Egypt: Mubarak fortune

 

In a bid to prevent any relaxation of the detention orders on the former president and members of his family, Mahmoud al-Hefnawy from the prosecutor general's technical office has said that the Mubarak family amassed a LE9 billion fortune during the former president's 30-year rule. Hefnawy said that evidence from the Administrative Control Authority, the Illicit Gains Authority and the Central Auditing Organisation all showed that Mubarak, his wife Susan Thabet, his sons Alaa and Gamal and their wives Heidi Rasekh and Khadiga al-Gammal all benefited financially from office.

He said that the figure included LE3 billion in cash, LE5 billion in stocks and shares and LE1 billion in real estate.

 

Hefnawy also submitted a Central Auditing Organisation report which states that five villas owned by the Mubaraks in Sharm El-Sheikh were paid for in full by a company owned by fugitive businessman Hussein Salem.

 

There was better fortune from the courts for one of Mubarak's last prime ministers, Ahmed Nazif. The Public Funds Prosecution ordered his release from charges of obtaining illegal gifts under the former regime. Al-Ahram reported that Nazif submitted documents to the prosecution proving that he had returned the money - about LE58,000 - to the state. However, he still faces other charges of making illicit gains from his position.

 

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

 

© 2013 Menas Associates

Libya: Backing down over Black Saturday

Prime Minister Ali Zidan appears to have made a major concession to the Libya Shield in his handling of the attacks of Black Saturday. This week, he announced that the relevant ministries were working to get to the bottom of the incident and that the General Prosecutor had started meeting all the relevant parties. He explained that an “action team” comprising three committees had been set up.

 

One of the tasks of this action team will be to draw up a list of all the individuals in each of the brigades operating across the country. In this way, Zidan explained, the state will be able to determine who within these brigades, including the Libya Shield, belonged to the former regime. It looks as though the prime minister may be paving the way to exonerate the Libya Shield for its actions on Black Saturday by blaming elements linked to Qadhafi's regime within it.

 

Zidan also revealed that the fact-finding committee charged with investigating the incident is to be made up of local tribal elders from Benghazi. This is hardly a resounding endorsement for the security agencies and the capacity of the state and suggests that Zidan is keen to resolve the issue locally and on a social rather than a security level.

 

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

 

© 2013 Menas Associates

Caspian: Abdenov sacked

Labour and Social Protection Minister Serik Abdenov has been sacked, weeks after he endured a very public egging in a row over pension reform. The young moderniser, who was only appointed in September, was dismissed on 10 June as the controversial pension reform bill was sent back to parliament by a disgruntled Nursultan Nazarbaev. In the interim he has been replaced by his deputy, Tamara Duissenova.

 

The pension reform has become an increasingly divisive issue, attracting outpourings of public anger. At the end of April Abdenov was pelted with eggs by a Communist activist in Almaty after a series of public meetings in which his inability to explain the rise in retirement age (from 58 to 63 for women) had led to anger and scorn. His explanation that "You all have to work, because, my dear countrymen, just because, just because...” attracted ridicule on social media, and despite his otherwise good record he was considered unable to continue effectively.

 

President Nazarbaev had returned the pension reform bill to Parliament three days before, saying that “the government and the National Bank have failed to explain the new pension legislation to the people”. He called for the start of the gradual rise in retirement age to begin at the start of 2018, not next year as planned.

 

Some activists have expressed satisfaction with the president's decision to intervene on behalf of the people. Although there was not massive public opposition, many women's groups in particular did publicly criticise the bill at a number of meetings and events. Analysts have suggested that the president was willing to back down in this case rather than risk provoking further hostility.

 

For more news and expert analysis about the Caspian region, please see Caspian Focus.

 

© 2013 Menas Associates

Ghana: Three people arrested in connection with recent fire outbreaks

Three people have been arrested in connection with some of the recent fire outbreaks at markets across the country, according to local news reports.

 

Deputy Minister for Information and Media Relations Murtala Mohammed told local reporters on 20 June that the arrests had been made after a group of people attempted to burn another market, although he declined to provide further details of where and when the attempted arson attack took place.

 

Leading NPP member Owusu Afriyie-Akoto has told reporters that the three suspects currently in police custody at the Criminal Investigations Department Headquarters are members of the NPP local chapter in Bawku, and that he suspects “foul play” by the government in the matter. The three suspects, Yakubu Tahiru, Fatau Ibrahim and Mustafa Adamu, have yet to be formally charged.

