Judicial shuffle COUNCILLOR Hossam El-Gheriani was sworn in as head of Court of Appeals and the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) on 3 July. El-Gheriani took the oath of office in front of Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, head of the ruling Higher Council of the Armed Forces. El-Gheriani takes over from Serri Seyam who reached retirement age at the end of his term of office on 30 June. The announcement of El-Gheriani's election as head of the SJC was met with relief in judicial circles. Zakaria Abdel-Aziz, former head of the Judges' Clubs, described the announcement as a "victory for judicial independence and a defining moment in the nation's history". El-Gheriani has a reputation as fiercely independent, having fought long battles with the old regime over executive interference in judicial affairs. Abdallah Abul-Ezz was sworn in as head of the State Council following the retirement of his predecessor, Mohamed Abdel-Ghani. In a related development, the SJC approved a reshuffle of the Political Parties Committee following the promotion of some of its members and the retirement of others. Mohamed Metwalli, a member of the SJC and first deputy to the president of the Court of Appeals, now heads the committee. Imbaba sectarian case postponed THE TRIAL of 48 suspects thought to be involved in May's sectarian clashes in Imbaba was delayed until 4 September by the Giza State Security Criminal Court. On 7 May a group of angry Salafis attempted to enter Mar Mina Church in the densely populated area of Imbaba in search of Abeer, a Christian convert to Islam whom they claimed was being held captive by the church. Clashes between Salafis and Copts ensued, leaving 15 dead and 240 injured, and the Church of the Virgin in flames. Only 26 defendants appeared in court on Sunday. The remaining suspects are still at large. During the proceedings Muslims and Copts were placed in separate docks. They face charges of murder, jeopardising national security, inciting sectarian strife and the possession of unlicensed weapons. Among the defendants is Salafi Moftah Fadel, aka Abu Yehia, who claims he was in Mansoura on the day of the clashes and has "hundreds of witnesses" to validate his story. He told reporters that "there are those who incite sectarian strife, others who induce it, and those who take advantage of it. Among the first group are Abeer's relatives who kidnapped her, the father at Mar Mina Church who held her captive and the officer who brought me here." During the court session tens of Abu Yehia's supporters organised a protest in front of the courthouse calling for his release. The court ordered the continued detention of the suspects until 4 September to allow investigators to gather more evidence. Suleiman for president? A FACEBOOK group supporting a presidential bid by Omar Suleiman, 75, former head of the General Intelligence and Hosni Mubarak's vice president in his last weeks in office, has been ruffling feathers in cyberspace. Presidential hopeful Abdel-Moneim Abul-Fotouh, an ex-member of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), denounced the campaign. "Suleiman was Mubarak's right-hand man. Nominating him as president constitutes treason to the revolution," said Abul-Fotouh. Suleiman's online supporters say they are backing Suleiman because "he is capable of maintaining our revolutionary gains and will bring back security and stability to the country." "Suleiman didn't ride the wave of the revolution, unlike Abul-Fotouh, who abandoned the MB so he could run for the presidency." The group earlier promised its Facebook followers that Suleiman would address the nation in mid-July. If true, Suleiman's speech might contain surprises, including details of Mubarak's final days in power and of the failed assassination attempt on Suleiman immediately after he was sworn in as vice president. Sequestration lifted SEVENTEEN years after sequestration the Engineers' Syndicate held an extraordinary general assembly on Friday at which 5,000 members hailed the liberation of the union. The assembly was opened by Minister of Irrigation Hussein El-Atfi who announced an initial agreement to end the supervision of the three court-appointed custodians, responsible for running the syndicate's affairs while it was under sequestration, following council elections slated for September. The Engineers' Syndicate was placed under judicial sequestration in 1995 after its 67-member council -- which was dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood -- was charged with financial irregularities. At the time few doubted the decision was politically motivated. Erdogan's 'strategic' visit TURKISH Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is due to visit Egypt on 21 July. During the visit Erdogan is expected to announce the foundation of an Egyptian-Turkish higher strategic council charged with facilitating increased cooperation and coordination between the two countries. News of the visit came during a press conference on Saturday held by Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed El-Orabi and his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu. El-Orabi described Erdogan's upcoming visit as "a step towards