Egypt refers former PM, finance minister to court

Reuters

Sun, 17/04/2011 - 19:47

Photographed by other

Archived

• 1

Egypt referred on Sunday its former prime minister and finance minister to court on charges of squandering public funds, the public prosecutor's office said.

Former Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif is now detained for investigations and Youssef Boutrous Ghali, the former finance minister, is abroad.

Habib el-Adly, the former interior minister, who is already facing trial on charges of killing protesters and graft, will be tried on the same charges.

Political forces welcome official demise of former ruling party

Arabic Edition

Sun, 17/04/2011 - 19:56

Photographed by Ahmed Ramadan

• 1

Political parties and the Muslim Brotherhood group all welcomed the decision of the Supreme Administrative Court on Sunday to dissolve the former ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), liquidate its funds and return its assets to the ownership of the state.

“The middle management of that party financed the counter-revolution,” said the Wafd Party spokesman in Alexandria, adding that his party will request that the government ban former NDP members of parliament and local councils from running in elections for five years.

Muslim Brotherhood member Saber Abul Fotouh said that although the decision was late, it represented a positive step in the political reform process.

The Civil Democratic Coalition, which includes 29 political parties, welcomed the decision, and held the NDP responsible for corrupting political life in Egypt.

The Free Front for Peaceful Change described the decision as “historic” and called for expediting its implementation.

Dr. Nabil al-Garhy, head of the Doctors Syndicate in Minya, said the decision proves that the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces is keen on meeting the revolution’s demands for political reform.

Karama Party coordinator Magdi Zaabal said “the decision removed a big burden off the chests of Egyptians that was pressing them for 30 years.”

Egypt ministers face corruption charges

Public prosecutor targets country's former premier and former finance and interior ministers. Last Modified: 17 Apr 2011 17:57

Nazif, seen as fronting free-market reforms in Egypt, now faces corruption charges [Reuters] Egypt's former prime minister and his finance minister are to face trial on charges of corruption and squandering public money, according to the country's public prosecutor. The prosecutor's office made the announcement on Sunday, but no date has yet been set for the trial. Ahmed Nazif, the former premier, is currently in prison, while Youssef Boutrous Ghali, the former finance minister, is abroad. Habib el-Adli, the former interior minister, who is already facing trial on charges of killing protesters and graft, will be tried on the same charges. The three, along with a German businessman, are accused of illegal profiteering from a deal to import new vehicle number plates. They allegedly bought the number plates directly without calling for a public tender as laid down by law, and also allegedly paid more for the number plates than the market price. The deal is thought to have cost the state more than $16m in lost revenue. Widening investigation Many investors regard Nazif and Boutros-Ghali the driving forces behind free-market reforms in Egypt that helped boost economic growth to around an annual seven per cent in the three years before the 2008 global economic crisis. But for many Egyptians, the two were part of Egypt's corrupt ruling elite and the military - which has governed Egypt since February when pro-democracy protests ousted Hosni Mubarak, the former Egyptian president - are keen to show they are committed to holding members of the previous government to account. The protests, which saw violent clashes between protesters and Mubarak's loyalists and security forces, left an estimated 800 people dead and more than 6,000 injured. Mubarak is in hospital in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, where he fled with his family during the protests that brought the end of his presidency. Although hospitalised last week following a heart attack, he has been remanded in custody in connection with the shooting of protesters. His two sons, Alaa and Gamal, are in the Tora prison complex in the capital, and face similar accusations. Former finance minister Boutros-Ghali is the nephew of Boutros Boutros-Ghali, the former UN chief, and held a senior post in the International Monetary Fund. 'Normal succession' In another development on Sunday, Sherif Cararah, the head of Egyptian bank EFG-Hermes, resigned his position. The bank said that Carah's resignation had been long planned, calling it a "normal succession", but the move still dented the stock price. Widening investigations into charges of corruption by businessmen and government officials under have made many of Egypt's business elite jittery. EFG has come under the spotlight for its association with Gamal Mubarak, who owns 18 per cent of the investment bank's subsidiary EFG-Hermes Private Equity. The subsidiary generates no more than seven per cent of EFG Hermes Holding's total revenue, EFG has said. The chairman of another Egyptian financial company, private equity firm Citadel Capital, was banned on Thursday from travel pending investigations into corruption allegations.

