On home and region fronts, the prime minister is trying to defuse ticking time bombs, Dina Ezzat reports Sincere but not firm enough and hard working but still not in control were basically the accounts offered by over 10 Egyptians of different backgrounds on the performance of interim Prime Minister Essam Sharaf who was assigned to office upon the demand of public opinion, to be dubbed "the prime minister of the 25 January Revolution". "I think he is working very hard but he still needs to find his way around firm decision- making; there could be firmness without violation of human rights," said Laila, a resident of Garden City, an economically privileged Cairo neighbourhood. A Christian, Laila does not hide unease about what she calls the "clear hesitance" of Sharaf in supporting a selected Coptic governor of the Upper Egypt Qena governorate in the face of protests that are widely Salafist-run. For Laila, the decision by Sharaf to suspend the work of the governor for three months in order to end two-week long demonstrations in Qena against the selection of a Coptic governor are not appreciated because it sends two wrong messages: that the central government is not firm enough to run state affairs and that the new government, which is the product of a revolution of all Egyptians, Copts and Muslims alike, is bowing to the influence of Copt-hating sentiments. Sharaf was supposed to arrive in Qena this week to encounter angry crowds following his decision to suspend the work of Emad Mikhail, the assigned governor. The trip was delayed in favour of a three-state Gulf tour that a source at the office of the prime minister said was "absolutely pressing" due to the "serious economic challenges" and the "desperate need to generate funds immediately". Sharaf is expected in Qena next week, perhaps as early as Monday, to meet with representatives of crowds who are still threatening to resume their protests that blocked railroads to Luxor and Aswan, further south to Qena, and were designed to block the flow of water pipes to the Red Sea governorates. According to the same source at the office of the prime minister, Sharaf will still defend the choice of Mikhail, even among some Coptic quarters that also reject a Coptic governor for fear of anti- Coptic practices, to dispel any accusations of bias. "It is better that he reasons with people in a calm atmosphere," the source said. But Qena is not the only home front dilemma facing the prime minister. Nor is it the only front where the growing and disturbing influence of Salafists is threatening to aggravate the already existing signs of Muslim-Coptic divide. Elsewhere in Upper Egypt extremist Islamist groups are getting into anti-Coptic mood and practices. The economy is in desperate shape and the promises of support that the prime minister garnered during his Gulf tour that started Monday in Saudi Arabia and which is due to end Thursday in Qatar, following a visit to Kuwait, could help somewhat but would not cover up for a slow economy that is coupled with promises of continued subsidisation of basic commodities and services along with better payment and more government employment. Sharaf is also faced with the continued security challenges as the deployment of police forces is still below the 40 per cent level that was aspired by this time, according to a Ministry of Interior source. And despite Sharaf's Saturday visit to Sinai and his meeting with tribal leaders there, the insecurity of the border peninsula persists. On Wednesday, a renewed attack on the natural gas pipes to Jordan and Israel caused serious damage that forced the second halt in less than two months of the Egyptian export of gas. An Egyptian diplomatic source speaking to Al-Ahram Weekly on Wednesday morning said the attack and the consequent suspension of gas exports to Israel is causing concern not only in Tel Aviv but also in Washington which is pressing the Sharaf government to take all necessary measures to pursue the already downgraded exports of natural gas to Israel. "Obviously we are not planning a showdown in our relations with either Israel or the US," said the diplomat. He added that the Sharaf government had "already" informed Tel Aviv that the natural gas export prices would be renegotiated and that Israel agreed to this. "But we cannot handle these negotiations in a tense atmosphere," he added. Stabilising relations with Israel and the US is also crucial, according to the same diplomat, to secure their cooperation for a new diplomatic scheme that Cairo is planning to present on the settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in the next few months. During his Gulf tour this week, Sharaf, says another diplomatic source, garnered support for this new initiative. "It will be months before we can go as far as effectively proposing this initiative but we are working on it," he added. Meanwhile, Sharaf is planning a future Gulf tour which would include the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Oman. He will also pursue support for Egypt's foreign and domestic policies. Late May is the tentative date but it could take place earlier, according to a Foreign Ministry source. And according to the source at the prime minister's office, the expected visit of Sharaf to Qena next week is one of several other visits that he is planning to governorates in Upper and Lower Egypt to get directly involved with the people and to see first-hand the situation and the challenges on the ground. Trying to fix the economy, foreign relations and the internal situation is a tough package ahead of a prime minister who is working under much pressure from within Egypt to fast-track the trial of the ousted president Hosni Mubarak and his family and pressure from some leading Arab Gulf countries to spare the Mubaraks. There is in addition the unstable situation in many neighbouring countries, including next door neighbour Libya.
