Egypt's Coptic Christians chose three papal finalists

Author: Nehal El-Sherif

   Cairo (dpa) - Egypt's Coptic Christians chose three of five candidates who will be the finalists in the process of choosing a new pope to succeed Pope Shenouda III, who led the Coptic Orthodox Church for more than 40 years until his death in March.

   The three who will go forward to the draw are: Bishop Rafael, 54, a doctor who serves as the bishop for central Cairo; Bishop Tawadros, 60, of the Nile Delta province of Beheira; and Father Rafael Ava Mina, 70, who is the oldest.

   The names of three who got the highest votes will be written on separate pieces of paper and placed in a box on the altar of Saint Mark's Cathedral in Cairo. A blindfolded child will draw out one piece of paper on Sunday.

   A council of more than 2,400 Christians chose three of the five finalists.

   The voting comes as the country's minority has expressed fear about the rise of Islamists, especially after the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohammed Morsi became Egypt's first elected president after last year's popular uprising.

   Tight security was seen outside the polling place, Saint Mark's Cathedral in Cairo, where police officers lined the street on both sides for a couple of hundred metres outside. Entrances to the cathedral were manned by scouts.

   "The organization today is perfect," said a woman in her 50s, who was getting ready to cast her ballot, commending the smooth voting system. "There was a time when Pope Shenouda was needed. Now it is time for the next pope. What we want is to choose someone who has good relations with Jesus Christ."

   There were at least six voting areas. Two were for priests, two for monks and nuns, and the final two for lay people.

   The new pope, who will be the 118th head of the region's largest Christian minority, will be enthroned on November 18 in a ceremony in Cairo.

   Christians make up around 10 per cent of Egypt's 83 million people. They have long complained of discrimination and marginalization under the rule of former president Hosny Mubarak, who was ousted last year.

   There were several instances of violence targeting Christians after the 2011 revolution, and the number of court cases against Copts accused of blasphemy has increased.

Oil exporters to lead Middle East economic growth in 2012, IMF says

By Nehal El-Sherif, dpa

   Cairo (dpa) - Despite political and economic changes in the Middle East and North Africa following the Arab Spring, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Tuesday it expects the region's growth to reach 5.3 per cent this year, led by oil exporting states.

   The estimate, published in Tokyo, comes after uncertainties and internal conflicts in some of the region's countries resulted in a weakening in activity and a 3.3-per-cent growth rate in 2011.

   Uprisings and conflicts since early 2011 have lead to the ouster of long-standing rulers in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen.

   “A general policy priority in the MENA region is to secure economic and social stability through more inclusive medium-term growth,” said the report, recommending institutional and regulatory reform and measures to address chronically high unemployment, particularly among the youth.

   Growth in oil-exporting nations is expected to accelerate, from about 4 per cent in 2011 to 6.5 per cent in 2012, largely as a result of a sharp rebound in activity in Libya.

   The country's interim government said in September that Libya is now producing 1.6 million barrels of oil per day, after production dropped dramatically during the 2011 conflict that overthrew long-time leader Moamer Gaddafi.

   The Libyan boost will end in 2013, bringing down the growth estimates among oil exporters to 3.8 per cent, according to the report, which was released ahead of the IMF's annual meeting with the World Bank on October 9-14 in Tokyo.

   A decline in oil prices remains a major risk in the near-term outlook for exporting countries, as it might affect infrastructure investment and growth. However, Iran-related and other geopolitical issued could lead to higher oil prices.

   In contrast, growth in oil-importing countries is estimated at 1.2 per cent in 2012, with unrest and political uncertainty leading to a drop in tourism and foreign direct investment.

   The report, which refers to MENA as a "two-speed region," also notes that the ongoing crisis in Europe, a major trading partner for many states in the region, has also left its mark.

   Despite social and security unrest in Tunisia and Egypt, both now ruled by Islamist administrations, IMF projections are higher than in 2011. The report puts estimated growth for Egypt and Tunisia in 2012 at 2 and 2.7 per cent respectively.

   “Looking forward, uncertainty is expected to decrease as political transitions stabilize, while external demand picks up, and growth in oil importers is projected to recover to 3.3 per cent in 2013,” said the report.

   Growth rate for the region is estimated at 3.6 per cent in 2013. Syria was excluded from the report's projections because of the ongoing conflict there.

Published on October 8, 2012 picked up here and here - Arabic version al-Quds

Amnesty says Egyptian police, army continue abuses

Authors: Nehal El-Sherif and Pol O Gradaigh

   Cairo (dpa) - Amnesty International said Tuesday that Egyptian authorities must act urgently to reform the security forces and end human rights abuses.

   The London-based rights groups said that violent crackdowns on protesters, torture of detainees and disregard for the rule of law by police forces have continued in Egypt, nearly 20 months after mass rallies removed president Hosny Mubarak and his regime from power.

   Amnesty said in a report there was little sign that Egypt's security forces have fundamentally changed.

   The report says President Mohammed Morsi and the new government had so far taken no action against the widespread abuse of protesters and prisoners.

   "The different interior ministers that headed the police force since last year's uprising have repeatedly announced their commitment to reforming the police and respecting human rights, but so far reforms have merely scratched the surface," said Amnesty's Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui.

   While noting that abuses were less than before the revolution, Sahraoui told dpa: "It is not because things have changed but because (the police) know they are being watched."

   The rights group has sought a meeting with President Morsi but has yet to receive a response, Sahraoui said in Cairo as she launched the report.

   "This is disappointing as Amnesty International took action on behalf of Mohammed Morsi in 2006 when he was arrested, and later in 2011," she remarked.

   "This is the opportunity of a generation," Sahraoui said, stressing that the 2011 revolution happened because "Egyptians rebelled against abuses by the security forces."

   A first step would be to allow the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture to visit Egypt, according to Sahraoui.

   "Because the Mubarak government rejected any visit by the UN expert on torture so forcefully, I think it would signal that Egypt is taking it seriously now," she added

   The sister of one of the demonstrators killed when armoured cars ploughed through a Christian protest in October 2011 told reporters that "we are going from bad to worse."

   "When will President Mohammed Morsi realize the goals of the revolution... When will we feel that we have accomplished something?" asked Mary Daniel, whose brother Mina was among almost 30 people killed at the protest outside the state television building.

   Inadequate investigation of abuses was a consistent problem, Amnesty researcher Mohammed Lotfy said, with cases being referred to military courts "which cannot bring justice to the victims or act impartially."

   One attendee at the launch of the report in Cairo showed dpa his medical report after he was allegedly shot by an army sniper during clashes outside the Ministry of Defence in May.

   "The hospital refused to stamp the report," Tarek Abdel-Nabi told dpa. "And the police refused to file a case. An officer came to the hospital and I told him I wanted to file a case against the sniper. He said he would send someone to take the report and they never came. Then I fled from the hospital because it was surrounded by baltageyya (thugs)."

   Amnesty said that, under the rule of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), which governed Egypt for a year and half after the ouster of Mubarak in February 2011, human rights abuses were rampant, including the use of live ammunition against protesters.

   It highlighted several instances where police used lethal force during clashes with protesters in 2011 and 2012, and said that some protesters were given electric shocks, sexually threatened and abused by military troops.

Published 02.10.2012
Shorter version here