Saudi women challenge driving ban

Reporting by: Nehal El-Sherif
26.10.2013

   Riyadh/Cairo (dpa) - Saudi women got behind the wheel on Saturday to protest an informal ban barring them from driving.

   Activists have published more than a dozen videos on YouTube showing women driving in defiance of the decades-long ban, which makes the oil-producing kingdom the world's only country where women are not allowed to drive.

   The Interior Ministry has vowed to punish offenders, deploying security forces and religious police in several cities, witnesses said.
  
   "I am driving with my sisters to run our errands, so they do not have to wait for drivers," said a woman filmed in the eastern al-Ahsa province.

   "I have a license and I can drive, so we are not in danger," added the woman, who wore a full-face veil.

   No law prevents women from driving, but driver's licenses are not issued to women. Female violators in the past were arrested and fined. Many Saudi women have driving licenses from other Gulf countries.

   "Come down girls and join," said a man while taking a video of his wife driving.

   Another woman was more defiant as she identified herself as May al-Sawyan in the video posted online. She covered her hair with a black scarf, without covering her face.

   Since its launch on September 20, the Women2Drive campaign has drawn online support from more than 20,000 citizens, according to the organizers.

   "The campaign will not stop ... we will continue together until the ban is lifted," said the campaign on its Twitter account.

   This is the second campaign since 2011.

   In 1990, some 47 women took to the streets in 15 cars to defy the ban. They were all detained and severely punished.

   On Thursday, the New York-based Human Rights Watch called on Saudi authorities to lift the driving ban for women.

   “It’s past time to address the country’s systemic discrimination; driving could open roads to reform,” the group said.

   Saudi King Abdullah, seen as a political and social reformer, has promised to bring social change to the country. However, he is faces resistance from senior clerics opposed to given women more freedom.

   In 2011, Abdullah issued a decree allowing women to run for and vote in the municipal elections and said women will be appointed as members of the advisory parliament.

German Version

Egyptian satirist back on TV with new targets for mockery

By Nehal El-Sherif, dpa

   Cairo (dpa) – Egypt's favourite satirist, who used to poke fun at ousted president Mohammed Morsi, is back on television after a break of more than three months, which left the country wondering if he would be able to criticize its new military-backed administration.

   Bassem Youssef, whose show came back on the air Friday night, continued to ridicule supporters of the Islamist Morsi and another former president, Hosny Mubarak, who ruled for 30 years, but he also had new targets: the new president, Adly Mansour, and excessively pro-military Egyptians.

   In the latest episode of Al-Bernameg, which means The Show, he made fun of the craze for cakes and chocolates depicting army chief Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi in what some have been calling “al-Sissi mania.”

   Since the military's ouster of Morsi, al-Sissi has became the most popular figure in Egypt. His posters are seen everywhere, and campaigns have been launched urging him to run for president.

   One of Youssef's cast members, dressed as a baker, came on the set Friday night selling cakes and chocolates.

   "Do you want some Sissi-fours?" he asked, making a pun on petit fours.

   Youssef also criticized the divisions in Egyptian society since Morsi's July 3 ouster.

   "Do you support reconciliation?" Youssef asked the baker. “No, but we report anyone who buys them," said the cook, referring to his Rabaa croissants, named after a square where Morsi's followers staged a sit-in in July.

   More than 1,000 people have been killed since the army dispersed protest camps of Morsi's supporters. Hundreds have been arrested. While Western powers have urged political reconciliation, many Egyptians reject any inclusion of Islamists in politics.

   Youssef, a heart surgeon, rose to fame after the January 2011 uprising that ousted Mubarak by making online videos following the style of US comedian Jon Stewart's spoof newscast The Daily Show.

   A few months later, he had his own show, which aired weekly on local private television. Over the past year, he mainly targeted Morsi, his Muslim Brotherhood and radical Islamists.

   During Morsi's rule, Youssef faced several investigations for allegedly insulting the president and Islam.

   Some people expected that attempts to prosecute Youssef for his political humour would end with Morsi's ouster. However, a panel of judges recently recommended reopening a case against the satirist, saying it was unacceptable to insult the president, regardless of his unpopularity.

