[This is a roundup of news articles and other materials circulating on Egypt and reflects a wide variety of opinions. It does not reflect the views of the Egypt Page Editors or of Jadaliyya. You may send your own recommendations for inclusion in each week's roundup to egypt@jadaliyya.com by Sunday night of every week.]
Political Rights
Over 100 orgs call on governments to establish UN monitoring mechanism on human rights in Egypt
More than hundred leading human rights groups from around the world have called on foreign governments to establish a monitoring and reporting mechanism on the human rights situation in Egypt at the forty-sixth session of the UN Human Rights Council scheduled to begin on February 22.
Lawyer Islam Salama forcibly disappeared for 19 days after remand detention order expires
The whereabouts of lawyer Islam Salama have been unknown for nineteen days, three weeks after an order for his release on bail from a Mahalla prosecution office.
Egypt’s Public Prosecution releases former MP El-Hariri on bail in election bribes inquiry
The Public Prosecution released on Saturday evening former MP Haitham El-Hariri on bail in an inquiry of election bribery, a statement said.
Son of already-detained Juhayna Chairman Safwan Sabet arrested for allegedly ‘financing terrorism’
Egypt’s Supreme State Security Prosecution has ordered a fifteen-day detention of Seif Safwan Sabet for similar charges of his already-detained father, who is the Chairman of the country’s biggest dairy and juice producer Juhayna Food Industries, a statement said on Saturday.
Indefinite Pretrial Detention in Egypt: Rotation and Detention Pending Multiple Cases
In recent years, Egyptian authorities have increasingly turned pretrial detention from an exceptional legal measure to a punitive tool used regularly against human rights defenders, journalists, and individuals perceived to be critical of the government. They have done so both using the law and working outside of it—most recently in reliance on two practices: “rotation” (tadweer) and detention pending multiple cases.
Egyptian security source refutes reports 4 inmates died from coronavirus
A security source has denied reports claiming that four prisoners had died in Egyptian prisons after contracting the coronavirus, accusing a non-Egyptian TV channel of implausibility.
Union head: Hundreds laid off at Spinalex, latest in long-term attenuation of company
All 230 employees have been laid off from the Alexandria Spinning Company’s (Spinalex) branch in Nozha, Alexandria, prompting calls from the sector’s general labor syndicate for the Manpower Ministry to intervene.
Egypt MPs accuse information minister of poor performance, negligence: Report
An eight-page report issued by the Media and Culture Committee at the House of Representatives accused Minister of Information Osama Heikal of poor performance and negligence.
Egypt’s Sisi urges developing programs to qualify imams, preachers
Gomaa reviewed with the president, the ministry’s plan on continuously providing training to imams and teachers through the International Awkaf Academy, said Presidential Spokesman Bassam Radi.
Egypt parliament to vote on the Senate's bylaws; discuss the anti-Heikal report this week
The bylaws however, state that the Senate can hold "special meetings" upon the request of the president or the prime minister to exchange views on issues related to supreme national interests or listen to statements and clarifications on decisions related to the state's internal and external public policies.
9 senior figures dismissed from Wafd Party in purge of opposition faction
Nine senior members of the Wafd Party were summarily dismissed from the party on Tuesday, ridding the liberal party of a faction that has increasingly challenged the leadership of the party’s chair and grown critical of the majority-holding Nation’s Future Party in the newly elected House of Representatives.
Cairo Eye: Will the great wheel of history keep turning?
In the wake of pushback from residents and government officials about the environmental, urban and heritage impacts of the project, many of these same government figures have shirked responsibility for the project in public comments. However, the project continues to inch forward, with construction slated to begin in February, as it has since a previous iteration of the giant wheel from the mid-2000s under Gamal Mubarak’s Cairo 2050 Vision was waylaid by the ouster of his father in the 2011 Revolution.
Egypt’s Administrative Prosecution orders swift referral of building violators to disciplinary trial
Egypt’s Administrative Prosecution Authority ordered on Wednesday the referral of cases of building violations and encroachment on state properties to urgent disciplinary trials.
Form 10: Climbing the bureaucratic ladder to legalize homes in Egypt’s countryside
Following the ratification of the building violation reconciliation law by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in April 2019, the government called on citizens to pay fines to reconcile with the state over building violations. The government initially gave those seeking to settle violations a six-month deadline to complete the reconciliation process, but has extended the deadline more than once.
