calls, liberal-minded lawmakers and activists, point to security concerns in wearing the full-face veil, particularly given that Egypt is fighting terrorism in the country.

“Some of the terrorist attacks that happened in the past were carried out by people wearing the niqab,” said Mohamed Abu Hamed, a lawmaker leading the drive for banning the niqab in Egypt. “Some men even wear them to escape police and commit crimes.”

While most Muslim women in Egypt wear the headscarf known as the hijab, many, particularly Salafists, wear the niqab.

Demands for banning the niqab at state and educational institutions follow a decision by Algeria to ban civil servants from wearing the full-face veil at the workplace. However, a recent UN ruling that France’s ban on the garment violates human rights could pose a problem.

There is no official estimate of the number of women who adopt the niqab in Egypt. Lawmakers are seeking to link a ban to security concerns, not wider political or social issues. The Egyptian government has strongly clamped down on political Islam following the ouster of Islamist President Muhammad Morsi in 2013. While the Muslim Brotherhood, with which Morsi was affiliated, has been banned, Salafist political groups continue to operate in Egypt but are greatly diminished.

Abu Hamed, a member of the Solidarity and Family Committee in parliament, said he intends to propose a bill banning the niqab on security concerns.

“When women cover their faces, this prevents policemen from identifying them. Terrorists can also easily hide behind these full-face veils to stage attacks,” he said.

It is no surprise that liberals, such as Abu Hamed, would like to see the niqab banned in Egypt. Abu Hamed is a former vice-chairman of the liberal Free Egyptians Party and took part in the 2011 Egyptian revolution that ousted long-time Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Egypt’s liberals and secularists were at the forefront of opposition to political control by the Muslim Brotherhood after 2011, with many backing Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi’s bid to reform religious discourse in the country.

What is striking, however, is that scholars at al-Azhar, the highest seat of Sunni authority in Egypt, back banning the niqab. While al-Azhar supports the hijab, it said the full-face veil is a step too far.

One of the most outspoken critics of the niqab is Amina Nasir, a member of parliament and a professor of philosophy at al-Azhar University. She described the full-face veil as a threat to national security.

“The full-face veils have nothing to do with the Islamic religion at all,” Nasir said. “It even contradicts some of the verses of the Holy Quran.”

Nasir said that the full-face veil is more a cultural remnant than a religious requirement. When Islam appeared, she said, it did not impose the full-face veil on women.

Ahmed Karima, a professor of Islamic jurisprudence at al-Azhar University, agreed. He said that the fact that Muslim women perform the haj ritual without fully covering their faces proves that the niqab is not a religious requirement.

“This is why I say the authorities have to act to ban these veils,” Karima said. “Women who want to fully cover their faces can do this at home.”

The increasing calls for banning the niqab sets up a tense confrontation with Egypt’s ultra-orthodox Salafists who consider the garment a red line.

 

 

Egypt in strong comeback from economic crisis

Gulf News (excerpt: read on here)

Country on sustainable recovery path and remains largely resilient to widespread emerging markets sell-off

Garbis Iradian, IIF Mena chief economist

Dubai: Egypt is on its way to a sustainable economic recovery, thanks to fiscal and structural adjustment programmes in recent years and funding from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and its GCC allies, analysts and economists have said.

Amid the recent Emerging Market (EM) sell-off that triggered sharp currency devaluations and a spike in inflation, Egypt remains stable even as it faces fiscal and current account deficits, high inflation and foreign capital outflows from its domestic debt market.

“Unlike its emerging markets peers, Egyptian foreign exchange and interest rates have remained stable, and there have been no downgrades to its near-term macro prospects,” said Ehsan Khomn, head of Mena Research and Strategy at MUFG. “Indeed, our forecasts have economic growth continuing to accelerate over the medium-term and imbalances narrowing.”

According to the Institute of International Finance (IIF), real GDP growth accelerated from 4.2 per cent in the 2016-17 period to 5.3 per cent in 2017-18 — driven by natural gas, construction and tourism on the production side, and net exports.

