The media chaos is still continuing after the return of the foreign tourists to their home countries. Each country is changing its version of the end in a day and a night.
The Italians who said that no ransom was paid and their commandos were in the scene yesterday are saying that there was no action in the release of the hostages whose ransom was paid today !!
The Germans are saying that they paid a ransom despite their commandos were in the scene too !!
The Sudanese who changed their stories in a day and a night from killing half of the abductors to claiming that their special forces “who could not prevent an attack on the capital from couple of months” saved the day from A to Z then finding the hostages in the middle of the desert alone !!
And of course the Egyptian Version of the story that we saved the day in a heroic way.
Today the regime made us liars despite we do not know the whole truth yet for real.
God knows what happened there.
Still I got one word , we got a regime with a bad reputation of continuous lying on its own people despite its own people understand very well the difference between a lie and truth. I am still proud of our commandos and I do not regret posting what I posted yesterday about the Egyptian Commandos because they deserve every single word in it.
Even if they were not engaged in any fight yesterday ,I know that for sure when their time comes ,they will stand for you ,me and every single soul in this country.
They brought hope to many people yesterday including me that there is something in this country we can depend upon when it is needed.
Now if you want to curse the regime be my guest but do not attack the forces with my all respect because it is not their fault that their commander in chief is too old to think of the consequences of the false statements and the fact that the world became a small village.
May be I am romantic person but mocking our commandos is not acceptable especially with their honourable history is well known.
This is comic illustration was made by Abdullah Ahmed in Al Dostor ,I found it in his blog and I thought of Sharing it with you.It describes how Suzanne was murdered in her apartment at Dubai according to the official story.
Click on it for a larger version
Again the story is not that simple as we think ,there is some gap in that story ,a gap that makes us wonder and ask questions that we may not get answers to in the time being.
I could not let the holy month without sharing with you one of the surprising Cairo landmarks in Ramadan this year.
The Cairo tower at Al Jazeera aka Al Jazeera tower.
This year all of us in Cairo and in Giza too were surprised by the beautiful lights of the Cairo tower after breakfast at about 8 PM CLT, beautiful colours and lights around the tower.
I took some bad shots “I think they are bad for the Cairo tower that was turned to in to Sania Shakhal the belly dancer tower lol
The Famous tower was just renewed after a long restoration works. FYI this tower was not build for anything in 1950s except to be a powerful radio station to the newly Egyptian Intelligence based on the recommendations of our friends in the CIA then.
Many people ignore that historical fact. Now it is just a landmark where you can see all Cairo from it. I have never visited it but I put on my list for the landmarks I should visit insh Allah in the future , oh God the list is too long ;)
Till next Ramadan insh Allah , may be it will be a nice custom and next Year I will be able take better Shots Happy Eid :)
General Fawzy Abd El-Hafez had died yesterday in Cairo , the man who was the secretary of President Sadat left in silence in the same way he preferred to live in after the assassination of President Sadat.
Unlike Samy Sharaf ,the Secretary of President Nasser , General Fawzy did not publish any memoirs what so ever revealing the secrets and the background of the Political kitchen of President Sadat's era.
I do not recall that he even made any interviews
I believe that this man knew a lot and preferred to be silent.
His name came back again from the shadows of the past when Mona Abdel Nasser and Sons accused his daughter Azza and her husband Assam of Killing Ashraf Marwan.
General Fawzy friendship to President Sadat goes back to 1940s when Sadat was arrested for espionage.
He was sitting right behind Sadat when the later was killed on the 6th of October 1981.
He survived the attack with a bullet in his body , I think it was in his chest.After all you can see in the photo above from the doomed parade in 1981 setting right behind President Sadat. He completed the rest of his life in Alexandria.
May Allah bless his soul.
I just feel that with the departure of this man ,we may have lost another source of history for that era .
I do not know if anyone of them will ever read this but thank you for bringing joy,faith and hope to people who are really missing a lot these days,thank you for standing up as usual as expected when it needed.
You are for sure from the best Soldiers in the world.
The kidnapped Egyptians and tourists are at last free, this is from CNN for now. They are in their to Cairo on a military flight. There is no much detail about their release despite I read today that the ransom was paid despite the big action announced yesterday in Sudan
Ironically I was going to wonder today where the abductors had taken them after the big fight with the Sudanese army, some said that they went to Chad but Chad denied this , then today in the Press I read that some Sudanese sources said that they went to Egypt !!
Anyhow the hostages are free and despite this is what we care for one there are hundreds of questions we should ask and hundred of officials we should blame in this fiasco.
This is another good news for the feast after the release of Al Mansoura
I hope insh Allah we hear something about Badr I soon
Update :
They reached to Cairo to Maadi and I saw them on TV ,they look good.
Cairo denied paying any penny to the abductors
No further details about the release is available currently.
There is some tiny detail that the Egyptian forces were the one who liberated them not the Sudanese based on some intelligence info ; Adham Sabri is too active these days ;)
The tiny detail is becoming bigger and bigger; the Egyptian Commandos in particular the famous "777" has liberated the hostages after killing half of the abductors.
