Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi issued a decree on Wednesday giving him the authority to transfer non-Egyptian defendants on trial or already convicted to be sent to their countries to be tried or serve their sentences.

POLITICS

Egypt’s Sisi decrees law on repatriating foreign prisoners
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi issued a decree on Wednesday giving him the authority to transfer non-Egyptian defendants on trial or already convicted to be sent to their countries to be tried or serve their sentences. The new law stipulates that the general prosecution has to request the transfer of the prisoners and the cabinet has to approve the request. While the decree does not mention any specific cases, it might be utilized in the highly publicized case of Al Jazeera journalists as two of the three detained defendants, Australian Peter Greste and Egyptian-Canadian Mohamed Fahmy, are foreigners. The Australian government is seeking verification from Egyptian authorities of whether this new presidential decree could mean the release of Greste. [Ahram Online, Reuters, Aswat Masriya, Mada Masr, The Guardian, 11/12/2014]

Also of Interest
‘Next Egyptian parliament will lack political nature’: Leftist party head | Ahram Online
Sisi grants Tahya Misr fund legal personality | Aswat Masriya

COURTS

Prisoner died due to inadequate prison healthcare, says lawyer
A prisoner died in Mounifeya on Wednesday due to inadequate healthcare in prison, claimed his lawyer. Tarek al-Ghandour suffered from liver dysfunction and was imprisoned in Abu Zaabal and then Wadi al-Natrun prisons. On Saturday, he was transferred to a general medical center in the city of Shebin al-Koom in Menufiya; four days later he reportedly encountered bleeding from esophageal varices, and died after six hours. His lawyer, Huda Abdel Moneim said, “We sent several official requests to the prisons’ department to provide him with doctors and the medicine he needs, but no response was made.” She also added that Wadi al-Natrun prison lacks the minimal healthcare requirements for any prisoner. [DNE, 11/12/2014]

Also of Interest
Forty Brotherhood backers get one to five years in jail over Assiut protests | Egypt Independent
Prosecutor General orders immediate investigation into subway blast | Aswat Masriya (Arabic)
Sharqiya court sentences thirty-five Brotherhood members to life in prison | EGYNews (Arabic), Shorouk (Arabic)

ECONOMY

Egypt intends to issue $2 billion tender to finance debt repayments to energy companies
The Egyptian government intends to issue a tender for a pre-export finance in the amount of $2 billion to help finance debt repayments to international oil and gas companies. The pre-export financing scheme is offered by the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) and will be guaranteed by forward sales of crude oil shipments for five years. This move is part of the government’s commitment to repay 60 percent of the total debt by the end of this year and the full debt within the next six months. [Business Wire, 11/13/2014]

Also of Interest
Egypt’s gas exports fall 81.4 percent in September | Ahram Online

OCI donates EGP2.5 billion of recouped tax settlement to Tahya Misr social fund | Ahram Online
Orascom Construction granted land for coal plant on Red Sea coast | Mada Masr
Orascom Telecom launches maritime cable serves linking three continents | Aswat Masriya (Arabic)
Arabtec hopes to begin construction of 1 million homes in Egypt this year | Ahram Online
Sisi approves 99 million euros in loans, grants from EU and EIB | DNE
Tunnel authority receives EGP 9 billion for metro line expansion | DNE

SOCIETY & MEDIA

April 6 member ‘shot by police’ in Kerdasa
The April 6 Youth Movement has said one of its members was shot dead by security forces during protests in Giza on Wednesday. In its Facebook statement on Thursday, the group said Khaled al-Rashidy “received a gunshot in the head that caused a severe internal hemorrhage. The fire came from police forces on their invasion of the village of Nahya yesterday.” Local media has reported that security forces stormed Nahya in Kerdasa to arrest suspects and disperse protests by Islamists, cordoning off areas and using birdshot pellets and tear gas. Several others were injured. [Ahram Online, Egypt Independent, Aswat Masriya (Arabic), 11/13/2014]

