CAIRO: The People's Assembly s (PA) committee of Religious Affairs and Endowments recently discussed a proposal to establish a new independent Islamic channel, according to committee member Sheikh Mahmoud Hamdy Megahed. In addition to Arabic, the channel's programming will be in an array of foreign languages. Megahed told Daily News Egypt that this proposal was initiated during the PA's last parliamentary session and is to be re-discussed and "decided upon in the coming session. "The proposal was accepted by Dr Ahmed Omar Hashem [chairman of the PA's committee of Religious Affairs and Endowments], Megahed said. Only "authorized Islamic scholars, who are approved by Al-Azhar Islamic institution will be involved in the channel's programming, Megahed said. "We have no problem in finding highly qualified Islamic scholars and scientists; our country is full of them. On the other hand, the government did not react to Hashem's decision, which was also announced at the meeting, to decrease the fees of the 10,000 Hajj (pilgrimage) visas that the PA's members acquire through tourism companies every year. Hashem was able to get the majority of the votes of the committee's members in favor of this new project. Hashem also asked to increase the number of free visas given to each member, yet he called on all members "to distribute those visas fairly among the citizens in the areas they represent in parliament.
