Montaser resigns NEWSPAPER and veteran journalist Salah Montaser, who resigned on 24 July from the Shura Council committee tasked with selecting chief editors of state-owned newspapers, has accused the Shura of granting Muslim Brotherhood (MB) candidates preferential treatment. Montaser said he resigned because he felt the committee "is biased and is leaning towards choosing Muslim Brotherhood nominees". Fathi Shehab, head of the Shura Council's Committee of Culture, Media and Tourism, said "such deeds will not prevent us from proceeding with our cautious work in selecting editors-in-chief of state-owned newspapers." Shehab added that Montaser's resignation reflected a personal and subjective attitude. "Montaser was all the time trying to influence committee members and imposing his own point of view," said Shehab, who added that the committee held its final meeting on Tuesday night to approve the final selections of editors-in-chief. "Selections will next be presented to the Shura Council's general committee for final approval," added Shehab. On 3 July, the Shura Council, which is dominated by the Islamist group's Freedom and Justice Party, announced it would begin accepting applications for new editors-in-chief of state-owned newspapers. A 14-member committee composed of six Shura MPs, four veteran journalists and four media professors are studying the applications, after which a separate committee of Shura Council members will make the final selection. Criteria upon which a candidate can apply to the new posts were set by the Shura Council. The system of selection sparked outrage among journalists. Hundreds protested outside the Press Syndicate in downtown Cairo as well as Al-Ahram newspaper building accusing the Brotherhood of behaving like Hosni Mubarak's dismantled National Democratic Party by seeking to appoint its supporters to key media positions. Shafik still in UAE AHMED Shafik, former presidential candidate who lost in the run-off to eventual winner Mohamed Mursi, said he will continue living in Abu Dhabi for security reasons. Shafik, who was Egypt's last prime minister under Hosni Mubarak, made the announcement that he was staying in the UAE during a phone interview on an Egyptian TV talk show. Shafik went to Saudi Arabia for umra on 26 June and was expected to return to Egypt, however, he will now be staying in Abu Dhabi, he said on 23 July, attending to personal matters. In the interview Shafik criticised Mursi, saying Egyptians are "living in torture". He expressed disbelief that a new government had not yet been formed and said he expected Prime Minister Kamal El-Ganzouri's government to stay in place for a further 100 days. On 24 July, Mursi appointed former irrigation minister Hisham Qandil as prime minister. Shafik said he was shocked by the death of Hosni Mubarak's former spy chief Omar Suleiman. "If he was still alive he would have advised me not to return to Egypt now," Shafik said. MP sentenced SALAFI MP Ali Wanis received a one-year suspended sentence after being found guilty of committing an "indecent" sexual act in public. The court also found Wanis guilty of assaulting a police officer during his arrest, handing him a further six-month suspended sentence and a LE500 fine along with a LE1,000 fine. Meanwhile, angered by the verdict issued 21 July against their MP, residents of Qalioubiya demonstrated in front of the court, blocking the entrance. Demonstrators accused the Interior Ministry and police of setting MP Wanis up in order to taint the image of Islamists. Demonstrators left the court building only after they were informed that Wanis would give a speech back in their village. "Wanis carries God's book and will never upset God" were amongst the banners the protesters held in front of court in his defence. Wanis, who is member of the Salafist Nour Party in Egypt's dissolved parliament, was arrested in early June when police discovered him engaging in a sexual act with a 22-year-old woman in a car parked on a coastal highway. The female university student arrested with Wanis was given a six-month suspended sentence and fined LE500. After the incident, Wanis denied any wrongdoing and said in a video posted on his website that he had parked along the side of the road because his passenger "became sick". The same Salafist party was hit by scandal earlier in March when another lawmaker was forced to resign from parliament and the party after claiming he was injured in a carjacking. It was eventually revealed that the bandages he placed on his face were due to a surgical nose job.