   Yet, now, Youssef faces attacks from a different direction.

   Some of those who cheered his mockery of Morsi are not happy that he is now targeting al-Sissi and the general's fans.

   “We thought you targeted those who deserve to be mocked, but if you use simple people's affections like this, then satire becomes banal,” one Twitter user wrote.

   The comedian said he anticipated the attacks ahead of the show.

   “The truth is, there is no tolerance among Brotherhood members nor among those who call themselves liberals,” Youssef wrote in a column published a few days before the show. "Everyone is looking for a pharaoh to suit him."

   Youssef ended Friday's show vowing not to back down in the face of censorship and condemning random mass arrests and the security force's excessive use of force.

   “We are a free voice,” Youssef said as a member of his cast raised an arm from behind the desk to try to censor him. "No one can tell us what to say. ... We want freedom."

Middle East economies, private sector "have room to grow"

By Nehal El-Sherif, dpa

   Cairo (dpa) – Almost three years after the Arab world's uprisings began, different countries continue to be dogged by the same economic problems that prompted youth to revolt against their governments.

   The biggest challenge remains job creation. In 2012, unemployment stood around 25 per cent in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), exceeding any other region in the world.

   To solve the problem, Arab states need to start providing incentives for the private sector, according to Mouayed Makhlouf, the regional director of the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

   “If a government needs to promote economic growth, this has to be done with the private investors; the government cannot do it alone," Makhlouf told dpa.

   IFC, the World Bank's private sector arm, sees small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) as one of the key solutions to push growth and create jobs in the region. Yet, the sector continues to face many challenges even after the 2011 revolts, Makhlouf said.

   “The gap is still there, if anything changed over the past few years is that (SMEs have) become on the forefront of the governments' agendas,” Makhlouf said. "They realized that in order to create the jobs needed, they need to work around SMEs. And to do that, they need to provide them with financing."

   But “the need is still huge,” he adds.

   As access to financial services for SMEs remains constrained,
Makhlouf said IFC has been investing as well as advising banks to build the know-how to finance small investors in several countries, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon.

   “We need to have bankers realize that SMEs lending is a profitable business," he said.

   According to the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) latest report, the overall economic outlook for oil-exporting countries is favourable. The non-oil sectors in these states, a better measure for economic activity and jobs, boasted a healthy 3.5 per cent growth this year.

   However, for oil-importing countries – which mostly suffer from a high rate of unemployment and post-uprising expectation for improving living standards - the outlook was not as good as needed to face these problems.

   The IMF said governments should take immediate measures, such as reforming the business climate and creating infrastructure, to help the private sector pick up as confidence and political certainty are restored.

   Makhlouf echoed the advice for Egypt, saying the government should introduce more transparency and provide an investment-friendly environment.

   "When you put the right parameters to set up businesses, trust me they will come. They have come before and will probably come again."

   While the unrest drove many investors away or hindered new projects, private sector investments from the oil-rich Gulf states could help their less fortunate neighbours as they face ongoing social and political turmoil

   “Definitely, they can help; they have the money, the capacity and the know-how in certain areas. They can take their business to growing countries in MENA,” said Makhloud.

   “Many investors form the (Gulf) have reached a certain size and capacity where it allows them to expand beyond the local market. I have seen it in retail, cement, hotels,” he said. “They are sophisticated investors, they look at what is happening in MENA and beyond. They have done that very well in the region."

   IFC has facilitated around 5.3 billion dollars worth of such investments and trade since 2003 through its South-South investment programme, to support investors and directing funds into sectors, which traditional foreign investors tend to avoid.

   The corporation committed some three billion dollars in MENA during the 2013 fiscal year, including 914 million mobilized from other investors.

   “This is a strategy that we have been building in a while to link Gulf investors with less developed MENA,” said Makhlouf.

   While local political transitions and global economic problems continue to restrict investments in the region, Makhlouf sees untapped opportunities in many sectors.

   "MENA is still completely underdeveloped and needs a lot of investment in many areas ... There is a room for us to grow."

