Bedouin tribal chiefs held a conference on Friday to announce the establishment of a new political party. Al-Ihyawat tribe hosted the conference in Ismailia. Disputes arose because Marsa Matrouh tribes objected to the presence of Amr Moussa. Some tribes believe Moussa, a presidential candidate and Arab League secretary general, aggravated events in Libya. The official news agency MENA reported on Friday that Bedouins had declared support for Moussa as president, but former member of the People's Assembly and Al-Dawaghera tribe leader in Sinai, Salama Al-Roqai'ey, denied the rumors. He stressed that the tribes held the conference to announce plans to establish a new political party called the Arabic Party. It is too early to talk about supporting a particular candidate for presidency, Al-Roqai'ey told Al-Masry Al-Youm. An Al-Ihyawat tribe leader and co-founder of the Arabic Party, Ali Rashed Al-Ihyawi, also said that the conference was held to announce the new party, pointing out that Moussa didn't attend as a presidential candidate but as one of many figures such as engineer Hasab-Allah Al-Kafrawy, a former minister of development. The new party is not based on tribal or Bedouin membership -- Rashed pointed out that that any Egyptian who wants to join is welcome. Meanwhile, some tribal leaders in Helwan, including Sheikh Nagy Abu-Muheissen, Bakr Abu-tmma', Ahmed Kamel El-Showeify and Muhamad Mahmoud Abu-ta'eyya, said that they do not encourage Bedouins' engagement in politics, only deepening social ties between the Bedouins. In related news, Hussein Nour Hussein Salem, a Bedouin sheikh from Sinai, denied any relationship between his party, the Popular Front for Justice and Freedom, and the Arabic Party.