 

Almost ten major fires have occurred at Ghana's markets in just under three months, including at the Kantamanto Market, Makola Number Two Market, the Makola Shopping Mall and the Agbogbloshie Market, all in Accra, and at Kumasi Central Market.

 

The government has already stated that it will not rule out arson as the cause of the recent fires and has brought in a team of foreign experts to help the country's national security agency with investigations.

 

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

© 2013 Menas Associates

Nigeria: MEND announces start of Hurricane Exodus

 

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) claims that it has commenced “Hurricane Exodus”, an operation to wage war “against injustice, corruption, despotism and oppression”.

 

In a 15 June press statement sent via email to several media agencies, by its spokesperson Jomo Gbomo MEND said that it began its “Hurricane Exodus” that morning, when its field operatives “stealthily attached portable military limpet explosives magnetically, to two articulated tankers laden with petrol”. The statement claims that the tankers were in a queue outside the depot of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) at Abaji on the outskirts of Abuja, waiting to discharge products when they were blown up. It claims that the attack was part of its “Operation Touch and Go” – a part of Hurricane Exodus. It says that this segment is targeted at the downstream sector of the Nigerian oil and gas industry. It warned Nigerians to steer clear of such oil tankers as they may be attacked at any time having become “legitimate targets” in their struggle.

 

According to MEND, it will continue to carry out such attacks until all its demands are met. These demands include: the release of Henry Okah, his brother Charles Okah and others held in connection with the 1 October 2010 Independence day bomb blasts in Abuja; the resignation of “the corrupt and inept Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke” as minister of petroleum resources; and an “unreserved apology” from the Federal Government of Nigeria for presenting a “forged email” which threatened the South African government, and was purported to have come from MEND. The letter was used as evidence to convict Henry Okah in his trial in Johannesburg.

 

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

 

© 2013 Menas Associates

Moroccans continue to trust the PJD

A public opinion survey just published by the Arab Centre for Political Research and Studies (CAREP) sheds interesting light on Moroccans? opinion of their first Islamist-dominated government. While the opposition remains inflexible in its criticism of the government and part of the coalition is actually ready to throw in the towel and pull out of government, the Moroccan public actually seems quite well disposed to the Benkirane government.

 

Although 91% of respondents felt that corruption continues to plague the civil service, 63% remain convinced that the government is determined to fight the problem; 57% said that they felt the government would manage to deal with corruption while 65% felt that the press is free in Morocco – a position which independent analysts would find untenable.

 

Meanwhile 70% said that they had no worries about the Islamist government having a hidden agenda. While the results of such surveys are problematic in many ways, at the very least this particular set of results suggests that Moroccans are still ready to give the PJD the benefit of the doubt.

 

This interpretation would seem to suggest that the Parti de l?Istiqlal is out of synch with the dominant feeling about the country?s leadership. Istiqlal leader Hamid Chabat could therefore suffer should early elections have to be called.

 

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

© 2013 Menas Associates

Libya: Chief of Staff Yousef Al-Mangoush finally resigns

Chief of Staff Yousef Al-Mangoush finally resigned this week, handing in his notice to the Congress on account of the events of Black Saturday. It has been reported that Al-Mangoush had not intended to resign over the incident but that he was summoned to Congress where it was made clear to him that he had no choice in the matter.

Al-Mangoush's resignation has not shortened his time in office by very much as he was already on his way out. The Congress voted recently to find a replacement for him and it has already received many nominations for the post. Al-Mangoush would also certainly have been a victim of the Political Exclusion Law once it comes into force given his role as part of the security services of the former regime.

Many Libyans will, however, still have been pleased at the news. Al-Mangoush has proved one of the most unpopular of all public figures in the new Libya. This is largely because of his inability to create a proper national army, something that has led his critics to accuse him of deliberately supporting the brigades and militias at the expense of building a real force. Al-Mangoush has also been accused of doing the bidding of Qatar.

There have long been demands from a wide range of quarters, including from inside the armed forces, but also from inside the Congress and among the revolutionaries, for him to leave office.

Al-Mangoush was replaced by his deputy, Salim Al-Gnaidi, who will lead the armed forces until a proper replacement is agreed upon by the Congress.

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

© 2013 Menas Associates