The number of the abductors were about 35 persons !!
It is the major first page news yesterday in almost all newspapers official and unofficial ,after all we need this sort of news to cheer up with all that bad news of tourists abduction,fires and jail to honest people !! An Egyptian Scientist was going to be honoured by Bush. Dr.Mustafa Amr El-Sayed received the 2007 national medal of Science and technology and innovation for finding an effective and safer way to detect and kill cancer cells based on the Nanotechnology. Dr El-Sayed who left Egypt since 1958 to pursue his scientific career in a society that respects science and scientists. He is a close friend to Dr Ahmed Zoweil, I am proud of this man because people like him make me believe that the Egyptians can do great things if they have the right environment .
Here is Dr. El-Sayed at the White House yesterday ,you can see him as the second one from the left
Here is a quick bio about this great scientist .
Professor El-Sayed obtained his B.Sc. at Ein Shams University, Cairo, Egypt, 1953; his Ph.D. at Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, 1958. He held Research Associate (postdoctoral) positions at Harvard, Yale and the California Institute of Technology. He was appointed to the faculty of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California at Los Angeles, (UCLA) where he worked from 1961-1994, and has been Julius Brown Professor of Chemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, since 1994 till this day.
His findings will help many cancer patients for sure in the coming years
Ok there was a lot of action today’s afternoon at the North West of Sudan because it seems that the Sudanese army has attacked the abductors in order to free the hostages.
Now according to the official statements from Sudan ; 6 abductors were killed including the leader , two were arrested and nothing about the tourists !!
There are some sources saying that the rest of the abductors or kidnappers took the hostages and escaped in to Chad !!”How many are they ??”
Hopefully we will know sooner the identity of this gang and their nationality.
Today I read that they are mix of Africans from Egypt and Chad and they are heavy loaded with guns.
I think their number according to this recent reports is more than the 5 we know , may be 5 of them kidnapped the hostages from Egypt where as the rest were waiting for them in Sudan !!
Ok now they are saying that the abductors are from the Sudan Liberation army ,did not the SLA denied its involvement ??
I remember that it started in Ramadan 2007 and it has ended in Ramadan 2008.
I remember that it started with a witch hunt against couple of journalists including Eissa and today it ended by imprisoning Eissa for two months because he spread rumours about the President’s health !!
Strangely it started in the beginning of Ramadan and now it ended in the end of Ramadan just days before the feast.
Eissa had to appeal the court order in last March still the appeal result was unlike to what we hope despite we all expected that something like that would happen. Two months in prison !! of course they are better than the original verdict but in the end it is jail.
Did not President Mubarak promise that journalists will not be sent to jail in his presidential period because of expression and opinions issues !! Oh yeah I forgot the man spread rumours !! He did not spread any rumour what so ever for God Sake , I can’t believe how they fabricate truth
After the news of this sad verdict , I knew that Eissa would hold a press in the Al Dostor Newspaper then I knew that his lawyer would hold the press conference and Eissa will go by himself to the authorities so he can start his time in jail :(
Tomorrow there will be a protest in front of the Journalists Syndication on its famous stairs downtown Cairo in objection to this sad disgusting rule.
And in Arabic here is the essay that caused all that buzz “ The Gods do not become sick"- Spread it and translate it guys , this is the least thing we can do.
Updates
1- The Journalists of Al Dostor will have a stand in the Journalists Syndication tonight at 8 CLT
Ibrahim Eissa had lost the appeal , now he will go to jail for two months for wondering ,just wondering about the president health last year
Eissa will hold a press conference sooner to announce what he will do
Elephant in Arabic is called "Phil" and when I was a kid we had this Children show of Boogy and Tamtam on TV , my favourite season in this show was when Boogy and Tamtam's little sister Tamatam kept in secret her new little pet the elephant "Phalphilo" on the roof !! I know this sounds silly but I loved Phalphilo ,it was like Dumbo and this little fellow here is reminds with Phalphilo
Some people want to cancel the execution laws in Egypt ,they say that we will be civilized despite the fact there are other civilized countries in the World that still have their own execution laws for example : The United States where only 16 states from its 50 states canceled the death penalty from its punishment statement
I am against this cancellation.You can not cancel it because you will give the people an excuse to seek vengeance by themselves.
There are certain crimes that should have the death penalty like murder and rape. Do you know how are the feelings of the rape victims ?? Do you know how are the feelings of the families of murder victims ?? We are Eastern emotional people for God Sake !!
From two Weeks Egypt was shocked by the murder of a Merchant by the hands of a doctor , it was an awful crime. I read a statement for the victim’s wife who is an educated middle class woman promising that she would kill that doctor by her own hands if he was not executed because she is an Upper Egyptian in the end.
It is in the Islamic Sharia and in the Quran , it is described as a relief to the victim’s family and a life for other people to spare them from murderers and criminals,it is justice for those who kill and rape other people. Unlike the FGM ,it is in Quran.
