Archive for Egypt Ahmed al-Qattan

Saudi ambassador denies crown prince visited Mubarak

by admin
May 29th, 2012

Saudi Ambassador to Egypt Ahmed al-Qattan on Tuesday denied reports printed in an Egyptian newspaper that Saudi Crown Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz visited former President Hosni Mubarak in the medical center where he is detained.



The independent Al-Watan daily, which is owned by Mohamed Amin and edited by Magdy el-Gallad, had said that certain dignitaries and Arab leaders, including the Emir of Kuwait, Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, and the Saudi crown prince visited Mubarak.



“The crown prince has not been to Cairo for almost two years and has never seen that medical center,” Qattan said, calling on the media to report accurately so as not to jeopardize the good relations between the two countries.



Kuwaiti Ambassador Rashid al-Hamad also denied that the emir visited Mubarak.

“The last time the emir was here was in January 2011 to attend the Arab Economic Summit in Sharm el-Sheikh before the revolution,” he said.



Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
 

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Saudis barred lawyers from attending Gizawy questioning, wife says

by admin
May 27th, 2012

The wife of Ahmed al-Gizawy, the Egyptian human rights activist and lawyer detained in Saudi Arabia on charges of drugs smuggling, has said Saudi authorities did not allow a lawyer to attend his questioning.

Shahenda al-Gizawy said Yasser Elwany, the legal adviser at the Egyptian consulate in Jeddah, had informed her that neither an Egyptian nor a Saudi lawyer were allowed to attend the sessions.

She told Al-Masry Al-Youm that several Egyptian and Saudi lawyers volunteered to defend her husband, but authorities did not let them.

“This raises doubts about investigations procedures,” she said.

Gizawy’s arrest on 17 April led to protests at the Saudi Embassy in Cairo, which led to the temporary withdrawal of Saudi Ambassador to Egypt Ahmed al-Qattan. Prior to his arrest, Gizawy had filed a lawsuit against Saudi authorities over their treatment of Egyptians.

The ambassador returned after an Egyptian parliamentary delegation visited the kingdom.

Shahenda al-Gizawy also said Egyptian consulate officials told her they hadn’t been able to review the indictment or decide on a legal solution because Saudi authorities have not allowed it.

Khaled Abu Kereisha, a member of the Lawyers Syndicate board who will defend Gizawy in Saudi Arabia, said the syndicate had already submitted two requests to Saudi authorities to attend the questioning sessions and review the indictment, but they received a negative response.

The problem “is not about granting visas to the Egyptian lawyer delegation, as rumored. It’s about permitting them to defend Gizawy,” he said.

Procedures for defending a suspect are clear, Abu Kereisha said, and involve legal representation during both questioning and trial as well as access to the documents of the case.

“Without those steps, we will question trial procedures and demand a retrial, which would trigger a new crisis between Cairo and Riyadh,” Abu Kereisha said.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Saudi ambassador: Our relationship with Mubarak ended the day he stepped down

by admin
May 8th, 2012

Saudi Ambassador to Egypt Ahmed al-Qattan said that the relationship between his country and ousted President Hosni Mubarak ended the day he gave up power on 11 February 2011, denying that the kingdom has offered to host Mubarak or offered him treatment in Tabuk.

Qattan told Al-Masry Al-Youm in a private interview that he had been recalled to Saudi Arabia for consultations. He said that peaceful demonstration is a right that was abused by Egyptian protesters who insulted the kingdom with provocative and obscene chants.

He said that Saudi Arabia “has refused the presence of the Muslim Brotherhood in the past because we do not see them as a religious movement. We do not have any political parties in the kingdom and their work is political with a religious cover.”

Qattan said that Saudi Arabia is impartial toward all strains of Islam. He said that Wahhabism and the fatwas regarding the promotion of virtue and the prevention of vice will not be applied outside the kingdom.  

The Saudi ambassador said his country will not involve itself in Egypt’s presidential election, denying that it supports Amr Moussa for president. He said that the kingdom deals with regimes and not persons.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Saudi ambassador says his country does not back any presidential candidate

by admin
May 8th, 2012

Saudi Ambassador to Egypt Ahmed al-Qattan said that his country will not involve itself in the Egyptian presidential election and does not back any candidate.

In an interview with Al-Arabiya news channel on Monday, Qattan asserted that contrary to rumors that the kingdom supports Amr Moussa, Saudi Arabia is not in fact supporting any presidential candidate behind the scenes.

Qattan said that Amr Moussa is a statesman who has broad support, and that the Egyptian media has claimed that the reward he received from the Arab League was from Saudi Arabia.

Privately owned Al-Masryoon newspaper reported last May that Saudi Arabia had allocated a US$5 million reward to Moussa for his service as Arab League secretary general. Some activists on online social networks like Facebook and Twitter believe the reward was support for Moussa's presidential campaign.

Moussa denied receiving funds from Saudi Arabia for his election campaign in an interview with London-based Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper in January.

