Ibrahim el-Samlali, Secretary-General of the Arab Lawyers Union, said that Hamdi Khalifa, Egypt's Bar Association President, is the Head of the Arab Lawyers Union. Samlali rejected a request by some delegations of states to amend the regulations so that the presidency of the Union becomes by rotation among the Arab countries or by election. He said in a speech, before the Conference of the Arab Lawyers Union in Morocco, that the controversy caused by some about not recognizing Hamdi Khalifa as President of the Union has ended, when it was officially announced that Khalifa is the legitimate President of the Egyptian Bar Association, and hence becomes the President of the Arab Lawyers Union. He pointed out that the attempts by a number of Egyptian lawyers, who came to Morocco, have failed in the General Assembly and the Arab trade unions. Samlali added that the Arab Lawyers Union rejected a request by a famous Egyptian lawyer to postpone the elections of the membership of the Permanent Bureau, in return for the Union to recognize Hamdi Khalifa as President of the Union. Khalifa delivered Egypt's speech to the conference, calling for a unified law among the Arab States to defend Arab security issues at international forums. Akef Gad and other lawyers affiliated to Sameh Ashour withdrew after the Union formally recognized Khalifa as president. The Egyptian ambassador in Casablanca held several meetings with Moroccan officials, where he emphasized Egypt's support for Hamdi Khalifa, and that he is the legitimate President of the Bar Association. He denied reports about having two Bar Association presidents in Egypt, namely Khalifa and Ashour.
The Moroccan Bar Association President apologized to Egypt after Sameh Ashour and the Secretariat requested not to recognize Hamdi as Union President. He said: "We apologize to the great Egypt for not including Hamdi Khalifa's speech at the opening of the conference, in response to a request by some not to recognize him as Bar Association President." The supporters of Hamdi Khalifa yesterday held a vigil before the Bar Association in protest against reported news that Sameh Ashour, the former Bar Association President, and a number of his supporters demanded the abolition of Egypt's presidency of the Arab Lawyers Union.