Canceling the execution law will not make from us a civilized country only. Some wise people say that the execution penalty did not stop the crime , well for sure it did not because there are other factors in this matter from economic to social to psychological. Also the cancellation of this penalty did not stop the crimes either. Look to Joseph Fritzl and what he had done to his daughter for God Sake.
The Criminals in Egypt will be very happy to stay in Jail for the rest of their lives eating and sleeping for free !!
Yes I know that the UAE does not apply the execution and this is why there was a rumour circulating in Egypt that Hisham and Suzanne case would be transferred there. Anyhow with my all respect to the UAE legal system , this is not 100 % just country , just countries do not differ between their native citizens and foreigners , you all remember the French boy case.
There are other laws that should be canceled now more than anytime dealing with the freedom of expression. The Western Human rights Organizations and the EU should back off from this matter.
I do not have enough information , already now it right after breakfast , people can’t move a muscle. The news source is again Nile News “Official Media”
There is a fire in the National theatre at Attaba in Cairo. It is another old building made of wood. The fire is in the main hall.
I do not know how to express but this building also like the Shura Council saw and witnessed great history of culture and art.
The stage of the National theatre saw real stars of acting from around the Arab world :(
Farouk Hosni, the minister of Culture and candidate for the UNESCO does not have any Clue !!
This is the second major fire in Cairo in after a month of the Shura great fire :(
Update No.1 :
1- The National TV and Nile News say that the fire is under control now.
2- Al Jazeera is saying that the first continued for an hour despite the National theatre is beside the famous fire station of Attaba.
Update No.2:
1-The main theater hall , the historical hall was destroyed along with the dome of the building.
2- There are injuries among the fire fighters.
3- The smoke of the fire can been seen in Saida Zeinab.
4- Farouk Hosni went to the location.
5- Mubarak is in his way to attend the Lailat El-Kadr annual celebration.
6- The fire started during the breakfast.
7-Did not the ministry of Culture and its minister assured that all the theatres in Egypt were insured and protected against fire after the terrible fire of the culture center of Bani Sawif !!??
Update No.3 :
1- The fire is said to have started in the main hall in the curtains !! So who set the fire in the curtains of the theatre ??
2- The authorities closed Al-Azhar tunnel also they are refusing to let the journalists and reporters in to the scene !!
3- This is another building from the 19th century !!!
Update No.4 :
1- Officially 3 firefighters were transferred to the hospital because of smoke inhalation "why do not they have masks ??
2-It turned out the oldest national theatre in Egypt was fully equipped with fire alarms ,why did not they work ?? 3-This building was reconstructed in 1921 by the way.
Update No.5 :
1- The army again comes and saves the day !!
2-It turned out that the National theatre installed 30 new fire alarm.
3-Here is a lonely photo from 7thday e-newspaper from the fire
Update No. 6:
1- Farouk Hosni is officially blaming the ill fate !! Fate now it is fate !!
2- Here is another photo from Reuters
3- More photos from Ahmed Abd El-Fatah from the scene
4- This video was sent to Wael Abbas who is currently in the U.S ,You can see the fire crystal clear in it
The Egyptian intelligence managed in liberating the hijacked Egyptian ship Al Mansoura from the Somali Pirates”
The Egyptian crew is fine”
Second I think it is a sign because a part of my prayer and the prayers of the families of the crew were answered last night. Thank God and hopefully more good news will come in the way.
Third I am really amazed and surprised ,first of all it was announced in TV . Fourth should not the Egyptian Navy liberate the ship with the help of the Egyptian intelligence , may be there will be more details revealed in the coming hours.
Fifth of course I am happy but I feel that the announcement of this news came to cover our apparent failure regarding the hostages issue in the Western desert ,whom we do not know now where they are !!
Sixth Does this have to do with the Russian order to teach the Somali pirates the lesson of their lives for missing with Ukrainian ships loaded with Russian weapons !!
Seventh , this is so bad for the Egyptian Foreign minister because again the army and its branches prove to be reliable when needed whether inside Egypt or outside it.
Here is the statement from Nile News and I can’t believe its naive 1960s style
By the way is not the Egyptian intelligence interested in knowing the fate of Badr I ??
Gamila Ismail ,the wife of Ayman Nour is currently in the States meeting with important politicians in order to have more support and pressure to release her husband from Jail. I can’t blame her ,the woman has nothing to do except this. But the problem whom she is going to meet.
I will not speak about Bush because he has no time but I will speak about Sarah Palin.
Gamila is going to meet with Sarah Palin to explain for the newcomer from Alaska the problem of her husband. I think she should not waste her time with Palin with my all due respect and try to meet Obama.Already I feel that the Republicans let Sarah meets Gamila so she would meet someone from the Middle East !!
Already Obama currently is being attacked by the regime media because some statement I doubt that Obama had ever said regarding Nour.
I know that Gamila is trying to get help from both parties in case any of them wins , this is a real desperate act.
Still we must understand something, Mubarak regime won’t let Ayman Nour die like She thinks , it will let him suffer in jail but it will not let him die because it means that the West will be very very Angry with capital A from the Mubarak and son.
