Tunisian court convicts Ben Ali relative of drug use

By REUTERS
May 8, 2011

TUNIS: A Tunisian court convicted on Saturday a nephew of ousted president Zine Al-Abidine Ben Ali’s wife on charges of drug use and sentenced him to two years in jail, the official TAP news agency said.

Imed Trabelsi was arrested in January after Ben Ali and his wife Leila fled the North African country to Saudi Arabia following a popular uprising over poverty, corruption and political repression.

TAP said Trabelsi admitted to the charge but told the court he had stopped using drugs in 2000. He was fined 2000 dinar ($1450).

Caretaker authorities in Tunisia, in an apparent attempt to assert their authority and gain legitimacy in the eyes of protesters who forced the transition, have cracked down on vestiges of Ben Ali’s long rule.

Several members of his family and security apparatus and some of his closest allies were detained shortly after the president was ousted on January 14.

Villas belonging to Trabelsi, a businessman in his mid 30s, and other family members were looted and vandalized after Ben Ali’s ouster.

Many people despised Ben Ali’s wife Leila Trabelsi for her reported influence and lavish lifestyle.

Source: Arab News.
Link: http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article386948.ece.

Tunisian police battle renewed protests

Reuters
Sat, 07/05/2011

Tunis -- Tunisian police wielding batons and firing teargas scuffled on Saturday with hundreds of protesters demanding the departure of the government and angry at a heavy handed response to demonstrations this week.

The new protests in the North African country, where the Arab World's tide of unrest began, are rooted in fears an interim administration will renege on its commitment to democracy after the ousting of President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali in January.

"We now need a revolution to follow the revolution," said Abdoulrahim Jalouli, holding up his mobile phone to show pictures of police chasing down other youths in the streets near the center of Tunis.

"You see. The police are the same as before. There is no change," he said.

Tensions rose this week after a former interior minister warned that Ben Ali loyalists might seize power in a coup if Islamists won elections scheduled in July to draw up a new constitution.

Just as in other parts of the Middle East and North Africa where popular protests are bringing change, many secularists -- and Western countries -- fear greater freedom could also allow Islamists to take power.

Tunisia's main Islamist group Ennahda, led by moderate Muslim scholar Rachid Ghannouchi and banned under Ben Ali, says it will contest the elections and does not fear a coup.

It is expected to do well in some parts of the country of 10 million people, particularly the conservative south, where deep frustration over poverty and unemployment helped inspire the revolution.

Tunisia's interim rulers have condemned the statement by former interior minister Farhat Rajhi that there could be a coup if Islamists won the election, but it has not been enough to calm protesters -- further angered by the tough police tactics.

"Things are far from returning to normal," said cafe owner Hassan Ali as businesses in the city center hurriedly pulled down metal shutters, losing another day of trade in an economy where the turmoil is set to trim growth to only 1-1.5 percent this year.

Tunisia's rulers have banned Ben Ali's aides and top members of the former ruling party from contesting elections. He fled to Saudi Arabia, but some of his entourage are being pursued for crimes during his 23-year rule.

Imed Trabelsi, the nephew of Ben Ali's influential wife, has been sentenced to two years in prison and a fine of 2000 dinars (US$1500) for taking drugs, the Tunisian Press Agency reported on Saturday.

Source: al-Masry al-Youm.
Link: http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/426988.

Egypt political forces meet to 'protect revolution'

AFP
Sat, 07/05/2011

Hundreds of Egyptian political figures, scholars and activists gathered in Cairo on Saturday, in the biggest post-revolt meeting of political forces aimed at "protecting the revolution."

Over 2,000 participants turned up at a large hall for the meeting, dubbed "Egypt's First Conference: The people protect the revolution."

The conference, organized by renowned Egyptian engineer and social activist Mamduh Hamza aims to elect a "National Council" of 60 members who plan to work with authorities to map out Egypt's future, organizers told AFP.

Egypt has been going through a fragile transition phase since a popular uprising toppled veteran strongman Hosni Mubarak on 11 February and saw power transferred to a military council.

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces has vowed to pave the way for a free democratic system, but it has come under criticism for its slow pace of reform and alleged rights abuses.

Since Mubarak's overthrow, the country has been gripped by insecurity and sectarian unrest, amid -- by the government's admission -- a "counter-revolution" by remnants of the old regime aimed at sowing chaos.

Saturday's conference, which also groups workers, farmers and youth groups that helped launch the revolt, aims to form a council that will be the "main voice of the revolution and potentially a main driver in the transitional phase," Ihab Hamdy said.