Gas-field boost

“We expect growth to remain around 5 per cent in the current fiscal year as the rebound in tourism and higher natural gas production continues,” said Garbis Iradian, IIF Mena chief economist. “The discovery of the giant Zohr field in 2015, which came on stream this year and holds an estimated 30 trillion cubic feet of gas, may shift Egypt from a net importer to a net exporter of natural gas by end 2019.”

Egypt’s resilience to the recent EM turmoil and its improving key economic indicators are largely attributed to a slew of reform measures.

Link: Egypt in strong comeback from economic crisis

Erdogan’s media game

Ahram Online, by Hany Ghoraba (Excerpt: read on here Erdogan's media game)

The Turkish regime has been attempting to capitalise on the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi to gather acceptance for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s own tyrannical rule

 

The horrific killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in Turkey has sparked an unprecedented wave of condemnation of Saudi Arabia and its security apparatus.

The latter has caused a major upheaval in Saudi Arabia’s international relations and one that it will take years to rectify.

Even with Saudi King Salman announcing measures to investigate the incident on 20 October when Khashoggi was killed, the damage has already been done.

This Saudi intelligence blunder and the international scandal that has resulted from it have been turned into a victory for the Turkish and Qatari regimes.

These countries’ media have managed to control the narrative of the story and impose an international siege on the Saudi media, which was forced onto the defensive early in the crisis.

The Saudi denials of involvement in Khashoggi’s disappearance, and the latter admission that he had been killed, were not accompanied by proof that the Saudi security services in Turkey had not killed Khashoggi.

The result was that the Turks started to release one press statement after another detailing what they said had been a gruesome murder to the shocked international media.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attempted to become a champion of human rights and the freedom of expression even as his media were condemning the Saudis for the lack of these things.

At the same time, the Qataris were pouring fuel on the fire internationally and managing to capture the attention of the world’s media, especially since Khashoggi had been a US resident since 2017.

Qatar has been seeking revenge on the Saudis for their regional boycott of the Qatari state for its role in financing terrorist groups and even in supporting regime change in many countries in the region, including Saudi Arabia.

The Qatari AlJazeera TV network is known for its support for jihadist movements, and it airs programmes in which guests openly declare their allegiance to groups such as the Islamic State (IS).

It has been losing credibility since the Arab Spring revolutions owing to its support for Muslim Brotherhood terrorists across the region.

Unfortunately, Khashoggi’s death has brought AlJazeera back onto the media scene, since it has coordinated with Turkey to keep it abreast of developments.

The result has been a media victory for the Islamist regimes in Turkey and Qatar over Saudi Arabia, whose diplomatic efforts to contain the situation and the media response have been inconsistent and have served the Turkish and Qatari goal of blackmailing Saudi Arabia and smearing Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman.

However, such tactics by Erdogan to divert attention from his own regime’s crimes throughout the region cannot overshadow facts on the ground regarding freedom of speech and human rights in Turkey, especially regarding the Turkish treatment of journalists and the media.

According to the Swedish NGO the Stockholm Centre for Freedom, 68 journalists have been convicted, 168 arrested, and 148 are still wanted in Turkey on various trumped-up charges.

These figures do not include the unexplained deaths of journalists such as the Americans Serena Shim and Rohas Aktas in 2014 and 2016, respectively.

Erdogan also ordered the shutting down of 16 television channels, 45 daily newspapers, 15 magazines, 23 radio stations and 29 publishing houses in Turkey as part of the purge that followed the failed coup d’état in the country in July 2016.

via english.ahram.org.eg

THE KHASHOGGI AFFAIR: THE ART OF THE LEAK

Brilliant. This is only an excerpt; read on here The Khashoggi Affair: the art of the leak