A Libyan official yesterday stated that there were no hostages in Libya despite we are speaking about big vast desert here. Anyhow if they are not Libya where are they ??
We know that they left Egypt , We Know they left Sudan and they are not in Chad ,despite they can be in Chad now.
There is no much information available the media now , Germany wants the media to shut up till the negotiations are over. There are news of Publication ban circulating.Well it does not deserve a Publication ban because there is no much to share or know.
The abductors are negotiating and demanding Germany alone to pay the 6 Million Euros for all hostages.
The interior ministry by the way began to control the area in the south,the New Valley Governorate saw a witch hunt against smugglers and criminals.
Update No.1 :
According to Al Dostor Daily today an Egyptian Mediator reached out to the abductors and made sure that the hostages are fine according to some sources. The newspaper gave hints the mediator is from the Egyptian intelligence who got to the abductors through the tribesmen.
Update No.2 :
According to Save Egypt Front website , the abductors are from the Al Qaida group in Morocco and Tunisia and they are demanding the release of Islamists prisoners in Egypt.Beside their resource in Cairo ,the e-newspaper is drawing a connection between this abduction and another abduction happened in Tunisia in the same way led by the Al Qaida branch there.
This is possible but all experts say that there were no political motive especially that if it were for political motives,the abductors will be more than happy to announce it in the media.
Plus from past experiences it will be more logic that these abductors would be from the Sudan Liberation front not from the Al Qaida as the SLF from couple of months abducted couple of tourists from the same location for a ransom that they can use to finance their operations. Update No. 3:
This is from Khaleej Times based upon Reuters that the hostages are suffering from shortage in food and fuel !! Update No. 4:
According to Al Arabiya Channel,the hostages turned back to Sudan after getting some supplies from Libya !!??
Matt Damon described Choosing Sarah Palin as McCain’s Vice President as a bad Disney Film after all how the hockey mom will stand against Putin.
From College Humour: The trailer of that bad Disney film “Head of Skate”
Early in the morning in Syria about 8:45 AM a huge blast took place in a popular area near a buses station and a security establishment we do not know what it is. The blast took place near from Lady Zeinab Shrine in Damascus , which is a holy place and attraction from Shiites in Syria ,Iraq and Iran.Also the area can be considered a cross road between the North and the East of Syria
17 persons were killed and 14 persons were injured according to the National Syrian TV and the death toll is still escalating.Already according to the official statement a car was used in the bombing was carrying 200 tons of explosives , which is huge amount.
This is the first terrorist act that targets the Syrian civilians since a long time. Also it comes after a serious of mysterious assignations took place across the country. Not to mention it comes at the same time the Syria seems to regain power in the region.
Till now the message behind this blast is not obvious , it is for sure sent to the Syrian regime but for what ?? For its Relations with Iran or the regime itself !!??
Last week edition of Akhabr Al Youm weekly should be named the Businessmen’s edition. Some may consider the newspaper made scoops for publishing the first letter of Hisham Talaat Mustafa to the Press since his arrest and the first interview for businessman Hossam Abu El-Fatoh from inside the jail. Still attacking the people and dividing the society in two classes : The Businessmen and those who envy them is not a scoop !!
Hossam Abu El-Fatoh’s interview can be considered a scoop after all it was published in the best place : In the Cars supplement , the former famous agent of BMW made a long interesting interview proving that he is still there and rocking. Hossam Abu El-Fatoh officially was in jail because of his financial debts , still his arrest was the talk of the town because of the moral scandals that exposed his pervert personal behaviour. His leaked sex tapes with his wives including Dina , Egypt so-called last belly dancer from 5 years age were the the top downloads in forums. There was no newspaper that did n’t speak about his wild nights including Akhabr Al Youm,unlike to Hisham Mustafa there was no newspaper I recall that stood beside him. After all the orders came from above to destroy him. Abu El-Fatoh made a mistake that costed Waguih Abaza his life , he refused to share the BMW agency with one of the top VIPs. Strangely after all those years most people forgot about his moral scandals and believe he was a victim.
Of course he is no longer the BMW agent despite he made the name of BMW high in the sky in Egypt , he is angry from the Germans and the new Egyptian Partners. Of course I must say that he taught them that they should not miss with him even in Jail when he introduced Speranza to the market.
Now to the second scoop of the newspaper , the letter of Hisham , where he thanks the newspaper for its stand saying that he got faith in the Egyptian Judicial system would prove his innocence” what if the opposite happens”. The letter was published in a whole column in a page already dedicated to the case. Beside the column there was an interview with Farid Al Dib who managed to get rid from all other famous lawyers in the case,it was his party. By the way Farid Al Dib is the lawyer of Abu El-Fatoh too who is out of jail not because of the skill of Al Dib but because he paid his debts to the banks . You know what really made me angry from Hisham’s letter was his words to his mother,Wife and Children because where they had been when he spent millions on his flings.
For God sake Al Akhabr newspaper mentioned that administration of Torah farm prison was surprised to find out that he got another wife who visited him last week and guess what ; he married his new bride on the 30th of August 2008 ; days before his arrest.
