While he was signing a cultural cooperation protocol with the Bahraini Minister of Culture May bint Mohamed Al Khalifa yesterday, Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni appeared to be preparing to leave the office in which he spent nearly 22 years. He said the protocol aims to ensure that my successor will continue to cooperate with Bahrain. The candidate for UNESCO Director-General said: "Cultural cooperation with Bahrain needs no protocol. It is happening without any official agreement. But no one knows what the next minister will do, which is why we signed this protocol." The Bahraini minister also said: "Cooperation is ongoing and needs no protocol, but it should be official so that all ministers of culture abide to it." On the UNESCO nomination campaign, Hosni said: "I have more support than the other candidates," pointing out that all what is said in the corridors of the international organization and in the foreign press confirms that he is the most promising candidate, and that his only competitor is Benita Ferrero, the EU Commissioner for Cultural Relations. He added that he will soon travel to a number of countries in Asia, including China and India. "It is a difficult battle, and I must promote in the countries that are influential," expecting Jewish groups to wage a fierce campaign against his candidacy before the elections. On criticizing the ministry for translating books by Israeli authors, Hosni said: "We had translated six Israeli books in 2000, and there is a committee that selects the works very carefully. We made a big mistake when we did not know how to deal with the enemy and with the rest of the world."
Hosni denied that he declined an invitation to go to the Toulouse Book Fair in France because Sana Allah Ibrahim will be there. "I only read about that fair in the newspapers. As to Ibrahim, he is a prominent writer that I respect, and he is part of the cultural wealth of Egypt." Voting for the UNESCO Director-General will take place in September. According to informed sources, Ferrero will not have a unanimous European support, as there are three other European candidates competing.