Also of Interest
Egypt farmers call for aid, threaten strike | Al-Monitor

SECURITY

Eight Egyptian navy personnel missing after militant attack
Eight Egyptian navy personnel are missing following an attack by militants on an armed forces boat in the Mediterranean, the army has said. Five injured navy personnel have been transferred to hospital, while searches are ongoing to locate another eight, a military spokesman said late on Wednesday. Military forces destroyed four boats used by the assailants and arrested thirty-two suspects, he added. Four of the attackers were killed during the clashes. This is the first attack on naval forces. [Ahram Online, DNE, SIS, Ahram Gateway (Arabic), 11/12/2014]

Perpetrator of attack that killed twenty-one soldiers in western desert arrested
Egypt’s military forces have arrested a man who carried out one of the deadliest attacks in the western desert that killed twenty-one soldiers last July. The army also said it arrested seventeen others terrorists, according to a statement by military spokesperson Mohamed Samir posted Wednesday on his official Facebook page. Samir said that the military, with the cooperation of police forces were able to arrest eighteen terrorists from North Sinai, Ismailia, Port Said and Daqahliya governorates. [Ahram Online, 11/12/2014]

Militants set up roadblocks targeting security personnel in Sinai
Islamic militants set up roadblocks targeting policemen and soldiers on Thursday in Egypt’s restive northern Sinai Peninsula. According to initial reports, militants dragged three soldiers out of their car and killed them. In the other attack, two policemen were snatched from their vehicle near the border town of Rafah and shot to death. An anonymous military source, however, told Al-Ahram that only one conscript and one policeman were killed.  [AP, Reuters, AFP, Aswat Masriya (Arabic), 11/13/2014]

Also of Interest
Sound bomb causes panic on Cairo metro, sixteen injured | Ahram Online, Egypt Independent, Aswat Masriya (Arabic)
Police detonate car bomb in al-Arish, North Sinai | DNE

INTERNATIONAL

Washington defends Egypt investment drive, despite human rights concerns
Washington has stated that promoting US investment in Egypt does not preclude it from voicing concerns about the country’s human rights record; nor would it signify moving forward with certifications of additional funding. “International investment in Egypt’s economy supports the Egyptian people, and so we believe that by bringing companies there Egypt’s economic and workforce development is something that can help the people of Egypt,” State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki told a regular press briefing Wednesday. “It doesn’t mean that we’re not going to continue to have, at the diplomatic level, a conversation about our concerns about their human rights record and the steps they’ve taken to crack down on protesters, et cetera,” Psaki added when asked about what the visit indicates. [Ahram Online, 11/13/2014]

Egyptian and US army officials discuss military relations
Egyptian Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces Mahmoud Hegazy and deputy commander of US Central Command Mark Fox met on Wednesday. The army officials discussed military relations between the two countries. The meeting was attended by senior leaders of the armed forces, Fox’s accompanying delegation, and the acting US ambassador in Cairo. [DNE, 11/12/2014]

Egypt officially receives Russian missile systems
Egypt has officially received Antey-2500 anti-ballistic missiles from Russia, according to Russia Today website. The air defense system is designed for the protection of military bases, industrial zones against aerial assaults. It is efficient in destroying ballistic and terrestrial targets. [Egypt Independent, 11/13/2014]

Also of Interest
Blast near Egypt, UAE embassies in Libya | Ahram Online, AP, Reuters, Aswat Masriya (Arabic)
Egypt ‘deeply concerned’ over new rift between Hamas and Fatah | DNE
Egypt foreign minister meets UN Syria envoy | DNE
Mahlab: Egypt and Algeria sign joint cooperation agreements | Egypt Independent, Aswat Masriya (Arabic)
Egypt renews travel warning on Libya | SIS
Egypt slams Israeli decision to build 200 settlement units in East Jerusalem | SIS
Sisi meets UAE media delegation | Ahram Gateway (Arabic)