Cairo deliberations NEXT WEEK Egypt will play host to the foreign ministers of Germany, Argentina and Russia, who will hold meetings with top Egyptian officials on a wide range of issues that include the expansion of the UN Security Council, the future of Arab-Latin relations and the disturbing developments in Palestine, Sudan and Iraq. On Tuesday, President Hosni Mubarak and Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit are expected to confer with German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer. The focus of these talks will probably be the expansion of the UN Security Council, which will be debated during the last week of September at the UN General Assembly in New York. The president and foreign minister will also receive Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Argentinean Foreign Minister Rafael Bielsa. These talks will explore the development of political and economic relations with both countries, as well as the proposed Arab-Latin America summit. Fischer, Lavarov and Bielsa are also expected to hold talks with Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa. Fatwa praised A PRISONERS' rights group applauded an edict issued by Dar Al-Ifta (the Islamic authority responsible for issuing religious edicts) acknowledging that both male and female prisoners should be allowed to enjoy conjugal visits. The Human Rights Association for the Assistance of Prisoners (HRAAP) announced on Monday that it "welcomes the legal opinion of Dar Al-Ifta to recognise the right of prisoners to practice their legal marital rights with their spouses during prison visits." The edict also urges legislators to amend prison laws to reflect the ruling, which Dar Al-Ifta said was based on an Islamic precept that an individual's punishment should not be carried over to another person, no matter what their relationship to the guilty party. The edict also noted the importance of satisfying the material and spiritual needs of individuals, in order to maintain the security and stability of society. As such, the HRAAP called for the edict to be made into law in order "to prevent sexual deviance in Egyptian prisons". 2010 bid investigated ON SUNDAY, prosecutors started their investigation into the alleged mishandling of about $7 million used to promote Egypt's failed bid to host the 2010 soccer World Cup. Egypt's new Youth Minister Anas El-Fiqi told a news conference that state auditors have "reported several financial infractions" related to the expenditure of funds during Egypt's 2010 World Cup bid. Egypt lost its bid in May to South Africa after failing to obtain a single supportive vote from the FIFA executive, the game's governing body. The poor showing shocked and embarrassed many, and newspapers and critics have been calling for an investigation into the bidding committee responsible for the failure ever since. "The people should know the truth about how each piastre has been spent," El-Fiqi told reporters. Former Youth Minister Alieddin Hilal faced angry questioning in parliament after Egypt's failed bid, and lost his portfolio when the new government was formed in July. El-Fiqi said Hilal was not involved in any financial wrongdoing, and added that both the government and private companies sponsoring the bid had provided the money that funded the campaign. Hisham Azmi, a member of the bidding committee, welcomed the inquiry, but said he was unaware of any mishandling of funds. Instead, he complained that the government allegedly owed him money for costs related to trips he made during the campaign. "I think it is great they [the government] have opened the subject to find out what happened, so as not to leave the Egyptian people disturbed and reading rumors in newspapers," said Azmi, who added that his involvement with the bid was technical rather than financial. A FIFA technical evaluation said Egypt's bid had a "total commitment" from the government and huge public enthusiasm, but noted "a number of inconsistencies between the bidding file and what was actually presented during the inspection". 'Volcano of anger' ONE of Egypt's senior Islamic leaders condemned the conduct of US and allied forces in the Iraqi cities of Najaf and Falluja, and warned that a "volcano of anger" could explode in response. "After the attack on the shrines of the Prophet's noble companions, after the humiliations and the terrorising and killing of civilians, the world cannot expect ... that a volcano of anger and indignation will not explode," Egypt's Mufti (head of religious edicts), Ali Gomaa, said in a statement. US forces have been leading the military campaign to drive supporters of radical Shia cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr out of the Imam Ali shrine in the Shia holy city of Najaf, although the US has said its forces are avoiding the shrine itself. In the statement carried by the Egyptian news agency MENA, Gomaa said his office, Dar Al-Ifta, condemned the "continuing aggression by US-led coalition forces on the Imam Ali shrine and Islamic holy places". Gomaa is the highest authority in Egypt on Islamic law, second in the Islamic hierarchy only to the Grand Sheikh of Al- Azhar. Gomaa said that since coalition forces claim to have saved Iraq from dictatorship, "Dar Al-Ifta cannot accept any justification... that enables them to play this ugly role, rejected by the world's reasonable people and lovers of peace." Gomaa appealed for restraint "so that events do not slip out of control and the situation does not deteriorate into an unjustified sea of blood -- since regret would then be futile". A serious typo ON FRIDAY, reports Amira Ibrahim, US authorities forced Egypt's national carrier EgyptAir to replace two crew members on its regular flight to New York, causing a 100-minute delay. Shortly before Flight 985 was scheduled to take off, said the airline's chairman Sherif Galal, EgyptAir received a message from US authorities advising that two of the plane's crew members should be substituted. Since "both men had worked on a recent flight to New York," he said, it was not immediately clear why Washington had raised objections. EgyptAir, nonetheless, complied with the request. In order to meet US aviation security policy following the 9/ 11 attacks, EgyptAir has been sending Washington advance lists of passengers and crew members for screening. Unfortunately, the list for the flight in question featured spelling errors in each man's name, which US authorities said seemed inconsistent with flight details that had been presented for the same route on previous flights. The spellings were corrected and both men flew to NY on Sunday. Aid to Nairobi EGYPT has dispatched aid to Kenya, after harsh weather conditions left many in the country in a critical state of dehydration. A Hercules C-130 cargo plane carrying food, medicine and many other basic supplies arrived in Nairobi on Saturday. Earlier this month Egypt also sent aid to Darfur in Sudan, with five military aircrafts carrying 1,000 tons of medicine, as well as tents and food, dispatched to the war-torn Sudanese territory. A highly qualified medical team was also sent in. In limbo DESPITE THE fact that the evidence against Mamdouh Hamza was handed over to his defence team, the public received no further information regarding the four counts of soliciting murder for which the leading Egyptian engineer will be tried in the UK starting 1 September. Hamza was released from Belmarsh Prison last week without bail, and has been advised not to speak to the press. He is said to be in intense consultation with his lawyers. Members of the Egyptian community in London, meanwhile, met with representatives of Scotland Yard to discuss the Hamza case last week.
