Egyptian papers on Wednesday focus on a move that could result in public discontent – the Public Prosecution’s decision that former President Hosni Mubarak will, for the time being, remain in a Sharm el-Sheikh hospital instead of being transferred to Tora prison.
The prosecution said Tora prison’s hospital is not well-equipped enough to handle Mubarak’s medical ailments, which include an irregular heart condition and depression. The former president has been detained in the Sharm el-Sheikh hospital since April, and the location of his trial is to be announced today.
The independent daily Al-Shorouk publishes a political cartoon in which a common criminal responds to an arrest warrant by saying, “No, you can’t arrest me today – I’m depressed. Come back next week and we’ll see what happens.” The cartoon refers to the perceived differential treatment that the former president is receiving, hinting that depression wouldn’t get a common criminal out of jail time.
Youth groups have reacted differently to an invitation from Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) to hold a meeting with the council, resulting in conflicting news reports. While Al-Shorouk reports differences within youth groups on their position on the proposed meeting, scheduled for Wednesday night, state-owned Al-Ahram runs the headline, “The youth of the revolution welcome the dialogue with the military council” – even though the report includes three coalitions who rejected the invitation and one that remains undecided.
Judges also reacted angrily to the justice minister’s decision to refer three judges for investigation after they made statements to the media against military trials of civilians. Al-Shorouk newspaper asks, “Will judges go back to protesting in their robes after the revolution?”
Al-Ahram and Al-Shorouk again differ in their follow ups on a recent report that the Saudi Arabian government will not renew the contracts of Egyptians working there for more than six years.
While Al-Shorouk reports that the decision will only be implemented for government employees, Al-Ahram quotes a statement from the Saudi Labor Ministry denying the report altogether, saying only workers who have committed violations would be excluded.
After the resignation of the head of the Egyptian Radio and Television Union, Sami al-Sherif, newspapers speculate that SCAF member Tarek al-Mahdy will be his successor.
Al-Ahram covers the events of the Egyptian delegation visiting Iran, while in an Al-Shorouk column, Wael Kandil criticizes the initiative, saying the proper procedure following the revolution would be an Iranian delegation visiting Egypt, not the other way around. Al-Wafd publishes a report on the relations between Iran and Egypt, saying that it has been severely damaged by recent reports of an Iranian spy in Egypt.
An opinion column in Al-Ahram by Masoud al-Hennawy titled “The hit of opening the crossing” says that opening the Rafah border crossing with Gaza was a hard hit to the Israelis and a failure of their intelligence, which didn’t anticipate it, adding that the move signaled Egypt’s changing foreign policy. The column contradicts with an opinion piece featured in Al-Shorouk by an Israeli military commentator who says Israel could be the biggest beneficiary of the opening of the crossing, which could lessen Israel’s responsibility of the Gaza Strip.
Days after former officials were fined LE540 million for disabling communications during the events of the January 25 revolution, Al-Shorouk reports a similar communications blackout in Kafr al-Sheikh on the governorate building’s media center, intended to minimize news reports published against the governor.
In a phone interview with the private Al-Dostour newspaper, the first police officer to receive a death sentence for killing protesters complains of being used as a scapegoat and says he will present evidence of his innocence in his first court session.
Newspapers also report on the exploding situation in Yemen, which unfolded after the struggling president’s forces escalated violence against protesters during the past few days and – according to Fahmi al-Howeidy’s column in Al-Shorouk – willingly gave up control of the state institution to Al-Qaeda in the city of Zengebar. Howeidy said the forces wanted to feed Western fears that the current uprising in Yemen could transform the country into an Islamic state.
Egypt's papers:
Al-Ahram: Daily, state-run, largest distribution in Egypt
Al-Akhbar: Daily, state-run, second to Al-Ahram in institutional size
Al-Gomhurriya: Daily, state-run
Rose al-Youssef: Daily, state-run
Al-Dostour: Daily, privately owned
Al-Shorouk: Daily, privately owned
Al-Wafd: Daily, published by the liberal Wafd Party
Al-Arabi: Weekly, published by the Arab Nasserist party
Youm7: Weekly, privately owned
Sawt al-Umma: Weekly, privately owned
