Doaa El-Bey reports on the change at the top of diplomatic and consular missions abroad The change in Egypt's diplomatic and consular missions abroad has acquired additional importance, coming as it does just a few weeks before the election of the first post-revolution president and after the election of the first freely elected parliament. Egypt's missions abroad are to promote the country's new picture. The newly-selected heads of the missions are to work with the newly elected parliament and the new president in promoting the new face of post-revolution Egypt and presenting the new policies to be adopted by the country. Mahmoud Shukri, a former diplomat and writer, said the change was routine and should take place every four years. However, he added, there are some missions who were left to remain on for more than four years. "In that change, most of the heads of missions who exceeded their term were replaced and that is a good sign," Shukri said. Shukri agreed that the change derived its importance from the timing and the stage that Egypt is going through at present. The fact that the change included countries like the US and Germany added to the importance of the step. The move was authorised by the head of the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi on Sunday. It included 44 ambassadors and heads of diplomatic and consular missions abroad. Mohamed Tawfiq was appointed Egypt's ambassador to the US, succeeding Sameh Shukri. Ambassador Moataz Khalil replaces Maged Abdel-Fattah as Egypt's permanent representative to the UN in New York. Salem Sayed El-Ahl replaces Yasser Reda as Egypt's ambassador to Israel. Mohamed Hegazi, the former cabinet spokesman, will be dispatched to the German capital Berlin and Hossam Zaki, the former Foreign Ministry spokesman in the Mubarak government, will be Egypt's ambassador to Brazil. In another development, Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Amr said that the relationship between the next president and the Foreign Ministry would be different from its ties with the previous regime. Given that Egypt is passing through a new phase in which the principle of separation between the authorities is being uprooted, he said, the ministry would have a more active role in decision-making and presenting foreign policy with other states. The statement came during a meeting with the 44th batch of new diplomats to join the ministry this week. The group included three veiled women, a step which the media regarded as a change in the policy of the ministry after it was alleged that it used to fail veiled applicants in the past. Shukri refused to comment on the issue saying it had no significance. He said there were more important issues in the country "that one needs to focus on". Amr discussed with the new diplomats Egypt's ties with the Nile Basin countries which have witnessed noticeable improvement since the revolution, according to the minister. He described the 25 January Revolution as unique in that it was different from other past Egyptian revolutions in which all factions and groups including the army took part. Given the developments Egypt has witnessed in the past few weeks -- the case of the NGOs who were accused of receiving illegal foreign funding, the decision to allow US human rights activists accused in the case to leave the country, plus this week's unanimous vote taken by the parliament to expel the Israeli ambassador from Cairo and stop gas exports to Israel -- the mission of the new Egyptian ambassadors to the US and Israel will not be easy.