October 23 by SETH J. FRANTZMAN, Terrainincognita

Nick Paton Walsh articulated it well: “The role [Turkey has] taken is not that of the virtuous prosecutor, but of the exploitative politician,” he wrote on October 18 about Ankara’s handling of, what at the time was considered the disappearance of Saudi journalist and insider Jamal Khashoggi. Why do we still know so little, he asked at the time, before Saudi Arabia had admitted to the murder. “The slow, purposeful, yet absolutely deliberate series of leaks to the media of evidence pointing towards the involvement of the Saudi Crown Prince and his immediate entourage has been disrespectful to the cause of justice itself, let alone to Khashoggi’s grieving relatives.” The BBC’s Mark Lowen identified the trend even earlier on October 10. “drip-feeding leaks on Khashoggi to pro-govt media: pics of 15 alleged members of Saudi hit squad, CCTV showing them arriving in Istanbul, checking into hotels near Saudi consulate, vehicles going from consulate to CG residence, jets leaving. Doesn’t look good for Saudis.” Deborah Amos at NPR also noted it on October 12.

Many have now come to understand that there is a strategy to the method by which leaks have been made in Turkey. Western media and commentators have gone from hanging on every outrage over the murder to wondering whether the various stories of “tapes” and other details will actually materialize. Yet they continue to stay tuned for every juicy detail. On October 23 when SkyNews suddenly claimed a body had been found many people who should know better began tweeting.

On October 18 the Associated Press noted that at each turn of the investigation “Turkish officials leaked more shocking material to the media, making it impossible for the journalist’s alleged murder to be quietly swept under the rug.” It is an “art” some have said, to be able to provide leaks everyday like this.

When the Turkish president was going to speak on October 23 many thought that major new details would be revealed. Martin Chulov tweeted “A huge moment in the region looms, as Turkey’s President prepares to disclose what he knows..Khashoggi case has put Saudi prince right where Erdoğan wants him.” After the speech many were left wondering why Ankara’s public statements were much more sanitized then the private leaks.

At every turn salacious details, often unverified, became fact. Many of these began in the Turkish media or were ascribed to Turkish sources, sometimes official or unofficial, sometimes to various members of the police or government. It was difficult to verify what was officially known, versus rumors. BBC tried to create one timeline.

New leaks every day

After Khashoggi disappeared on October 2 press reports began to emerge the next day. However it took several days for the leaks to begin. We may not know why it took several days, since according to the later accounts the existence of an “audio” tape would have immediately provided authorities knowledge of what happened. Later it would emerge that officials did try to rush to the airport on October 2.

October 6: Daily Sabah “Turkish police: 15 Saudis, including officials, arrived in Istanbul on two flights on Tuesday (same day Khashoggi disappeared) and were at the consulate at the same time as the journalist. They left again the same day ” “The Turkish news is reporting that Saudi’s sent a 15 men team to carry out a ‘premeditated murder’”

October 7 : “The body has been deported to S.A. already. The customs did not control the 15 Saudis when they returned back home. Surely their suitcases where filled with his bodyparts.”

October 9: “Yeni Şafak journalist Kemal Öztürk participated a program on TVNET saying, “the source of claims about Jamal Khasoggi’s death is the intelligence units; there is a video of him getting killed.” Middle East Eye “On Tuesday, Turkish Daily Sabah, a pro-government newspaper, published the alleged names and photos of 15 Saudi nationals it said travelled to Istanbul the day Khashoggi disappeared.” October 9 “allegedly of #4 on Saudi security team that arrived in Istanbul the day Khashoggi disappeared with Saudi Crown Prince MBS [Mohammed Bin Salman]; October 9 “Last known photo of Khashoggi emerges.” October 9 “Washington Post releases photos of Khashoggi entering consulate.”

October 10 NYT: “Saudi journalist Khashoggi was killed within two hours of his arrival at the consulate by a team of Saudi agents, who dismembered his body with a bone saw they brought for the purpose; the order came from Saudi royal court” – a senior Turkish official to NYT.” Liz Sly: “The Saudi hit team abducted & dismembered Khashoggi with a bone saw before they left. They took a video as evidence that they did the job. One member of the team was an autopsy expert.” Ben Hubbard “A top Turkish security official said Khashoggi’s killing was “a quick and complex operation” that was done in two hours and involved a bone saw brought for the purpose. But sources still anonymous. Will Erdogan own this publicly?” Business Insider “A senior Turkish official on Tuesday said the team responsible for Jamal Khashoggi’s death used a bone saw to dismember his body.” Guardian: “CCTV disappears from consulate, Turkish investigators believe the CCTV footage from inside the consulate was onboard.”

