CAIRO: Abdel Moneim Saeed, head of Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, has officially taken over Al-Ahram Institution from former chairman of the board, Morsi Attallah. The Shoura Council announced that Saeed was appointed last June since Attallah will retire. "The coming period will be a time for studying, pondering and delving deep into the practical reality of Al-Ahram Organization, Saeed told Daily News Egypt. "I used to work at Al-Ahram Center so I don't have a thorough analysis of the organization as a whole, he added. Saeed plans to develop the organization and make use of all its resources. "Al-Ahram is rich culturally and ideologically and it needs a thorough enhancement and modernization operation and to release the many talents inside which have been suppressed for a number of unknown reasons, he explained. "Al-Ahram will maintain its leading and influential position in thoughts, culture and politics, Saeed assured. Board member of Al-Ahram, Ahmed El-Naggar said that we should not have preconceived expectations of Saeed, "We have to leave him to implement his vision and then evaluate it. El-Naggar, who is also an economics expert at Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, lauded Saeed with whom he worked closely. "He is a man with great scientific value, he is a great intellect, as the head of Al-Ahram Center he welcomed different opinions and we used to discuss everything in a democratic and respectful manner. El-Naggar also finds Attallah an exceptional leader on account of his accomplishments for the organization. "Al-Ahram was able to make a profit of over LE 448 million last year, in addition all debts were paid off [.] Attallah was able to get us out of the state of corruption the organization was in during Ibrahim Nafie's leadership, he explained. In an editorial in Al-Ahram newspaper yesterday, Attallah summarized what he accomplished as chairman of Al-Ahram during the last two years and 30 days. He ended the column by saying, "I thank God that I'm passing the torch to a dear colleague from Al-Ahram family who has enlightened thought which I'm certain he will make use of well in continuing the journey and building what hasn't been built. Attallah has had his share of supporters and critics, and the organization has gone through a number of crises during his tenure, the most notable of which was the crisis with a group of journalists last March. A group called "Journalists for Al-Ahram protested the board's controversial decision to prohibit journalists at the state-owned newspaper to work for any other media organization. Internal conflicts resulted as the group clashed with print house workers, engineers and managers who defended Attallah. "We have had a lot of disagreements with Attallah so we are glad that he left and this is not because we hate him but because we love the law and we want to see it enforced, said Diaa Rashwan, spokesperson for the Journalists for Al-Ahram and Islamic movements expert at Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies. Rashwan is looking forward to Saeed's tenure. "We want reform and if he is able to accomplish that he will have the support of everyone at Al-Ahram, he said. Rashwan who has been working with Saeed for the past 15 years at the center praised his management as the head; however he acknowledged that leading an organization such as Al-Ahram is completely different from leading a research center. "He has a lot of challenges ahead, especially since he has continuously talked about good management and reform, he said.
