CAIRO: Egyptian public persecutors announced the freezing of land in Toshka, Upper Egypt, owned by Saudi millionaire Prince al-Waleed Bin Talal. Prosecutors had been investigating the selling of land and financial transactions between the main landowners in the area and the Mubarak era's Minister of Agriculture Yussef Wali. The Prince's tenure amounts to 100,000 feddans (420 millions square meters) and was acquired in 1998 following plans to carry out a main development project to create 540,000 feddans (220 millions square meters) of new fertile land in Egypt's Western Desert. “Investigations revealed that the contract contained unknown provisions that violated the law and gave the company unjustified benefits,” public prosecutor's spokesman Adel al-Saeed wrote in a statement. Saudi Prince Bin Talal owned Egyptian land through the Kingdom Agricultural Development Company (KADCO) as part of the Kingdom Holding Company (KHC) listed on Riyadh's Stock Market. The contract entitled Bin Talal to outright ownership of land, “in violation of rules stipulating that the land must be completely reclaimed and planted within five years,” added Saeed. Former Agriculture Minister Wali signed the contract, allowing Prince Bin Talal to a complete the deal tax and fees exempted. Moreover, the actual land amount turned out to double the measure allowed by rules on private ownership. The Saudi billionaire tops the Forbes' list of the wealthiest Arabs with a fortune amounting to $19.6 billion. He recently met Egyptian government representative and offered to pay $4 billion in exchange for the dismissal of charges against Mubarak and his family, published newspaper al-Watan online. Prosecution of Mubarak and his family is one of the main requests driving thousands of Egyptian to resume protests in Tahrir square since Friday. In related news, General Prosecutor Abdel Meguid Mahmoud had been investigating on Wali's performance as Agriculture Minister in the Mubarak era since February. Mahmoud finally announced on Sunday that Wali's assets and those of former Minister of Petrol Sameh Fahmy and his wife will be frozen. He also issued a travel ban against them. Wali was heavily criticized for importing carcinogenic pesticides into Egypt and implementing policies that led to a drop in the contribution of agriculture to the GDP and diminished the amount of available arable land in the country, reported al-Masry al-Youm. Nonetheless, he denounces any charges, saying he was only trying to attract foreign investment in the country. Terms for land tenure has dramatically changed after Mubarak's 1992 land reform. As part of a general de-Nasserization of State laws, the reform deprived tenants of a system of guarantees and allowed a 5-year transition period during which landowners could retake land from tenants and levy a market-oriented rental system at higher prices. The liberalization of land market aimed to increase exports, raise agricultural production and prices. In realty, reforms allowed the selling of state-owned land to private investors, increased poverty rates, diminished tenants and small-landowners rights and opened door to the highest level of encroachment in internal affairs by International Financial Institutions (IFI) like the World Bank and International monetary Fund (IMF). The Toshka Valley development program funded by Prince Waleed has met much opposition in this regard, as “it highlights the fantasy of a flawed national agricultural strategy and subordination of policy to external financial control, asset stripping and state subsidy to local crony investors,” wrote Professor of African Studies at Leeds University Ray Bush. The project would exploit some 10 percent of Nile water, determining dramatic decreases of water availability in the Nile Valley and sharpening existing competition for access to drinkable water in the Delta Region. BM
