Al-Nahda reopens FORTY-five days following a bloody dispersal, Giza's fully-renovated Al-Nahda Square was reopened by the Egyptian authorities over the weekend. Minister of Local Development Adel Labib, Housing Minister Ibrahim Mehleb and Minister of Environment Laila Iskandar as well as Giza Governor Ali Abdel-Rahman attended the reopening ceremony at the square which over the summer hosted one of the two major sit-ins staged by supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi. Both Giza's Al-Nahda Square and Nasr City's Rabaa Al-Adaweya were forcibly dispersed on 14 August by police, leaving hundreds of Morsi's supporters dead and injured. The infrastructure and buildings of the square were badly damaged during the sit-in and the following dispersal and hence the renovation of the square cost the government LE25 million, according to the government. During the reopening, the square saw an intensified police presence with bomb sniffing dogs. Abdel-Rahman denied reports that the government has plans to re-name the square after Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdel-Aziz. As for Rabaa Al-Adaweya, it is expected to be reopened on 6 October to coincide with Egypt's celebrations of its victory in the 1973 war against Israel.
Recalled ambassador EGYPT'S Ambassador to Tunisia Ayman Musharafa arrived in Cairo on Sunday after being recalled by the Foreign Ministry for consultation regarding Tunisian President Moncef Al-Marzouki's speech to the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday. Al-Marzouki used Egypt in his address as an example to prove that creating democracy and civil institutions was “replete with difficulties”. He demanded the release of Egypt's deposed president Mohamed Morsi, who has been detained at a secret location since the military deposed him on 3 July amid mass nationwide protests against his rule. In an official statement released on Sunday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Badr Abdel-Atti urged the Tunisian authorities to respect the Egyptians' will, expressed since the 30 June protests. Abdel-Atti pointed to the “excellent” relations between Egyptians and Tunisians, while describing Al-Marzouki's statement as “interference in Egypt's domestic affairs”. Upon his arrival in Cairo on Sunday, the ambassador stated that Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmi had recalled him for “discussions”, a measure, according to Musharafa, which represents a limited form of diplomatic protest. Musharafa also stated that the discussion period is being decided by Fahmi, who will also decide the extent and nature of a resumed bilateral relationship between the two countries. Musharafa praised the United Arab Emirates for also recalling its ambassador to Tunisia. “The UAE is a sister state that stood with Egypt and supported it. This is not strange to the children of Sheikh Zayed, who always stood next to Egypt in all circumstances, as Egypt stood with her sister Gulf states,” the ambassador said.
Kerdasa crackdown SECURITY forces arrested at least eight people in the Giza neighbourhood of Kerdasa over the weekend as part of the pursuit of those accused of attacking the Kerdasa police station on 14 August, which resulted in the death of 11 police officers, and perpetrating violence against police forces. “On Saturday, police managed to arrest three main suspects,” Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim said. Earlier on Saturday, the ministry also said in a statement that security forces arrested one of the perpetrators of an assault on two security men belonging to the Kerdasa police station. The man is allegedly the mastermind of militant attacks on Kerdasa's police station and is accused of carrying out the assault along with his fugitive brother, the statement said. In addition, the police received information that four main suspects were hiding in a villa under construction west of the Cairo-Alexandria Desert Road. The ministry said once security forces reached the scene, the accused fired a barrage of bullets, but police eventually managed to arrest them. They were found in possession of rifles, tear gas canisters, as well as ammunition, among other weapons. Some of the weapons seized were found to belong to the Kerdasa police station. The security operation in Kerdasa was launched in the early hours of Thursday 19 September to implement the prosecution's orders to arrest a number of terrorists and fugitives involved in the attack on the Kerdasa police station in mid-August.
Kandil's jail term AN EGYPTIAN court has upheld a one-year prison sentence against former prime minister Hisham Kandil, who headed deposed president Mohamed Morsi's cabinet. Prior to the ouster of Morsi, Kandil was handed the sentence in April, while heading the government, for failing to implement a court ruling to renationalise a textile company sold off by the administration of Hosni Mubarak who was forced to step down as president in February 2011. Khaled Hassan, the judge at Monday's court session, said the prison sentence must now be carried out. The sentence against Kandil related to a 2011 court ruling demanding the government repurchase textile company Tanta Flax and Oils from a Saudi Arabian investor who bought it in 2005.
N-site returns TRIBESMEN of Al-Dabaa in the Marsa Matrouh governorate on Monday gave up the Al-Dabaa nuclear plant construction site to the Egyptian Armed Forces after months of occupying the controversial zone. During a celebratory event following reconciliation efforts with military intelligence and police, Al-Dabaa's local tribes handed over the site. Locals in Matrouh and Al-Dabaa performed Bedouin shows while military music was played. Military figures from the northern military command were said to have participated. In an earlier statement, Al-Dabaa residents expressed confidence that the Egyptian military would come good on a promise to return the 55-kilometre area to the locals. Egypt's first power-generating nuclear plant is to be built on the long-disputed site, located on the Mediterranean coast. On Saturday, Electricity and Energy Minister Ahmed Emam said that the Nuclear Plants Authority may be transferred to Al-Dabaa from the ministry's headquarters in Cairo in order to directly supervise the construction's progress. It will cost an estimated $4 billion to build the nuclear plant, whose planned energy capacity is 1,000 MW. In 1986, the Egyptian reactor tender was postponed due to the Chernobyl disaster, when a nuclear meltdown spread radioactive materials across Europe from the Soviet Union. Gamal Mubarak, son of deposed president Hosni Mubarak, announced during a 2006 conference hosted by the since-dissolved National Democratic Party that the Al-Dabaa nuclear programme would be re-launched. In 2010, Mubarak decided to put up the project up to international bidders before January 2011. The project was then postponed in 2012. Authorities said they were waiting for a parliament and president to be elected. In the same year, Al-Dabaa residents attacked the site several times. Several pieces of equipment were stolen.
