The Giza Zoo Needs You Amina

I understand the anger of animals rights organizations in Egypt and outside for the slaughter of pigs currently, I understand it and respect it , it is their job but what I do not understand is that those animals rights organizations especially the local one headed by Amina Abaza ignore the tragedy existing in Giza Zoo !!

Why do not these organization object on the inhuman conditions the animals live in the zoo and do something for real to save them?

Why does not Amina Abaza launch a real campaign to restore the glory of the oldest zoo in the region and the second zoo in the world ??

Why does not she speak with her relative minister Amin Abaza about the zoo ??

I will not say that Amina Abaza is an A Class lady living in Lala Land who does not know or even care that there are many Egyptians who do not enjoy their least human rights including those garbage collectors who live in the same place with pigs or those other poor Egyptians Amr El-Lathy show in his TV show where they live and sleep with animals in the same room.

I will say that she really does what she believes in and again I will respect her for that but if she really is the voice of the animals ,then she should speak on behalf of all animals for real whether out or in cages !!

Amina ,the daughter of famous author Tharwat Abaza is mentioned by the way in the latest single for Shabaan Abdel Rahim who is attacking her for defending the pigs in Mona El-Shazely show. El-Shazely is mentioned in the song too and is attacked for the first time for hosting Abaza and Oscar ,the dog ambassador of animals rights.

Mona hosted Oscar,the dog ambassador of animals rights worldwide and Amina in her show last week in a very comic show to be honest with my all due respect to Amina, Oscar and his owner. Oscar wanted to meet both the minister of Agriculture and the minister of interior , of course it did not happen, already I can’t stop myself from thinking what would have happened if Habib Al-Adly met Oscar !!

Technorati Tags: Citizne Journalism,Egypt,Human rights,Egyptians,Democracy,National,Women,Environment

What If They Win The Elections

I can’t believe the blackmail the Lebanese people are facing because of their own elections ; the Lebanese elections and what is happening in it show you how poor Lebanon is a pawn in an international game of power.

By all accounts Hezbollah and his allies have better opportunity to win this election and form the cabinet still this does not make Israeli nor its allies in the west happy at all and thus by all measures they are trying to make Hezbollah and allies fail.

Starting with the Egyptian regime and its so-called Hezbollah cell which did not affect the Lebanese elections from near or far.

Then with the direct American blackmail of Biden who came to Beirut to warn the Lebanese from choosing Hezbollah and allies cabinet otherwise they won’t get an aid !!??

Followed by the Der Spiegel's report where it accuses Hezbollah of assassinating Hariri !! It is not the first time the party is accused by this terrible accusation which no one of its opponent dared to say it.

Of course Hezbollah has denied the allegations and even if his political opponents denied it like Jambult who accused Israel of trying to push Lebanon in to a civil war again. Nasrallah accused Israel of the same thing.

To be honest I do not believe this report because of two facts : Timing and Hezbollah does not kill its Lebanese political opponents, if this is the issue why did not they get rid from their other political opponents like Gaegae and Al-Hariri JR ?!! 

The timing of the report is interesting enough ; from one side you have the Lebanese election and from another side you have Mossad spy rings falling down as old leaves in autumn !!

Nobody is speaking seriously about those Mossad spy rings operating in Lebanon for decades and the fact that these rings  includes members of Lebanese security forces and Lebanese political parties make me re-think about many incidents that took place in Lebanon above them the assassinations.

I will not say that the Lebanese people should elect this party or that because it is their issue and they are free people but I will be honest and say that I do not want those who were setting with Condi laughing while their fellow Lebanese were killed in the south to win. I swear if they should respect I would have taken this stand.

Still again I respect the choice of the Lebanese people whether they choose this team or that , it is rather choice according to the earliest principles of democracy.

But I can’t keep myself from asking what will happen if Hezbollah and Co. win the elections !!?? I do not think that there will a blockade on Lebanon like in case of Hamas and Gaza ; this may be why there are so many extreme attempts to make Hezbollah and co. fails.

I believe the Lebanese people should choose their best representative not based on his or her regional alliance but rather based on what he or she can really offer to Lebanon and its people.

Technorati Tags: Lebanon,Politics,Elections,Hezbollah,Media,spy,democracy,Egypt,America,War,Israel,Arab,mideast,middle east

Dr.Rashid Khalidi’s Interview in Harper’s Magazine

Dr. Rashid Khalidi’s name is not a strange one for those who followed the American elections , the Palestinian-American professor’s name was used to attack Obama by the GOP in a desperate attack.

Dr. Khalidi published lately a book called “Sowing Crisis: The Cold War and American Dominance in the Middle East” which is about the Russian and American relations with the Middle East during the Cold war. It is very interesting indeed.

I encourage you to read the interview of Dr.khalidi in Harper’s Magazine this month because it is so interesting , it is about the book and the history and relations between Russia and Middle East.

What interests me is that Dr.Khalidi considered the Egyptian Nasserite regime was the winner in its relations with Soviets, it puzzles me because I feel otherwise , I feel that the Soviets were the winners , they used to give us old weapons and their experts did not help us in our war 1973 , in fact some of them were spies. It is enough that they did know the timing of the six days war and did not inform us “of course for honesty we knew it too”  !!

This is Dr.Khalidi’s point of view of course , he is speaking about the fact the communist groups and parties were repressed and this is true , most of the communists in Egypt during the 1960s used to have fearful trips to Nasser infamous jails where as he used to meet with Soviet officials all the time.

Technorati Tags: America,Arab,Egypt,History,Rashid Khalidi,Soviet Union,Russians,Media,Nasser,politics,Palestine,Israel,Iran,Turk,Mideast,Middle East,Books

Zaven’s Scoop

And I thought that we covered everything in the Hisham Talaat Mustafa in our Egyptian media but I was wrong because last Monday Zaven Kouyoumdjian surprised us all.

I was always interested in knowing how the Lebanese media covered the case as Suzanne was a Lebanese celeb and here stories were hot dish for Lebanese tabloids. Last year most of the Lebanese media depended on the Egyptian coverage as far as I could tell there was nothing new. But Zaven broke the rule when he aired live in his show in Beirut the records of Suzanne calls with Hisham  and his aide Abdel Khalak aka Dodo which were included in the the Tamims testimonies in the trial.

