Activists released NAWARA Negm, Sheikh Mazhar Shahin and Tarek El-Kholi who were questioned over accusations of inciting protesters to attack army soldiers on 16 December have been released. They were freed on 15 January from the New Cairo Court after being questioned by the prosecution-general who summoned them for questioning on 8 January. Investigations began after the prosecution-general received complaints of "inciting protesters to violence and calling on peaceful demonstrators to clash with the Armed Forces," El-Kholi said. During investigations Negm, Shahin and El-Kholi denied all the allegations. The case was based on eyewitness accounts who said they saw the three inciting violence. Downtown clashes began in front of the Cabinet headquarters on 16 December and ended with the death of 16 people and the injury of 928. Tycoon retrial THE COURT of Cassation in Cairo on 16 January ordered the retrial of business tycoon Hisham Talaat Mustafa and former state security officer Mohsen El-Sokkari for the murder of Suzanne Tamim in 2008. The retrial will start on 6 February. Tamim, a Lebanese singer, was killed in her apartment in Dubai in July 2008 in the UAE. UAE authorities accused both Mustafa and El-Sokkari of being behind the murder. According to telephone records presented by the prosecution, Mustafa paid El-Sokkari $2 million to stalk Tamim in London and Dubai and then kill her. Investigations also showed that El-Sokkari was in Dubai at the time of the murder. Mustafa was found guilty of being accomplice to the murder and El-Sokkari of the murder of Tamim in 2009. The two were handed the death sentence. In March 2010 the Court of Cassation accepted an appeal for a new trial. In September 2010 the court amended Mustafa's sentence to 15 years imprisonment and El-Sokkari 25 years. Mustafa, a former chairman of one of Egypt's biggest real estate development companies was also a former leading figure in ousted president Hosni Mubarak's National Democratic Party, as well as a member of its Policies Committee. He was a member of the Shura Council until 2009. Carter and Friedman RECENT visits by former US president Jimmy Carter and famed opinion writer Thomas Friedman to Cairo gave the American duo an opportunity to express their views about Egypt, and experience first-hand the new post-revolution Egypt. Carter, president of the international foundation the Carter Centre visited Egypt to help monitor a third round of parliamentary elections. In his assessment of the elections, Carter said there were about 900 complaints sent to Egypt's prosecutor-general about "irregularities" during the vote. But he also added that in general "the will of the people seemed to be accurately represented." However, he added that he was greatly disappointed that so few women had the chance to run in the elections. Carter said the military wanted to keep as much control as possible and will not fully submit to civilian rule. He also expressed his belief that the military leaders want to have some "special privilege" in the government after a president is elected. However, he said he believed all power should be in the hands of elected officials. "Thus, there must be permanent limits on the military written into a new Egyptian constitution." The Palestinian issue was prominent during Carter's visit. He said Islamist parties who have taken centre stage in Egypt's first post-revolution parliament are willing to honour the peace treaty with Israel. Regarding peace with Israel, "that part of the accords has been basically approved and honoured," Carter said. But, "the rights of Palestinians have been violated with sometimes tacit approval from Washington and also from Cairo," Carter said. Carter met Mohamed Badie, spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), and his deputy Khairat El-Shater. He also met representatives from the Salafist Nour Party which claimed second place in the polls after the Brotherhood. Friedman, The New York Times columnist talked about the revolution, the rise of Islam and establishing democracy. Regarding his views on Islamist political ascendancy in the parliamentary polls, Friedman said that Egypt was very heavy for any political parties to lift it on its own and that it needed collective effort. He said that the MB had never had to make hard choices because they have never been in power. "They were elected on promises, and -- four years from now -- they will be judged on their performance." He stressed the importance of opening a dialogue with Egypt's Islamist political forces, asserting that Washington should abandon its long-standing strategy of allying itself with single heads of state and begin allying with the people. He delivered a talk on the Arab world and Egypt's revolution at the American University in Cairo (AUC). However, his views were not welcomed by some of the university students especially the university's Quds Club which took part in a small protest against Friedman's visit and described him as a supporter of war crimes. During his talk, he also had to face the ire of another member of the AUC leftist movement who told him that he could not come here "with a smile and preach on democracy" when he has been demeaning Arabs and supporting war crimes in Gaza and Iraq. "Any fool can write in a way that alienates both sides," Friedman said in his defence. "I am for a two-state solution in the Arab-Israeli conflict. If you're for that, you're my friend. If you're against that, you're my enemy, whether you're an Arab, American, Christian, Muslim or Hindu," Friedman said. Officer turns himself in POLICEMAN Mohamed El-Sunni, who was found guilty of killing 20 protesters outside a police station at the height of the revolution last year, has handed himself in to authorities after a court accepted his request for an appeal. El-Sunni, who was sentenced to death in June for killing protesters during the 18-day uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak as president, turned himself in after a court granted him an appeal. El-Sunni is accused of killing 20 unarmed protesters and injuring 15 others in front of Al-Zawia Al-Hamra district police station using live ammunition. Other officers facing similar charges have been released or found innocent by the courts. New National Council for Women PRIME Minister Kamal El-Ganzouri has issued a decree on the new formation of the National Council for Women (NCW), but the decree awaits the approval of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF). Ambassador Mervat El-Tallawi, who was also the former minister for social affairs is a leading candidate to head the council, replacing Farkhonda Hassan. El-Tallawi was the first secretary-general of the NCW in 2000. It was headed by Suzanne Mubarak, wife of former president Hosni Mubarak. According to reports, all members of the NCW will be replaced. Among the new members are eight female members in the People's Assembly, youths and female activists, including Asmaa Ali and Nehad Abul-Qomsan, head of the Egyptian Centre for Women's Rights (ECWR). Last month, a lawsuit was filed with the Cairo Administrative Court demanding the dissolution of the NCW. The plaintiffs say that the body was formed by members of the dismantled National Democratic Party (NDP) and that it was a tool used by the party to achieve "nefarious objectives." Hassan has been accused by anti-Mubarak feminists of being close to Suzanne Mubarak. The council in general was accused of promoting the president's wife and falsely portraying her as an advocate of women's rights. Nuclear crisis HUNDREDS of people stormed the Al-Dabaa nuclear site this week, blowing up buildings belonging to the Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority, allegedly using dynamite. About 500 people claimed that the land on which Al-Dabaa was built is theirs but was confiscated decades ago by the former regime. The governor of Marsa Matrouh Taha El-Sayed held an urgent meeting with civil society representatives, including tribal leaders and some of the protesters, as well as local members of parliament in order to find a solution to the crisis. The governor said the government would compensate the locals for the land, while members of parliament suggested that the nuclear project be transferred to another location. At least 40 people were injured, including 29 soldiers, in clashes between the residents of Al-Dabaa and military police on Friday. The clashes came after hundreds of protesters rallied demanding the dismantling of the nuclear power plant to build residential housing project instead. Mohamed Kamal Abd Rabu, head of the workers' union at the power plant, said that some Al-Dabaa area residents "had recently directly attacked the Dabaa national nuclear project site by bombing resthouses and destroying the infrastructure using dynamite and loaders." Government officials said that Dabaa "was experiencing its worst days because of the looting, thefts, and bombings at the nuclear plant's construction site." They added that research equipment worth millions of dollars had been stolen since Friday. Al-Dabaa is the site of Egypt's peaceful nuclear programme. In 2010 Mubarak said the government intended to build eight nuclear plants by 2020. In March last year the electricity minister said the country would go ahead with a tender for the construction of the plant.