Seriously I really feel so bad and angry for his children because even if he is innocent from the murder of Tamim , he will not be in the eyes of his children that ideal father anymore , they will remember him as the man who spent millions on his flings. His wife is another example of how the Egyptian woman can tolerate treason.Already she is is his cousin and I know 100% sure that she is still with him because she wants to protect the money of her children. This is the man that thinks that money will make his wife happy and satisfied not bothered about his flings as if she were not human.
Sometimes I feel that God exposed this man only because his wife suffered enough in silence.
Chief in Editor “Momataz Al-Kot” who crossed all lines in kissing the ass of the regime and the President, is Now kissing the businessmen’s ass.Some may say that it is technique from the government to hold the stick from the middle, some official newspapers attack them to the bones and some official newspapers. Still I feel that the rule against Hisham was already signed when he was arrested with that campaign in the media especially the official media !!
As usual Al Zowahary of Al Qaida released a new audio clip earl, it is a habit to send a message to the whole world that He and Al Qaida are still there and are rocking !! Of course we can't be 100% positively sure that this is the Original Ayman Al Zowahary of Al Qaida but we do not have any other option if we do not have any clues that says the opposite. Al Zowahary this time addressed the Egyptian people and for the first time addressed their internal problems.He spoke about Al Doweiqa and Salam 98 Ferry , He spoke about Mubarak corrupted regime that should be downed and he ended its as expected by call of a religious revival in the society. For sure it is the first time for him to speak in that local way. I do not have to use sophisticated words and say that the second man at Al Qaida is looking for support in Egypt from the people,he knows very well that the people of Egypt got too many local problems to care for the great Satan of the world. He thought that the key is by attacking their regime , the Mubarak regime which is the source of all troubles and bubbles in Egypt. It is not the first time that he speaks to the Egyptian People in that way because from few months Dr. Ayman addressed the Egyptian army calling them to rebel against Mubarak because of his support to Israel and America. It is a nice try but unfortunately the majority of the Egyptian people are no longer interested in watching or hearing the Al Qaida TV Series when they have the Suzanne-Hisham TV Series for God Sake. What I fear is that the big demon the Government is raising to hit the MB would listen to him.
By the way his clip has nothing to do with the hostages issues , it was just a pure coincidence.
The news is in the CNN and its source is Sudan ; the hostages were moved to Libya.Now the Libyans are involved officially and I do not know if that was good or bad but I know for sure that the abductors moved the hostages to Sudan because of the stupid Sudanese statements about the identification of the location and the Egyptian Commandos waiting for a green light to kick their butts .
If the Sudanese official kept their mouths shut for some time things would be better.
For sure the abductors know their way very well in the area and this is why I believe they are from the locals.
On the other hand ,I read that on contrary to the Egyptian official statements , there are direct talks between us and the abductors , I do not know why they are denying , already we should have these talks because we got 8 hostages under their mercy.
The identity of the hostages are still unknown for the public.The only thing we know is that they are Africans but from which African country ??
Last month Al Arabiya channel aired for the first time in the history of Arabic TV channels a long interview with Egypt’s last and former King Ahmed Fouad II. The interview was presented by Ricardo Karm and its title was “This is Ahmed Fouad” . At last I managed to download and see it. Thanks to my dear friend “Ezz El-Din” in the facebook Egypt’s Royalists I managed to upload them.
You can see the interview here
Here are my remarks about the important interview.
1- The interview is important because it is first time Ahmed Fouad II speaks to the Arabic TV channel , already he had done endless number of interviews with the Arabic press , but this was his first one. on TV.
2- Already he made that interview before Farouk and Exile , Ricardo used parts from his interview in the later show.
3- Speaking French all the time is not good despite all the excuses , I think that this is why he refused to have interview with Amr Adib on Orbit .
4-His body language shows that he is very shy person who can’t confront others easily.
5- He did not answer the question about the reasons of his father’s dramatic fall rather speaking about the revolution or the coup as he described it , despite he called it a revolution later in the interview.
6- He may have the reasons but disrespecting all the free officers and putting them in one basket implying that they moved on their own just because they hated Farouk without any respect or regard to the reasons behind their move was not a smart move. Not all the free officers were villains traitors and I do not need to say names. Of course again he has the reasons but I fear that young generations would believe him blindly without any respect to the history ,the true history , everyone whether from West and East agreed that Farouk was heading with the country to the point of no return , of course Ahmed Fouad II was born in 1952 and had no chance to see and judge by himself fairly.
7-The Arab league was not made only by the efforts of his father but rather of another great noble man called Mustafa Pasha Nahas , whose father got rid of as soon as he was made sure the league preparations were over and completed.
8-I really feel sad when I found the former King of Egypt speaks about the Egyptian history like a foreigner
“The Pharaohnic Period rarely saw a war !!”
For God sake the Pharaohnic Period saw too many wars, revolutions, invasions and even coups by army leaders and priests against the Kings .
