CAIRO: The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs unveiled the secret of the U.S. white diplomatic car that ran over demonstrators during the January 25 Revolution. The Ministry said diplomatic cars were found burnt in the Sour el-Eyoun area of the Old Cairo. It was one of 12 stolen diplomatic cars from the U.S. garage, said the Assistant Foreign Minister for ceremonies, Ahsraf el-Kholi, during a press conference. Kholi said the military police spotted diplomatic cars in front of the Diplomatic Club in Cairo during the first days of the revolution although the club was closed. Kholi asked the diplomat to bring him a list of the stolen cars, which the embassy provided three days later. Some of the stolen cars were found in different areas of Egypt. In related story, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced certain rules and principles to prevent monopolizing and trading diplomatic cars in Egypt. Tuesday, Kholi unveiled rules related to manipulation and illegal trading in diplomatic cars, and illegal actions relate to the sale of the cars by brokers profiteering from it. The announced rules and principles include: 1. Foreign Embassies should adhere to license automobiles as diplomatic cars, not private cars. 2. Anyone does not belonging to the Embassy should not use its diplomatic car. 3. The Embassy should announce the cars allowed to be sold and the cars not allowed to be sold. 4. Obtaining permission form the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs before selling diplomatic cars. 5. Conducting sales before the car owner travels outside the country. 6. Ensuring all tickets on the car are paid before the sale of the diplomatic car. 7. The license plate of diplomatic cars should be delivered to the concerned Traffic Administration after the sale. 8. If the diplomatic car sold during the first five years, sales tax should be paid. The car is tax-exempt after these five years. The rules aim to combat the cases of custom duty evasion by diplomats. The diplomatic cars have immunity, but some people exploit this to get high expensive cars with low prices, Kholi noted. A committee is to be formed by certain representatives from the Egyptian Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Finance, and Interior, as well as the Egyptian Customs Authority to discuss all aspects of this topic. Egypt will not agree on foreign diplomats' requests to buy very expensive brand name cars that are not suitable for diplomatic duties, such as cars that exceed a million EGP (U.S $168,000). The Egyptian Foreign Ministry notified all Egyptian embassies and missions worldwide of these rules and principles. Egypt has 140 foreign embassies, and 70 international and national organizations, he added. The U.S. embassy in Egypt was its biggest embassy in the world, until the inauguration of the American embassy in Iraq. These rules were accepted by the Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs and will be referred to the Egyptian Cabinet. Arabic here