advancing collaboration". He cited Turkish investments in Egypt of $1.5 billion as evidence of increased cooperation, adding that both states offered examples of moderation and stability in the region. Davutoglu said that Ankara supported peaceful transition to democracy across the region. He criticised the brutal repression of protests in Syria, saying "Damascus must allow for reform to take place and... the demands of the Syrian people must be respected." Business in Iraq PRIME Minister Essam Sharaf has postponed a planned visit to Iraq to the end of this month. The visit was due to take place in the first week of July after Sharaf's Iraqi counterpart, Nuri Al-Maliki, issued the invitation. Sharaf decided to delay the visit to allow for further consultation over an estimated $1.7 billion owed to Egyptian individuals and companies in Iraq. Diplomatic sources say Sharaf is determined the issue is resolved before he visits Baghdad. A high-profile delegation, including the ministers of foreign affairs, trade, industry, electricity, energy, petroleum and transportation, is slated to accompany Sharaf to Iraq. Professors speak up HUNDREDS of university professors organised a sit-in on Sunday to demand the sacking of university heads who served under the Mubarak regime and the election -- not the appointment -- of their replacements by the end of July. Ten universities joined the sit-in which lasted for four hours and included professors from Ain Shams, Cairo, Helwan, Alexandria, Mansoura, Zagazig, Fayoum and Kafr Al-Sheikh. The 9 March Movement for the Independence of Universities issued a statement calling on all professors to join the sit-in. Hani El-Husseini, one of the founders of the movement, said that "the sit-in will continue for four hours every day. If our request is not met by 16 July, we will take it to the cabinet headquarters the following day." During its meeting on Sunday, the cabinet approved amending a number of laws regulating universities. The government has said it intends to reshuffle university administrators in August. El-Mahgoub's murder investigated A REPORT filed by lawyer Samir Sabri which claims to contain new evidence implicating ousted president Hosni Mubarak, former head of the Shura Council Safwat El-Sherif, businessman Hussein Salem and Mubarak's brother-in-law Mounir Thabet in the 12 October 1990 assassination of People's Assembly speaker Refaat El-Mahgoub, has been referred to the military prosecution by Abdel-Meguid Mahmoud, the prosecutor-general. The report repeats allegations, first made by the late Wafdist Elwi Hafez, that El-Mahgoub was "eliminated" because he was in possession of documents detailing the involvement of Mubarak, Salem and Thabet in secret arms deals. The report was supplemented by the conclusions of the investigation conducted immediately after the assignation which found that El-Mahgoub's usual security team had been replaced immediately prior to his murder. The deputy director of presidential security between 1980 and 1990 has said that Mubarak "hated and feared" El-Mahgoub because of his integrity. Sabri's report also includes a statement by a journalist who claims to have witnessed a meeting between late Iraqi president Saddam Hussein and Mubarak in which the former played a tape recording of El-Mahgoub telling Saddam, "the region is in need of a leader to fill the void left by Gamal Abdel-Nasser and to unite the Arabs... This leader is you [Saddam]." Salloum commotion contained SECURITY forces say the town of Salloum, close to the Libyan border, is now calm following disturbances earlier in the week in which a police station was attacked and five police vehicles and two private cars set alight. Clashes erupted after police shot dead Anwar Dawoud, 27, in a restricted area on the coast. The police say Dawoud's presence at night suggested he was involved in smuggling. Calls for civil divorce THE RIGHT to Live campaign, which is pressing for Copts to be allowed to divorce in the civil courts, plans a protest today in front of the headquarters of the Ministry of Justice. Al-Ahram journalist Ayman George, the organiser of the event, says the current laws enforced by the Coptic Church leave no exit for those whose marriages have broken down. Until 2008 Copts could divorce for any one of nine reasons. Pope Shenouda then limited grounds for divorce to adultery or the changing of denomination. "The result is over 300,000 cases pending in courts and more and more couples trapped in failed marriages," says George. The campaign, which was initiated on Facebook, has generated considerable media attention as well as alienating many conservative Copts. George insists that he "respects the Church, but there should be a way out of failed marriages through civil procedures, especially since Pope Shenouda has repeatedly said in sermons that 'whoever wants a divorce and a civil marriage outside the Church is free to do so'." There have been several well-publicised cases recently of individuals changing their religion to divorce, some of them resulting in outbreaks of sectarian violence. "The killing and clashes have to stop. People cannot be allowed to feel that they have no way out," says George. Compiled by Rasha Sadek