Saudi Arabia was the first country to offer financial support of Egypt after the revolution, Qattan said. He added that the Egyptian revolution was the result of the Egyptian people suffering oppression and injustice for a long time in response to claims that Gulf countries are worried about the Arab revolutions being exported to them.

Saudi Arabia was one of the primary supporters of the ousted regime of former President Hosni Mubarak, with which Moussa is often accused of being affiliated. The kingdom announced its full support for Mubarak during the 25 January uprising last year that eventually brought down the regime.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Saudi Embassy to double efforts to make up for temporary closure

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May 5th, 2012

Saudi Ambassador to Egypt Ahmed al-Qattan said work at the embassy and consulates in Egypt will be doubled to finish work that has been held up since last week.

The embassy will reopen on Sunday.

Saudi Arabia recalled its ambassador to Egypt after hundreds of people staged a protest in front of the Saudi Embassy following the arrest of an Egyptian lawyer, Ahmed al-Gizawy, for allegedly attempting to smuggle drugs into the country. Activists allege Gizawy was targeted for making critical statements about the Saudi government.

In statements published on Saturday in Riyadh, Qattan said Umra and other visas that were supposed to be issued last week will be issued as soon as possible.

He added that the recent standoff was only a cursory one and that the responses on both sides have shown the depth of relations between the two nations.

Edited translation from MENA
 

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Saudi King: Saudi ambassador to return to Cairo within 48 hours

by admin
May 4th, 2012

Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz said on Friday afternoon that Saudi Ambassador to Egypt Ahmed al-Qattan would return to Cairo within 48 hours. His statements came during a meeting with an Egyptian delegation, led by Parliament, that is currently visiting Saudi Arabia to smooth relations between the two countries.

The delegation includes People’s Assembly Speaker Saad al-Katatny, Shura Council Speaker Ahmed Fahmy, other MPs from various parties, representatives from Al-Azhar and the Coptic Church, university professors and public intellectuals, and athletes.

The delegation is estimated to consist of 124 people, who arrived in Riyadh on Thursday evening for a two day visit.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal met with the Egyptian delegation on Thursday night.

The visit aims to assuage tensions that have escalated over the last two weeks.  

Mass protests broke out outside the Saudi Embassy in Cairo after protesters learned that Egyptian lawyer Ahmed al-Gizawy had been detained by Saudi authorities upon entering the country.

The Saudis allege that Gizawy brought drugs into the country, but reports have indicated that Gizawy had been sentenced in absentia to one year in prison and 20 lashes for criticizing the Saudi King and government for its treatment of Egyptian prisoners in the Kingdom.

Saudi Arabia recalled its ambassador from Cairo and shut down consulates in Alexandria and Suez in response to the protests. Egyptians have also been refused entrance visas to Saudi Arabia.

Egypt has expressed its regret over the ambassador’s withdrawal and a number of political and social movements, including the Freedom and Justice Party and a group of Salafi preachers, launched intensive efforts to the repair the relationship between the two countries.

Ahmed Said, head of the Free Egyptians Party block in Parliament, refused to participate in the delegation to Saudi Arabia because “the agenda of the visit has not been announced, and no one knows the nature of the visit, nor its causes.”

He criticized many politicians, parliamentarians and preachers rushing to Saudi Arabia, saying that he rejected the Saudi closure of the embassy and refusal to grant visas to Egyptians as punishment that is unacceptable to the Egyptian people following the revolution.
 

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Ending diplomatic row, Saudi ambassador to return to Cairo

by admin
May 2nd, 2012

Saudi Ambassador to Egypt Ahmed al-Qattan is expected to return to Cairo on Saturday, following a diplomatic crisis over the detention of an Egyptian human rights lawyer in the kingdom, an Egyptian diplomatic source said Wednesday.

Saudi diplomatic staff members are scheduled to resume work from the embassy in Cairo and two consulates in Alexandria and Suez early next week.

The source, who requested anonymity, said “the two countries are convinced that the family spirit should be maintained in the bilateral relations between the two countries, and this was confirmed by the Saudi monarch during his meeting with [Qattan].”

Mass protests broke out outside the Saudi Embassy in Cairo after protesters learned that Egyptian lawyer Ahmed al-Gizawy had been detained by Saudi authorities, who allege he brought drugs into the country.

The demonstrations were initially spurred by reports that Gizawy had been sentenced in absentia, before his arrival by plane and without notification, to one year in prison and 20 lashes for insulting Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz.

Saudi Arabia previously recalled its ambassador from Cairo and shut down consulates in Alexandria and Suez.

Egypt repeatedly expressed its regret over the Saudi ambassador’s withdrawal and intensive efforts were made to halt the deterioration of relations between the two countries.

The Egyptian-Saudi Business Council held an emergency meeting Wednesday at the Chamber of Commerce in Alexandria that was attended by Saudi and Egyptian council heads Abdallah Dahlan and Ibrahim Mahlab, respectively.

The meeting was "a positive message concerning bilateral relations between the two countries," Federation of Chambers of Commerce Chairman Ahmed al-Wakil said.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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