He and Ricardo made me feel that I am watching couple of foreigners “Saladin, Mohamed Ali …Etc” .There is a huge distance between his majesty and his people the Egyptian people.He is like a foreigner impressed by the history of the country.
9- There is nothing new in the questions nor the answers,Ricardo did not ask him about what he likes or reads , about whether he watches our national team football matches, about his relations with other Arabs.
10- I know that the former King does not want to be asked about his personal life , but I wanted to know what he used to work , from where he was graduated..etc.
11-Sometimes I feel that the Father&Son between Farouk is too complicated. I do not know how to describe it but may be this is how the monarchs raise their children.
12-Important historical remark and revelation Fouad II said in that interview and it is not about the death of his father , we all know about his death and his accusation to Nasser is not a new thing , but the new thing is that his father wanted him to join a military school just like him but this time the young king would complete till the end and be ready for any change in the future , Fouad II did not want that and I think the death of his father made him get away from this.
This contradicts with all what was said that Farouk lost all hope in returning back, Farouk seems to me understood what was going in 1965. Saudi Arabia and the west had enough already from Nasser and thus things can be changed to his son’s good despite the fact it was too late , the popularity and Charisma of Nasser could not be conquered, still it was a hope ,Fouad II should complete his study in a military school till the end , he should be an officer who could be the commander in chief leading the army and thus correcting his father’s big mistake. This seems to me a good reason to eliminate him
13- I do not like how Ricardo sits , it is rude especially he considers Fouad II a king.
14- The king who did not see his grand mother “Nazli” was right when he described her fate as worse than his father’s.
15-He is still angry from his mom , blaming her and Queen Farida for not acting as Queens of Egypt and as mothers despite his father did not act as the king of Egypt either; and that was from the main reasons Farida or Safinaz left him.
16- Nasser did not regret his treatment to Ahmed Fouad II , whom he knew that did not form any sort of danger at that time in 1970, Fouad II has all the right to hate and disrespect Nasser but as a journalist in the first Place Ricardo should not underestimate Nasser.
17-About that Birth Certificate , officially it was issued in the time of the United Arab Republic aka the Egyptian Republic , it is normal thing that they should not include his royal title , already it would be very silly.
18-It is true that President Sadat mentioned in one of his parliament's speech after 1973 victory that former prince Ahmed Fouad had donated the Egyptian army.
19- I think the part where he spoke about the Islam was to deny the rumour that he converted to Christianity , already I received that rumour several times in my blogs from radical Christians.
In the end this interview we saw a normal person who was born with a title that he did not enjoy because a series of misfortune event.That title was the last official king of Egypt .
This post was written before the last tourist kidnap incident at Western desert.
Do you remember when I spoke about this strange coincidence between the timing of the latest terrorists acts in the last couple of years in Egypt and our national holidays and feasts.
I do not know if I also mentioned that strangely before each terrorist act Israel always warns its citizens from spending their holidays in Sinai , despite they do not listen to these warning.I mean how come their intelligence services know better than our intelligence services and if they know something why they do not share it with us !!
Now from two weeks Israel warned its citizens from spending their holidays in Egypt especially the coming period.
The coming period will be a mix between the Eid holiday "3 days" and 6th of October .
The most interesting thing in this warning is that Israel specifically warned its officers and soldiers who spend their holidays in Sinai from abduction as if the Egyptian authorities are collaborating with Hamas
anyhow insh Allah nothing will happen in this holiday hopefully and this warning has nothing to do with the hostages situation currently in Sudan , this warning was limited to Sinai only not the Western desert !!
1-There is no much about the hostages except they are in Sudan currently with in the location identified by the Sudanese authorities.
2-Some reports are denying the death threats in case of any rescue attempt, I think these death threats are true otherwise why do not the security force interfere and liberate those hostages ??
3- The Safari trips companies are living their worst days in Egypt, most foreigners canceled their trips and the authorities banned the trips in that area for the time being and I can’t blame them.
4- Here is the info of the Romanian tourist in the group
She is 33 years old Oana Irina Kalis, She was born in Iasi ,Romania but currently living in Germany , she is married to one of the German hostages. I do not know but I think it is good thing to have her husband beside her in that hard time.
5- The nationality of the abductors is one big mystery , either the officials know and are hiding it from the media or they do not know and it will be a catastrophe and an insult to us. All what we are sure from that they are Africans but from where ??
6- I do not know but I think they got an Egyptian accomplice otherwise how they knew the movement of this group not to mention their way across the Egyptian borders. They could not have waited in the desert for a random tourists group so they would abduct it !!
7- How did they abduct the Captain in the Borders guards !!?
8- There are more information about the German hostages.
Two of them “ 69 years old woman and 37 years old man” are from Baden-Wuerttemberg region.
Update No.1
1- The Sudanese Foreign minister is saying that the abductors were all Egyptians , the thing which is denied officially by the Egyptian State !! I will not be surprised if they were Egyptians because it will make sense how they knew their way in Egypt and hunted down this particular group.
2- The Sudanese and Chadian Intelligence are involved with the intelligence services from Egypt,Italy and Germany.