Source: Agencies

Yemeni troops 'open fire on protesters'

Reports of more clashes come as leaders of opposition bloc head to Saudi Arabia to discuss transition of power. Last Modified: 17 Apr 2011 16:44

Anti-government protesters in Yemen remain unsatisfied with Saleh's attempts at compromise [Reuters] Forces loyal to Ali Abdullah Saleh, the Yemeni president, have opened fire at an anti-government protest march in the capital Sanaa, wounding at least four people, witnesses say. They said the shooting began when they tried to march in a street outside their normal protest zone on Sunday. Wounded people were being rushed to hospital in ambulances and private cars. Security forces deployed heavily in Sanaa where hundreds of thousands of men and women took to the streets in protest against Saleh's call for an end to men and women joining together in anti-regime protests, and calling for his overthrow. Protesters also took to the streets in the cities of Taiz and Ibb, south of Sanaa, and the Red Sea city of Al-Hudaydah, the organisers said. Saleh has struck a defiant tone by calling the opposition liars and bandits. He also appealed to religious sensitivities in the conservative Muslim country by criticising the mixing of unrelated men and women among Sanaa protesters. The remarks enraged many Yemeni women, who took to the streets in their thousands in across the country on Saturday to protest against his comments, saying women's participation in protests was a religious duty. Transitional talks Against this backdrop of continued unrest, Joint Meeting Parties, an opposition coalition formed in 2002, has said it would send a delegation to Saudi Arabia on Sunday to discuss with Gulf Arab ministers the transition of power in their country. "We have requested this meeting with the GCC states' foreign ministers to explain our points of view on the Gulf initiative," Yassin Noman, an opposition leader, told Reuters. He said Mohammed Basindwa, a former foreign minister, would head the delegation. Opposition leaders previously refused to join Gulf-mediated talks with Saleh's representatives, saying they wanted to force him out within two weeks, because the Gulf plan did not include a quick or clear timetable for the transition of power. The youth movement, which plays a prominent role in the anti-government demonstrations, said it remains unwilling to take part in any talks before president Saleh's departure. The Gulf plan announced a week ago appeared to promise Saleh immunity from prosecution, an issue that had proved a stumbling block in earlier talks that stalled. Saleh accepted the Gulf talks framework the next day. More than 116 protesters have been killed in clashes with security forces since late January, and there are fears that the violence could escalate in the country, at least half of whose 23 million people own a gun.

Source: Agencies

Italy angry as France blocks migrant trains

France shuts border to trains from Italy to stop north African migrants and political activists from entering country. Last Modified: 17 Apr 2011 17:23

Migrants wait for residence permits to enable them to go to France, at the police station of Ventimiglia [EPA] France has shut its border to trains from Italy in an attempt to stop north African migrants and political activists from entering the country. The action drew a formal protest on Sunday from Rome and accusations it was violating European principles. A group of French and Italian activists had planned to board what they had dubbed The Train of Dignity in the Italian border town of Ventimiglia in support of migrants trying to cross the border. About 60 mainly Tunisian migrants were at the station seeking passage to France, and were given sandwiches and drinks by support groups. Italian railway and border police said France was preventing all trains passing the Ventimiglia-Menton border. Franco Frattini, Italy's foreign minister, instructed the country's ambassador in Paris to express "the firm protest of the Italian government to the French authorities", a foreign ministry statement said. France's actions appear to be "illegitimate and in clear violation of general European principles", it said. Speaking to Al Jazeera from Rome, Maurizio Caprara, the diplomatic correspondent for Corriere Della Sera, an Italian newspaper, said both governments were being influenced in their actions by upcoming election campaigns. Caprara said: "The French have an electoral campaign in 2012, Nicolas Sarkozy has the problem of Jean-Marie Le Pen and his Front National, that is strongly against foreign immigration. "And in Italy we will have a partial term of administrative elections in which the Northern League is particularly active against this flow of immigration that recently came in Italy." 'Incomprehensible' Italy has complained about being "left alone" by European Union partners to deal with thousands of mainly Tunisian migrants who have arrived on its southern island of Lampedusa in recent weeks, fleeing political turmoil in North Africa. It has began issuing migrants with temporary permits allowing them to leave Italy to travel to other destinations in Europe, a policy which has been criticised by several of its partners, including France and Germany. Some of the countries in the 27-nation EU are worried that offering shelter to too many migrants will encourage more to attempt illegal entry to Europe. Roberto Maroni, Italy's interior minister, said in a television interview on Sunday that France's stance was "incomprehensible" and "tough and unjustified towards Italy". He said he hoped "friendly relations" could be re-established with France at a summit meeting on April 26, where immigration will be near the top of the agenda. Hundreds of Italian demonstrators gathered at the station at Ventimiglia to protest against France's actions, chanting anti-French slogans and trying to persuade police to allow them to demonstrate outside the French consulate at Menton. A French interior ministry spokesman told Italian news agency ANSA that the decision to block the trains was a temporary measure taken for safety reasons due to the demonstrations around the station. Italian protests against France crossed the political divide, with Mario Tullo, a politician from the opposition Democrats of the Left party saying its decision to block the trains was "illegal" and "absurd", and contravened EU treaties. Earlier this month, the interior ministers of France and Germany agreed to set up joint patrols off the Tunisian coast to deter would-be migrants and Rome has also pledged assistance to Tunisia to try to halt the flow.

