CAIRO: A convoy of Egyptian lawyers, artists and public figures hoping to defuse the tension between Egypt and Algeria in the aftermath of the WC qualifier in Khartoum last month, is planning a reconciliation trip to Algeria. Refusing the volleyball of abuse and defamation between the two nations, El Sanhoury online forum (mohamoon-arab.com), which brings together Arab lawyers, judges and rights advocates, launched the initiative under the slogan "The people will endure. The initiative aims "to fix what the Egyptian and Algerian mobs have broken through dialogue with Algerian thinkers and politicians. The details of the trip will be announced during a press conference on Sunday Dec. 6 and is being held in coordination with Algerian members of parliament, the Lawyers' Syndicate and media figures who are welcoming the move. Lawyer Montassir El-Zayat told Daily News Egypt,"We are not going there to apologize, but to converse, because we believe that what political diplomacy has ruined can be fixed by public diplomacy. He added that the group is aware that it is not an easy mission and that "we are expecting criticism from mobs in Egypt and Algeria, because they are not concerned about Arab unity. He claimed that both the opposition and the ruling NDP as well as members of the media have criticized the move. "We don't want things to get out of hand, he said, "we do respect Egypt's outrage, but that doesn't mean we should cut the relations between both nations..Many Algerians brag that they are French, while Egyptians claim they are Pharaohs, lets stop those labels and focus on Arab unity. He recalled how Egyptians fought alongside their Algerian brethren against their French occupiers and how Algerians fought with Egypt in the 1973 war with Israel. "Algeria also funded Egypt during the 1967 setback with thousands of dollars, El Zayat said. Relations between Egypt and Algeria went on a downward spiral last month first in Cairo when Egypt won a WC game against Algeria, then in Khartoum after the decider when Egyptian fans were attacked by their Algerian counterparts even though the Algerians had won the game to qualify for the 2010 World Cup. A war of words erupted between the media of both countries with calls for a sports and cultural boycott.
