CAIRO: Tamer Abdel Moneim, who heads the company responsible for organizing the Akon concert at the Opera House last weekend, was released from police custody on LE 10,000 bail on Saturday. Abdel Moneim had been arrested on the same day for allegedly being responsible for the collapse of a podium designed for VIP audiences during the concert, causing several injuries. However, May Maged, Abdel Moneim's assistant, denied that her employer was ever in police custody. She explained that the issue was settled, and blamed the supplier of the stage equipment for the partial collapse. While media reports said that six people were injured, Maged said that it was only four, adding that the injuries were minor. What happened in the concert, she continued, was blown out of proportion, with people "overreacting. Officials and media reports had cited unstable structure and over attendance for the collapse of the stage. Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni on Friday had asked the administrative court to investigate the incident. He also demanded that Opera House officials must exercise more oversight of events held there, even if the venue is rented out to another event organizer. Many of the organizations whose names have been associated with the event were quick to dissociate themselves from the mishaps, pointing the fingers of blame on others they had outsourced. The Opera House's media consultant Mona Moatamed told Daily News Egypt that the Cairo Opera House played no role in the organization or management of the event that took place in the parking area of the Opera grounds last Thursday. She said Abdel Moneim had declined to share organization responsibilities with the Opera House, making his company in full charge of the event. In earlier press reports, Abdel Moneim had said that Opera House officials had supervised the process of setting up the stage, make several observations. Mou'tamed added that disorganization had resulted from over crowdedness, with attendees over the recommended limit. She said that audience members ddin't respect the partitions dividing holders of the differently-priced tickets. There were reports that some people had paid gate guards to let them in to the concert. AAIPC, a subsidiary of Tarek Nour Communication whose name was associated with the concert, was also quick to disassociate themselves from the disorganization that marred the event. The company ran an ad on the front page of state-run Al Ahram saying it was only responsible for the promotion of the concert. "The company is not responsible for the unfortunate incidents which some audience members experienced due to the indifference to audience safety. The company will take legal action against those responsible in jeopardizing audience safety, the ad read. In a phone interview with Daily News Egypt, Wael Mansour, an employee in Tarek Nour Communication, reiterated the same words. Mansour stressed that his firm has no legal responsibilities as they were not in charge of setting up the stage and that their contributioni was limited to sorting out the sponsors' location and setting up posters and flyers in the event grounds. "It was not our place to interfere with the setting up of the stage as it got the Opera inspector's approval. Our employees were also hurt in the collapse Mansour said. He said that the company was unjustly blamed for the disorganization. Mou'tamed voiced her concern for a lack of suitable venues for open air concerts in Egypt; that are able to successfully absorb the increasingly bigger crowds coming to such concerts.
