Read to your child MRS SUZANNE Mubarak inaugurated the annual Cairo International Children's Book Fair on Tuesday with a call to make books more accessible and appealing to children. In an address to the 21st annual fair's opening, Mrs Mubarak renewed her commitment to the ten-year-old "Read to Your Child" campaign. "We believe that children who are denied their 'natural' right to read, and be read to, are denied the right to learn and develop creative talents," she said. "We will continue with our unwavering commitment to help more children read interesting and appealing books." Off to Africa FOREIGN Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit is scheduled to visit Tanzania on 2 December for talks with top officials on enhancing bilateral political and economic relations. The visit is part of the foreign minister's African tour, which will also include Uganda and Ethiopia, where Abul-Gheit will take part in a regular meeting of the African Union's foreign ministers. "Egypt is determined to upgrade its traditional and strong relations with all African countries, particularly those in the area of the Nile Valley and the Great Lakes," Abul-Gheit said. This is Abul-Gheit's second African tour since he took over the top diplomat post on 14 July. Going to Tehran IN THE first such high-ranking visit in over two decades, Interior Minister Habib El-Adli arrived in the Iranian capital on Monday for talks with his counterparts from the Iraq Neighbouring Countries Group. For two days, the interior ministers of Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Jordan and Turkey discussed ways of helping the current interim Iraqi government address its complicated security concerns, particularly those related to the infiltration of militants, money and arms through the Iraqi borders. Besides his participation in the talks on Iraq, El-Adli was also expected to meet with Iranian officials on the potentials for improved security cooperation between Egypt and Iran. "This is the most crucial file for both of [our countries]. If we manage to make a breakthrough on this front, then things could move towards the normalisation of relations," an Egyptian diplomatic source told Al-Ahram Weekly. Diplomatic relations between Egypt and Iran were severed in 1981 when the then-new Islamic regime in Tehran decided to cut off its relations with Cairo to protest late President Anwar El-Sadat's decision to provide refuge for the toppled Shah of Iran. Relations between the two countries have improved significantly during the tenure of Iranian President Mohamed Khatami. Last year in Switzerland, President Hosni Mubarak met with Khatami -- a move that revived hopes that resumption of bilateral relations might not be that far away. Today, diplomats on each side say it is the other side's responsibility to be more forthcoming about relations. Suing Israel THE FAMILIES of the three Egyptian policemen, who were killed on 18 November by an Israeli tank at the Rafah border area, are suing the Israeli government for LE500 million in compensation. An Egyptian legal official said the families of Mohamed Abdel-Fatah Rabie, Hani Sobhi El-Naggar, and Amer Abu Bakr Amer, filed the compensation case at the Shebeen Al-Koum court in the Nile Delta governorate of Menoufiya. The first hearing is scheduled for 26 December. The lawsuit accuses the Israeli government of flagrantly violating the terms of the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty signed in March 1979. The Bar Association has declared its support for the case. The government, meanwhile, has decided to provide each of the three policemen's families with LE70,000 in compensation. The government will also employ relatives of the policemen as a way of ensuring that their families have an alternate means of financial support, said Kamal El-Shazli, the State Minister for People's Assembly affairs. Mixed signals THE SIX Egyptian students who have been held by Israeli authorities for the past few months on charges of allegedly crossing the Egyptian-Israeli borders in order to carry out militant attacks will appear before an Israeli court on 13 December. "They were supposed to appear in court a couple of weeks ago, but the trial was delayed," said one Egyptian official, who indicated that the lawyers following the students' case said there was not enough evidence to validate the charges. The Israeli court should consequently declare the students not guilty, they said. On Monday Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit said that he feels a growing realisation on the Israeli government's part that "it is in the interests of both Egypt and Israel to find an answer to this matter." Abul-Gheit was expected to bring up the students' situation during his talks with top Israeli officials in Tel Aviv yesterday. Locusts again LOCUSTS were observed over Cairo on Monday for the second time in two weeks, reports Mustafa El-Menshawy. Agriculture Minister Ahmed El-Leithi, meanwhile, admitted that the voracious insects could invade the country in large numbers in May and June. Residents of Helwan, Maasara, and May City in southern Cairo reported seeing a large number of locusts in residential areas and farmlands in their vicinity on Monday. The insects were also reported at Helwan University, where "thousands were flying around the university's 150 square metre garden and on rooftops of the surrounding areas", said Mukhtar Yehia, a university employee. Yehia told the Weekly that people were scared of the locusts, which are up to seven centimetres long. Agriculture ministry officials were quick to deny that there was any threat. "The locusts sighted in southern Cairo are remnants of large swarms that have been exterminated," said Under-Secretary of Agriculture Reda Ismail, who added to the Weekly that there were only hundreds of locusts sighted, rather than the swarms mentioned by the residents. El-Leithi, the minister, told a Shura Council session on Monday that actual swarms of locusts could arrive in Egypt in May and June on their way to Central Africa. He admitted that locust control units were not on alert prior to last month's invasion of massive swarms from Egypt's borders with Libya. Facing much criticism over his ministry's mismanagement of the crisis, El-Leithi claimed the locusts had only damaged 30 feddans of crops countrywide. With infestations reported in 17 governorates, however, the Land Centre for Human Rights had argued that a whopping 38 per cent of the nation's crops had been damaged. Locusts can eat double their weight every day. Library awarded THE BIBLIOTHECA Alexandrina was among seven buildings that were honoured this week for excellence in Islamic architecture. The Library was selected to receive the prestigious Aga Khan Award for Architecture for its innovative architectural design. Its director, Ismail Serageldin, was handed the award during a lavish ceremony held at the Taj Mahal in India on Saturday. To mark the 25th anniversary of the Aga Khan Award, the library will be issuing a book authored by Serageldin on heritage and renovation in Islamic architecture. An exhibition and international conference highlighting the history of the Aga Khan Award, first founded in 1977, will also be organised by the library at the end of 2005. Murder at a municipality THE HEAD of the Beni Sueif governorate local council, Mohamed Tohami, died last Thursday after a council member, Alaaeddin Yunis, allegedly struck him in the face with the base of a microphone stand during a council meeting. The incident took place immediately after Tohami announced the new memberships of the council's committees. Yunis was apparently furious about being denied the chairmanship of any of the committees. Tohami who lost consciousness, was transported to the Beni Sueif general hospital, but died on the way. During investigations, Yunis denied physically attacking Tohami. "It was just a verbal clash. Tohami died of a heart attack, as he was suffering from heart problems," Yunis told the prosecutor-general, who also decided to summon other council members to hear their testimonies. Further meetings of the local council, meanwhile, have been postponed until the matter is resolved. Announcers awarded IN A BRIEF phone call with officials at the Nile News channel on Saturday, President Hosni Mubarak praised the performance of the channel's announcers. Al-Ahram reported that Mubarak also decided to give two of the channel's presenter's special bonuses and valuable presents from his "personal funds". Mubarak said he was impressed with the channel's live coverage of parliamentary sessions as well as its programmes dealing with efforts being made to combat addiction and overpopulation. Environmental protection DURING a two-day conference held at the headquarters of the Supreme Constitutional Court, chief justices from ten Arab countries agreed to establish an Arab Union of Supreme Courts for Environmental Protection. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Constitutional Court will act as the union chairman, and Cairo will serve as the union's permanent headquarters. The union will draft laws that will help to protect the environment in its member states. The conference also recommended the creation of a database and legal library to be located in Cairo. The union will seek to form partnerships with other regional and international judicial bodies, as well as the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). Compiled By Mona El-Nahhas