October 12: ““You can hear his voice and the voices of men speaking Arabic,” a source told the Washington Post. “You can hear how he was interrogated, tortured and then murdered.” Slate: “How much could Apple Watch tell us about disappearance.” October 12: “Khashoggi disappearance: new video aired by Turkish TV NTV purports to show a man wearing a white coat arriving in a black Mercedes at the Saudi consul’s house”

October 13: George Takei “If you ever wonder how courageous the press is, missing Post journalist Khashoggi apparently may have recorded his own abduction, torture and possible murder on his Apple watch.” Kenneth Roth: “Turkey says Jamal Khashoggi’s Apple Watch recorded his execution inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The Saudis reportedly tried to delete the recordingby guessing Khashoggi’s PIN and using (the dead man’s?) fingerprint. It did.” CNN: “Missing Saudi journalist’s Apple watch may have transmitted audio evidence, Turkish paper reports” CNN, same day “Experts have dismissed claims that a recording of the alleged killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi may have been transmitted using his Apple Watch.”

ماذا وراء استقالة نيكى هيلى؟

الاهرام اليومي بقلم د.عزة رضوان صدقي

 فاجأت السفيرة الأمريكية للأمم المتحده نيكى هيلى البيت الأبيض والعالم باستقالتها من منصبها تاركةً وراءها تساؤلات وتنبؤات كثيرة عن مستقبلها السياسى وعما إذا كان قد نزل الستار على محاولتها التحكم فى سياسة الولايات المتحده ودول العالم أجمع أم أن استقالتها بدون سابق إنذار هى تكتيك استراتيجى يعبر عن طموحات دفينة. وإذا كانت النية عند هيلى الرجوع كقوة غامرة فيما بعد، فلابد أن يدرك العالم خطورة هيلى وأسلوبها الفج فى ممارسة السياسة

أشك أن نيكى هيلى قد راحت فى الوباء، بل العكس صحيح فهى تخطط تخطيطًا قد يمنحها فرصًا مستقبلية مميزة. حتى أسلوب استقالتها قد كسر قواعد الاستقالات التى عهدناها فى عهد الرئيس ترامب, فقد قدمت استقالتها بمحض إرادتها وبدون وجود خلاف أو نزاع وأيضا وهى فى أوج حالاتها وشهرتها، ولم تستقل فجأة بل أعطت ترامب فرصة وفيرة لملء منصبها ووعدت بالبقاء كسفيرة أمريكا فى الأمم المتحدة حتى أوائل 2019. هذا يعنى أن هيلى تخطط للقادم

