There is no light at the end of the crises of tunnels. Jailan Halawi wonders if another train is coming The death of Egypt's Nobel Literature laureate Naguib Mahfouz, the sudden death of a young star football player, the Omar Effendi brouhaha, the high security alert in the Sinai Peninsula and the start of a new academic year with its many problems were the main topics on a crowded agenda. The most worrying issue remained the saga of the selling of the retail chain giant Omar Effendi and the bewildering news about its real worth and its destiny. Is it worth less than LE1 billion as reported officially, or more as claimed by the shadowy Saudi-based Egyptian businessman Said El-Hanash who promised to pay LE2 billion for the store yet failed to deliver a letter of guarantee on the agreed upon date (2 September) as a token of his seriousness about the deal? The retail chain, which is totally owned by the state, was part of a 10-year plan to privately sell 90 per cent of the chain to make up for its loses. Little is known about El-Hanash who had accused the Holding Company for Trade of squandering public money and selling the chain for a lesser price than its real worth for personal gain. Despite his many assurances of his seriousness about the deal in the many interviews he gave to the press and TV shows on satellite channels, El-Hanash neither met his obligations nor showed up, yet continued accusing the head of the Holding Company for Trade Hadi Fahmi of laying obstacles in the way so as to prevent him from securing the deal. For his part, Fahmi, who filed a complaint to the prosecutor-general's office, said the offer was no longer valid for El-Hanash and now goes to the Saudi Company, Anwal. "They told me you are treading on a sea of whales [by approaching the deal]" was the headline of Nahdat Masr Tuesday on the front page, quoting El-Hanash in a telephone interview where he accused Fahmi of plotting his exclusion from the deal from the start. To this effect, Mohamed El-Chabba wrote on the last page of the same newspaper, questioning the seriousness of this "anonymous" businessman whose origin of wealth remains as vague as his identity. El-Chabba, however, urged the concerned bodies not to allow the matter to be shelved. "Definitely there is something fishy behind the complex El-Hanash ruckus. I can see a puzzle of many details that needs to be resolved so that we know whether it is El-Hanash or the government that tricked us." From the squandering of public money came the appalling news of a police officer's abuse of power who, along with his subordinates, shared in torturing a citizen in an act of muscle flexing. The story first appeared in the independent weekly Al-Fagr on Saturday. On the same day it was given prominence on the Cairo-based Orbit channel in its widely viewed programme Al-Qahira Al-Yom. The victim, Amgad Mokhtar Hussein, called in and narrated the details of his ordeal on air to the awe of viewers. The programme was followed by a campaign of support launched by the press expressing their horror at an act they deemed humiliating to the whole nation, not only the victim, and urged the minister of interior to take immediate action which he did. Following a preliminary investigation, the minister found Hussein's allegations true, suspended the officer and ordered a military trial for him and his soldiers, describing the incident as an individual violation that tarnishes the image of the ministry and overshadows the efforts exerted by its personnel for the society's well-being. In the Tuesday edition of the independent daily Al-Masry Al-Yom, Khairi Ramadan wrote, "I was more flabbergasted than angry when I heard Amgad's story who was stopped at the Hurghada checkpoint for failing to show a work permit [which he does not need since he is Egyptian and said was not on a working trip] despite his identification card and the amount of humiliation and torture he received for that. I fail to understand the psychology of such an officer and his soldiers who mercilessly found amusement in Amgad's pain and helplessness to return the insult since he was not only outnumbered but also overpowered [by the police captain]. What happened to us? Why do some police officers hate citizens and why do citizens fear and hate police officers? Have we become a community that hates itself, where the police hate the people, the people hate officials, officials hate the press, the press hates everyone, etc. "What the officer and his soldiers committed is not an individual error that defames only the security apparatus but rather a crime that reveals a huge social crisis that unless we openly discuss and handle, we will inevitably become similar victims to the same kind of aggression." Meanwhile, a security alert to the highest code was covered extensively by the press with news of three Palestinian elements affiliated to the Al-Qaeda network infiltrating across the borders with the intention of carrying out terrorist attacks in the Sinai Peninsula. Simultaneously, security forces are reportedly combing the country in wide-ranging raids in search of five other alleged Al-Qaeda members who are believed to be Egyptians holding forged passports. The sudden death of 23-year-old football player Mohamed Abdel-Wahab of Ahli sporting club from a heart attack during training left the state in gloom and grief. There were accusations of negligence and a failure by the team's administration to medically follow up on the health of its players. "It's about time to review medical welfare in sports and whether it is a priority," wrote Said Wahba in Al-Arabi, mouthpiece of the Nasserist Party, on Sunday. As the summer season bids us farewell, so looms the academic year and its problems. University professors threatened that unless their demands for salary raises are met before the start of the academic year, they will abstain from working. Equally enraged are parents complaining about the rising cost of school uniforms. The Sunday edition of the opposition daily Al-Wafd, mouthpiece of the Wafd Party, dedicated a full page featuring the ordeals of parents of limited incomes in their preparation for the new academic year. Despite the passing away of Naguib Mahfouz, his words will forever be remembered. While expressing deep sorrow at his death, intellectuals and writers found solace that his works and words will always be there for us whenever we need guidance. In its Friday edition of Al-Masry Al-Yom Magdi Mehanna explained how Mahfouz's life rotated around the concept of "love" to everything and everybody and that it was his passion for life and constant search for inner peace that led to his worldwide fame and success.
