A Florida preacher’s last-minute decision to call off a planned public Quran burning dominated the headlines of state-owned, opposition and independent newspapers on Sunday.
In state-owned daily Al-Ahram, the decision on Friday by “fundamentalist priest” Terry Jones to cancel the controversial event topped the front page. “Pressure obliged him to give up on the idea, even if a mosque was built close to ‘ground zero’,” the paper reported. It also quotes US President Barak Obama as saying: “Islam didn’t attack us.”
Official daily Al-Akhbar, meanwhile, also reported the preacher’s eleventh-hour reversal on its front page. “America commemorates 9/11 in an atmosphere of tension,” reads the headline.
Al-Gomhouriya, Egypt’s third state daily, took a different approach, interviewing Coptic priests on the issue and publishing their reactions to the planned event in Florida on its front page. “It’s a strange threat that is contrary to the Christian mindset,” Coptic Bishop Bisenty is quoted as saying. Another Coptic clergyman notes, “Christ himself didn’t attack people’s beliefs.”
Independent daily Al-Dostour bears a similar headline: “American priest backs away from calls to burn the Quran.” The paper quotes Jones as saying, “We will not burn the Quran today or at any time.”
The headline of independent daily Al-Shorouk, meanwhile, reads: “Americans commemorate 9/11 among accusations of persecuting Muslims.”
Al-Ahram also reports on its front page that planned increases in train ticket prices in Egypt would not include trips to villages. “We will establish two main train stations in Qaliuob and Moneib to lessen the pressure on [Cairo’s] Ramses railway station,” the newspaper quotes Transport Minister Alaa Fahmy as saying. The new stations, the report adds, will be replete with connections to Cairo’s underground Metro stations.
Al-Akhbar, meanwhile, reports that higher salaries will be paid out as a part of a new law on wages to be discussed by the new, post-election parliament. “Draft law for public employees to be discussed in parliament’s new round,” reads the paper’s main headline.
Opposition daily Al-Wafd, for its part, reports that the government has decided to establish a new department for managing public assets. “Separation planned between Investment Ministry and public companies,” the paper’s headline reads.
Al-Dostour also reports that, according to a referendum held by the website associated with would-be independent presidential candidate Mohamed ElBaradei, 62 percent of Egyptians are planning to boycott upcoming parliamentary elections, scheduled for November. The statistics, which can be found on the “ElBaradei for President” Facebook page, revealed that most of the group’s roughly 250,000 members were heeding the former IAEA chief’s call to boycott the races, the paper reported.
Al-Shorouk also notes plans by Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif to visit Juba, the capital of Southern Sudan, at the end of September. South African President Jacob Zoma, the paper goes on to report, plans to visit Cairo in mid-October. Egypt is trying to rebuild its relationships with African countries following disputes earlier this year over Nile water distribution.
Al-Shorouk also reports that inhabitants of the central Cairo district of Ramlet Bulak are threatening to set fire to the area if they are forced to evacuate their homes by the government. The Cairo Governorate has plans to renovate the area, necessitating the evacuation of some 815 housing units and 33 shops in order to build new hotels.
