Al-Sisi testifies MINISTER of Defence Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi testified on Tuesday at the trial of police officials accused of destroying documents of the State Security apparatus in 2011. Former head of the State Security Investigations Service Hassan Abdel-Rahman is accused of giving orders to destroy State Security documents in the aftermath of the 25 January Revolution. The trial, in which 40 police officials are also accused of destroying the documents, is being held at the Police Academy in New Cairo. Due to the secrecy of Al-Sisi's account, journalists were asked to leave the courtroom while testimony was given. The Armed Forces seized control of the state security headquarters across the country in early March 2011 after revolutionaries stormed State Security headquarters in Cairo and Alexandria to uncover what they called crimes committed by the former regime. At that time, Al-Sisi was the chief of Military Intelligence and also a member of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. Belal's killer jailed A STATE security officer, Osama Al-Keneisi, was sentenced to 15 years in jail on Tuesday for torturing to death Sayed Belal who was charged with involvement in the 2011 New Year's Eve bombing of the Two Saints Church in Alexandria. Earlier, Al-Keneisi, a former officer in the now disbanded State Security Investigations Service, was sentenced, in absentia, to life in prison in December 2012. The Alexandria Court of Cassation ordered a retrial to start on 17 March after he turned himself in. Also in December 2012, the Alexandria Criminal Court found police officer Mahmoud Abdel-Alim innocent after giving him a re-trial following his sentencing to life imprisonment on 21 June 2012. Other defendants in the Belal killing also received long sentences last year, including Hossam Al-Shennawi, Al-Keneisi and Ahmed Mustafa Kamel. Moreover, defendant Mohamed Al-Shimi, popularly known as Alaa Zidan, received 15 years in December for his involvement in the torture and killing of Belal. Belal, a young Salafist, was arrested by State Security Investigations and questioned for his suspected involvement in the attack on the Two Saints Church that claimed the lives of 23 and injured almost 100 more. On 12 January 2011, Belal's family received a phone call from the medical centre he had been transported to, saying they should take his body. Signs of torture were found on the victim's body, prompting his family to file a lawsuit accusing the State Security officers of responsibility for his death. No casualties THE GENERAL Consulate in New York Ahmed Farouk said that there are no Egyptians among the dead or injured in the Boston Marathon explosion, according to a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry on Tuesday. Farouk stated that the consulate established an operation room that called registered Egyptian expatriates living in Boston to make sure that they were not injured in the explosion. The consulate also contacted the general hospital which admitted the injured in the incident to check whether there were any Egyptians among those admitted. It provided on its website round the clock contact numbers of the operation room to allow any expatriates to call should there be any new information. At least three people were killed and 144 others injured in the explosion that hit Boston Monday. Two powerful explosions detonated in quick succession near the Boston Marathon finish line in Boston's Back Bay section, transforming a scene of athletic celebration into bloody chaos. When the smoke cleared from the apparent terrorist attack, dozens of victims lay in the street, some unconscious, some grievously injured, including some whose limbs had been torn off by the blast. UN envoy here EGYPT's Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr has emphasised the “dire need” of peoples in the region for peace. Amr's statement came after a meeting in Cairo with UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East peace process Robert Serry on Tuesday. The two officials discussed the latest developments in the Palestinian issue and the results of the Doha meeting that tackled ways to activate the Arab peace initiative. They also discussed the ministerial committee's visit to Washington due at the end of the month. Amr underlined the danger of the present situation and pointed to the importance of restarting serious talks between the Palestinians and Israelis on a clear basis that includes a complete halt to all settlement building and recognition of the pre-June 1967 borders of the Palestinian territories. He added that the Arab peoples are looking to see peace implemented on the ground via tangible steps that lead to returning Arab land. People, he emphasised, according to a statement issued by the foreign Ministry after his meeting with Serry, do not want a negotiating process that has no preset schedule or impact on the ground. Square march REVOLUTIONARY movements and forces will hold a million-man march tomorrow (Friday), to protest against a court ruling passed on Monday releasing ousted president Hosni Mubarak. Under the slogan “Festival of Innocence ”, the Saving the Revolution Alliance called for the march in Tahrir Square to protest against the release of Mubarak who was given a life sentence in the first trial for the killing of protesters and demanded a re-trial of Mubarak and his regime before a revolutionary court “so as to save the revolution”. They also called for a purge of the judiciary. Mohamed Hanafi, a member of the executive office of the Saving the Revolution Alliance, said the alliance sent invitations to the parties forming the activist National Salvation Front (NSF) in order to participate in the march. He said various revolutionary forces and movements also received invitations including 6 April led by Tarek Al-Kholi. The National Conscience Front also issued a statement stressing on the importance of Friday's protest. “President Mohamed Morsi should take urgent measures to protect the revolution and seek retribution for the blood of the martyrs,” the statement said. “The NSF calls on all national forces that truly participated in the revolution, in particular youth revolutionary forces, to review their positions and correct their mistakes and overcome disputes and unite once again,” the statement added.
