Egypt: Mubarak trials resume

The trials of Hosni Mubarak and his family, as well as some of his cronies, have resumed amid moves to accelerate the process. There has been much resentment at the way the trials have been stretched out, leading to suspicions that senior members of the Supreme Council for the Armed Forces (SCAF) hope that Mubarak will die before he can be found guilty.

The prosecutors are showing some determination, and this week accused Mubarak of being a corrupt tyrant who had devoted his last ten years in office trying to ensure that his son Gamal succeeded him. They said that he had ordered the killing of protesters when the demonstrations broke out early last year and have announced that they seeking the death sentence.

AFP reports prosecutor Mustafa Khater as saying: “The law foresees the death penalty for premeditated murder.” Given the severity of the charges, seeking the death penalty was always a possibility, but many Egyptians will be shocked to hear the demand put so bluntly for the first time in the trial.

Earlier, both head of SCAF, Mohamed HusseinTantawi, and ex-head of intelligence, Omar Sulaiman, had testified that Mubarak had not ordered security forces to open fire on demonstrators in early 2011 (860 died).

Although there is a popular belief that the Mubaraks salted away billions of dollars, the prosecution said that Alaa and Gamal had illegal assets of rather less: US$340 million.

For more news and expert analysis about Egypt, please see Egypt Politics & Security.

© 2012 Menas Associates

Egypt: Former interior minister Habib Al-Adly sentenced to 12 years in prison

Egypt's former interior minister Habib Al-Adly was sentenced to 12 years in jail on charges of money-laundering and profiteering on Thursday 5th May.

Al-Adly is the first senior official from the regime of ousted president Hosni Mubarak to be tried. He pleaded not guilty to charges of money-laundering and illicitly enriching himself while in office, but was convicted of both.

Al-Adly ran Mubarak's security services for more than a decade and was despised for abuses committed by his security agents, according to AFP. Under his rule, torture was routine and police officers were seldom tried for abuses of power.

Mubarak was forced to resign from power in February after 18 days of demonstrations. Al-Adly's police forces were a particular target for demonstrators during the first days of the protests, a sign of how they were perceived by the populace.

The charges that Al-Adly were convicted of related to the sale of land, which he owned, but tasked the police with finding a buyer for. He was given seven years for profiteering and five years for money-laundering. He was also fined 15 million Egyptian pounds (US$2 million).

He also faces a second trial on charges of ordering police to shoot protestors, and a third over a deal with a German firm to supply Egypt with licence plates at inflated prices.

Former president Mubarak is also under investigation for corruption and for involvement in the killing of anti-regime protestors. Both al-Adly and Mubarak could face the death penalty if convicted of the latter charge.

An official inquiry into deaths during the revolt of January and February found that at least 846 civilians were killed. Most of them were shot in the head and chest, indicating the use of snipers.

Much of the former regime's leadership are now behind bars, most of them on suspicion or charges of corruption. Mubarak's two sons Gamal and Alaa are currently in prison, while Mubarak is being detained in a hospital in Sharm el-Sheikh, after allegedly suffering a heart attack.

Sources: AFP, BBC News

For more news and expert analysis about Egypt, please see Egypt Politics & Security.

Hosni Mubarak detained in hospital

Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak has been placed under detention in his hospital room. His two sons, Gamal and Alaa, have also been detained and will be questioned in due course.

The news has been greeted with cheers by the opposition leaders responsible for brining down Mubarak's administration in February. Egypt's prosecutor general has detained the former president and his two sons, ahead of the impending investigation. Mubarak is reportedly suffering with heart problems and is in an "unstable condition".

The protests in Egypt have continued with tens of thousans of protesters staging weekly Friday demonstration in Tahrir Square. The Egyptian people are demanding that Mubarak be put on trial for the deaths of their fellow protesters and alleged abuse of power during his three decade reign.

It is estimated that around 360 people have been killed during the protests and hundreds more injured. Opposition within Egypt, however, is primarily concerted with the Mubarak family's wealth and how it was obtained. Experts claim that most of it was acquired through corrupt business dealings; others suggest that Gamal and Alaa, used their political clout to pressured domestic companies into giving them shares without paying the market price.

Some opposition groups have expressed suspicions over the timing of Mubarak's heart problems as initial reports indicated he was well enough to undergo questioning. The former Egyptian leader has rarely been seen since his departure in February, and has reportedly been staying at his holiday villa in Sharm El-Sheikh.

Sources: BBC, The Guardian, Boston Globe

For more news and expert analysis about Egypt, please see Egypt Politics & Security.

Conspiracy theorist believe the next Egyptian president will be Washington's man

It is widely believed by conspiracy theorists in the Middle East, and there are many, that the next president of Egypt must enjoy the blessing of the US. This is not a view that emerges out of the latest batch of cables from the US embassy in Cairo released by WikiLeaks.

