Talk about Lebanon PRESIDENT Hosni Mubarak Tuesday received Lebanese Christian leader Samir Geagea who arrived in Cairo for talks with top Egyptian officials and Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa. Following his talks with Mubarak, Geagea told the press that he stressed upon Egypt the need to sustain its support for uncontested Lebanese sovereignty independent of all Syrian political and other influences. Geagea, who is known for his strong opposition to the Syrian role in and influence of his country, expressed concern over the mobilisation of troops on the Syrian-Lebanese borders, especially since, he said, "these troops are next to Lebanese cities where the political majority [opposed to Syria] has firm strongholds." During his talks with Mubarak, Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit and General Intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman, Geagea also stressed the need for Syria to acknowledge "through a [written] Syrian-Lebanese understanding" that the Shebaa Farms, currently occupied by Israel, are part of Lebanese and not Syrian territories. This, he added, could force Israel to return the farms to Lebanese sovereignty through the UN. Such a move, Geagea said, should be part of a more comprehensive scheme to demarcate the borders between Syria and Lebanon. Could have been worse ADEL Hamouda, the editor-in-chief of the independent weekly Al-Fagr, and journalist Mohamed El-Baz were fined LE80,000 each in a libel case filed by Sheikh Mohamed Sayed Tantawi, the grand imam of Al-Azhar, after the paper published a doctored photograph of Tantawi wearing papal garb with a cross hanging on his chest. Tantawi had repeatedly refused to drop the case. The fine was welcomed by journalists who had expected a prison sentence. The judge said that Hamouda and El-Baz were guilty of libelling Tantawi but not guilty of insulting Al-Azhar institution, an accusation that would have put the journalists behind bars. After the presidential pardon last week of the Chief Editor of Al-Dostour Ibrahim Eissa, observers believe the state and judges are finding it increasingly difficult to imprison journalists. They say that it might also be an indication of the possible cancellation of custodial sentences for publication offences. Protest at death HUNDREDS of demonstrators in the southern town of Samalout, Minya, attacked policemen with rocks and injured a brigadier in a police station after a police officer caused the death of a pregnant woman. Police used tear gas to disperse the crowds. The policeman, who had a search warrant, had been going through the woman's house for items allegedly stolen by her brother-in-law. Mervat Salam Abdel-Fattah, who died of internal bleeding, tried to prevent the search, saying the items were hers and her brother-in-law's. She fell to the ground after the officer pushed her with the butt of a gun. Fall arrest THE OWNER of the four-storey building which collapsed in Alexandria last week, killing 11 residents, has been arrested. Magdi Ishaq Malek had added two storeys to the building in violation of a construction code. Two neighbouring blocks were evacuated after the fall of the building which crushed cars parked nearby. The building, in the centre of the Mediterranean city, was built in 1955. The owner added a fifth floor in 1997. The additional floor was ordered removed and other structural changes made but residents said the orders went unheeded. Residents had complained to local authorities that the building was unsafe. Sold and found TWO paintings stolen last week from the Cairo Opera House (COH) have been recovered. The paintings, by well known Egyptian artist Hamed Nada, were returned to Egyptian authorities by a Jeddah plastic arts curator who bought them from a dealer when he was in Cairo last week. At first, the curator, Hisham Qandil, did not realise the paintings had been stolen. In a further twist, the burglar turned out to be the head of a small COH theatre. The theft was discovered last week by security guards who found broken painting frames on the floor of a toilet on the first floor of the COH where the paintings were on display. Culture Minister Farouk Hosni tasked a committee to inspect all COH paintings and those exhibited in art museums throughout Egypt. He also took steps to prevent their smuggling abroad. The paintings were done in 1988 to mark the opening of the COH. Each one cost LE2,000 at the time.
