Egypt

NGO files report demanding return of abducted Christian girl

Via Egypt Independent

Mahmoud Taha

The Egyptian Coalition on the Rights of the Child filed charges with the public prosecutor requesting the return of a 14-year-old Coptic girl and the punishment of her kidnapper after a statement attributed to the Salafi Front announced that the girl converted to Islam and married a Muslim.

In a statement on Wednesday, the coalition warned that the kidnapping could lead to sectarian strife and called for prosecuting anyone fomenting sedition in the media.

It added that forcing a minor into marriage is a form of punishable sexual exploitation, and that the Salafi Front's announcement a violation of laws and conventions on the rights of children.

The girl form Marsa Matrouh was reportedly abducted late last month. Earlier this month, the acting pope’s deputy in Marsa Matrouh claimed that Salafis were behind the kidnapping, but the father of the victim was afraid to speak out against them. He added that the girl’s family had filed a police report.

Emad Morcos, the mediator assigned by the church to resolve the problem, accused the son of a Salafi leader in the region of committing the abduction.

According to privately-owned Youm7 newspaper, two Christian girls were reported missing in Minya Governorate, Upper Egypt on 24 October.

Christians make up about 10 percent of Egypt's population of over 80 million. Clashes often erupt between Copts and Muslims over land conflicts, disputes over church construction or sectarian tensions.

 

via www.egyptindependent.com

Plot to Bomb Tourist Sites Foiled, Egypt Authorities Say

Via Al-Monitor

Policemen stand guard as people leave after Eid al-Fitr prayer at the Mosque of Mohamed Ali Pasha, situated on the summit of the ancient citadel of Salah Addin Alayoubi, in old Cairo August 19, 2012. (photo by REUTERS/Amr Dalsh ) 

Al-Hayat learned that security authorities in the Sinai have managed to arrest five people in possession of heavy weapons who were planning to carry out armed attacks on tourist resorts in South Sinai (Sharm el-Sheikh and Dahab).

Also, Egyptian police have arrested four other people in possession of large quantities of gunpowder used in the manufacture of explosives who are suspected to be involved with the terrorist cell in Nasr City.

According to sources, these latest events pushed the National Security Agency to readdress the issue of jihadists, especially those who resisted inquiries carried out by Muslim leaders in the 1990s. Many names were placed on the list of suspicion. The security apparatus also circulated the names of jihadist leaders who escaped from prison at the beginning of the 2011 revolution via seaports and airports.

Security sources told Al-Hayat that a number of jihadists have taken advantage of the security void to infiltrate into Libya, while others headed to Gaza. The sources added that some of the jihadists managed to return and settle in the Sinai. Other sources said some seek to return to Egypt in order to form armed groups in cooperation with non-Egyptians.

Egyptian authorities arrested five people, including an officer resigned from the army, on charges of forming a terrorist cell, whose members are linked to the attack against the United States consulate in Benghazi, according to the investigations.

On Friday [Oct. 26], according to military sources, Egyptian army and police managed to capture five jihadists while they were inside a tent at the foot of a mountain near the border with Gaza. Automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades were also found in the tent.

According to the preliminary investigations, the detainees were planning a terrorist attack in South Sinai during the first days of Eid al-Adha. It must be noted that 100 jihadists have been arrested since the beginning of Operation Nisr, which began in early September in the Sinai.

In the same context, a senior security source said there is new evidence of terrorist cells spreading across several governorates of Egypt. The source added that in light of the new information, the Ministry of Interior will delay the release of a statement that reveals the circumstances of the accident of the “terrorist cell in Nasr City.”

The source recalled the arrests of Bassam al-Sayed Ibrahim, a fugitive from Wadi Natrun prison, and his brother Haitham, who were both affiliated with a jihadist organization. The men were arrested  on Tanta Kafr Road.

A grenade, explosive materials and wires used in the manufacture of explosives were found in the car in which the jihadists were travelling.

