President Mubarak's meeting with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi dominates state-owned papers today with a series of headlines devoted to the Italian leader's praise for Egypt and Mubarak, with photos of the two men shaking hands and smiling enthusiastically. Al-Ahram describes the meeting between Berlusconi and Mubarak as the first stage of a “new era of Egyptian-Italian relationships.” Al-Akhbar affirms this position with a quote from Berlusconi, in which he claimed, “President Mubarak is greatly respected by all world leaders.” The meeting, which took place in Rome yesterday, saw the two leaders and their cabinets discuss a variety of issues including trade, investment, tourism, and the “training of the Egyptian workforce,” Al-Akhbar reports. The paper continues with a statement by President Mubarak explaining that the meeting “displayed the progress of the Middle East.” The Egyptian president also reportedly discussed the upcoming elections, promising his Italian audience that any transition of power would occur “according to the Constitution,” and adding that “candidates will be represented by a free and fair electoral process,” and that “the people will be free to choose, and their choice will undoubtedly be definitive and wise.” Mubarak also touched on the topic of terrorism, admitting that “Egypt is not currently facing the same level of threat as it was in the early 1990s.” The president then went on to justify the recent extension of Emergency Law by citing “several, smaller factions” apparently intent on terrorism. Al-Akhbar also reports on the Shura Council, which has decided to adjourn until after the upcoming elections. The decision was announced yesterday by Shura Council Speaker Safwat el-Sherif, who explained it was taken to “allow the council to initiate the electoral process.” No date has been set for the council's reconvening. Shura Council elections also made the front page in Al-Shorouq, with a headline citing the 132 candidates participating in the upcoming process. According to the independent daily, the candidates represent a total of 13 parties, and were approved by the High Electoral Committee from a pool of 490 applicants. The elections are scheduled for early June. The price of local cigarettes will soon increase, according to reports in both state-owned and independent papers. Cigarette brands formerly selling for under LE3 per pack will see an increase of 75 to 80 piasters, with more expensive brands going up by as much as LE1.25. The price increase comes as a result of a new tax announced yesterday by People's Assembly Speaker Fathi Sorour. The new tax, which Al-Akhbar reports as being “close to 40 percent,” will allegedly result in an excess LE1.2 billion—a sum which will be allocated to “sewage processing and water purification projects” currently being developed for rural areas. Al-Wafd, which also reports on the imminent price increase, adds that the decision, which was proposed by MP Ahmed Ezz, caused an “upheaval” within the assembly halls, which was only quelled by a mandatory ten minute recess. Apparently unsatisfied with causing just one “upheaval” a day, Ahmed Ezz also managed to provoke independent and Muslim Brotherhood MPs by referring to them as “communists,” according to Al-Dostour. Ezz, who also serves as president of the Budget and Planning Committee, based his allegations on the “misleading numbers and information” which he believed would be presented by business-owning MP's in an attempt to receive extra government subsidies. The allegation lead to a “heated debate” between the two sides, which ended with Sorour's intervention, during which he reportedly stated: “Calm down, you're both stating opinions, and there's nothing wrong with being a communist.” “Egyptians in the age of Nazif!! Dancing naked in front of the People's Assembly!!” screams the headline to Al-Wafd's lead story. Pictures of megaphone-clutching protesters sitting in trees and topless men carrying drums surround the paper's report, which details the “new phase” of demonstrations that took place yesterday outside the parliament building. Workers from the Amonsito Textiles factory, who have been on strike for the past few months, stripped to their waist and began “chanting and screaming at the top of their lungs,” in a desperate attempt to receive their salaries which they say are 26 months late. A fake funeral was held, with protesters hoisting an empty, improvised coffin, symbolizing the “death of their rights.” Al-Wafd also mentions the nine protesters who were on the second day of their hunger strike, with one worker hospitalized after passing out repeatedly due to “extreme fatigue.” Al-Wafd also features a story on what it describes as “the continuation of serial killings of Egyptians abroad.” Following the recent brutal murder and subsequent public hanging of an Egyptian charged with quadruple homicide in Lebanon, Egyptian citizen Sherif Hegazy was stabbed repeatedly by his Syrian neighbor in Kuwait yesterday, prompting a “blood-soaked battle” between his relatives and those of his assailant. The violence was reportedly the result of a heated argument between the two over parking spaces under their building. Egypt's newspapers: Al-Ahram: Daily, state-run, largest distribution in Egypt Al-Akhbar: Daily, state-run, second to Al-Ahram in institutional size Al-Gomhorriya: Daily, state-run Rose el-Youssef: Daily, state-run, close to the National Democratic Party's Policies Secretariat Al-Dostour: Daily, privately owned Al-Shorouq:Daily, privately owned Al-Wafd: Daily, published by the liberal Wafd Party Al-Arabi: Weekly, published by the Arab Nasserist party Youm7: Weekly, privately owned Sawt el-Umma: Weekly, privately owned
