Eyewitnesses in al-Mahdeya village, south of Rafah City, North Sinai, have reported the killing of senior tribal chief of al-Sawarka Tribe Ahmed Hammad al-Meneai after an unidentified rocket shell fell on his house, Egypt Independent reported. The body was transferred to Rafah Central Hospital. The Sawarka tribe is one of Sinai’s oldest tribes and the largest in number. [Egypt Independent, 8/6/2015]
POLITICS
New Suez Canal boosts Egyptians’ confidence during tough times says Sisi
Egypt President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi announced on Thursday that the New Suez Canal, apart from its expected economic and strategic benefits, has given Egypt a confidence boost during a challenging time. During his speech in the canal city of Ismailia, where the inauguration of the 35-kilometer long waterway took place, Sisi added that, “completing such an achievement within a short period of time is a source of pride for Egyptians.” Egypt is not a one-project nation—the canal is just one of a thousand steps that Egypt is planning to take, he declared. Sisi, who changed into civilian clothes after donning his military uniform earlier in the day, focused some of his speech on the turmoil Egypt has faced over the past two years. “The Suez Canal wasn’t the only achievement by the Egyptians, they also said ‘no’ to terrorism,” the President stated as his words were met with applause. “Egypt during this year stood against the most dangerous terrorist ideology, that would burn the world if it could,” he said, adding, “We are fighting them and will defeat them.” The ceremony was attended by French President Francois Hollande as a guest of honor, along with an array of heads of state representing Arab and African countries. Read the full text of Sisi’s speech here. [Ahram Online, Reuters, Aswat Masriya, SIS, Mada Masr, DNE, 8/6/2015]
Also of Interest
- NDP building demolished | Egypt Independent
- New Suez Canal to ‘alter balance of power’: Political expert | DNE
COURTS
Mubarak-era Interior Minister Habib al-Adly referred to court over corruption charges
Former Minister of Interior Habib al-Adly and twelve other officials in the ministry of interior were referred on Thursday to criminal court over illicit gains charges, Aswat Masriya reported. The ex-government officials are accused of misappropriating some EGP 1.8 billion in state funds by illicitly signing over bonuses to police officers and leading ministry figures during a period spanning from 2000 to 2011. Some eighty employees accused of receiving the rewards were excluded from the case due to “lack of evidence” against them. The case was motioned following a police report filed by journalist Mostafa Bakry against Adly and Nabil Khalaf, an official at the financial department in the interior ministry. Investigations into the report started in 2012, and a number of the ministry’s figures were put on a travel ban list in 2013. Adly was released in March after the court acquitted him and former Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif of charges of illicit gains. [Ahram Online, Mada Masr, Cairo Post, 8/7/2015]
Also of Interest
- Four arrested over killing, raping street children | Egypt Independent
ECONOMY
Egypt to build six tunnels under the Suez Canal
Head of the Suez Canal Authority Mohab Mamish said that Egypt plans to build six tunnels under the new Suez Canal. The tunnels are worth EGP 29 billion ($3 billion) and will link the Sinai to the western bank in an effort to boost development in the peninsula and facilitate the transport of goods. Half of the tunnels will be built in Ismailia—two of them will be road tunnels and one will be a railway tunnel. The other three tunnels will be built in Port Said, according to Mamish. [Cairo Post, 8/7/2015]
Also of Interest
- Forty-five projects to be offered to Saudi investors after opening of New Suez Canal | Egypt Independent
- Egypt hails $8 billion Suez canal expansion as gift to world at lavish ceremony | The Guardian, Cairo Post
SOCIETY & MEDIA
Cabinet approves proposal to improve conditions of imams
The Cabinet approved the completion of a study with the ministries of planning and finance to improve the economic and social conditions of mosque imams, in an effort to encourage imams to deliver their message in the best way, State Information Service reported. During a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab on Wednesday, the cabinet emphasized that improving the conditions of the imams will help them in their work, particularly ministering to the youth. [SIS, 8/6/2015]
Also of Interest
- Volunteer youth contribute to rendering New Suez Canal inauguration successful | SIS
- Sixty-three injuries during Egypt’s new Suez Canal celebrations | Ahram Online
- Ten people died while working on new Suez Canal says Health Minister | Ahram Online
SECURITY
Police kill five alleged Brotherhood members in Fayoum
Five people allegedly affiliated with the banned-Muslim Brotherhood were killed Thursday in a police raid, Youm7 reported. In a security campaign in Abu Naour Village, counter-terrorism forces targeted the location in nearby farms to arrest a number of assailants accused of engaging in violence. The five people were reportedly killed in an exchange of fire with security forces. An anonymous security source at the ministry of interior said that the dead were members of a “specialized operations committee” that belongs to the Brotherhood. The bodies were transferred to the morgue, and investigations are being carried out to verify whether the killed assailants partook in the recent killing of a police officer’s four-year-old daughter. [Cairo Post, 8/7/2015]
INTERNATIONAL
Croatian Foreign Minister heads to Egypt as ISIS threatens to execute kidnapped national
Croatia’s Foreign Minister Vesna Pusic will travel to Cairo Thursday, according to a statement by the Croatian ministry, after Egypt’s affiliate of the Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL) group threatened in a video Wednesday to execute kidnapped Croatian national Tomislav Salopek. “Pusic is in contact with the Egyptian Foreign Minister and in agreement with him and his recommendations she will go to Cairo,” the statement said. Salopek’s father on Thursday urged the kidnappers to release his son. “I am asking the people who hold my son to let him return to his family, because his motive to go to your homeland was exclusively to earn bread for his children. Nothing else,” Zlatko Salopek told AFP at the family’s home in the eastern Croatian town of Vrpolje. [AFP, 8/7/2015]
Yemeni President asks Egyptian Navy to protect ports
Yemeni President Abdrabbo Mansour Hadi has asked his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi for more Egyptian naval units to protect Yemeni ports, Yemeni Foreign Minister Riad Yassin told newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat on Thursday. Yassin added that Sisi called for a political solution for the Yemeni problem because the infrastructure would be destroyed completely if the conflict continues. [Egypt Independent, 8/6/2015]
- Egypt’s Foreign Minister urges support for cash-strapped UN Palestinian refugee agency | Ahram Online
- Egypt condemns Saudi mosque suicide bombing by ISIS | Ahram Online
- Al-Azhar praises UAE support for Egypt | SIS
- Belgium to return 35,000 year-old skeleton of ‘Nazlet Khater man’ to Egypt | Mada Masr