What the cables reveal is the assessment of successive US ambassadors to Egypt that President Mubarak is someone who will not be pushed around on matters of human rights, democratisation or other aspects of how Egypt runs its affairs. And furthermore, that the successive ambassadors do not pretend to know who might be the next president after Mubarak. A number of names are put forward as possibilities: the president's younger son Gamal; the intelligence chief Omar Suleiman; the “charismatic” head of the Arab League, Amr Mousa [this was back in 2007]; or some unknown military man.

It has been said that President Mubarak will not step down but is more likely to die in office.

In addition, the previous US ambassador Frank Ricciardone suggests that the next president, whoever it might be, could have an "initial anti-American tone in his public rhetoric" to win over the Egyptian street."

The conspiracy theorists might be unwilling or unable to take the cables at face value. They will persist in their conviction that the next president of Egypt will be Washington's man. That is certainly not the view of Washington.

For more news and expert analysis about Egypt, please see Egypt Politics & Security.

© 2010 Menas Associates

Egypt: Postponement of ruling party conference suggests turmoil

The short notice and curt announcement about the postponement of the ruling party conference suggests turmoil in the party about two main issues: the selection of candidates and the whole thorny issue of who will be the party's choice for the elections for president next year.

Holding a party conference to demonstrate party unity when the candidates had not finally been selected was always high risk and likely to expose deep divisions.

The party is riven between the old guard, epitomised by secretary general Safwat El Sharif, and the younger, more forward looking members, including those behind the economic reforms who form a constellation revolving round the president's son Gamal Mubarak.

The annual conference was the brainchild of Gamal Mubarak, and the first such conference was held in 2000. That this one has been postponed could be seen as the old guard dispensing with innovation the better to preserve their control on the party.

The result of the parliamentary election is never in doubt. The ruling party will win a comfortable majority. But the election will provide guidance about popular support for different factions or currents within the party and so provide the regime with pointers as to what support it can rely on. In previous elections, party members disaffected by not being selected have stood as independents and often won against the chosen Natinal Democratic Party (NDP) candidate.

For more news and expert analysis about Egypt, please see Egypt Politics & Security.

© 2010 Menas Associates

Al-Dustour editor sacked over Mohamed ElBaradei article

The editor of Egypt's Al-Dustour newspaper Ibrahim Eissa has been sacked by the paper's publisher after being instructed not to run a feature by the leading opposition figure Mohamed ElBaradei. Eissa's co-workers have staged a sit in protest of the dismissal.

Eissa, known for his satirical articles against the government, said he was not given the exact reason for the dismissal but that it came, "hours after the publishers told me they didn't want me to run an article written by Mohamed ElBaradei."

ElBaradei, the former chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency, has emerged as a leading opposition figure since returning to Egypt in February. Al-Dustour was recently purchased by another opposition leader and head of the Al-Wafd Party Elseyed el-Badawi. The Wafd party refused to back ElBaradei's decision to boycott the upcoming elections, which critics say might be rigged.

In 2008, Eissa was sentenced to two months in prison for offending President Hosni Mubarak after he reported about his deteriorating health. It is yet unclear whether Hosni Mubarak will run for a sixth term in 2011 or whether he will be succeeded by his son Gamal.

Source: BBC News

For more news and expert analysis about Egypt, please see Egypt Politics & Security.

Spontaneous campaign backs Mubarak's son Gamal

Posters backing Gamal Mubarak have been spotted in a number of Egypt's poorer neighbourhoods. News of these posters began circulating shortly after several online campaigners set out to gather millions of signatures calling on Gamal to stand in the next presidential elections.

It is evident within Egypt that there is an ongoing campaign backing the president's son who is also the senior officer of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP).Government officials, however, insist that neither the NDP nor Gamal himself have anything to do with the campaign which is said to be spontaneous and one that the government has no intention of silencing.

"These campaigns represent individual initiatives; they are in no way related to the NDP. None of the leadership of the NDP has endorsed them officially or unofficially. So it remains a sporadic voluntary activity in society," said Aley el-Din Hilal, a senior official of the party.

There seem to be some contradictions as far as these campaigns are concerned. Gamal Mubarak is regarded as a man of privilege; therefore it is unexpected to find the headquarters of the People's Coalition in support of Gamal Mubarak in one of the poorest and deprived areas of Cairo, or hear the organiser, Magdi el-Murdy, suggest that Gamal Mubarak, if elected president, will help move the power away from the elite.

It is not surprising that members of the opposition have a different perspective on these developments. Shadi Taha of the opposition al-Ghad party described the campaign as an attempt to show that the Egyptian public was "begging" Gamal Mubarak to stand. He also suggested that if Gamal Mubarak is elected, it would set Egypt back hundreds of years.

It remains unclear whether Gamal Mubarak is behind the supposedly spontaneous presidency campaign, and whether he will ever be openly endorsed by his father who remains reticent about naming a successor and has always maintained that he would serve Egypt to his last breath.

Source: BBC

For more news and expert analysis about Egypt, please see Egypt Politics & Security.