Judicial merging opposed JUDGES of the State Council Club have announced their rejection of the unified judiciary law which will merge all judicial bodies. During a press conference held on Monday, a statement urged the necessity of respecting pledges Mohamed Mursi gave upon becoming president when he said that he would work to defend judiciary independence. Board members of the club said in the statement that they will not adjourn their meetings until they are sure the draft constitution will stress the independence of the State Council. Syria meeting sought FOREIGN Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr contacted Iran, Turkey and Saudi Arabia this week to arrange talks on how to end the Syrian crisis. Ministry spokesman Amr Roshdi said the choice of countries was based on their "real influence" on the outcome of events in Syria. He did not say when any such meeting would take place. The consultations came in the wake of President Mohamed Mursi's initiative put forward at an Islamic conference in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, earlier this month aimed at reaching a comprehensive solution to the deteriorating situation in Syria, stopping the violence and preserving the unity of Syrian territory. This week, Mursi travels to China, then to Iran for a meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement, a group of 120 developing nations. Mursi's trip to Iran will be the first by an Egyptian president since the 1979 Iranian Revolution. The two nations do not have diplomatic relations but have missions staffed by diplomats in each others' countries. The trip to Tehran would last only a few hours. Egypt is currently chair of the Non-Aligned Movement. The position will be passed on to Iran at the Tehran meeting. US support A DELEGATION of senior US economic officials and private sector leaders was in Cairo this week to discuss assistance the US can provide to further support Egypt's political and economic transition. Headed by undersecretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment Robert Hormats, the delegation started hammering out with Egyptian authorities the timing and details of support promised by US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Speaking at the American Chamber of Commerce in Cairo (AmCham), Hormats reaffirmed US support for Egypt's people and democratic transition. He said the delegation heard from government and the public about their urgent economic priorities. "Egypt's priorities is where we want to focus." He highlighted that the US has a wide range of capabilities with which it can help Egypt including direct financial support and support to strengthen Egypt's trade and investment relations with the US and the rest of the world. Hormats added the US welcomed Egypt's engagement with the IMF and a robust Egyptian-led reform programme stressing the US capacity to mobilise support especially with international financial institutions. Hormats and the accompanying delegation stressed the significance of the private sector for growth, highlighting the importance of improving the business climate. Caroline Atkinson, special assistant to President Obama for international economic affairs, stressed the need for creating rules within which the private sector can thrive adding that there is need for a private sector that can deliver jobs. Case closed THE High State Security Court has sentenced 74 people to a suspended one-year jail term for attacking the embassy of Saudi Arabia in Cairo as well as the Giza security headquarters. The court also handed down a five-year sentence in absentia to ex-police officer Omar Afifi for inciting violence against the police and diplomatic missions in Egypt. Afifi fled the country to the US after publishing a controversial book about torture and police brutality under former president Hosni Mubarak. Those sentenced faced charges of illegally gathering, using violence against public servants, attacking police officers and security personnel, attempting to storm the Giza security headquarters and the Saudi Arabia and Israel embassies, and vandalising public property for terror purposes. The prosecution also accused the group of brandishing clubs and knives to create a security crisis in the country. The court said that defendant Korani Mohamed El-Sayed was out of its jurisdiction because El-Sayed is not 16 years old and referred him to juvenile court. The court refused the civil lawsuit filed by the embassy of Saudi Arabia on legal grounds. After 18 years NILE cruises from Egypt's capital Cairo to Luxor resumed over the weekend after being halted 18 years ago because of security concerns. A ceremony marking the resumption was held in Luxor, the hub of Egyptian tourism, after the arrival of a vessel from Cairo. Tourism Minister Hisham Zazou said "the restoration of security is the key to the recovery of tourism in Egypt. Security on all cruises is being carried out in collaboration with the Ministry of Interior," Zazou said, adding that the ministry's goal was to match the 2010 season when tourism generated $13 billion for the economy. President Mohamed Mursi said on 3 August that he was committed to ensuring the safety of tourists whose numbers fell sharply after the 2011 uprising, delivering a severe blow to the economy. Nile cruises, a major tourist attraction in Egypt, were stopped between Cairo and Luxor in 1994 because of the risk of militant attacks. However, they continued to operate on the stretch of the river between Luxor and Aswan, the two main tourist towns in Upper Egypt. The January 2011 Revolution that ousted former president Hosni Mubarak also put a brake on tourism, a vital sector of the country's economy. In the first quarter of this year, 2.5 million tourists visited Egypt, an increase of 32 per cent compared with the same period in 2011. However, the figure still reflects a fall of 27.8 per cent compared with the first three months of 2010.
