Nubia, Annapolis and the change of heart of an influential Islamist ideologue shared the limelight, note Gamal Nkrumah and Mohamed El-Sayed It is most unusual for the trials and tribulations, hopes and aspirations of the Nubian people of Egypt to hit the headlines. And, therefore, it was interesting to note that the mouthpiece of the Wafd Party would take up the cause of the Nubians. The daily opposition Al-Wafd ran a story about the cultural conundrum the Nubians find themselves in. The Nubian history and culture are being systematically ignored and these ancient and proud people are being Arabised at an alarming rate. They are being swamped by mainstream Egyptian culture and are in grave danger of losing their own cultural specificity. Senior member of the Wafd Party Abbas El-Tarabili was quoted as saying that Nubian cultural heritage must be saved. "The educational syllabuses ignores Nubian history, literature and culture," El-Tarabili warned. Ironically, El-Tarabili himself, a former editor of the paper, is from the northern end of the country, Damietta. The Nubians themselves, hailing from the southern end of the country, have grave grievances over the loss of their original homeland after the construction of the Aswan High Dam and the creation of Lake Nasser. As if to add insult to injury, their cultural legacy is now threatened as well. These were some of the conclusions of a seminar organised by the Wafd Party that took place this week in Alexandria. It is interesting to note that the opposition party took up the cause of the Nubian people. In much the same spirit, Al-Wafd also ran a feature criticising the government's plan to cut subsidies to low-income people. The paper quoted many a poor citizen who warned the government against increasing the prices of subsidised bread. "Never cut the subsidies of bread, government", ran the headline of the feature. It also quoted experts as warning about the political consequences of the government's policies. "The government is digging its own grave by turning bread subsidies into cash money". Indeed, the paper warned of disastrous ramifications. "Bread famine is approaching", another headline said. This particular topic was also taken up by other papers, including official ones. Indeed, pundits penned scathing critiques in various papers, and that was not restricted to mouthpieces of opposition parties. Indeed, the weekly pro-government Akhbar Al-Yom ran a feature in which it called upon the government to pay "enough cash subsidies so that [low-income people] can keep up with skyrocketing prices." The paper ran another feature about a recent embezzlement scandal when a thief took about LE200 million from ordinary people, promising to give them lucrative benefits. He then fled to Sudan, and was later arrested when he returned to Egypt. "White collar theft surfaces again", the headline read. The paper attributed the phenomenon to "decreasing interest rates which have led to the mushrooming of companies that deceive people and rob them of their money." In much the same vein, the cutting down of subsidies was heralded by a front-page headline in the opposition daily Al-Ahrar : "[Minister of Finance Youssef Boutros] Ghali orders government bodies to increase the costs of services". Another headline read, "An increase in the cost of water, electricity, railway fares and school fees". On an entirely different subject, Galal Dweidar writing in the daily pro-government Al-Akhbar postulated about the prospects of the Annapolis peace conference. He was dismissive and cynical of the summit's results. "There is no sign indicating a serious move towards achieving the [goals] of this conference. Apparently, the main purpose of inviting [the Arabs to this conference] is improving America's image in the Arab and Islamic [countries], putting a smoke screen on what's going on in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as the conflict with Iran, and making the world preoccupied with the illusion of ending the Arab-Israeli conflict." Indeed, Annapolis took up a great deal of space in this week's papers; in fact it was the top foreign policy concern. The director of the Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies Abdel-Moneim Said, writing in the daily independent Al-Masry Al-Yom about the Annapolis conference, was highly critical of the entire concept and used a terribly cynical tone. He argued that Arabs should not expect much positive results to come out of Annapolis. "An intelligent [observer] is not deceived by familiar phrases and reiterated statements," Said warned. He stressed that Egyptians of his generation had heard such talk for many decades now and that nothing had come out of such talk "for our generation or the following ones who have lived throughout the Arab-Israeli conflict... such talk has become the concern of all those who do not have other things to do." On the home front, Al-Masry Al-Yom continued a series of articles about the revisions of Jihadist thought by the chief mentor of the Egyptian Jihad group, Sayed Emam. He backtracked and even warned that Muslims should not commit acts of violence in Western countries. "It's not proper to sabotage and kill [people] of [foreign] countries that open their doors for Muslims to study and work," Emam was quoted as saying. He stressed the chivalrous nature of the Muslim code of ethics. "Islam prohibits the betrayal of foreigners, even on their home turf." Emam is a highly influential figure among Islamist groups in Egypt. Considered the chief militant Islamist ideologue, this about-face will certainly have serious repercussions on Emam's followers. He had already softened his message persuading Islamist groups to renounce violence. "The fact that some of these [foreign] countries are invading Muslim countries and killing Muslims should not give us an excuse to do the same with them. "Bombing, killing, destroying property and stealing money on the pretext that they belong to infidels are considered betrayal and hypocrisy and are some of the greatest sins." Al-Masry Al-Yom ran an interview with the Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohamed Mahdi Akef. The interview, the paper reported, was the first to be conducted with Akef by a Christian Egyptian journalist, Charles Fouad El-Masri. Akef was quoted as saying: "The Muslim Brotherhood cannot act against the regime because we do not want bloodshed among Egyptians." Asked about his take on Gamal Mubarak's possible succession to power, Akef said, "we don't accept succession as a principle." However, he stated more bluntly that "[Gamal] should leave the palace and walk the streets [to mingle with ordinary people] and behave like any ordinary citizen. He should not seek protection from the police, the government or the regime."