Mubarak is currently under arrest in a hospital in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, but his two sons Alaa and Gamal are in jail with a host of former ministers and businessmen affiliated with the old regime, detained as part of a sweeping probe into corruption.

On Thursday, the once feared Egyptian interior minister Habib al-Adly was sentenced to 12 years for money-laundering in the first trial of an official from the Mubarak regime.

Source: al-Masry al-Youm.
Link: http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/427003.

Nephew of Sadat killer returns to Egypt from Iran

AP
Sat, 07/05/2011

Officials at Cairo's airport say the son of a wanted Islamist and nephew of the killer of President Anwar Sadat has returned to Egypt for the first time in two decades.

The officials said Saturday that Khaled el-Islambouli returned with his wife, two children and three siblings after getting travel documents from the Egyptian Embassy in Turkey.

None of them is wanted but they and other members of the family were on Egyptian airport blacklists under the regime of ousted President Hosni Mubarak.

The officials said el-Islambouli has been living in Iran. His father, Mohammed el-Islambouli, is wanted in connection with violent attacks in Egypt in the 1990s.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to reporters.

Source: al-Masry al-Youm.
Link: http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/427110.

Spokesman: Italy to supply Libyan rebels with arms

Reuters
Sat, 07/05/2011

Benghazi -- Rebels fighting to oust Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi said on Saturday they have reached an agreement with Italy to supply them with weapons, but the former colonial power denied the report.

Abdel-Hafiz Ghoga, spokesman for the rebel Transitional National Council, told a news conference in Benghazi that the weapons would be provided to the insurgents soon.

Asked to confirm reports that Italy had agreed to provide rebels with weapons, Ghoga said: "Yes, the military officers have confirmed that they have an agreement with the Italians.

"They will supply us with weapons. They've already been there (to Rome) twice, and we will receive them very soon," he added.

He declined to specify what kind of weapons would be furnished to the rebels but said they would be the "weapons that are needed for liberation."

In Rome, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said no such deal had been reached. "There has been no agreement to supply them with weapons," the spokesman told Reuters.

He said Rome would only offer the rebels "equipment for self defense" as agreed by the so-called Libyan "contact group" of countries at a meeting in Doha last month.

Italy has thrown its full support behind Libyan rebels, formally recognizing the transitional council as the only legitimate representatives of the country, but it is unlikely that it would go further than other countries in the anti-Qadhafi coalition.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi had close ties with the Libyan leader before hostilities broke out and already faces internal opposition to Italy's involvement from his main coalition partner, the Northern League.

Rebels have long been demanding they need more heavy weapons to take on the Libyan leader's better-armed and trained forces.

Source: al-Masry al-Youm.
Link: http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/427157.

At least 5 killed in sectarian clashes in Imbaba

Reuters
Sun, 08/05/2011

At least five people were killed in a sectarian clash in Egypt on Saturday over a Christian woman who allegedly had converted to Islam, according to officials.

Interfaith relationships often cause tension in Egypt, where Christians make up about 10 percent of its 80 million people.

The strife represents another challenge to Egypt's military rulers who are trying to restore law and order after President Hosni Mubarak was forced to step down in a popular uprising in February.

Witnesses said some 500 conservative Islamists known as salafists gathered at the Saint Mina Church in the Cairo suburb of Imbaba demanding to take custody of a woman they said had converted to Islam.

A shouting match ensued between church guards and neighbors and the Islamists. The verbal clash developed into a full-fledged confrontation during which the two sides exchanged gunfire, firebombs and stones.

"I just left one young man dead inside the church," one Christian witness told journalists at the scene.

Authorities deployed large numbers of soldiers and police, backed by armored vehicles, to the area. The army fired shots in the air and used teargas to separate both sides, witnesses said.

A security source put the death toll at six and said 75 had been wounded, according to the state MENA news agency. The director of the health department in Giza province, Abdel-Halim al-Behairi said five had died and 54 had been wounded. He told MENA that three of the wounded were in serious condition.

A Reuters witness said later that another church in the same area was on fire and had been severely damaged. There were no reports of any further casualties.

The Grand Mufti of Egypt Ali Gomaa, a senior Islamic religious figure, called for calm. "All Egyptians must stand shoulder to shoulder and prevent strife," he told MENA.

He also urged the military council to stop anyone from meddling with the security of Egypt.

Christians complain about unfair treatment, including rules they say make it easier to build a mosque than a church.

Last year Egypt saw more than its usual share of sectarian strife, and a rights groups has said such clashes have been on the rise. Muslims and Christians had been brought together during the protests that ousted Mubarak.

Source: al-Masry al-Youm.
Link: http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/427525.