A senior Culture Ministry official on Wednesday said that Egypt planned to invite Algeria to participate in the Cairo International Book Fair slated for the beginning of next year, in spite of the fact that Algeria had not extended a similar invitation to Egypt to participate in the Algiers International Book Fair due to take place next October. The invitation was announced by Mohamed Saber Arab, head of the General Egyptian Book Organization (GEBO). In a statement issued Wednesday by GEBO, Arab said the invitation was being extended, "at a time when the information we're receiving indicates that all the publishers in the Arab world have received invitations [to the Algiers fair], with the exception of Egyptian publishers." He went on to note that "Egyptian publishing houses are responsible for 40 percent of all published material in the Arab world." Arab asserted that the snub ultimately represented "a punishment for the Algerian public, as it will deprive them of 40 percent of the recent publications concerning contemplation and human understanding." Arab called on the Algerian government to "reconsider its policy towards this decision as it will harm relations between the two countries--not only at the official level, but also at the public level." Last May, Egypt was fined US$88,160 after an attack on Algeria's national football team in the run-up to November's World Cup qualifiers in Cairo. Four members of the Algerian delegation, including three players, were injured in the incident. Algeria's decision to exclude Egypt from its book fair is only the latest twist in a long-running football feud between the two nations, which dates back to a World Cup qualifier 20 years ago in Cairo, when Egypt won 1-0 to ensure its place in the 1990 playoffs in Italy. Several Egyptian institutions, including publishing houses and film production companies, declared a boycott on Algeria last year following events at the World Cup football match. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
