Archive for Al-Masry Al-Youm

Al-Azhar: Ministry-proposed bonds at odds with Sharia

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January 2nd, 2013

Members at Al-Azhar's Islamic Research Academy have rejected a Finance Ministry-proposed bill sanctioning the introduction of Islamic financial bonds, saying it "violates Islamic Sharia and endangers the state's sovereignty."

The scholars voiced their opposition during an urgent meeting late Tuesday led by Al-Azhar Grand Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayyeb.

The bill would allow foreigners to own Islamic bonds (sukuk) and shares in local factories and businesses, academy member and former Grand Mufti Nasr Farid Wasel told Al-Masry Al-Youm.

"It is like we are selling our properties to foreigners," he said.

A 1992 capital market law allows the sale of Islamic bonds, which enable holders to have shares in commercial, industrial and agricultural undertakings under a Sharia-friendly investment structure.

The academy did not specify which aspect of the bill violates Sharia, but said it consulted Al-Azhar University economics experts before declaring a position on the proposed legislation, which aims to secure financial liquidity for economic development projects.

Since Islamist President Mohamed Morsy assumed office in June, there has been speculation that the government will introduce more Islam-friendly financing instruments.

Because they attract pools of conservative Islamic investment money, such bonds have often proved to be more stable than conventional bonds during the global financial crisis, and they might be an effective way to attract some of the savings of millions of Egyptians living abroad or Islamic investment funds in the Gulf, according to Reuters.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Morsy files complaint against Al-Masry Al-Youm

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January 1st, 2013

President Mohamed Morsy's administration has accused Al-Masry Al-Youm, in an official complaint, of "circulating false news likely to disturb public peace and public security and affect the administration."

The prosecution summoned Al-Masry Al-Youm reporter and head of the papers accidents department Yousry al-Badry for interrogation on Saturday. Morsy's legal adviser filed a complaint demanding the interrogation of Badry for publishing "false news."
 
Al-Masry Al-Youm published a news attributed to "sources" saying that the Maadi Military Hospital received notice of a visit by Morsy without stating the aim of Morsy's visit. The news was then updated to say that Morsy's wife had only visited a relative in the hospital.
 
The prosecution notified the Journalists Syndicate about the complaint. The Journalists Syndicate, in response, announced its solidarity with Al-Masry Al-Youm and said its legal advisers will attend the interrogations of Badry, along with the newspaper's own legal adviser.
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April 6 activist shot in Tahrir, hospitalized

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December 31st, 2012

An April 6 Youth Movement activist sustained a head injury after a drive-by shooting in Tahrir Square on Monday morning and has been hospitalized in critical condition. 

Muhannad Samir was wounded when unknown assailants driving a red Jeep in the square fired bird shots at Samir and sped away.

His mother, Heba Abdel Qader, said Samir is currently in a coma.

Authorities had accused Samir of involvement in assaulting security forces during clashes that erupted outside the Cabinet building in December 2011. He was released from custody detention in late October.

His mother told Al-Masry Al-Youm in January that security forces had arrested her son at Al-Azbakiya police station, which he had visited along with his lawyer to identify those who shot him during the 2011 Cabinet building clashes.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Finance Ministry: tax changes in January 2013

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December 29th, 2012

Finance Minister Momtaz al-Saeed said changes to taxation, including the increased taxes on some goods, will be applied in January, following the end of a period of community dialogue.

Saeed told Al-Masry Al-Youm that these changes will not harm the poor and those of middle-income. He said that these changes will held plug Egypt’s funding gap worth US$ 14.5 billion because they will lead to reduced tax evasion, simplified procedures, improved business and investment climate.

Within the tax and accounting community, uncertainty remained after these tax changes had been announced and put on hold on the same evening earlier this month.

The amendments include income, sales, duty and real estate tax. The Income Tax Department said that it remained concerned that the recent decisions were neither being applied or clearly cancelled.