Reading them is something and hearing them is another thing , I do not know if the records themselves were heard in the court or they were sent as transcripts.

Here is the full episode.It is highly especially the beginning.

Must See ,  Must hear

I do not think that the fight was over love or obsession more it is about another thing which is money. Hisham was clearly threatening her, it is enough to hear his voice.

Suzanne knew how to fight in Egyptian accent perfectly I notice.

Was Tamim referring to Prince Al-Walid in her call with Dodo ??

Zaven discussed the case with the Tamims’ Lebanese lawyer and psychological expert , I think he is the first one to discuss the psychological condition of Hisham , I do not know why he forgot Mohsen.

He then hosted  from Cairo a lawyer from Hisham’s defense team, of course when you see and hear that lawyer you won’t be surprised to know that Hisham is on the verge of execution. He hosted Samir El-Sheshtawy , our old enemy of press freedom and fame seeker NDPian. El-Sheshtawy is just like Nabieh El-Wahash, he was one who sued Ibrahim Eissa and wants to sue Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah in front of the the ICC. I must hint out that during the trial of Ibrahim Eissa ,the El-Sheshtawy family declared that he is not a member from that family and they were very angry from the people who thought that he was a member from the family , I can understand their anger. Seriously I do not know how El-Dib worked with him.

El-Shehtawy ‘s book was among the reason behind the publican ban in the trial !!

If I were from the Mustafas I would change my defense team starting from him. This man was total embarrassment.

Technorati Tags: HTM,Hisham Talaat Mustafa,Egypt,Zaven,Suzanne Tamim,Citizien Journalism,News,Society,Politics,Zaven Kouyoumdjian,Lebanon

Again and Again He Is Not Good At All for UNESCO

Of course I am speaking about Farouk Hosni ,our minister of Culture who is dying to become the director general of UNESCO and I am repeating my refusal to this nomination.

I won’t speak about the fact that he does not deserve all that diplomatic effort to get votes and I won’t speak about that issue with Israel and Israeli books ,it is enough to say that I felt sad when I know that Mubarak asked Bibi and Perez of 1956 to support Hosni !!

Already Mubarak is going to ask Obama for the US vote, it seems that the United States is standing against Hosni’s hopes and thank God for this.

Please do not choose him as a director general , I will not speak about his fiascos but I will speak about the fact that for more than 20 years he has been a member in Mubarak corrupted rotten regime. For more than 20 years he has been participating in a dictatorship regime that oppressed its people for more than 20 years for God sake. For more than  The stories about the financial corruption in his ministry under his knowledge are well known for everybody in Egypt for God Sake !!

How this man will stand defending the freedom of expression and speech where for than more 20 years he was a member in a regime that is still fighting freedom of expression and speech !!

Respecting the Israel and Israeli Culture and books is not enough I am afraid if we are speaking seriously about this important post in this important organization.

Technorati Tags: Citizen Journalism,Egypt,Follow Up,National,Arts,Culture,Farouk Hosni,Israel,Mubarak,Obama,America

Photo of The Week : You Won’t Believe What Can be Made in Egypt !!

Adorable shubby blonde baby wearing Made in Egypt T-Shirt by wonderful Zafir store in Zamalak.

According to comments about this wonderful shot, this baby is 1/2 Egyptian from his father side, 1/4 polish and 1/4 Sudanese from his mother side.Thus the Egyptian component is the dominant :) 

Zafir facebook group.

Technorati Tags: Egypt,Photos,Zafir,babies,in the wind's direction,funny,Egyptian faces

Poetic Justice

Last week Wael Al-Abrashi discussed in his show on Dream TV 2 the tragic death of girl who was romantic involved with Khalil Tamim, Suzanne Tamim’s brother. Al-Abrashi discussed it because some lawyers during the HTM trial they wanted to re-open the file again. There was suspicion that Khalil was behind her death and that  Hisham used his influence to protect him.

In 2005 Khalil Tamim ,late Suzanne's brother was in Egypt , he was involved in a terrible accident. A girl called Nihal Ibrahim who loved him fell off the Tamim's apartment in the 20th floor in Giza area near the Israeli Embassy, the girl worked with Hisham Talaat Mustafa , I think she was his house keeper.Officially it was considered an accident, the girl loved Khalil madly who was going back to Beirut leaving her alone and thus she stood in his balcony threatening to throw herself, by accident she fell for real , this is what was documented officially !!

Her family and friends do not buy the story till now , they believed that Khalil had pushed the girl and that Hisham used his power and influence to cover up over him. According to my sources Khalil pushed the girl and Hisham covered it up and God knows of course , I do not claim knowing 100% the truth.

For the sake of this girl a serious independent investigation should be opened again.

Anyhow if Hisham is involved in the death of this girl ,then his verdict will be part of God's revenge from him. I believe what happened can be considered then some sort of poetic justice from all parties involved in the crime whether Khalil who tasted the meaning of losing someone he really cared about or Hisham who covered up for Khalil !!

I should hint out that Abdel Satar Tamim; the father of Suzanne and Khalil said that he did not know about the accident except from Wael Al Abbrashi in the show !! Of course he refused the accusation saying that his son  is innocent and that was an attempt to defame his family and discredit it !!

Nihal’s case does not discredit the Tamims as much it makes Hisham look more and more guilty in front of  the public opinion , as a man of corruption who uses his powers to cover up over a murderer !!

I feel very sad and angry for the death of Nihal may God bless her soul, there is just too much drama.

Technorati Tags: Citizen Journalism,Egypt,News,Lebanon,Beirut,Suzanne Tamim,HTM,Hisham Talaat Mustafa,National,crime,law,society,Media

Follow Up : HTM trial digest

• There is a huge competition on Hisham's chair in the Shura council
• TMG is preparing a huge PR campaign including so-called big names in press "Momtaz El-Kut" Pasha to defend Hisham as a victim of conspiracy theories ..etc and to try change the public opinion to form a pressure on the judges to change the verdict , the campaign is led by sister and will start from Alex as their base !!
• Most of the Egyptian newspapers publish on a daily basis a page or a half page dedicated to the trial sessions which were not published during the publication ban "sometimes two pages""officially the publication ban is still on as the judge has not said the final verdict yet but according to reporters Judge Konsawah said it was ok to publish everything"
• The trial three judges are currently under strict protection as if heavens forbid anything happens to one of them, the trial will re-start again from the beginning with new panel of judges.
  
