Sofia links up BULGARIA's President Georgi Parvanov was in Cairo Sunday at the invitation of President Hosni Mubarak. The three-day visit offered an opportunity for Parvanov and accompanying officials to discuss with Egyptian counterparts options to upgrade investment and industrial cooperation and trade exchange. According to presidential spokesman Suleiman Awwad, a particular subject close to examination were plans to supply Bulgaria with liquefied gas from Egypt by 2011. The Parvanov-Mubarak summit also celebrated close to seven decades of diplomatic relations between Cairo and Sofia. Uphill battle THE ATTEMPT by women to pursue egalitarian political and administrative participation is an uphill battle for which much ammunition is still needed. This was basically the conclusion reached this week by an expanded meeting of the National Council for Women (NCW) as it met Tuesday evening under the chairmanship of Mrs Suzanne Mubarak. As they reviewed the findings of meetings and research conducted since mid-March, with the launch of the annual Women's Conference, representatives of the NCW in Lower and Upper Egypt reported similar concerns with regards to a persistent societal reluctance, among women and men alike, to accept female leadership -- more at the political than the administrative levels. So while women were reported to be doing slightly better in accessing administrative positions of leadership, accounts of women's chances of pursuing political representation remained unimpressive. The role of the private sector in advancing the right of women to equal employment opportunities, especially in the formal work sector, was clearly emphasised. Equally underlined was the need for a more engaged civil society approach especially in rural and deprived areas. Tit for tat THE FOREIGN Ministry has issued strict regulations under which British officials will be subject to inspection at Egyptian airports. The move comes after Pope Shenouda III, head of Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Church, was searched by authorities at London's Heathrow Airport. "During his visit to London on 30 March, Pope Shenouda III was forced to go through a metal detector," said Wafaa Nassim, assistant to the foreign minister, addressing members of the Shura Council. Nassim said the incident was a flagrant violation of all diplomatic protocols, especially since Pope Shenouda has a diplomatic passport. Following the incident, the Egyptian ambassador to London contacted British officials, who justified what happened as part of new security procedures that do not exempt men of religion. Still, the ambassador submitted a harshly-worded memorandum to the British Foreign Ministry. Nassim said the British ambassador to Cairo was summoned and informed of Egypt's strong condemnation of the incident. Angry Shura Council members have asked for an official apology from British authorities. Pure blood FORMER MP HANI Sorour on Tuesday was found innocent of providing contaminated blood bags to the Health Ministry in a high-profile case which lasted for more than a year, Reem Leila reports. Sorour, who is also CEO of the Hayedelena for Advanced Medical Industries Company (HAMIC), along with his sister Nivan, the company's deputy CEO, and five employees of the Ministry of Health and Population, were acquitted of any wrongdoing in supplying 300,000 blood bags worth LE4 million after no evidence was found they were contaminated. The accusation was levelled late last year by Sawsan Mursi and Soheir Abdel-Aziz El-Sharqawi, employees at the Ministry of Health, who discovered the blood bags in storage and which was said at the time to contain bacteria and fungi likely to harm patients in the event of transfusion. Several complaints were sent to the Health Ministry regarding the blood bags which was later proven by the ministry not to be meeting national or international standards of manufacturing. All the defendants in the case were acquitted, despite blood banks and hospital officials reporting anomalies regarding the bags. They found the bag size larger, the needle thicker and the tube attached to the bags shorter than bags previously imported from Singapore. According to Abdel-Rahman Shahin, the official spokesman of the Ministry of Health and Population, blood in Egypt is clean and safe. Although HAMIC did not meet all the terms of the ministry's blood bags' bid, "no one can disagree with the court's verdict," confirmed Shahin, despite the fact that Sorour was accused by the Health Ministry of violating the terms of the contract between the company and the ministry. Professors meet MEMBERS of the teaching staff working for state-owned universities and scientific research centres will tomorrow discuss a new amendment of a university draft law during a general conference due to be held at Menoufiya University, reports Mona El-Nahhas. During its discussion at the People's Assembly's Education Committee, the amendment will be subject to heated debate. Accordingly, the committee is expected not to give its final approval until reaching a text that would be approved by President Hosni Mubarak and the professors. The amendment of Article 123 of the law, recently submitted to parliament by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, stated that professors who are over the age of 70 may be appointed at faculties and institutes by means of a decree issued by the university president and a request by the faculty dean or the institute head. Professors will be offered a bonus that equals 80 per cent of what they previously received before reaching the age of retirement. In return, the article said, they will be assigned specific missions to help upgrade university education. Heads of the universities' teaching staff clubs, who took part in the ministerial committees formed to draft the amendment, complained that the amended article in its current form was completely different from the one previously agreed upon.
