Presidential hopeful and former Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa met on Monday with a famous pop singer, Shaaban Abdel Rahim, also known as Shaabolla, according to the state-run Al-Ahram newspaper. Moussa's reception of Shaabolla follows the singer's announcement that he plans to create a satellite channel supporting Moussa's presidential bid, the newspaper's Arabic website reported. Shaabolla told Al-Ahram that he likes Moussa, describing him as the strongest candidate with a great chance for victory. "You always spread joy wherever you go,” Moussa was quoted as telling Shaabolla. Several years ago, Shaabolla performed a number of anti-Israeli songs. One of his songs includes the lyrics: "I hate Israel, I love Amr Moussa.” Other songs tackled the US invasion of Iraq and other regional issues, as well as terrorism and railway accidents. Shaabolla's planned channel, UAC Shaabolla, is owned by businessman Abdel Rashid Saeed, who was also present on Monday and expressed his support for Moussa, according to Al-Ahram. All of the channel's shows will focus on supporting Moussa's campaign and documenting his campaign visits, Saeed said. He added that as a businessman, he will make large investments in Egypt if Moussa is elected. Moussa, 75, is currently struggling to confront charges that he was close to the old regime of former President Hosni Mubarak, under whom he served as foreign minister from 1991 to 2001.