Moreover, the source added that this incident happened by coincidence, even though it led the National Security Agency to the secret arms cache. Grenades, automatic rifles, explosives and anti-tank missiles were found inside a gymnasium in the 10th district (east of Cairo). 

Inside the gymnasium was also a man, named Karim Essam, who died after detonating an explosive device, during an exchange of fire with security forces that stormed the premises. Four of the deceased jihadist’s aides were arrested, including a Tunisian national.

In light of this incident and the pertinent evidence, the police managed to track down a cache of high explosive (TNT), which is believed to be linked with the terrorist cells in one of the districts in the Burj al-Arab area, west of Alexandria.

The security sources added yesterday [Oct.29] that the police arrested four people, from Al-Arish and Ismailia regions, in Giza Governorate. They were found in possession of materials used in the manufacture of explosives. The detainees confessed that they acquired the explosive materials from a farm owner and were planning to transfer them to Sinai.

The investigation will focus on how closely the detainees are linked to the “terrorist cell of Nasr City.”

Another security source considered that it is too early to determine the number of jihadist cells in Egyptian governorates. However, the source confirmed that investigations revealed that these cells are aiming to target vital facilities in the country, stressing that “these are organizational clustered cells, whose number is yet to be identified.” Intensive investigations are being conducted to determine the identity and numbers of the cells, the source added.

Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/security/01/10/egypt-explosives-linked-arrests-raise-terror-fears.html##ixzz2AtNCZFQ0

 

via www.al-monitor.com

State Security interrogates members of Nasr City's alleged 'terrorist cell'

Via Ahram Online

 

Eight members of alleged terror cell are accused of possessing weapons, planning assassinations and seeking to topple Egypt's government, say State Security investigators

 

Egypt's State Security apparatus on Wednesday began questioning suspects accused of planning terrorist attacks in Egypt. 

Adel Shahtu, a leading member of the Al-Gamaa Al-Jihadiyah group, has been charged by authorities with founding a 'terrorist cell' in Cairo's Nasr City district.  

The alleged Nasr City cell stands accused of planning terrorist attacks in areas throughout the country.

According to investigators, Shahtu is one of Egypt's most prominent jihadists. He spent 20 years in prison under the ousted Mubarak regime and was only released by Egypt's military council – which governed the country for the year and a half following Mubarak's ouster – in April of last year.

Eight other alleged members of the Nasr City cell are also reportedly being questioned by State Security. They are accused of possessing weapons, planning the assassination of public figures, and seeking to topple Egypt's elected government, according to investigators.

State Security investigators also say the defendants had received military training in the capital's New Cairo district, and that they had been aided by a bomb-making expert.

On 25 October, one of the eight defendants – a Tunisian national named Hazem – was allegedly killed in his apartment in Nasr City as he attempted to evade security forces.

Hazem allegedly attempted to hurl a bomb at police, which ended up detonating in his apartment, resulting in his death.

In an interview with private television channel Al-Nahar, Islamist lawyer Montasser El-Zayat described news of the alleged 'Nasr City cell' as "fabricated" and an "attempt to re-assert the power of Egypt's State Security apparatus."

via english.ahram.org.eg

''أسف يا ريس'': الأقباط عاشوا عصرهم الذهبي في عهد مبارك

كتب - شريف أيمن:
نشرت صفحة ''أنا اسف يا ريس''، على موقع التواصل الاجتماعى الفيس بوك، ما اسمته بـ''ملف تعامل الرئيس مبارك مع الأقباط في مصر''، كشفت من خلاله ما قدمه مبارك للأقباط طوال فترة حكمه، مؤكدة أنه أفضل عهد نال فيه الأقباط حريتهم .