A senior official at the department said that tax increases apply to only 30 commodities, including steel and cement, and stressed that these decisions are sensitive and should have been applied immediately following their announcement and publishing in the Official Gazette.

The official, who requested anonymity, added that traders have made a profit and called for firm and clear decisions regarding taxes. He said that the fact that the decision to postpone the application of these taxes was made verbally by the president further contributed to misunderstanding between the tax department and the market.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Constitutional Court to hold general assembly within few days

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December 29th, 2012

Supreme Constitutional Court will hold an urgent general assembly within the coming few days, sources close to the court said.

On the table for discussion will be the assembly' s decision to suspend work in protest against President Mohamed Morsy's November constitutional declaration, which they saw as an attack on the judiciary, and in response to supporters of Morsy and the Muslim Brotherhood surrounding the court and preventing judges access.

The sources told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the position of the court in the current situation will be discussed, including whether to rehold court sessions. Several questions will be addressed, particularly in light of the new Constitution.

Deputy President Saeed Mar’ie said that no date has as yet been set, and that they are waiting for a decision from court President Maher al-Beheiry.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Masked gunmen storm Mount Sinai power station

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December 28th, 2012

Masked gunmen stormed the power station at Mount Sinai at dawn on Friday, stealing electricity cables worth LE900,000 and causing power outages across the city for several hours.

The power station is located 10 km outside the city. Mahmoud Hefnawy, director of the South Sinai Security Directorate, said he received a complaint stating that five gunmen threatened technicians at the station with automatic weapons, and also stole the technicians’ phones.

Station manager Osama Atta told Al-Masry Al-Youm that he had asked the authorities to secure the station after a similar incident had occurred in February. However, the police have not been guarding the station since the Armed Forces left two months ago, he said.

Two technicians, an engineer and an unarmed security person were present at the station during the rubber, Atta said. According to the witnesses, the attackers had sophisticated weapons.

Sources from the Electricity Ministry said the station’s staff has threatened to cut the power supply to Mount Sinai and Sharm al-Sheikh if the station is not properly secured.

Losses from the robbery are still being calculated, and South Sinai was not affected by the robbery, said Mohamed al-Awadi, director of South Sinai electricity.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

 

 

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PM meets with Brotherhood, Salafi figures ahead of Cabinet reshuffle

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December 28th, 2012

Prime Minister Hesham Qandil has begun consultations regarding the forthcoming Cabinet reshuffle. Eight new ministers are expected to be appointed following the successive resignation of several members of the Cabinet.

The reshuffle will most likely include the ministries of transport, local development, supply, electricity, petrol, communications, finance and legal affairs, a high-level Cabinet source told Al-Masry Al-Youm.

Qandil is to submit his nominations to President Mohamed Morsy for approval in the coming week. Nominations are expected to include members of the Freedom and Justice Party, and the Muslim Brotherhood’s guidance bureau is holding discussions on this matter.

A Brotherhood source said the group almost unanimously agreed to nominate Abdallah Shehata, the head of the FJP’s economic committee, as finance minister. Nour Party Secretary General Galal al-Morrah and Nour Party deputy head Sayed Mostafa are both also expected to receive nominations to the Cabinet. The three potential candidates all met with Qandil on Thursday.

Morrah told Al-Masry Al-Youm that he met with Qandil and Mostafa to discuss the current political and economic situation, as well as the nominations for the Cabinet. The Nour Party has nominated “a large number of its members to the new Cabinet, and it is in touch with the guidance bureau of the Brotherhood on this issue,” he added.

Several party leaders have objected to Qandil staying on as prime minister in the face of Egypt’s worsening economic crisis, and have called on Morsy to replace him with an expert in economics.

The Qandil Cabinet has not provided a clear plan to address the country’s economic decline and ongoing labor unrest, and has resorted to the former regime’s methods of borrowing domestically and internationally as a quick fix for cash flow problems, said Constitution Party deputy head Ahmed al-Bora’ei.

Hussein Zayed, the Shura Council MP for the Wasat Party, issued a press release on Thursday saying the party was shocked that Qandil had been entrusted with forming a new Cabinet.

