While the argument between Moufid Shehab and the Egyptian ambassador to Saudi Arabia was quickly contained, it raises questions about the role of Egyptian embassies abroad, writes Doaa El-Bey The argument between Moufid Shehab, minister for legal and parliamentary affairs and head of the official pilgrimage delegation, and Egypt's Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Mohamed Qassim spilled over in public during a press conference in Minna when the former expressed his dismay at the inadequate reception Egypt's official delegation had received. Qassim failed to furnish Shehab with any satisfactory explanation as to why this should have been the case and Shehab said that he would include his criticisms in the report he would file with Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif at the end of the pilgrimage. Later, both officials seemed keen to contain the incident. On Saturday, the day of his return from pilgrimage, Shehab denied there had been any differences with members of the Egyptian diplomatic delegation in Saudi Arabia and confirmed that he had held a friendly meeting in the Egyptian Consulate in Jeddah before his departure for Egypt. Qassim did not attend the meeting. Shehab added that the report that he would hand to the prime minister would be restricted to outlining some of the obstacles faced by Egyptian pilgrims in an attempt to iron out the problems in future years. Qassim told Al-Ahram Weekly that whatever misunderstanding had occurred was almost immediately straitened out. Shehab's report to the prime minister, said Qassim, was an annual occurrence intended to assess the effectiveness of the services delegations annually offer pilgrims. Although the argument was quickly contained it has served to shed light on the performance of the Egyptian embassies abroad, especially during busy times such as the pilgrimage. Hisham Asran, from the Department of Consular Affairs at the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, confirmed that any misunderstanding had been blown out of all proportion by the press and rejected that there was any ground to criticise the performance of Egyptian embassies abroad. "Egyptian diplomacy works within well defined parameters, set by the Vienna Convention and the rules established by both Egypt and the host country," said Asran. Qassim agreed with Asran, arguing that such a minor incident could not justify a widespread review of the performance of Egypt's foreign missions. "Each incident must be assessed individually and without generalising. It is also high time that the stereotype of the diplomat as a man who does not feel for the simple Egyptian citizen be dispelled. Diplomats work hard to serve their citizens." Egypt's embassies abroad have often been accused of failing to help Egyptian businessmen as well as to protect the rights of Egyptian workers, especially in Gulf states where many thousands live and work in poor conditions. In 2005 workers demonstrated in front of the Kuwaiti parliament to protest against the late payment of salaries. In Saudi, which hosts the largest number of Egyptian expatriate workers, complaints are regularly voiced against a sponsorship system that fails to guarantee dignified living and working conditions, while last year in Jordan 200 Egyptian workers demonstrated after salaries failed to be paid. Blame, though, cannot be placed solely on Egyptian embassies abroad with many Egyptians accepting black market employment and failing to register with the embassy. Some 84,000 Egyptian pilgrims travelled to Saudi Arabia this year and began to return to Cairo Airport last Monday. Sixty-three Egyptians died while on pilgrimage. The vast majority suffered from chronic health conditions.