3- The Egyptian Military Intelligence is one currently involved heavily in this crisis.
4- The media reports conflict is still there.
5- Germany and Italy were the one that asked no rescue works that can jeopardize their citizens.
Update No.2
1- Al Masry Al Youm Daily News published couple of photos for two of the four Egyptian drivers currently hostages
2- Al Masry Al Youm published mini interviews with the families of the Egyptian hostages , mainly the drivers, you can read parts of it here.
3- Al Masry Al Youm mentioned an interesting fact that Aegypteus company was practicing some sort of monopoly in the trips at Gelf Al Kebir
Update No.2 :
1- It seems that Khartoum gave a green light to us for special rescue operation in case of the negotiations failure,already there is a commandos team that currently in the area watching and waiting.
2- It is not only the Military Intelligence that is involved in the Situation but also the State Security too.
It was an expected thing according to the experts who called for immediate evacuation for the people at Al Doweiqa as soon as possible for decades now.
Another Rock slide happened yesterday.
The official media said that there were no victims at all where as the opposition and independent media are speaking for at least two missing persons "Either two merchants or two children" .
From another side ,it seems that Egypt is still the leading country in the Arab region in a way or another because I read that in Syria the residents who lived under the Mount Qasioun at Damascus fear the same fate of the people of Al Doweiqa.
It seems that rock slide of Al Doweiqa was not shocking and fearful to us only. I hope the Syrian government would act more quickly because Qasioun is Real mount not a hill like Al Mokkatam ,yup the Al Mokkatam mount is actually a hill ,we call anything high in Egypt a mount.
It is very sad thing ,there was an Egyptian engineer who was killed in the latest terrorist act in Pakistan that targeted Marriott hotel. His name was Tarek Ismail Fouda and he was working as CFO in Orascom's Mobilink in Pakistan. Strangely the Egyptian Embassy denied at first that there was an Egyptian in the terrible blast then they knew there was some Egyptian whom they should work on retrieving his body in order to be buried in his homeland.
It is very sad thing. He was father of two children , a 8 years old twin , a boy "Hussein" and a girl 'Mariam". He was supposed to return back home to Cairo on the 21st of September so he could spend the Eid with his family then he would take them with him to Pakistan to live in apartment there. The last phone call between him and his family was before the blast with few minutes , before breakfast according to Pakistan local time. His wife did not know that it was his last phone call , the last time she would hear his voice. This man is in heaven because he is a truly martyr who was seeking his living May God in this holy month make his blood and the blood of the innocent people who were killed in that terrorist coward act a curse on those who were behind that bombing. Already I do not know what kind of or how much TNT was used in that bombing to make the hotel looks like that.
I received an invitation for a group in the Facebook calling for choosing General Abd El-Salam Mahgoub ,the current minister of local development and former popular Governor of Alexandria as the next president of Egypt in 2011.
Abd El-Salam Mahgoub is widely respected in Egypt for his achievements in Alexandria , this man returned parts of Alexandria long time lost glory and beauty. Some know his great history in the Egyptian Intelligence since the 1960s and know the former deputy manager of the EI was an excellent field officer. Many do not know that he was the real Patron Zachariah "الريس زكريا" in Gomaah El-Showan or Ahmed El-Hawan famous operation. "Thanks for Embee" He is a military who succeeded in civilian life and got excellent administrative experience "As governor of Alexandria,; for me he is more experience than Sarah Palin and John McCain" Still I am afraid that despite how great General Mahgoub is , he may not be the best candidate generally speaking in a perfect world conditions due to one reason : His health. General Mahgoub is not a young man and his health problems can be worsen with the responsibilities of a President , this man got heart diseases for God Sake. I did not join this group but I won't lie that for years I wished that he would be our president. I want to share a little story I heard from My grand dad about this man and his past in the intelligence , it shows a little bit of his personality. In 1960s President Nasser had on going cold war against King Hussein of Jordan reached to the level that Nasser decided to get rid from tot crown Prince Abdullah then King Now , the plan was to poison the little Prince, it was Mahgoub's assignment that he refused to do it because he had children of his own , right after this incident King Abdullah made his brother Prince Hassan Crown Prince of Jordan. Also General Mahgoub was one of the gentlemen along with legendary Mohamed Nassim in the famous Pilgrim operation in Ivory Coast Here is a short bio of the general :
Mohamed Abd El-Salam Mahgoub was born in 1935 in Mansoura.
Graduated from the war school in 1955.
There is no much information about his work in the EI except what I mentioned.
Egypt's military attache at several countries.
He was the deputy of the National Security Minister aka the head of the Egyptian intelligence from 1992 to 1994.
The Governor of Ismalia from August 1994 to July 1997.
He was the governor of Alexandria from 1997 to 2006.
Currently he is the minister of local development.