وقالت الصفحة، إن مبارك بدأ حكمه بتهدئة الأزمات وتجنب أي صدام مع الأقباط، من خلال الإفراج عن البابا شنودة الثالث وكافة المعتقلين السياسيين، وإعادة تعيينه، كما برزت أسماء قبطية في مجال الاقتصاد، مضيفة أنه حرص على زيادة مشاركة الاقباط فى الحياة العامة، فاستمر في تعيين عدد كبير منهم بالبرلمان، ونجاح ثلاثة أقباط في الانتخابات النيابية وهم منير فخري ويوسف بطرس غالي ورامى لكح.

وأشارت الصفحة، الى إن الرئيس السابق كان مهتمًا بدعوة البابا شنودة ورجال الكنيسة في كافة المناسبات الرسمية للدولة، كما اعتبر عيد الميلاد المجيد عيدًا قوميًا لكل المصريين، والسماح بعرض صلواتهم على شاشات التليفزيون الرسمية وحقهم في إنشاء قنوات دينية على القمر الصناعي، كما أصدر مشروع قانون جديد ينظم بناء الكنائس ويطلق حرية بنائها بما يسمح بوجود كنيسة كل 2 كيلو متر.

واضافت ، أن مبارك أمر بتعيين ضابط طيار فوزى شاكر أمينًا على القصر الجمهوري، وأعاد الأوقاف القبطية للكنيسة بعد أكثر من 4 عقود من الاستيلاء عليها، كما فتح باب الانضمام الى الأحزاب أمام الشباب مسلمين وأقباط حتى يساعدوا في بناء مصر.

واختتم الصفحة قائلة: ''هكذا كان الرئيس مبارك الذى شهد له البابا شنوده الثالث وعدد كبير من الأقباط أن عهده أفضل عهد نال فيه الأقباط حريتهم وأنهم يعيشون عصرهم الذهبى فى عهد الرئيس مبارك وسيحكم التاريخ بما لنا وما علينا''.

via www.masrawy.com

Amid criticism from rights groups, police crack down on Eid harassment

Via Egypt Independent

Tarek Wageeh

Security authorities in Cairo and Suez said they arrested 541 people during Eid al-Adha based on investigations of harrassment in the streets.

More than 500 harassment incidents were reported in Cairo and 39 in Suez during the holiday of religious sacrifice which began Thursday.

Security authorities in the capital registered 64 acts of public indecency and 438 incidents of harassment, of which eight were sexual, the Interior Ministry said in a statement Wednesday. Most of the reported incidents occurred in Qasr al-Nil, Nasr City, Zamalek, downtown and along the Corniche, according to investigations.

The statement added security forces in Suez arrested 39 people for harassing women on the streets.

The “I Saw Harassment” activist initiative launched earlier this month by six women's rights organizations has accused Prime Minister Hesham Qandil of failing to take necessary security measures to prevent such violations.

In a report issued on Sunday, the initiative described three instances that took place in front of police officers who allegedly failed to react or intervene: a 17-year-old girl being harassed by a soldier near Qasr al-Nil Bridge, a young man in his twenties violently pulling a girl by her hair and kissing her and a veiled girl being harassed while walking with her fiancé.

Qandil said in a press statement last week that the government was working on a bill for more severe punishments for sexual harassment, which he described as a disastrous phenomenon that is alient to Egyptian society.

via www.egyptindependent.com

‭BBC Arabic‬ - ‮تحسن معدلات النمو في تونس وارتفاع في تكاليف المعيشة‬

 

 

via www.bbc.co.uk

Nile Traffic Seen Exploding as Egypt Cuts Fuel Subsidy: Freight

Via Businessweek, by Alaa Shahine and Dana El Baltaji--excerpt; read on.  

 

Boats ply the river Nile as traffic moves along the 6 October bridge in Cairo. Ancient Egyptians revered the Nile as a source of water and land fertility. They used the river for passenger transportation and to ferry rocks from quarries to the sites of pyramids and temples in Giza and Luxor. Photographer: Khaled Desouki/AFP/Getty Images

Egypt’s planned reduction of fuel subsidies to tackle the Middle East’s biggest budget deficit is sending more barges down the Nile, one of the world’s oldest trade arteries.

