Sudan, Saudi business rules in Egypt, traffic laws and the confessions of the former UN secretary-general dominate, note Gamal Nkrumah and Mohamed El-Sayed Sudan, once again, hit the headlines. And, Egyptian pundits shifted their interest southwards. "Khartoum reiterates its refusal to negotiate the handing over of Sudanese officials in order to resolve the crisis of the wanted president", ran a headline in the independent daily Al-Masry Al-Yom. In a two-page spread, the paper tackled aspects of the Sudanese crisis, blaming the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the current quandary in which Sudanese President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir was accused of war crimes and genocide. The paper also stressed that the head of the Sudanese intelligence Salah Abdullah Kersh issued an official warning that the Sudanese authorities would formulate an appropriate response to the ICC bid to stop President Al-Bashir from going to trial. The focus on the Prosecutor-General Luis Moreno- Ocampo's statements and the ICC ruling revealed a decidedly pro-Sudanese government posturing, especially as far as the official papers are concerned. As far as Al-Masry Al-Yom was concerned, Sudanese authorities deliberately carried out acts of genocide to exterminate the indigenous non-Arab population. The paper published the entire ruling of the prosecutor-general in which he accused Al-Bashir of masterminding the atrocities in Darfur. This is the first time that the national papers have been so preoccupied with events and political developments in Sudan, Darfur included. Other foreign policy issues and concerns preoccupied the commentators. Chief among these were the US presidential campaign, US policy in Afghanistan, Iraq and the Arab-Israeli conflict. Former UN secretary-general Boutros Boutros-Ghali, the head of the National Council for Human Rights (NCHR), was quoted in Al-Masry Al-Yom as saying: "We need between 20 to 40 years to enhance democracy in Egypt and the Arab world." He discussed numerous international relations challenges and in particular the American hegemony of world affairs. He also disclosed some of the challenges he personally faced as secretary-general of the world body and was quite open about the political situation in Egypt and the democratisation and political reform processes in the country. When he frankly declared what Egypt needs before democracy can be consolidated in the country he was outlining a timetable for the implementation of the political reform process, an unprecedented confession by the former world body head. He also expressed concern over the slow pace of reform, insisting that even though he understands fully that such matters cannot be rushed, civil rights organisations can speed up the reform process if they act in concerted fashion. Issues of public concern were also thoroughly debated in the press, with the implementation of the new traffic laws topping the list of concerns. Writing in the daily official Al-Ahram, Salama Ahmed Salama harshly criticised the new traffic law. "After a few days it will be applied, but will not offer something new to solve congested traffic. It will just add more punishments and additional fines, which will create an atmosphere of traffic terrorism." He added that "excessive use of punishments and fines will not help solve the traffic problem. Counting on changing people's behaviour by publishing and broadcasting adverts and commercials about [the new traffic law] will not work. It will only be achieved when efficient management of traffic is employed." Other pundits concurred, stressing that the laws will not be implemented as envisaged, and that corruption and a lax attitude towards the law will make a mockery of the entire system that the authorities hope to enforce. Sports also interested the critics. They were especially enthused with the match played this week and the next between the two great rivals, Ahli and Zamalek. The pundits concurred that football is something of a diversion, a sort of opium of the masses, to distract people from serious bread and butter concerns. Criticising the football mania that is reigning supreme in Egypt nowadays, Mohamed Amin argued in the daily opposition Al-Wafd that "football, [not religion] now is the opium of the people. The [Egyptian] state uses it to conceal its political mistakes," Amin stressed. "The news of Egypt's two big clubs Ahli and Zamalek have become more important than those of [Prime Minister] Ahmed Nazif's government." People are sick and tired of boring domestic politics and are far more interested in the performance of players on the pitch. The writer added that, "religion is no longer the opium of the masses. Life has changed, and football is now capturing the imagination of everybody." The allure of Europe captured the imagination of the pundits. How is it that desperate youth are willing to sacrifice their lives in order to flee Egypt for Europe? Are conditions in Egypt that bad? Have matters become so desperate over here? With joblessness and unemployment running at unprecedented high rates, youth are yearning to seek greener pastures overseas. In an attempt to unlock the mystery behind Egyptian youth escaping to Europe and risking their lives in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, Sherif El-Abd wondered in Al-Ahram "why a 23-year-old Egyptian would commit suicide before he was deported from Italy to Egypt? Is it because future, hope and ambition exist only in Italy? Is it because he was utterly upset and depressed while he was in Egypt and coming back to it only meant failure? Or is it because he was certain that getting a job opportunity in Egypt with a salary commensurate with skyrocketing prices is a far-fetched dream? Or because he realised that forming a stable family in light of skyrocketing housing prices was but chasing a mirage?" He added "or his committing suicide was due to a belief that there is no equal opportunity in Egypt and tried to find it elsewhere?" In a bizarre turn of events, the pundits were curious about the unprecedented demotion of a five-star hotel because of the whims of its pious Saudi owner. Apparently the proprietor of the hotel insisted that alcohol cannot be served within the premises of his hotel. He proceeded to empty the contents of the spirits bottles down the River Nile. The fish must have had a field day. The denizens of the deep must have become drunk. Small wonder then, that the river's fish has acquired a strange taste recently. Al-Masry Al-Yom reported that the Ministry of Tourism threatened to reduce the ranking of the Cairo five-star hotel Grand Hyatt because its owner, Saudi businessman Abdul- Aziz Al-Barahim, banned the selling or serving of alcohol in the hotel. Thirsty tourists cannot reach out for a cool beer in the torrid summer months which used to be a sheer pleasure on the terraces of the Grand Hyatt with its panoramic Nile views. The issue has been debated for months and attracted local and international media attention. Many a news report warned against the imposing of Saudi lifestyle and traditions on Egyptian entertainment facilities. Well, God only knows where all this fanaticism and piety is leading to.