• The execution verdict is reached by the complete panel's consensus, all three must say yes to execution.
• Farid El-Dib is having a tough time for sure , he is big client is facing death and he is doing nothing except attacking Judge Konsawah saying that he lives that in the same building where Hisham's enemies live !!?? Ok who are they
• Several experts believe that the defense of both Hisham and Mohsen made a mistake when they focus on the theory of Mr. X " Hisham did not do it ,Mohsen did not do it someone else , who is he then ??"
• Farid is accusing now Damac and Emaar !!
• The former lawyer of Hisham Shawky El-Siad "NDPian famous for tailoring laws in the parilament" blamed Farid for the verdict saying indirectly that Farid stole for him the client for his own glory , I can't say that it is not true but in the end both Farid and Shawky are bastards with my all due respect. Farid does not have a real criminal court experience as I asked those who understand the law.
  

The Sad Yemen

Yemen is known in our Classic Arab folklore as the Happy Yemen because of its beautiful mountains and nature just like Green Tunisia ..etc but unfortunately due to its location and wealth Yemen in the last two centuries seems to be the sad Yemen.
The sad Yemen which is ruled by a dictator who refuses to leave his throne for fear his Arab co-rulers will miss him and this is why he is preparing his son to rule after him.
The sad Yemen which is still ruled by old tribal rules
The sad Yemen which still suffers from the Ghosts of the civil wars
Last week Ali Salim Al-Beidh the former leader of what was used to be the Democratic Republic of Yemen called for separation from the north in his exile in Switzerland reminding the Arab world by the terrible memories of the civil war.
I believe Yemen is suffering from the same political diseases exiting in other Arab countries. Yemen needs a real democratic leader that gathers its south and north and its valleys and mountains under the united Yemen flag.
If there is real democracy in Yemen you will not find a differentiation between the North and South ,between the classes and the people based upon the tribal difference and status.
To be honest I do not know much about the Yemeni affair and the man who could have helped me  a lot was my late grandfather whom from the 1940s was following the Yemeni affairs extensively and even had strong relations with the Yemeni officials including the Imams dynasty. I am stupid that I did not ask him, for me Yemen was hard to understand unlike Lebanon I do not know why !!?
I knew many Yemeni students during my study years , whose parents were political refugees ,they were real brilliant kids which for sure their country will advance a lot because of them if they return back and I wish they will one day.
I know very well that Egypt does not like to interfere in the Yemeni issue now because of the old bad memories of the Yemen war or what I prefer to call like Our own Vietnam. Yemen war is a taboo now , not to be preferred to be mentioned especially by the Nasserites. It is enough to say that it was among the reasons why we lost the six days war !! Of course the lesson is being forgotten now and we are interfering in the Lebanese issue more than we should 
Technorati Tags: Yemen, Egypt, History, Politics, Regional, Arab, Wars, Democracy,

H5N1 Follow Up : 2 Children contract avian flu

The ministry of health announced last night that 2 children were infected by avian flu. The two children are 4 years old Ahmed Rabi'e Mohamed Ibrahim from Hahia city in Sharkia governorate and 4 years old Hasna Abdullah Ali Hassan from Omaryat village also in Sharkia governorate.
Ahmed began to suffer from the symptoms on Sunday and he entered the Zagzig fever hospital on Monday. He was given tamflu and his case is currently stable.
Hasana began to suffer from the symptoms on Saturday , she also entered the Zazig fever hospital on Monday, she was also given tamflu and her case is currently stable.
Ahmed and Hasna are no.75 and 76 respectively in our H5N1 human infection toll
If I am not mistake this is the first time two H5N1 human cases come from the same governorate in the same time , I do not know why I feel there is a disaster in Sharkia !!?
Technorati Tags: Egypt, Citizen Journalism, National, Health, H5N1, Avian Flu, Sharkia, Tamflu

Bad News ; Good News

The bad news of Tuesday the 26th of May 2009 : 

Blogger Tamer Mabrook was fined  LE 2500 and he has to pay a compensation to Trust chemicals Industries equal to LE 40,000 :(

The good news of Tuesday the 26th of May 2009 :

The police officer who killed a civilian “Tamer Mashahor” in a fight off duty with his police gun in the shooting club area last year got 1o years in jail

This is good despite of course the family of Mashahor demands his execution , well it was unintentional , I think as a police officer this is the highest punishment a police officer has received lately.

Technorati Tags: Egypt,Blogging,Bloggers,Bogs,Citizen Journalism,Democracy,Follow Up,Human rights,Geek,Media,National,Trust Chemical industries,Tamer Mabrook,Port Said

To The Emirati People : Are Not You Sad For This Scene ??

I just have couple of questions to the Emirati People whom I respect :
Are Not You sad for having all those foreign western military bases in your country ?? on your land ??
Are Not You angry for the fact that foreign western armies are the one that protect your country not for the sake of you or for your country but because of oil and Israel ??
It puzzles me really to find all those foreign military bases in UAE where as the UAE is the third biggest importer of US Weapons !! What do they do with all these weapons if they have all those bases to protect them, at least all these weapons will increase global warming !!

 Sarko inaugurates the first French Military base in the Gulf

When will the Emirati people protect their own land by themselves ?? When will the Emirati men feel as men they should be the ones who protect their own country , their wealth, their own women and Children in these bases  ??

When will the Emirati people ,in fact all the Gulf people wake up from their Arabian nights to understand that they are living under an ugly occupation ??

I want answers please.

By the way the Louvre ,the real Louvre will always be in Paris , this is not a Christie auction show room I am afraid , Sarkozy is selling hot air and the Arabs are just paying !!
P.S This post is from someone who really care about the Arab nation

Technorati Tags: Emirates,UAE,France,Politics,War,National security,news,mideast,middle east

If It were not for him !!