 

The share of cargo moved through the Nile was only 0.5 percent of Egyptian traffic in 2010, an Egyptian-Japanese study shows, as diesel costing less than half what it does in the U.S. tips the balance toward trucks and railroads. This advantage will erode once President Mohamed Mursi starts cutting subsidies to narrow a budget gap that’s 11 percent of econoic output, according to Beltone Financial Holding (BTFH), a Cairo investment bank.

Small-scale subsidy cuts for premium fuels may start before June, while the rest will be in the next budget, Fitch Ratings says. In anticipation, Cairo-based private equity firm Citadel Capital SAE (CCAP) has invested more than $200 million on barges, ports and storage facilities that are already handling shipments of wheat, cement and phosphate. Within five years, the share of cargo moved by river may jump to at least 15 percent, said Stephen Murphy, a managing director at the company.

“As soon as you see a rational subsidy program, or a removal of the irrational subsidy program, the Egyptian operation will turn profitable,” Murphy said in an interview in Dubai on Oct. 15. “We’ve got a range of barges that can take any cargo today. We’ve got the cranes, the handling equipment and we’ve got the storage capacity.”

The investment is part of Citadel’s plan to develop transport infrastructure in Nile basin countries. Founded in 2004 with headquarters overlooking the river, Citadel now has $9.5 billion in total investments.

Nile Logistics

Part of the transport program is carried out via Nile Logistics, which invests in Egypt, Sudan and South Sudan. The unit has refurbished 31 used barges and built four 100-meter barges, each capable of carrying 1,200 tons, and plans to develop two more ports in Egypt, Murphy said.

Mursi, an Islamist politician, won the country’s first free presidential election in June, marking another milestone in the transition to democracy after last year’s popular uprising ended Hosni Mubarak’s three-decade rule. The chaos that accompanied the revolt plunged the economy into the worst slowdown in almost two decades, prompting the government to approach the International Monetary Fund over a loan agreement to restore investor confidence and revive growth.

Investor optimism about the election and the talks have supported a 59 percent gain in Egypt’s benchmark EGX 30 Index (EGX30) so far this year. Citadel Capital shares, which fell 0.5 percent at 10:55 a.m. today, have soared 62 percent in the same period after the company “managed to narrow its losses” by 70 percent in the second quarter and raised $3.7 billion to build a refinery in Egypt, said Allen Sandeep, a researcher at Beltone Financial who has an add rating on the stock.

Rocks to Temples

Ancient Egyptians revered the Nile as a source of water and land fertility. They used the river for passenger transportation and to ferry rocks from quarries to the sites of pyramids and temples in Giza and Luxor. Until the 1952 military coup that overthrew Egypt’s monarchy, traders used the waterway to carry grain and food across the country, serving a population that mostly lived on the banks of the river.

River ports and locks were left to deteriorate after 1952, when military rulers introduced food and energy subsidies as they sought to turn Egypt into a socialist state.

Six decades later, rising domestic consumption has turned the most populous Arab country into a net fuel importer, forcing the government to increase spending on energy subsidies last year to 96 billion pounds ($15.7 billion), or almost twice the amount it spent on education, according to official data.

via www.businessweek.com

Was Mubarak not too bad after all?

Amidst the unprecedented degree of mayhem Egypt is in today some may question whether the revolution was a disillusion, or even a fallacy that led nowhere. Was this what Egyptians had desired and hoped for? Had they known that this would be the end result, would they have opted to go that route? More importantly, does any Egyptian feel that today is better than yesterday?

The Revolution had given them hope. They believed that the world had finally given them a chance, an opportunity, through which they can emerge to the surface after years of submersion in despair.  But let’s call a spade a spade. The state of Egyptians, 21 months after the Jan 25 Revolution, is by far worse than it was before it, when Mubarak was still living in his ivory tower totally oblivious to the agony befalling most Egyptians. All Egyptians would agree on this revelation in spite of their agreeing earlier that Mubarak had to go.