مند نعومة أظفارها وهيلى تتخطى الصعوبات وتدفع بعرض الحائط كل ما يقف أمامها وتنتزع الفرص للوصول إلى هدفها حتى أصلها الهندى وانتماء أهلها إلى الديانة السيخية لم يعرقلها، وهذا -إذ يحد من سقف طموحات البعض- لم يقف فى طريقها وإن كانت قد اعتنقت المسيحية على الأرجح لإزالة أى عراقيل قد تقف فى الطريق التى مهدته لنفسها. هيلى سياسية بارعة وبسرعة فائقة أصبحت محط أنظار الجميع فى الأمم المتحدة حتى وإن كان ذلك لتشددها تجاه كل من لا ينحاز إلى الولايات المتحده وإسرائيل وشراسة آرائها تجاه من لا يعنيها. على سبيل المثال فعندما أقدم الرئيس ترامب على اعتبار القدس عاصمة إسرائيل ونقل السفارة الأمريكية إلى هناك، تقدمت مصر إلى مجلس الأمن بمشروع قرار يدين إعلان القدس عاصمة إسرائيل. آنذاك، فى سابقة تعتبر الأولى من نوعها، أرسلت هيلى رسائل إلى البعثات الدبلوماسية تهددهم بأن أمريكا سوف تدوِّن أسماء البلاد التى سوف تصوِّت مع قرار إدانة نقل السفارة. وكان هذا دائما وأبدا الأسلوب الذى يرفعها فى أعين بعض الأمريكان ويسقطها فى أعين بقية العالم. وقد دافعت هيلى مرارا عن الرئيس ترامب حتى وإن كانت لا توافقه الرأى أو الموقف, فعندما ضحكت وفود الأمم المتحدة على الرئيس ترامب، أكدت هيلى أن الوفود تحترمه بشدة وتعجب بصدقه المعهود، بل أكدت أن الوفود كانت تصطف حوله أملا فى أن يلتقطوا الصور معه. إلى حد ما هذه الكلمات إيجابية تجاه رئيس الدولة ولكنها تثبت نظرية أن هيلى تسعى للمزيد وتبغى تأييد الشعب الأمريكى تارة فى احترامها لشخص الرئيس وتارة بالدفاع عن أمريكا وتارة بقوة الرد. التنبؤات والتوقعات لهيلى عديدة. فالبعض يقول إن هيلى تركت منصب الأمم المتحدة لأن الرئيس ترامب تخطاها عدة مرات بشغل منصب وزير الخارجية الأمريكية بأشخاص آخرين وهى كانت الأجدر بهذا المنصب. والبعض الآخر قال إن على الديمقراطيين أن يقلقوا لأن نيكى هيلى ستكون فى البيت الأبيض فى 2024. فى حين أن هيلى قد أعلنت رسميا أنها لن تخوض معركة الرئاسة فى 2020 بل ستقف بجانب الرئيس ترامب وإنما لم تحدد نيتها لمعركة 2024. عموما فالبيت الأبيض ليس بمستحيل على هيلى لأن فى 2024 ستكون هيلى قد بلغت من العمر 52 سنة فقط

ماذا يجنى العالم وبالذات العالم العربى من خروج أو مكوث نيكى هيلى فى طى الضوء السياسي؟ أولا كانت قد أعلنت هيلى فى كثير من المناسبات وبالذات فى الإيباك (اللوبى الأمريكى الصهيوني) أنها تفخر بأن «الولايات المتحده ستقف دائما فى صف إسرائيل ولن تجعلها تشعر بأنها مكروهة أبدا». وقد ناشدت هيلى قطع المعونة عن الفلسطينيين قائلة «إنهم يستمرون فى إهانة الولايات المتحدة» وفى زيارة للقدس ذرفت هيلى الدموع عدة مرات متأثرةً بما حدث لليهود فى الهولوكوست، وبالطبع فهى لم تتأثر بما يحدث للأطفال فى غزة. وحزن نيتانياهو لاستقالة هيلى واعتبارها خسارة فادحة إثباتا بأن هيلى تشجع الدور الذى تلعبه إسرائيل فى تحديد مسار الاتجاه السياسى للولايات المتحدة. السياسة الأمريكية لن تتغير باستقالة هيلى ولكن هيلى كانت بمثابة الصوت المسموع الذى ضرب عرض الحائط بمبادئ الدبلوماسية المعهودة، فقد قالت هيلى يوما ما إنها تلبس الكعب العالى ليس للموضة ولكن «لركل كل الخاطئين» وبالذات من يعادى إسرائيل. نيكى هيلى ليس لديها نية البعد عن السياسة بل العكس صحيح فستبقى قوة سياسية عارمة حتى تنتزع المنصب القادم من بين أنامل الآخرين, وعلى الجميع أن يدرك طموحات هيلى ويحذر ما قد يحدث فى عهدها خاصة بالنسبة للعرب

لمزيد من مقالات ◀ د. عزة رضوان صدقى

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via www.ahram.org.eg