Haifa Wahbi is acting for the first time in Egyptian cinema in a Khalid Youssef Film "Dokan Shehata" { Shehata's Shop} . The film has been released last week in Egypt and in the Arab world. As the previous Youssef's films it is politically and socially contraversial , politically more as it is claimed to discuss the political and economic conditions of Egypt and its reflection on a low working class family.
Youssef in his interviews says that he was discussing the conditions of Egypt in the last 30 years which means the conditions of Egypt in Sadat and Mubarak eras and that the character of the loving father "portrayed by Mahmoud Hamida" was symbolizing to Gamal Abdel Nasser. Youssef is a proud Nasserite for sure but I am amazed that Haifa Wahbi participates in such film attacking Mubarak who opened the door economically for men like her hubby to become rich !! I am not speaking about Sadat because regardless of his open door policy , those filthy rich businessmen were and are the product of Mubarak rule.
and if it were not for Mubarak , businessmen like Abu-Hashima and others would not be there !!
Did not she say that she respected Mubarak so much in her interview with Adeeb then why she attacks him !!?? Do not tell me that she does not understand what her first film is about !!??

 Haifa in the film portrays Bissa which is a symbol of oppressed Egypt !!!

If it were not for Mubarak ,she would not have that fancy wedding nor villas in Egypt or in Lebanon.
About Nasser , well with my all respect to him and his admirers above them Khalid Youssef ; I know very well that Youssef could not open his mouth and breathe in his era !!
You know I believe some people actually deserve to live in time of Nasser to know how it was felt to live in a real Police state !!

The Quote of The Week : Important Difference

There is a difference between the court order and the court verdict

The defense of Mohsen El-Sokary and Hisham Talaat Mustafa after last Thursday court order to send the papers of both men to grand Mufti

Technorati Tags: Citizen Journalism,Egypt,National,The Quote of Week,Hisham Talaat Mustafa,News,Mideast,Middle East

Just Before The Visit

It seems that polishing the dome of the famous Cairo University hall , cleaning Cairo and making Abdeen Palace ready for its important guest were not the only preparations for Obama visit because today the appeal court ruled out the innocence of Dr. Saad El-Din Ibrahim of the charges that made him leave in Egypt.

Ibrahim was accused of defaming Egypt and he was considered from the top political dissident abroad.

I do not have doubt this is just a gesture from the Egyptian regime to prove its seriousness in front of Obama :)

Of course the regime and its media will deny this and say that it is our independent judicial system , well I will dare to say that our judicial system is not that independent in political issues ;)

Technorati Tags: Obama,politics,Saad El-Din Ibrahim,Egypt,News,Citizen Journalism,America,Mubarak,democracy,Mideast

The first appearance for Alaa and Gamal Mubarak

And unfortunately it was in another funeral !!
Alaa and Gamal Mubarak made their first public appearance since the funeral of Mohamed JR today morning, when they attended the funeral of late business tycoon Mohamed Nossair.
Here are the photos from Youm 7 :

Khalid Hussein Salem is on the Left of Gamal and Alaa is on left hand of Gamal in Al-Rashdan Mosque

Alaa coming down from the Mosque , I do not know why I feel it is too hard for him to go to the same Mosque where in less than a week he prayed over the body of his son !!

Mohamed Nossair was a great businessman tycoon who left an empire many expect that it may not survive as the son was not as good as the father.

Nossair was a friend to Mubarak from a long time.He was close to the regime since the 1960s, already the mother of his children and his ex-wife was the beautiful daughter of Free Officer Abdel Latif Baghdadi. 

He was also a friend to Ashraf Marwan too, I remember that the only time I mentioned him directly in my blog is when he said his contraversial testimony about Marwan and the 6th of October war which many ignored. 

I do not want to speak more about Nossair because now he is in the hands of God , now he knows that his money and power won't do anything for him at all.

May God bless the soul of Nossair.

The Turks are not coming as they are already here

LA Times published a report about the inaugration of Salahdin school in Egypt which I wrote about it from two months ago.

A Leader without Any leading power

Adel Emam is known in the media as the leader tribute to his play "The Leader" which is based upon the prisoner of Zenda."

 Of course I must say that our media is very unique in the world as loves to give artists and stars titles that they do not deserve, it is a sad thing that great comedians whom Emam is not as talented as them did not have title like Naguib El-Rihany and Ismail Yassin !!
Since Emam has being called the leader and he loves to act as one despite he does not lead anyone . I spoke about his political opinions before and how I am not convinced nor many people do with his political and social opinions. Lately I received emails from Israelis highlighting his statements to Amr El-Lathy show where he attacked Hamas and Hezbollah on last Thursday as uausal !! "I know it is too fast but I am not surprised , of course I must say that I did not watch this interview which is highlighted everywhere because I was following just like most of the Egyptians the HTM trial ,it was much important and more interesting !!"
Well my dear again and again I will say Emam speaks on behalf of the Egyptian regime just to please it. Emam attacked Ayman Nour rudely speaking about his personal life ,Emam supports Gamal Mubarak, Emam does not really support democracy in Egypt nor does he call for it despite what you see in his films !! 
Emam fabricates for God sake  stories on how Nasser and Amar pulled off their car to salute him where as he was just an actor nobody knew his name !!
Emam is a very arrogant person who refused to be honored in the national film festival with a critic whom used to criticize him films this year !!
I just want to tell those dear Israelis something ; the next President of Egypt who will come to praise Hezbollah and to criticize the war crimes of Israel , Emam will be the first one to say Amin , I swear I am not hypocrite !!  
Emam is an icon of the Mubarak era, when this era fails he will fail with it .. be sure of that.
Technorati Tags: Egypt, Citizen Journalism, Adel Emam, politics, Arts, films, Lebanon, Israel, Hezbollah, Hamas, Mubarak, Democracy, Ayman Nour

Where are the photos of this meeting ?