The Wasat Party has objected to Qandil’s appointment as prime minister since the first day, the statement added, claiming that he was a non-politicized figure unfit for the position. Qandil’s Cabinet failed miserably in managing the country and was virtually absent during the violent political turmoil of the past two months, Zayed claimed.

Free Egyptians Party leader Mahmoud al-Alayly said the party had not received any communication on the nomination of members for the Cabinet reshuffle, but that the party would refuse any offers of positions in the Cabinet.

The president's insistence on asking Qandil to reshuffle the Cabinet is a sign of stubbornness against opposition forces, which demanded the dismissal of the Cabinet for its lack of political or economic vision, he added.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Islamist parties consider running for Parliament on one list

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December 27th, 2012

Islamist parties are considering putting forth one list of candidates to run in the next parliamentary elections to counter the National Salvation Front’s coalition of liberal and secular forces, Islamist partisan sources said Wednesday.

The Islamist parties are discussing a new electoral alliance in an effort to win a majority in the House of Representatives, the newly renamed lower house of Parliament, the sources told Al-Masry Al-Youm on condition of anonymity.  

They added that there will be coordination between the Salafi-oriented Nour and Asala parties, the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party and Jama’a al-Islamiya’s Construction and Development Party.

An alliance led by the FJP won over 46 percent of lower house seats in the 2011-2012 parliamentary elections.

Nour Party spokesperson Nader Bakkar told Al-Masry Al-Youm that Islamist parties have not agreed on the details of how they will cooperate during the upcoming elections, but talks are ongoing.  Bakkar said it was possible that the parties would run together on a joint list or would run separately but coordinate candidates and constituencies.  

FJP Shura Council MP Saad Omara said the party has called on all political forces, including the National Salvation Front, to consolidate lists in the parliamentary elections. The opposition has not yet responded, he said, but if the parties making up the National Salvation Front are running on a joint list, Islamists would do the same.

Omara said the Muslim Brotherhood welcomes organization among all political forces, not just Islamists.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Islamist lawyer accuses Al-Masry Al-Youm cartoonist of blasphemy

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December 27th, 2012

Prosecutor General Talaat Abdallah referred an Islamist lawyer’s complaint alleging that a cartoon published in Al-Masry Al-Youm was blasphemous to the North Giza Prosecution Wednesday.

The lawyer alleged that cartoonist Doaa Eladl disparaged Islam with her caricature depicting a man and woman standing next to an apple tree as a third person says to them: “If you had said ‘yes,’ you wouldn’t have been driven out of paradise. Life is about fortune, father.”

The complainant argued that the drawing was blasphemous for likening those who voted “no” in the constitutional referendum to Adam and Eve and implying that voters who accepted the document would enter paradise.

Eladl said that she did not mean to mock Islam, pointing out that the concept was based on sheikhs' calls on satellite channels urging people to approve the Constitution as part of the path toward paradise.

Prominent Brazilian cartoonist Carlos Latuff drew a caricature supporting Adl and wrote on Twitter that he defends her right to free expression.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Police clash with protesters in Alexandria

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December 26th, 2012

Clashes erupted between security forces and protesters outside the Abu Qir Fertilizers Company headquarters east of Alexandria Wednesday evening.

Residents of the Tabia district in Abu Qir surrounded the headquarters and prevented employees from entering. Objecting to the company's taking on 150 workers from a nearby neighborhood, they demanded jobs.

Eyewitnesses told Al-Masry Al-Youm that they were carrying weapons and Molotov cocktails,

State-run news agency MENA said that the police managed to disperse the crowd with tear gas, and arrested nine protesters.

After hearing gunfire, the armed forces intervened, a source within the company told Al-Masry Al-Youm, to avoid clashes between the workers and the residents.

For their part, hundreds of workers staged a demonstration outside the security directorate, in protest against the residents of Abu Qir besieging the company premises and preventing them from entering.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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