Source: Agencies

Finnish anti-euro party makes election gains

Ruling National Coalition party remains biggest party with 43 seats, but nationalist True Finns up from six to 39 seats. Last Modified: 17 Apr 2011 19:14

Timo Soini, leader of the True Finns party, celebrates the election results [EPA] Finland's anti-euro True Finns party has made big gains in parliamentary elections, threatening the pro-European government and raising the risk of disruption to an EU bailout of Portugal. With 99 per cent of votes counted, the largest vote-winner was the conservative National Coalition party (NCP), part of the current centre-right government and a strong advocate for European integration. But with 43 seats it had only one more than the opposition Social Democrats, while the True Finns had taken 39 seats in the 200-member parliament, up from six in the previous election in 2007. As the votes were counted, Timo Soini, the leader of the True Finns, said: "This is really good. This is a historic change.'' Finland, unlike others in the eurozone, can put requests for bailout funds to a majority vote in parliament, meaning that the election outcome may affect EU plans to shore up Portugal and stability in debt markets. "This result will give Europe gray hairs,'' political analyst Olavi Borg said. "It will cause them problems over the bailout funds." Some analysts said the NCP could work with the True Finns if the nationalist and anti-immigration party party backed down from their opposition to EU bailout plans. Jan Vapaavuori, an NCP minister, played down on Friday fears of a new anti-euro government, saying any coalition that is formed would support the EU. The True Finns, he said, would probably tone down its rhetoric as a condition of joining government. The Social Democrats, who are critical of the bailout plan but supportive of the EU, would be even easier to get on board, he said. The True Finns have said they have no intention of backing down from their opposition to the bailout plan, but political analysts said the party and Soini would probably compromise if needed. Finland is presently governed by an EU-friendly four-party coalition led by Mari Kiviniemi's, the prime minister, Centre party and the NCP. Kiviniemi's party dropped 15 seats and a quarter of the support it had in the last election. "It would appear to be a crushing defeat for us,'' she said, adding her party would go into opposition. A scandal over political funding had hurt the Centre party, and unemployment has also driven voter angst. The economy's recent rebound from the global financial crisis had also done little to increase the number of jobs.

Source: Agencies

Soldiers rampage through Burkina Faso town

Mutinous troops loot shops in Po, south of the capital, in protest against president over housing and food allowances. Last Modified: 17 Apr 2011 15:58

Anti-riot gendarmes have been deployed in Ouagadougou, the capital, where a curfew was announced on Sunday [AFP] Mutinous soldiers have rampaged through a southern town in Bukina Faso as the revolt against Blaise Compaore, the West African nation's ruler, enters its fourth day. Soldiers at a military garrison in Po, near the Ghana border, fired in the air, looting and seizing private vehicles, residents told the AFP news agency. Two people were injured in the firing, a hospital source said. Po, about 140km south of Ouagadougou, the capital, houses a training school for Burkinabe military officers. The government said the soldiers were protesting over payment of housing and daily food allowances. "These were young soldiers and there were at least 300 of them," another resident of the town told the Reuters news agency. "They are moving through town and they continue to fire in the air. They are taking people's motor bikes and cars and breaking up shops," he said. Burkina Faso's government warned on Sunday that it would take action against anyone using illegal arms with "the full force of the law". "For several days, soldiers and civilians ... have been using firearms in violation of regulations," the security ministry said in a statement. "This state of affairs will not be tolerated in a state with the rule of law." The ministry said it was demanding "strict respect for rules on the use of military and civilian arms and munitions" and warned that "all offenders will face the full force of the law". Curfew Soldiers in Ouagadougou began shooting at the presidential compound late on Thursday, sparking two nights of looting by soldiers. Hundreds of traders rioted and set fire to the headquarters of Burkina Faso's ruling party on Saturday, in protest against the soldiers looting their shops. The defence ministry announced a curfew in Ouagadougou from 7pm on Saturday to 6am on Sunday, while France warned its citizens not to travel to the country. "The situation in Burkina Faso, especially Ouagadougou, is currently marked by tension due to the soldier's protest," the French foreign ministry said, adding that travellers also faced an increased risk of highway robbery and kidnapping. The mutiny prompted the president to sack his government, the army chief and his head of presidential security. Compaore, who came to power in a 1987 military coup, has faced a series of protests since February, staged first by students and then by soldiers. He won a new five-year term in office after taking 80 per cent of the votes in November elections. Tens of thousands of people marched in Ouagadougou last week against the high cost of living. The country ranks 161 out of 169 countries on the UN Human Development Index, a composite measure of the quality of life. Shops, banks and petrol stations have remained shut since Thursday.

Source: Agencies