It was announced that Mubarak would have a meeting with the cabinet and the state men this morning in his first appearance after the death of his grandson, it was highlighted by bold font headlines in the today's official newspapers.
Mubarak would discuss the preparations of Obama's visit mainly especially that both Omar Soliman and Abu El-Gait are going to D.C tomorrow to discuss the preparations of the visit instead of Mubarak.
I do not have doubt that this news or appearance was made to deny the rumors circulating since Wednesday saying that the President is sick at Al-Ga'ala hospital !! Strangely these rumors came from the NDP itself and its members not from abroad or from the opposition from the internet.
To be honest I won't be surprised to know that he is or was sick because of the shock , the shock is not an easy one for a man in his age.
We believe in Egypt that the life is by the hand of God ,we do not know when it will end  and being sick is not an indicator with my all respect ; Nasser had a meeting with the Arab leaders then next day he passed away and Sadat was laughing moments before he was killed; no one expected one of them will die at that time for real.
This is from the humanitarian point of view but from the political point of view it is scary because he has no vice president and his son will die to become a President.Of course when I look to the previous examples of former rulers of Egypt I find that all of them had vice even Farouk who had Prince Mohamed Ali as a crown prince then his son Ahmed Fouad II !!
I do not have doubt that Mubarak's advisers knew about the rumors and decided to fight it by making him appear in public , well not in public actually but to appear in general in a way or another.
Now where are the pictures and the footage of this meeting ??
Here it is a photo from meeting ,it is not that clearly , I saw the meeting in the news , Mubarak looks pale and old

I just hope that they are fresh pictures and footage , not a rewind for emergencies time :)

Focus on Suzanne Tamim Trial Please

I can’t believe how some journalists in Egypt are using the death of Mohamed Mubarak to prove how great their imagination . Since the announcement of his death on last Tuesday I do not have doubt that many journalists used their imagination to describe the short life of the grandson of the Egyptian President.

Already up till now it seems that the people have not got a unified idea on what caused the sudden death of Mohamed JR as if it really matters now !!

• Mohamed fell off his scooter and suffered a brain damage !!
• Mohamed fell off his horse which riding and suffered a brain damage ! ! “I read this in Sawt Al Oma in its so-called special coverage which I will refer later”
• Mohamed suffered a food poisoning  !! “So he got a brain damage for God Sake , what is scary is that this rumour is spread in both Arab and Hebrew media , in fact I found an American blog having poll about whether it is a plot or not !!”
• Mohamed suffered from a heart disease and that’s why he had to be thin but his granddad used to give him chocolate breaking the orders of doctors !! “Did those journalists watch Mubarak doing this because means that Mubarak was hurting his grandson for God Sake !!”
• Mohamed suffered from Leukaemia for long time and it was something expected !! “With my all respect I have rumours that his grandmother had suffered from leukaemia from a long time and it turned out to be rumour by time for God Sake !!”

Of course it will be hard to make people speculating because we are talking about the young grandson of the President in Egypt , the King’s grandson for God Sake. Still there should be limits for it is going to publish about Mohamed specifically.

Sawt Al Oma weekly newspaper published an early special edition issue from the newspaper with a so-called special coverage about Mohamed JR full of fabrications without any doubt for instance :

• Mubarak wanted him his grandson to become a pilot where as Alaa wanted to become a footballer !!! “What kind of a father in Egypt that wants his son to become a footballer not to mention that this son is the grandson of the Egyptian President !!”
• Suzanne Mubarak felt that her grandson is talented painter and thus Farouk Hosni was giving him lessons !! “ Ok besides the fact Hosni is not the best painter in the world , I know for sure that the first lady won’t let this happen for God Sake !!
• Mubarak used to hide for chocolate “what is this chocolate story thing for God sake !!?? I believe Mubarak now is considered a bad grandfather who did not care about the health of his grandchild “

There is too much ,seriously too much , already the Mubaraks are private in their lives and I do not think that they will open to the journalists regardless of how close they are to them. Theses are very personal stuff I am sure regardless of their position any family will refuse to have it published in tabloids in this way !! I feel that next week that man Anis El-Daidgy will publish a biography about Mohamed !!??

By the way here is the obituary the Presidency published in Al Ahram on last Tuesday , it was for the first time in Al Ahram an obituary from this size would be published in the second obituary page.

Mourning in Islam is three days only and I believe the newspaper should stick to this rule and stop publishing so-called scoops about Mohamed and focus better on the policies Mohamed’s grandfather !!??

Man I feel that following Suzanne Tamim trial is much better than this !!

Technorati Tags: Egypt,Citizen Journalism,Follow Up,National,Media,Politics,Society,Mohamed Mubarak,Hosni Mubarak,Alaa Mubarak,Sawt El-Oma,Mideast,Middle East,Suzanne Tamim

Before It Is Too Late

From few weeks ago Egypt woke up on a terrible murder that took place in Giza. A woman was killed in her house while she was on her way to work. The woman was late Mrs. Hala Fayek , who was a very prominent figure in the Egyptian banking sector for decades. Late Fayek headed the credit department in several banks including CIB and MIB. Her last position was the credit department head in Banque Misr “She was also responsible for the credit department in Banque De Caire and it was first suspected that some troubled businessman from Banque De Caire would be behind the crime” . Mrs. Fayek was married to an ex-judge who is currently working in Dubai.

Late Fayek may God bless her soul was murdered by her maid’s husband who was suffering financially as he lost his job. He planned to go in the morning and to kill Hala’s mother , the old sick lady was staying with her daughter but fate had other plans due to some meeting on that particular day Hala was late and was the one who opened the door for him to receive deadly stabs killing her in her apartment. The murderer stole a large sum of money and jewellery. Hala’s mother was the one who discovered the body , already I can’t imagine how she is doing now after seeing her daughter in this terrible scene. One of my relatives used to work with her in the credit department in MIB for many years and she was more as a friend for him than a boss , he was shocked and cried after hearing the news.

The Egyptian banking sector mourned her along with the society that was terrified with this crime , it is not about a rich lady being killed but rather the fact was a lady killed in her own house in a secure neighbourhood or at least that what was thought.

Now here I am not speaking about the crime but I want to speak about something not less important. I care about women issues in Egypt and I am surprised that the feminists in Egypt do not celebrate the achievements of women in the Egyptian banking and financial sectors.Seriously there are thousands of women working in the Egyptian banks and in financial companies. Many of those ladies are successful like late Hala and yet we do not consider this an achievement we should highlight . I am tired from the Western look to our women that they are so helpless and weak where as some of them actually are successful and powerful.

