Libyans queue at Tripoli banks ahead of holiday

Libyans wait to get money inside a bank in Tripoli. (epa)

 Author: Nehal El-Sherif

   Cairo/Tripoli (dpa) - A stream of Libyans queued to access their accounts as three banks opened in the capital on Monday, just in time for the Eid al-Fitr feast.

   The banks were the only three that opened in Tripoli, making it harder for the people who wanted to get cash ahead of the long Muslim holiday.

   Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the holy fasting months of Ramadan, is expected to begin Tuesday or Wednesday, depending on the sighting of the crescent moon.

   A resident in the city told the German Press Agency dpa that the Transitional National Council asked banks to provide those who have no cash with 250 dinars (around 210 dollars) as a loan.

   The council asked the Arab League to lend its support in pressuring for the unfreezing of Libyan assets abroad. The council seeks authorization from the United Nation's security council to unfreeze more assets abroad, after international body enforced sanctions earlier this year.

   On Thursday, the UN Sanctions Committee on Libya unfroze for humanitarian aid 1.5 billion dollars, a fraction of what has been frozen.

   Normal life began returning to the Libyan capital Tripoli on Sunday - almost a week after rebels swept into the city.

   On Monday, streets were more crowded, shops opened for customers eager to stock up on basic goods and public buses were seen driving across the capital.

   Tripoli is still suffering from a shortage of water supplies and frequent electricity outages, whilst the capital's hospitals reported a severe shortage of medical supplies.

   In a sign of international support for the new regime, France's embassy in Tripoli reopened Monday, the foreign ministry in Paris announced.

   A team of diplomats led by a deputy to Antoine Sivan, France's representative to the Transitional National Council in Benghazi, "arrived this morning in the Libyan capital and immediately installed itself in the embassy premises," the ministry said in a statement.

   The embassy had been closed since the personnel were evacuated on February 26, out of security concerns.

   Meanwhile, the London-based Amnesty International said Monday that key prison records and other documentation are at risk of being lost as sites remain unsecure and documents destroyed or taken away in Libya.

   "The Transitional National Council authorities must protect such evidence where it is found or collect it in a central repository for safe-keeping. They should also appeal to those individuals who have taken any such documents to return them to the authorities as soon as possible," the statement said.

Published here and here

Mubarak's trial adjourned, live broadcasts banned

By Nehal El-Sherif, dpa

   Cairo (dpa) - An Egyptian judge on Monday adjourned the trial of former president Hosny Mubarak and his two sons until September 5 and banned live broadcasts of it.

   The judge's move came during the second session of the trial, after the first session earlier this month.

   Judge Ahmed Refaat adjourned the trial in order to combine it with that of ex-interior minister Habib el-Adly and six ministry officials. All defendants are charged with ordering the killing of protesters earlier this year.

   At least 850 protesters were killed in the January 25 revolution, and over 6,000 were injured.

   Ahmed Fawzy, the head of the Egyptian Association for Community Participation Enhancement, said that the decision to halt live broadcast of trials came at the right moment after two days of chaos inside the court.

   "This is definitely in the interest of the case," Fawzy told the German Press Agency.

   On Monday, a dispute between lawyers of both sides took place inside the hall while the judge was in recess. There are around 200 lawyers representing hundreds of plaintiffs.

   On Sunday, Refaat adjourned the case of el-Adly after chaos erupted due to interruptions by plaintiff's lawyers.

   "We first asked for public trials because police prevented people inside the hall from seeing el-Adly in the cage (in the defence stand), and no one would have ever believed that Mubarak was actually on trial," said Fawzy.

   Though the session will not be televised, all the plaintiffs' lawyers and media professionals will be allowed inside the court hall, without cameras.

   "This is good enough for now. Our next step is that we will ask for observers to be also allowed inside," Fawzy said.

   Mohamed Adel, a spokesman of the April 6 movement, said that the judge's decision would bring some order to the court as the "lawyers who seek a media spotlight" would not show up.

   Mubarak was carried into the cage on a hospital stretcher. He was wearing a blue training suit, unlike the first session when he was wearing a white prison uniform.

   His sons, Alaa and Gamal, stood next to him and tried at times to conceal their father from the cameras. Gamal carried a copy of the Koran in his hand.

   Mubarak, 83, appeared fully alert as he replied "present" when the judge called his name.