This brings us to today’s query. If we compare pre-revolution to post-revolution, was Mubarak not too bad after all?  

So let’s rewind and consider Mubarak’s era. Mubarak overstayed his welcome, and his cronies usurped Egypt’s fortune. He definitely lost the battle against poverty.  He had no plan to improve education or the health system. And during his 30 years in office, corruption became innate.

In addition, Egyptians considered him a not-too-bright-a-person. His demeanor and his comments always let him down; Egyptians made him a laughing stock naming him “La vache qui ri,” the laughing cow; when he spoke informally without inhibition, he usually ended goofing up. Like the time he asked the weaver making handmade carpets when they were going to mechanize the process, or when he looked at the pregnant woman and asked her if she was married. 

But Egypt was by far safer; walking on the street was a non-issue: no harassment or groping, and no thugs to mug you. No one would’ve dared evict a Copt or blatantly attack a judge or an army officer. More importantly, Mubarak held the jihadists at bay, especially in Sinai.

Then Mubarak’s decisions were rarely rescinded. They may not have always been perfect, but they remained firmly intact. From this perspective, the Egyptians accepted the law and adhered to it to the best of their abilities. This is all in comparison to the level we are exposed to today. 

And yes, we had a democratic election; and no, we are not killing one another on the streets like Syrians, and our toppled ex-leader is safely behind bars; still, we are in total disarray nonetheless.

Fast-forward and we see a bleak picture. Nothing of true value has been accomplished. The poor are poorer, the thugs stronger and rowdier, and the lawlessness, or at least taking the law into one’s hands, wilder.

And President Morsi may not ever amass money off the people, but he is lavishly spending it if not on the dozen trips he’s making, then on the security and surveillance team that escort him on these trips, on his guarded prayer duties, and on the 18 advisor posts he has initiated. And even when he gives it to the people in the shape of a raise in salary or pension, prices get hiked immediately. 

Furthermore, Egyptians are unable to take President Morsi’s decisions seriously either.  For as soon as he makes one, it is cancelled as seen in his decisions to re-establish the parliament, and to retire the Chief Prosecutor. Then, of course, there is the new law to shut stores at 10 p.m., which will be abused horrendously until it is cancelled.

One other conspicuous decision was to allow Islamist jihadists out of prison to appease the various Islamic parties. A few days afterwards, the Sinai attack took place causing 16 deaths. Egyptians are connecting the two incidents together.

Then his bloopers are even worse than Mubarak’s it seems—wishing the murdered Sinai men all the best, adjusting his body parts in public, eating off a mat with his buddies in the presidential palace, and, in spite of praying in a mosque, praying alone as he is surrounded by a dozen bodyguards while he prostrates on a single prayer mat when all other worshippers have nothing to kneel on.

Secondly, the Islamists have absolute reign over the country with their 15^th Century narrow mindedness. More importantly, the political discourse revolves around Sharia restrictions, suppressing women’s rights and eliminating their achievements, and how to other those who don’t belong in the Islamic main stream.   

In conclusion, was Mubarak that bad after all? Undoubtedly, he was. If we view the standard by which the majority of Egyptians lived, he failed miserably, and he should’ve been ousted several decades earlier. 

But the superseding question is even more poignant. If we knew then what we know now, would we have gone after him with the same fury? I’ll leave that to the readers to decide.

Zawahiri's ominous message

Via Now Lebanon, by Hussein Ibish

Ayman al-Zawahiri's latest speech represents al-Qaeda's first major effort at an ideological intervention in the emerging Muslim political landscape.  

The recent video by al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri ought to be readily dismissible. Unfortunately, his carefully crafted remarks require serious scrutiny. They had multiple messages aimed at numerous constituencies and represent al-Qaeda's first major effort at an ideological intervention in the emerging Muslim political landscape.