By the way I know many women in management levels in banks and companies who do not have feminist ideas that they must overcome the man’s power…etc,they are simply doing their job and trying to be best.

My point is we always speak about women empowerment in the society and how to encourage this empowerment yet we do not see a real respect  for those ladies in these positions for God Sake. Sometimes I feel that some feminists love to speak over and over about oppressed women leaving these bright examples that can give hope to women not only in Egypt but in the Arab world.

Technorati Tags: Citizen Journalism,Egypt,Life,Media,National,Society,Kolana Laila,Feminist,Feminism,Women,Banks,Economy

The Tamims’ Testimonies in Court

Al Youm 7 has published the full testimonies of Abdel Sattar Tamim and Thoraya Ibrahim ,the parents of Suzanne Tamim in the trail. They did not come to Egypt because as they claim they received threats from Hisham’s men.

They sent their testimonies through the Egyptian embassy in Beirut.

• Here is the Abdel Sattar’s testimony in Arabic including the scripts of the phone calls between Suzanne and one of the aides of Hisham , she sent a cd to her father with the calls. It was clearly from the scripts that she was receiving threats from Hisham.
• Here are some remarks about this testimony : “Not that they are true but I just think they are interesting” :

- Suzanne knew Hisham or rather was introduced to him in Rotana Party in 2005 in Sharm El-Sheikh , in the four season resort there it was an annual event, Rotana is owned by Prince Al Walid Ibn Talal,the ex-partner of Hisham.  “I assume that she was introduced to him by Al-Walid”

- According to Abdel Sattar ,she considered Hisham another father who could help her in trouble in getting a divorce from Adel Matoq.

- Hisham fell in love with her and asked Abdel her hand in marriage , in fact he asked Abdel Sattar for his approval but the later refused because he had already problems with Matoq and he cared for his daughter happiness and approval !!

- He met Hisham for the first time in 2006 and he refused to enter with him and his brother “Tarek” in projects in Lebanon !! “Ok but which is first asking for her hand or meeting him in 2006,call me picky but asking for hand was mentioned before this meeting !!"

- Points 12 and 13 are not there in the documents !!

- The rest of testimony includes how Hisham crazily was stalking Suzanne in a mafia style , it was more than a love relation clearly God Sake. It is not obsession !! I believe Suzanne was the kind of a woman who knew too much in the businessmen world in Egypt and it seems that she was killed because of this knowledge.

- This part is concerning the phone calls script between Suzanne and her father and Suzanne and someone called Abdel Khalak whom I assume was an aide to Hisham.

First the phone call between Suzanne and her dad :

         Suzanne :

I come to you in problem and you put in much worse problem !!

You here refers to Hisham in the call ,she was complaining from him and how he was bragging that he is Hisham Mustafa.

Anyhow I am curious to know what that much worse problem is !!??

Second Suzanne and Abdel Khalak’s call

             Abdel Khalak :

Do not enlarge the matter

Suzanne :

It is already large

What is this matter that deserves all this ?? Do not tell me it is love !!??

• Here is the testimony of her mother Thoriya Ibrahim , she also describes how Hisham was threatening her and her daughter to the level that you will feel when you read the testimony as if they were taken as hostages.
• Interesting enough she mentioned that her daughter asked for Prince Al-Walid’s help to stand against Hisham but he did not do anything !! He just ignored her !!

I think Prince Al-Walid should have taken the witness stand !!

There is a theory saying that Hisham has killed Suzanne because she knew his Swiss bank account password and she began to take money from him ,those $30 millions !!?? Well this is stupid because I believe that the Swiss banks are much careful and he could simply change the password !!?

The lawyers of Hisham and Mohsen say that Abdel Sattar Tamim , the father of Suzanne Tamim had sent another testimony  by the end of the trial to the court were he supported Hisham innocence !!?? Where is it then ?? Already the man was happy for this verdict !!??

Hisham’s lawyers are accusing Damac to be behind the crime and that they set him up !! It is easy to accuse a bankrupted company, of course his family has accused Emaar !!? I do not believe that  I am afraid !!

Oh man I forget how this case is so mysterious and confusing !!??

Technorati Tags: Citizen Journalism,Egypt,National,Lebanon,Suzanne Tamim,Hisham Talaat Mustafa,Mohsen El-Sokary,society,Murder,trials,news,mideast,Middle East

GM as a witness

 This post was to be published 12/06/08 but because there was publication ban then and  the fact that I have really caring friends who fear on me I had to draft it so I won't be breaking any law, I was so sad when I had to draft it then. Anyhow the publication ban is over and all newspapers now are publishing the trail , of course I wonder if they publish this part . Of Course I want to add something , both witnesses would not have add anything to the trial about the crime itself , but they were requested to stand and say the oath just to prove how good and honorable Hisham and Mohsen are which I believe was useless as we are witnessing now.
Original Post on 12/06/08
You all know that one of the lawyers in the Suzanne Tamim's murder trial requested that the court would call both Gamal Mubarak and Habib Al Adly as witnesses. Some of us expected that the Judge would decline this request but he did not. Most of us including me believed that the publication ban order was because of these two important witnesses of course beside other issues some people do not want the public to know about.
Anyhow by accident today I found out this news at Al Bawaba
Yes Habib Al Adly stood in front of the Judge in the court to say his testimony about the time he worked with Al-Sokary in the State Security, nobody mentioned this ,of course there is a publication ban but the court said that it would publish its orders in the end of its sessions from calling the witnesses...etc but this did not happen in the last two weeks !!
Of course we had this big fight between the Independent and opposition newspapers that demand a lift of the publication ban.Already there are two chief in editors including Magdy El-Glad of Al Masry Al Youm who are going to trial for breaking the ban order !! For the record the official newspapers published the same reports and someone reported them to the General attorney still they got away from it.The independent and the opposition threatened to break the publication ban in return.
Anyway back to Gamal.
The website did not say when he would testify , may be yesterday on Thursday or it will be on Saturday before the Eid ,we will never know.He would testify about Hisham Talaat Mustafa as the later was co-NDP member in the policies committees
I do not know why I feel that the regime enlarged the 6th October murder case in order to cover the Suzanne Tamim's trial, it is not about the void the media want to fill but think in that way
All those reports and photos were leaked from the interior ministry itself.Yes the crime is horrible and mysterious but it did not deserve all that media attention now in this way.
I wonder what Gamal would have said or will say ?? 

