CAIRO - That the fugitive multimillionaire Hussein Salem, dubbed Mubarak's ‘Black Box', has been arrested in Madrid should prompt the Egyptians to shift their mass demonstrations from Al Tahrir Square to the residence of the Spanish Ambassador in Cairo - 41, Ismail Mohamed St., Zamalek. One million Egyptians should start camping outside the Spanish Embassy. They should call upon the Spanish Ambassador to ask his government in Madrid to hand over wealthy fugitive businessman Salem, so he can stand trial in Cairo. It was surprising that only tens of Egyptians held protests on Friday at the Spanish Embassy. One million demonstrators should not leave before the Spanish Embassy gives in to their pressure. The frustrated Egyptian people, who could only watch helplessly as Hosni Mubarak and his cronies pillaged their ambitions and money, should also contact civil societies in Madrid and other Spanish cities to mount pressure on their government for the same purpose. The global popularity of the Egyptian revolution should be exploited in Spain. A couple of weeks ago, one of Madrid's major squares was packed with tens of thousands of protesters, demonstrating against their government's austerity measures, designed to overcome the economic crisis. Displaying their acknowledgement of and support for the Egyptian revolution, the Spaniards renamed the square after Al Tahrir Square in Cairo. Known for their excellent relations with the Egyptians, the Spanish people won't let us down. They won't ignore our appeals to have Salem arrested and investigated for his alleged role in a huge scam in Egypt during Mubarak's 30-year reign. If the Spanish Ambassador ignores the headache caused to his neighbours and Traffic Police, and refuses to ask his Government for help, the next thing to do is organising a mass boycott of Spanish products. If this second step has no effect, we should come to the conclusion that EU member states, including Spain, are not sincere about helping to nurse a bruised and bleeding Egyptian nation, deeply wounded by its disgraced president and his accomplices. The third step should involve suspending our cultural, intellectual and democratic co-operation and partnership with Spain. Parallel to this third step, we Egyptians, regardless of our painful economic hardships, should convince our insincere donors that we can depend on our own resources to survive these temporary difficulties. The package of economic and financial aid offered by Washington and the EU to help bail out our national economy should not allow ‘friends' to stop us calling for the return of fugitive suspects who have done us an immense injustice. Refusing to hand over these suspects is an insult to our judiciary, known for its independence and neutrality. I am pretty sure that the Spanish people, many of whom made the ultimate sacrifice under the oppressive reign of General Franco before his death in 1975, will empathise with us. The boycotting of foreign goods proved effective when a Danish cartoonist abusively illustrated the Prophet Mohamed. The same measures should also be applied to the British government, which, in co-operation with Egypt's former regime, refused to hand over fugitive terrorists, businesspeople and other lawbreakers, who slipped out of Egypt and were given somewhere nice to stay in London and its suburbs. Exploiting the generosity of and warm welcome from the British Government, the community of Egyptian lawbreakers in London is rapidly increasing. The latest additions to this community include ex-Minister of Finance Youssef Boutros Ghali and ex-Minister of Trade and Industry Rashid Mohamed Rashid. The US, France and any other countries, which behave in a similar fashion should also expect a mass boycotting of their products and cultures in Egypt. Foreign countries which refuse to hand over these suspects need to realise that the money they have deposited in Western banks is stained with the blood of frustrated young Egyptians, who were injured or killed for freedom in Al Tahrir Square and elsewhere in Egypt. Salem was so close to Mubarak that he must surely possess the password which could give the miserable Egyptian nation access to the billions of US dollars the Mubarak family and their accomplices spirited overseas. Mubarak and Salem gained more notoriety when they allegedly conspired with Israeli partners to sell Egypt's natural gas to Israel for a crazily cheap price. Ex-Minister of Oil Eng. Sameh Fahmi is standing criminal trial for approving the outrageous contract for the gas. The pipeline for conveying natural gas across Sinai to Israel has been blown up twice. Cairo is also said to have entered serious talks with Israel and other parties to hike the price of this commodity. Because of his strong ties with the Israelis, Salem's arrest in Madrid may be a manoeuvre concocted by his Israeli friends to help him escape trial and indictment in Egypt. Salem had apparently arranged his ‘great escape' years before Mubarak stepped down. Knowing that he'd be in serious trouble if anything happened to Mubarak, Salem applied successfully for Spanish citizenship. When Mubarak was forced to step down on February 11, Israeli leaders and politicians acknowledged the great help he had given the Jewish State when he was in power. The traumatised Israeli leaders described Mubarak as ‘a strategic treasure' that they lost when he was finally ousted.