“Reviviscence”: documentary features Egypt’s long journey to end slums
Shedding light on Egypt's long journey to end unsafe slums crises, DMC channel produced a twenty-nine-minute documentary that reviews how housing projects such as Asmarat and Bashar El khier were a live saving step for more than 150K citizens and families.
In light of the state’s contested one-size-fits-all urban planning, which has faced pushback in the neighborhood of Heliopolis most recently, Mada Masr sat down to discuss the matter with architect Ahmed Mansour, who has worked on projects to revive historic Cairo and was part of a UNESCO team that conducted several studies to revive the capital’s urban heritage.
A plan for grounds belonging to the Abbasseya Psychiatric Hospital to be converted to commercial units rented out by the Military Production Ministry received pushback from the hospital’s staff last week.
Foreign Policy
Egypt-US strategic relations based on mutual interests: FM
Egypt’s foreign minister Sameh Shoukry said on Friday that Egypt and the US enjoy a four-decade-old strategic relationship, adding that Cairo deals in a pragmatic manner with all US administrations -- despite occasional differences in viewpoints -- based on mutual interests.
Amid human rights and foreign policy concerns, Egypt scrambling to reinforce US ties under Biden
In the weeks leading up the US presidential elections in November and through Joe Biden’s victory at the polls, officials in Egypt’s Foreign Ministry were scrambling to prepare for one of the most consequential leadership changes in decades for Cairo’s most important ally.
Ethiopia shows no political will to reach agreement on GERD: Egypt's ambassador to Washington
Ethiopia shows no political will whatsoever to reach an agreement on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), Egyptian ambassador to Washington Moatez Zahran was quoted as saying on Thursday.
Egypt's stance toward Palestinian issue is unwavering, Sisi tells Palestinian counterpart
El-Sisi said that Egypt will continue its "relentless" efforts to coordinate with the Palestinians and international partners to develop a clear vision to push forward the peace process to settle the Palestinian-Israeli issue based on international resolutions and terms of reference.
Egypt to hold new round of Palestinian National Dialogue in March ahead of elections
Egypt will host another meeting of the National Palestinian Dialogue in March to discuss the upcoming steps to be taken for the elections of the National Council in Palestine, the Palestinian factions and groups participating in the National Palestinian Dialogue in Egypt announced on Tuesday.
Egypt’s Sisi receives message from Saudi King Salman tackling issues of mutual concern
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi received on Thursday a written message from Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz that tackled bilateral cooperation on regional and international issues.
Egypt condemns Houthi militia's targeting of Saudi Arabia's Abha airport
Egypt has expressed its condemnation in the “strongest terms” to the Houthi militia’s targeting of Abha International Airport in the south of the sisterly Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, a statement by the Egyptian foreign ministry said on Wednesday.
Egypt aspires for terminating Libyan divisions, Sisi tells new leadership
Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said he hopes the new Libyan leadership will end national divisions. El-Sisi's statement came during phone calls with Mohamed Menfi, head of the newly formed Libyan Presidency Council, and Abdul Hamid Mohammed Dbeibah the newly selected Libyan interim prime minister, on Wednesday.
Egypt seeks to support development efforts in Iraq as part of oil-for-reconstruction mechanism
Egypt is seeking to strengthen cooperation ties with Iraq via supporting development efforts in the country as part of an oil-for-reconstruction agreement reached between Cairo and Baghdad, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly told Iraq’s Foreign Minister Fouad Hussein during their meeting in the Egyptian capital on Monday.
Arab foreign ministers to hold emergency meeting in Cairo Monday
Arab foreign ministers will hold on Monday an emergency meeting at the Arab League (AL) in Cairo to discuss recent developments in the region, means of strengthening Arab solidarity, as well as ways of dealing with the anticipated foreign policies of the new Biden administration in Washington.
Cairo aspires to maintain trilateral coordination with Amman and Baghdad, Sisi tells Jordanian PM
Cairo is looking forward to increasing the ongoing coordination with Jordan at the bilateral level, and within the framework of the two countries’ trilateral cooperation mechanism with Iraq, President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi told Jordanian Prime Minister Bisher Al-Khasawneh on Thursday.
Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said on Thursday that the countries participating in the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum’s (EMGF) meeting, dubbed Philia Forum, seek balanced relations that achieve stability and end crises to ensure that resources are better utilized.
Egypt's FM heads for Athens for meeting on conditions in Eastern Mediterranean
Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry left on Tuesday for Athens at an official invitation of his Greek counterpart Nikos Dendias to participate in a ministerial meeting on conditions in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East.
Egypt, Greece, Cyprus cooperation targets regional peace, prosperity: FMs
The foreign ministers of Egypt, Greece, and Egypt stressed in their meeting in Athens on Friday that cooperation between the three countries is meant to push peace, stability, and prosperity in the region.
Shoukry, Tunisian counterpart discuss bilateral relations, regional issues
During the conversation, the two ministers also discussed methods of activating the existing cooperation frameworks between Egypt and Tunisia as soon as possible.
Economy
“The common factor between the Egyptian Iron and Steel Company and all other steel companies in Egypt is the dysfunctional production capacity,” says a former manager at the Egyptian Iron and Steel Company, which is getting ready to exit the Egyptian market sixty-seven years after its foundation based on the liquidation decision passed just over a month ago.
Egypt’s annual headline inflation drops to 4.8%, the lowest since October: CAPMAS
Egypt’s annual headline inflation rate declined in January to 4.8 percent, down from 6.8 percent in the same month of 2020, the lowest since October, the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) announced on Wednesday.
Approaching government transfer to New Capital spikes property prices by 20%
Following the government announcement of its move to the New Administrative Capital (NAC) in June 2021, real estate development experts expected an increase in land and residential unit prices by as much as 20 percent.
Egypt, France discuss cooperation to provide development finances for current projects
Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat met with a delegation from the French Treasury on Sunday to follow up on the status of current projects and harness new opportunities for cooperation between Egypt and France to provide development financing for green recovery, transportation, housing, sanitation, and health.
Egypt’s public investments increased by 66% in 3 years; education, health investments grew by 170%
Egypt’s public investments increased by sixty-six percent during FY2018/2019 and through to FY2020/2021 compared to the previous three years, which resulted in the implementation of many development initiatives, including “A Decent Life” presidential and the survival boats initiatives, Minister of Planning and Economic Development Hala El-Said revealed.
Egypt part of EU's €7 bln agenda for Mediterranean's recovery from coronavirus
The European Commission and the high representative announced the adoption of a new agenda for the Mediterranean region, including Egypt, the European delegation in Egypt said on Wednesday.
House of Representatives approves EBRD grant to modernize Cairo Metro’s first line
Egypt’s House of Representatives approved on Tuesday a grant agreement for technical assistance between Egypt and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in renovating the first line of the Cairo Metro.
Domestic Security
Egypt’s supply of medical oxygen stable; strategic stock at 1.16 mln litres: Health minister
Egyptian Minister of Health Hala Zayed said on Saturday that Egypt “is in a stable stage” regarding the availability of liquid medical oxygen, stressing that the state’s strategic stock stands at 1.16 million litres, a cabinet statement said.
Egypt extends mid-year vacation for one week over coronavirus concerns
Egypt’s higher committee tasked with managing the coronavirus crisis has decided to extend the mid-year vacation for one more week, a cabinet statement said on Saturday.
Egypt builds concrete security wall to protect popular Red Sea beach resort
Egypt says a recently constructed thirty-six-kilometer concrete and wire barrier encircling Sharm el-Sheikh will help protect tourism at the Red Sea resort on the southern tip of the Sinai peninsula.
Arabic
ما وراء تصفية «الحديد والصلب».. حقائق عن السوق المصري
The article examines the reasons behind the decision to liquidate the Egyptian Iron and Steel Company.
الأزهر في السياسة: محطات نادرة من الانحياز للشعب
The article discusses the role of Al-Azhar in Egyptian political life.
Lawyer Khaled Ali has filed a lawsuit against the Egyptian President, Prime Minister and Minister of Health, demanding free vaccines to citizens.
Political prisoner Mohamed al-Qassas, deputy president of Strong Egypt Party, has been subject to violations in prison, according to his wife.