Technorati Tags: Gamal Mubarak,Citizen Journalism,Egypt,Media,National,Follow Up,Democracy,Suzanne Tamim,Law,Crime,6th October,Habib Al Adaly,trials,Mideast,Middle East

The Nakba Memorial

I did not post anything in the Nakba Memorial last 14th of May as I believe remembering the Nakba of 1948 does not require a specific day because since 1917 and the Palestinians have been in Nakba.

I wanted to write something about the hero Ahmed Abdel Aziz but I do not have enough time now and I think it is not memorial thing to remember on certain day and that’s it because the Nakba is not over.

Technorati Tags: Palestine,Nakba,Memorial,history,Israel,Palestinians,1948,Ahmed Abdel Aziz,Mideast,Middle East

Breaking News : A Fire at Ayman Nour House

I found the news first at Youm 7 then I found Wael Abbas confirming it at twitter.
It seems that there was a fire at Ayman Nour house in Zamalak and he was injured in it. He is said to be injured in his face and a part of his hair was burnt. This is so scary for sure.
Ayman sent a SMS to his party which was having a meeting then he supposed to attend. He apologized for not coming the meeting because he suffered from a minor accident in his face and hair and that he was on his way to the hospital. He told them that he would cancel his appointments for the next two weeks !! I do not know if this is consider minor accident !!
This accident will remind some I suppose with the fire that happened in his party HQ few months ago. I should mention that Gamila feared that a fire would happen in their house !!
I hope that it is a minor accident for real !!
Update
Via Wael Abbas : some unconfirmed news say that Nour was attacked by a flame in front of his house and that the attacker or rather attackers were riding a motorcycle and ranawy so fast !!
This is not good

Technorati Tags: Egypt,Breaking News,Fire,Ayman Nour,Politics,twitter,geek,Gamila Ismail,Zamalak,Cairo,Mideast,Middle East

The Message Was Received

Let the media craze starts !!

Last night was the Suzanne Tamim murder trial on TV , I could not believe myself from the amount of time and coverage given to the trial. It was insane by all means.

I understand very that it is not everyday when you have such crimes with all its juicy details but I am for hours and hours dedicated to one single trial and I am sorry to say after watching hours from different programs on different channels that there was nothing new in all these programs whether from the questions or from the answers.

There was nothing new at all ; Sokary lawyers are insisting that he was innocent depending on scientific evidence and Hisham Talaat Mustafa lawyers are having faith in the veto and in between we have the endless debate about who is the husband of Suzanne Tamim !!!

I understand the seriousness of this trial with all its juicy parts from that deadly enigmatic crime to the threesome of celebrity,business and politics and the fact that the crime happened in Dubai, the victim was Lebanese and accused or rather the convicted now are Egyptians ; it is a regional crime somehow !! But where is the scoop for God Sake !!

I have couple of remarks regarding yesterday coverage :

• It was professional that some channels covered the trial live as much as they can in the morning.
• Amr Adeeb seems to be sad because his friend is facing a tough verdict , I understand that but as TV host he should not be biased, he should not be sad as much as he can , he should it keep to himself except if he believes his friend was 100% innocent then he should tell us why he believes so !!
• Hanaa El-Samry is so provocative , I do not know if it were her voice or style but I know Syad Ali ,the journalist is better interviewer than her ; I should not forget and say that El-Samry was the National TV correspondent at the Presidential Palace who used to cover president Mubarak in his trips everywhere.
• Anis El-Manawy,the lawyer of El-Sokary should get some rest.

Dealing with Shock , Dealing with the victory :

• Hisham was transferred to the prison hospital on Friday as he suffered from a low blood pressure , too low , I can’t blame him, it is a shock for him.

• The Father of Mohsen El-Sokary spoke to the TV stations Thursday and he was angry , he attacked the public opinion and also the judicial system for hanging for two innocent men. I can’t blame or attack him , despite what we may think about his son , it is his son after all !! I must say that he seemed not okay while talking to the reporters.
• The father of Suzanne Tamim is happy of course , now he will be able to sue Hisham and get millions of dollars besides the 30 millions in Switzerland banks which Hisham wanted to get back from Suzanne.
• The husbands of Suzanne are happy but of course they are having a battle now to prove which one of them is legal husband of Suzanne who has the right to sue Hisham for civil compensation !!
• The Shura council and NDP did not comment on the verdict because they respect judicial verdicts.
• Economically the TMG stocks did not do good in the Egyptian Bourse but this was expected.
• The ministry of housing commented on the verdict saying that the trial did not affect the constriction works of Madinaty , the huge project of TMG in New Cairo.
• TMG is going to deliver 400 villas in Madinaty before their original time in 2010  soon !!

The Message was received :

The political message the Egyptian regime wanted to send to the world that no one was above the law in Egypt from its men was received very well. I could not believe myself when I found all those newspapers and foreign channels speaking about the matter , the news of the trial was in the front page of Huffington post last night !!

Guilty by poll :

Another thing I asked you earlier this month about your predictions regarding the trial , I did not ask about the verdict because I am not a legal expert but I asked whether you believe that Hisham and Mohsen will be found innocent or guilty , 71 readers were kindly enough to participate in the poll.

The results were as follows :

Technorati Tags: Citizen journalism,Egypt,Follow Up,Media,National,Society,Hisham Talaat Mustafa,Mohsen El-Sokary,Suzanne Tamim,Egyptians,Polls

After the verdict

it seems that the Hisham Talaat Mustafa will steal the spot lights from the sudden death of Mohamed Mubarak after all. Here is what I think about the verdict but there are some points I want to clarify first  :

• First of all when the judge says that that the papers of the convicted will be sent to the grand Mufti for consulting means in most situations that that convicted will face the death penalty. The death penalty needs the opinion of the grand Mufti to support it from the religious point of view ,the Sharia point of view to fulfill justice.It is not everyday that you order the death of someone.
• In most cases if not all of them the grand Mufti approves and supports the judge’s verdict.
• second in case of Hisham and Sokary,the judge will announce the final verdict on the next 25th of June 2009 ,which is nearly about month and 5 days ,I believe it is a long period to stand in the death row.
• Third when the judge announces the final verdict , the lawyers of the convicted will have the right to veto.
• In the veto court the judge does not investigate the evidence or the details of the case but investigate the procedures of the first judge’s verdict and whether it is 100% legally correct or not , if the Veto courts find that it is not 100% correct , it will send it back to the court but in another district I believe.
• The Publication ban order is lifted as soon as the judge has announced the verdict.
• Judge Mohamdi Konswah is known for his tough verdicts.

