Extension of term THE SHURA Council has agreed to extend for another year the terms of six chief editors and four board chairmen working for state-owned newspapers and who had reached the age of retirement. The board chairmen are Salah El-Ghamri of Al-Ahram Foundation, Mohamed Ahdi Fadli of Al-Akhbar, Yacout Saawan of Dar Al-Shaab and Mohamed Abul-Hadid of Dar Al-Tahrir. The chief editors are Ibrahim Hegazi of Al-Ahram Al-Riyadi, Essam Rifaat of Al-Ahram Al-Iqtisadi, Mohamed Salmawi of Al-Ahram Hebdo, Mursi Atalla of Al-Ahram Al-Masaai, Gamal El-Ghitani of Akhbar Al-Adab and Iqbal Baraka of Hawaa magazine. The Shura Council also approved the appointment of Fawzi Mohamed Ibrahim as Kawakeb magazine's chief editor. Ibrahim will succeed Mahmoud Saad who had submitted his resignation. Wafd's new chief editor PROMINENT writer Anwar El-Hawari on Saturday took over as the chief editor of the daily mouthpiece of the liberal Wafd Party. During a meeting of the Wafd's higher bureau last week, El-Hawari was chosen to succeed Abbas El-Tarabili, who will act as press advisor to Wafd Chairman Mahmoud Abaza. El-Hawari is expected by many to restore the paper's distinguished editorial policy. El-Hawari started his journalistic career in Al-Wafd following his graduation from the Faculty of Mass Communication in 1986. He founded the independent newspaper Al-Masri Al-Yom and was its chief editor for nearly a year. Decree annulled CAIRO Criminal Court on Monday annulled the prosecutor-general's decree passed in April confiscating the financial assets of Mohamed El-Abbadi, former chairman of the holding company for vaccination and his assistant Ahmed Hamdi. The general prosecution had accused El-Abbadi and Hamdi of squandering LE30 million of the public's money. The court ruled that accusations levelled at the two defendants are still subject to an investigation. As such, the court ruled that there was no need to deprive them of the right to administer their money. The defendants were summoned from prison to attend Monday's hearing. Their relatives and a large number of the company's employees were present. Qatari under investigation NOVELIST Mahmoud Qatari, author of Rigging the State and A Policeman in the Wolves' City, has been accused of insulting the Interior Ministry and revealing some of its classified information. During a press conference held at the Press Syndicate following last year's parliamentary polls, Qatari, a former police brigadier, said he had been informed that the election results in the Damanhour constituency "were rigged" after the process of sorting votes showed the Muslim Brotherhood candidate as the winner. Rigging a State was distributed by Al-Ahram Foundation for Publishing and Distribution for 25 days before all its copies were confiscated from the market. The accusations levelled against Qatari were made by the Damanhour prosecution during questioning last week. Corruption conference A CONFERENCE on corruption is to be held by the popular movement for change Kifaya. During the conference, a 400-page report covering corruption in media, agriculture, health and economy will be distributed. CDs, documents and photos proving the involvement of senior state officials in corruption cases will also be made available. Compiled by Mona El-Nahhas