Generals Omar Soliman and Abd El-Salam Mahgoub are currently only the military names available as possible successors to Mubarak after the death of Abd El-Halim Abu Ghazla "Despite my opinion about the late man" and the disappearance of Salah El-Halaby from the public life "Former Chief of Staff" Of course in popularity Mahgoub wins Soliman for his years as a governor. Still he is not known worldwide like Soliman. P.S it is sad thing when I found nothing about the man in the official Website of Alexandria where he is mentioned in the Isamilia Governorate offical website !!
This is what we know officially about the hostages. The Egyptians have nothing to speak about today except this incident ,which was described by many including Al Dostor newspaper as the first tourists abduction in the history of Egypt , they even used better and shocking headline “Egypt enters the tourists’ abduction era !!”
There was a chaos in the local media , in the same newspaper you can find something and its opposite. I will not blame the journalists in Egypt because the officials themselves are seemed contradicting themselves. The FM in NY issued yesterday a statement saying that the hostages were freed then hours later the spokesperson of his ministry denied that and we found out that they are officially in Sudan.
It is strange thing when I know that the negotiations are held between the abductors and the German Government and not with the Egyptian Government that till this moment denies any direct negotiations with them as if we do not have 8 Egyptian hostages under their mercy , already I do not know what their fate will be and who will pay their ransom.
It seems that the gang of 5 whom we do not know anything about their nationality except they were masked and speak with African accent according to Garanah’s repeated description; knows the Egyptian Government will not give them a penny. It is such pathetic thing to know that we can’t know we are so weak.
Zohair Garanah is speaking about the matter in the media , yes I know they are tourists but I will rather feel more comfortable if I see Habib El-Adly speaking about the matter , it is about the security.
Officially the hostages were transferred to Sudan and currently according to the Sudanese officials ,their location was identified, also according to Khartom Cairo dispatched two intelligence officers there to follow up and coordinate the matter with their Sudanese Counterparts but do not expect any Adham Sabri’s adventures because the hostage safety is number#1 priority according the Sudanese officials !! Well Can’t Adham Sabri do something heroic and save the hostages , I mean in the end they are 5 men , yes they got guns but what our special forces do !!?? Do not we always watch them in their graduation showing off their capabilities in front of the President in freeing hostage.
PLEASE DO SOME ADHAM SABRI MONKEY BUSINESS , MAKE US BELIEVE THERE IS STILL SOMETHING CALLED THE EGYPTIAN SOVEREIGNTY
We are not weaker than the Somali Police for God Sake !! Here are some of the Egyptian hostages were identified :
Ibrahim Saber Ibrahim “The Owner of the company”.
Mohamed Abd El- Azim Abd El-Hak “One of the guides”
Ahmed Abd El-Manam Mohamed '”One of the guides”
Now the media despite the denials of the Darfurian and Chadian Rebels ; is insisting on accusing them !! Yes the gang is expected to be from the natives because they know their way in the middle of this desert very well but they are not from Darfur or from Chad. Sure you will wonder why or where this gang will spend that huge ransom in and may be this is why many people believe they are from the Darfurian rebels who need that money to finance their operations against the Sudanese.Anyhow there are many rebels in Sudan than Darfur who need that money too.
I do not want to say anything but this is not the first time something like this happen , check out this news from 2001.
Updates No.1
1- This is not good , an official from Egypt stated that the abductors threatened to kill the hostages if there was any attempt to find their location by a plane , I think the brainy Sudanese officials should not spell the beans about the location they found !!
2- BBC Published very powerful and insightful commentary about the latest crisis in Egypt
3- I got the rest of the German and the Romanian hostages names but unfortunately in Arabic , I can't translate them because I know German names can have different spelling
Updates No.2
1- The Sudanese government announced the exact possible location of the hostages , 25 km South west the borders with Egypt
I tried to locate it , you know playing around with google earth ,calculating the distance from the Gelf Al Kebir ,I found some hills in the area, may be they are there , after all those abductors won't stay in the naked desert like this so any plane would spot them
View Larger Map
2- I am lost here some Egyptian sources imply that the government knew about the kidnap on Friday and others say we knew about on Sunday , may be they were kidnapped on Friday.
3- The Egyptian Government asked the media to be careful and cautious , I do not blame it really there was a media chaos on Tuesday
Update No.2
1- There are some resources saying that abductors from Djibouti !! "Ok but they seem to know their way very well in this area !!"
2- The Chad President refused that accusations that the abductors are from his country.
3- The tourism ministry freezed the safari trips to the Gelf Al Kebir untill further notice.
4- Where is our prime minister by the way ?? Where did our tall man go ??
5- Here are the rest of the names of Egyptian hostages :
Abd El-Halim Ragab Said "A Driver"
Milod Abbas Abd El-Wahab "A Driver"
Sherif Farouk Mohamed "A companion/guide"
Hassan Abd El-Manam Mohamed "A guide"
Mahmoud Mohamed "ِA Captain in the Borders guide" - Yes a Captain !!
6- Abu El-Gait is mad at NY because of the false statement that made him look so bad as usual , he blamed Cairo for the misleading him.
7-"Aegyptus" company employees are trying to aviod the media that they called the police. 8-The Ransom now officially is US $ 6 Million
preferred to live in after the assassination of President Sadat. 