Now back to my thoughts about the trial.

- I expected this verdict somehow because of its political and social significance :

1- The Egyptian Government does not protect its men ,the NDP men,the businessmen tycoon regardless of how big they are and how strong their connection with Mubarak’s family is.

2-There is no difference between a businessman tycoon, former state security officer and a poor man who are accused of murder ,they will face the death penalty judgment.

3- There are three countries involved in the case besides Egypt : UAE , UK and Lebanon , already there were rumors in UAE last year that Egypt wanted to prosecute both men in the country in order to give an opportunity to Hisham to flee the punishment.

There is another reason I believe this verdict came in this way. It will be a good opportunity to make the people busy in summer time in stuff other than wondering about the President’s health after the sudden loss of his grandson  !!

Concerning the trial itself to be honest up till now  I am puzzled and the fact that the publication ban was imposed during the trial makes me feel that there are facts being hidden from the public, of course now everything should be announced from the defense arguments to the prosecution arguments… etc. Up till now I am not totally convinced that it is 100% a passion crime , I believe that it is more than that. Hisham sued Suzanne Switzerland to get back $30 million dollars he gave it to her !!! The transcripts of Suzanne’s calls with Hisham’s aide implies that she knew something that gave her power against Hisham and his men.

This is just the start of another round from Suzanne Tamim murder trial circus in town

Technorati Tags: Citizen Journalism,Egypt,Life,Follow up,Suzanne Tamim,Lebanon,Politics,Hisham Talaat Mustafa,TMG,economy,news

Breaking News : Hisham Talaat Mustafa and El-Sokary's papers to grand Mufti

Ok this is too early , but right now it is on all TVs
The Court ruled out death penalty for both Hisham Talaat Mustafa and Mohsen El-Sokary in Suzanne Tamim case.
The court actually ruled out that their papers actually are to be sent to the grand Mufti which means death penalty. There is no appeal but there can be veto ,the lawyers will veto but it scarcely will bring any result in the case of Hisham and Mohsen.
According to my sources in the court nobody expected this rule, Mohsen fainted , Hisham gave his back to the reporters and cameras,the TMG body guards became aggressive with the reporters after the verdict.
More to come

Update No.1

• From the court 

- Mohsen was not the only one who fainted but also Saher Talaat Mustafa, the sister of Hisham had fainted as soon as she heard the verdict.
- The face of Hisham turned in to white as soon as he heard the verdict and he gave his back to the reporters so they would not take his photos.
- His body guards cover the cage and attacked the reporters with the approval of the security officers.
- IF you want to enter the court room ,you have to be either from the families of the accused or rather convicted or have a Pres ID Card.
- The families of Mohsen and Hisham had a nervous breakdown in the court, police officers had to carry them outside
-As soon as the judge said the verdict ,he had to be leave the court room for fear the families' anger.
-  There was a huge chaos or rather a circus there.
- You can see the photos from the court here
- You can  watch the video of the trial here. Mona El-Shazely was there.

- To remind with the case and the trial ,I recommend that you check this link.
I will comment later about the verdict.

Update No.2 

• I recieved information that there are lawyers and specific reporters by names who knew the verdict from yesterday.
• Farid El-Dib didn't  attend the trial.
• Mohsen and Hisham arrived at the court from 6 AM
  
• Mona El-Shazely wanted to have an exclusive interview with Hisham Talaat Mustafa and before the start of the trial he told her in confidence " Wait after the verdict" , of course after the verdict he did not speak to anyone, I assume that he did not recieve the info some people knew earlier.

Update No.3 :

• Here is a gallery for the trial today 

Follow Up : H5N1 No.73 & 74

The ministry of health  has announced that both 4 years old Abdel Rahman Sabri Mohamed and 3 years old Sameh Ayoub Shohdy were H5N1 positive

Abdel Rahman is No. 73 where as Sameh is No.74 in our H5N1 human infection toll.

Abdel Rahman is from Dakhalia governorate “Nile Delta” , he began to suffer from the symptoms on the 18th of May and he entered the hospital on the same day. He was given tamflu and his condition is currently stable.

Sameh is from Sohag governorate “Upper Egypt” , he began to suffer from the symptoms on the 17th of May and he entered the hospital just like Abdel Rahman on the 18th of May. He was given tamflu and his condition is currently stable.

Both kids will be transferred to Manshiat El-Bakery fever hospital in Cairo to complete their treatment.

Technorati Tags: Citizen Journalism,Egypt,H5N1,Avian Flu,Follow Up,Health,National,Sohag,Dakhalia,Middle East,Mid East

President Mubarak to delay his visit to Washington

The White House has just confirmed the news circulating in Cairo for the last 48 hours ; President Mubarak has delayed his expected visit to Washington because of his grief on his grandson.

Instead Mubarak will meet Obama on the 4th of June 2009 in Cairo ,then he will visit Washington later this year.

I expected this since I have heard the news especially that he did not attend the funeral of Mohamed JR. It is a huge shock and according to all sources he was attached to Mohamed JR. He is not young to handle such shock so easily.

Already the rumours mill  about his health has started to roll and I am hearing from different sources including the NDP itself that the President has not been okay since hearing the news in fact after seeing the body of Mohamed JR in the Gala’a hospital , well actually it is logic that he would not be okay and he will have to rest to recover from this shock.  He is a human , an old human too who needs to rest already from his work in the first place so you do not put him in this situation and think that he would be fine.

Technorati Tags: America,Obama,Mubarak,Egypt,News,Politics,Citizen Journalism,Mohamed Mubarak,Mideast,Middle East