 
His principal task was twofold. Until now, al-Qaeda has not known how to respond to the Arab uprisings. Al-Qaeda did not anticipate, inspire or inform them, and their emphasis on elections, democracy and nationalism all run counter to its ideology. Al-Qaeda once again seemed moribund, with many of its leaders killed and its ideology rejected by the overwhelming Arab majority. But renewed political and military chaos in Muslim states threatens to resurrect it, and Zawahiri's address outlined where al-Qaeda sees new opportunities.
 
First, he was trying to present al-Qaeda as the vanguard of all Salafist movements in post-dictatorship Arab states that have emerging, quasi-orderly political systems rather than ongoing, armed civil conflicts. Second, he was trying to position al-Qaeda as the brand-name for all Salafist-Jihadist groups fighting in war-torn regions, particularly the Syrian uprising.
 
Zawahiri was offering himself as the leader of all the Salafists in the Arab world in their emerging rivalry with the Muslim Brotherhood and other less extreme Islamist forces, especially in Egypt. Zawahiri, remember, is himself Egyptian, a leader of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad group before moving to Afghanistan and merging with Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda. Zawahiri's most pointed attack was on the new Egyptian president, Mohammed Morsi, who he said had "no authority."
 
Zawahiri lambasted Morsi at length over Egypt's continuing ties and maintenance of its peace treaty with Israel. As usual, Zawahiri preposterously tried to pose as a champion of the Palestinian cause (for which he plainly has no actual regard whatsoever). Moreover, he clearly implied that the Muslim Brotherhood had "betrayed" the Egyptian revolution, accused the new government of being corrupt and failing to implement Sharia Law, encouraged the kidnapping of Westerners and implicitly endorsed armed resistance against the new Egyptian government.
 
To read more: http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=452119##ixzz2AnA5WG9q 

via www.nowlebanon.com

التجمع: ''مرسي'' مسئول عن عودة التنظيمات الارهابية لمصر

كتب - عمر الناغي:

أبدى حزب التجمع دهشته، من صمت جماعة الإخوان المسلمين والقوى الإسلامية، على المشروع الإرهابي الذي تم اجهاضه بمدينة نصر مؤخراً، ولم يقم أي منهم بالتعقيب أو الإدانة للواقعة او للمجموعة الإرهابية - حسب قولهم.

وأصدر التجمع بيانا اليوم، استنكر فيه العمل الإرهابي الذي تم إجهاضة عبر قوات الأمن في مدينة نصر قبل تنفيذه بيوم، والذي كان من المفترض تنفيذه على أيدي أفراد تنظيم القاعدة، وتم ضبط عدد كبير من الأسلحة المتنوعة.

وتساءل الحزب حول المسئول عن زرع قواعد للتنظيم بتلك السرعة، وأيضا هل من المدبرين بعض ممن أفرج عنهم الرئيس "محمد مرسي"  في محاولته لاسترضاء القوى الإسلامية - حسب تعبيرهم، وأخيرا ما مدى صحة تعهد "مرسي"  لأمير قطر وقادة حماس ببقاء الأنفاق، مؤكدين انتظارهم إجابات واضحة مسئولة.
 
وأكد الحزب أن "مرسي"  يتحمل المسئولية الأكبر تجاه ماحدث وما يستجد، وأيضا مسئولية الصمت عن إدانة تلك الجماعات، معللين بأن الاجهزة الأمنية لن تأخذ خطوات جدية في استئصال تلك البؤر الإرهابية - على حد قولهم، في حالة تردد وصمت رئاسي وسماحه بوجود الأنفاق وماتحمله إلى مصر.

كما أشار حزب التجمع إلى تحذيره السابق من الإتجار بالدين داخل مجال السياسة والانتخابات، وقال أن تجار الدين يتحملوا هم أيضا مسئولية تلك الأوضاع المأسوية والمتمثلة في انتشار عناصر القاعدة في سيناء والقاهرة.

via www.masrawy.com