Egyptians push for army chief to run for presidency

By Nehal El-Sherif, dpa

07.10.2013

   Cairo (dpa) - Dozens of people jostled one sunny Cairo morning to sign a petition urging Egypt's army chief Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi to run for presidency as campaign organizers moved their way through the Khan al-Khalili bazaar, a tourist favourite.

   The campaign, titled Complete Your Good Deed - a reference to al-Sissi's ouster of Islamist president Mohammed Morsi in July - is gaining pace, although presidential elections are not scheduled to take place before mid-2014.

   It is the biggest of around five campaigns calling for al-Sissi to run for presidency.

   "I support al-Sissi because he will bring back security. There is no other option for me," said Reda Ashkar, who works in one of the bazaar shops.

   The campaigners are hoping to collect 30 million signatures to convince al-Sissi to stand in the elections. The action follows in the footsteps of the Tamarod campaign, which gathered 22 million signatures calling for Morsi's ouster in June.

   "May God grant al-Sissi victory, despite all the haters," said Ashkar, who had stuck a paper carrying al-Sissi's picture onto his T-shirt.

   His reference to "haters" likely indicated two nearby men who had interrupted the campaign, chanting for Morsi and raising a hand each. The gesture, four raised fingers with the thumb drawn across the palm, refers to the Rabaa al-Adawiya pro-Morsi sit-in, which was violently dispersed by security forces in mid-August.

   It was part of an ongoing crackdown on Islamists that has left hundreds killed and hundreds more in jail.

   Al-Sissi supporters chanted back and raised their voice to overpower the Morsi backers, before moving on with their petitions. This time the clash ended peacefully. But others have ended violently, most recently Sunday, where 53 people died.

   "Choose the man who rose up by the will of the people," reads the first line of the pro-al-Sissi petition.

   Another campaign also calling on al-Sissi to run for presidency is titled "We Want." Organizers say they have gathered 3 million signatures.

   The general's popularity has soared ever since he announced the ouster of Morsi, following mass protests across Egypt demanding early presidential elections.

   Since then, his picture and name has been printed on advertisements, chocolates, cakes and necklaces. A picture of bridesmaids wearing Egyptian flag-patterned dresses and carrying al-Sissi's picture was shared extensively on social networking sites.

   Anti-Morsi protesters have been seen carrying al-Sissi photos with the words "the next president" written on them, while others hail him as "Nasser 2013" a successor to late charismatic, nationalist president Gamal Abdel Nasser.

   "I cannot find anyone else on the political scene who is strong enough to rule Egypt," said Yousriya Mokhtar, a volunteer in the campaign. "He listened to us when we needed him, met our demands and stood by us."

   If al-Sissi does not run in the coming elections, Mokhtar will not settle for any other candidate, even if there was another military man competing.

   "I want al-Sissi, not just anyone from the army. He is pious and loyal, so I trust he will fear for Egypt and the Egyptians," she adds.

   Since army officers seized power from the monarchy in 1952, Egypt's first four presidents - including Hosny Mubarak - were from the military.

   Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected civilian president, was toppled one year into his term, after millions accused him of failing to restore security and fix the economy.

   Al-Sissi said he had no political aspirations. Armed forces spokesmen have repeatedly denied reports the general would run for presidency.

   Former presidential candidates, Ahmed Shafiq and Amr Moussa have both backed the idea. Hamdeen Sabahi - the candidate favoured by many revolutionary youth in previous elections - also said al-Sissi would surely win if he ran.

   Talk shows have also favourably discussed the idea.

   Even those who oppose it have different reasons.

   "He is much more respected now. He should remain in his position, where he can best serve Egypt," said Adli, a shop owner in Cairo. "We will lose a good leader and an inspiration for the army if he becomes president. We want to have two good leaders instead of one."

   But Samia Adel, a 35-year-old mother, wants a civilian president.

   "If he runs, it will not be fair competition. I want a civilian, who would not end up being above accountability because he is too popular," she said.

# dpa NOTEBOOK

-[The campaign's Facebook page](http://dpaq.de/Y3wEq)

Spanish translation