   This is his second public appearance since he was toppled in February. He is currently being held at a military hospital near Cairo.

   In the opening session of the trial on August 3, Mubarak and his sons had pleaded not guilty.

   During Monday's session, Mubarak's lawyer Farid el-Dib  asked for official ambulance reports for the period of January 25-31 and copies of interrogation records of the defendants.

   One of the lawyers representing the families of the victims, who has asked the judge to combine the murder cases against Mubarak and el-Adly into one case, also asked the judge to separate criminal murder charges against Mubarak from corruption charges against him and his sons into two separate legal cases.

   Mubarak, his sons and Hussein Salem, a fugitive businessman, also face charges of corruption and the wasting of public funds. They are accused of selling Egyptian exports to Israel at prices lower than market value.

   Outside the court, located in the Police Academy on the outskirts of Cairo, clashes erupted between pro- and anti-Mubarak protesters, who threw rocks at each other.

   Few people were injured despite the tight security measures taken outside the court, with riot police stationed between the two groups.

   Dozens of Mubarak's supporters carried pictures of him, while protesters, calling for a speedy trial and retribution, carried Egyptian flags.


Published on Aug 15 here,  here,  here and here 

Mubarak's appearance shifts spotlight from victims

By Nehal El-Sherif

  Cairo (dpa) - Many people believed he would not attend the trial on Wednesday, but few minutes before 8 GMT he was carried on a hospital bed into a specially set metal cage, wearing the white prison uniform.


 He was the last to enter after the other nine defendants. It was the first time former Egyptian president Hosny Mubarak was seen in public since he was ousted by an uprising in February.

  The trial is a historical moment for many, being the first time that an Egyptian leader was being tried by his own people.

  Wednesday witnessed the first session of two trials for charges of involvement in killing protesters during the January 25 revolution, where some 850 people were killed and 6,000 injured.

One case is against ex-interior minister Habib al-Adli and the six police officials. The other is against Mubarak and his two sons, Alaa and Gamal, as well as businessman Hussein Salem, who escaped outside the country and was recently arrested in Spain. Defendants in the second case also face corruption charges.

  The trial is held in Hall 1 in the Police Academy, on the outskirts of Cairo. The academy was known for years as the Mubarak Academy.

  Tight measures were taken outside and inside the hall. Members of the security forces were sitting at each end of each bench in the hall. Moreover, at least 100 plain-clothed security forces were sitting in the hall to separate between attendees and the cage.

  However, with seven screens set up in the hall, it was not hard for people to see Mubarak, who was lying on the bed with two people in plain clothes standing behind, who appeared to be paramedics.

  But Mubarak's sons seemed to be trying to shield their father from cameras by standing in front of him. Sometimes, the ousted president covered his face with his arm.

  Later on, screens stopped focusing on the cell, and the defendants were not visible as before, causing confusion among TV viewers. It was not until he spoke to deny the charges that people were at ease once more.

  'I completely deny all these charges,' Mubarak, 83, told the court, as he moved his hand slowly. 


  Alaa and Gamal Mubarak also denied all charges.

 Such humiliation for the ailing president who ruled the Arab world's most populous country seemed to rule sentiments among many Egyptians, who were able to watch the session live on state television.

 But for some, Mubarak looked better than they expected, after reports saying he refused to eat for days, and that his psychological condition was bad.

 'He seems good enough to shave his beard and dye his hair,' said a father of one of those who died in the revolution.

 But while hundreds were busy looking for Mubarak, lawyers of the plaintiffs were angry that their clients were not allowed in the room.

 'Is this how they organize a public trial? I am not proud of this,' lawyer Khaled Abou Bakr told reporters in the break when the court has adjourned for deliberation.

 'How come the victims cannot enter?' he said, while pointing to empty benches in the hall. 'It reminds me of the conferences of (Mubarak's) National Democratic Party.'

 Lawyers said hundreds of victims were standing outside and were not allowed to enter. Even some lawyers of the plaintiffs were not allowed a permit.

 'Lawyers for six defendants are more than lawyers defending hundreds of the revolution's victims,' said Human Rights Lawyer Gamal Eid, also the director of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information.

 Although the opening session was mainly for regular measures, thousands of Egyptians were relieved to see Mubarak behind the cell's iron black bars.