Head of the Supreme Judicial Council Adel Abdel Hamid on Sunday held a closed meeting with Lawyers Syndicate chairman Hamdi Khalifa in an attempt to resolve the ongoing dispute between Egypt's lawyers and judges. The dispute was triggered by a court verdict earlier this month sentencing two lawyers to five years in prison each for assaulting a chief prosecutor. "We plan to take certain steps in the coming few days," Khalifa said following the meeting, without further elaboration. "We don't want to make any statements now, lest they be misunderstood." The nation's lawyers, who demand the immediate release of their two colleauges, plan to continue their collective strike on Monday and Thursday in cities across Egypt. Security services, meanwhile, have beefed up their presence in Tanta and Mahalla in anticipation of possible clashes. In a related development, the Administrative Judicial Court canceled a meeting of the Lawyers Syndicate's general assembly that had been slated for next Thursday to discuss a withdrawal of confidence from Khalifa and syndicate treasurer Omar Haridi. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
