March 17th, 2012 by Oman Views

Seventy-five to stand trial in Egypt over soccer deaths

CAIRO (Reuters) – Prosecutors ordered 75 people to stand trial for causing Egypt’s worst soccer stadium disaster, including the head of security in Port Said city where lax policing was blamed for a stampede that killed at least 74 fans.

“The accused were sent to a criminal court on charges of committing the crime of intentional and premeditated murder,” the general prosecutor’s office said in a statement on Thursday.

The crush followed a pitch invasion when Port Said-based al-Masry beat Cairo’s Al Ahli, the most successful club in Africa.

Steel doors at the stadium were bolted shut, trapping fans trying to escape from the stands and dozens were crushed to death, witnesses said.

Many fans blamed the government for a failure to send enough police to the stadium given the tense build-up to the match, and many believe the violence was sparked by hired thugs. At least 1,000 people were injured.

Thousands of Ahli supporters met at the club’s ground on Thursday and marched through Cairo to protest what they regarded as official foot-dragging over the disaster.

Some wore black t-shirts reading “We won’t forget the 74.”

Mothers of fans who died in Port Said walked at the front of the crowd, weeping as they held portraits of their sons. Young men shouted “It’s all fabricated! This is how they do it!”

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March 4th, 2012 by Oman Views

U.S. democracy promotion backlash? As Egypt said to lift travel ban on U.S. democracy workers, some say programs cause resentment

Egyptian officials said on Wednesday that a travel ban has been lifted on U.S. pro-democracy workers previously barred from leaving the country, the Associated Press reported.

The United States has not yet received formal confirmation of the reported decision, State Department spokesman Mark Toner told Yahoo News Wednesday. But he said “we feel like we are getting really, really close.”

Seven American citizens currently in Egypt are among some 40 pro-democracy group workers who have been formally charged by Egyptian prosecutors with being improperly registered and illegally receiving foreign funding.

Most prominent among them is Sam LaHood, the son of U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and the head of the International Republican Institute’s Cairo office, who has taken shelter at the U.S. Embassy there since being barred from leaving the country in January.

The standoff has opened the biggest rift in U.S.-Egyptian relations in some three decades, with American lawmakers threatening to cut off some $1.3 billion in annual U.S. foreign assistance funds to Egypt.

It has also generated some soul-searching among some veterans of U.S. government-funded pro-democracy programs about whether the programs tend to foster resentment and suspicion more than they advance democracy and civil society groups abroad.

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By Laura Rozen | The Envoy

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March 3rd, 2012 by Oman Views

Egypt ends travel ban in U.S. NGO row

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt has decided to lift a travel ban preventing American pro-democracy activists from leaving the country, judicial sources said on Wednesday, a move that is likely to defuse a standoff that has plunged U.S.-Egyptian ties into a crisis.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she had no confirmation that the travel ban was lifted but also said she expected the row over the activities of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to be resolved “in the very near future.”

U.S. officials have said $1.3 billion in annual military aid has been put at risk by the case.

Washington’s ties with Cairo have been a cornerstone of its Middle East policy since Egypt in 1979 became the first Arab state to sign a peace deal with Israel.

It was not immediately clear when any of the activists involved would leave the country. Sixteen of the 43 people facing charges are Americans. Seven Americans are in Egypt and some of those have sought refuge in the U.S. embassy.

Sources at Cairo’s international airport said a U.S. military plane had arrived from Cyprus to take the Americans out of the country but it was not clear when or if they would go to the airport.

“The assistant to the attorney general, following a request from the investigating judges, has issued an order to lift the ban,” a judicial source close to the proceedings told Reuters, adding the charges have not been dropped against any of those involved.

Judge Abdel Moez Ibrahim, head of the Cairo Appeals Court who appoints judges to the case, also confirmed to Reuters that a decision had been taken to lift the travel ban.

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By Marwa Awad and Tamim Elyan

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