Death penalty to aide
AN EGYPTIAN criminal court on Monday sentenced Bahaa Kishk to death for terrorism crimes. Two other defendants, Mohamed Fathi and Mohamed Morgan, also received death sentences.
The ruling was passed after Grand Mufti Shawki Allam gave his approval for the death sentences. The opinion of the mufti should be given in such cases although it is not binding.
Kishk, a top aide to Hisham Ashmawi, was handed over to Egypt, along with Ashmawi by the Libyan army in May 2019.
Ashmawi, a former army officer who joined Al-Qaeda, was handed two death sentences after being convicted of orchestrating several deadly high-profile attacks against security forces and was executed by hanging in March 2020.
The prosecution charged Kishk and the two other defendants with leading the Al-Qaeda-aligned Al-Murabitoun group along with Ashmawi and financing a terrorist organisation with arms, ammunition, and explosives.
The ruling is not final and can be appealed.
Name the new capital
THE ARMED Forces’ Engineering Authority announced on Sunday a contest proposing names, logos, and slogans for the New Administrative Capital with all citizens eligible to participate. The new capital, which started being built in 2015 over 170,000 feddans, is scheduled to open by the end of this year.
More than 50,000 government officials and employees are due to be relocated there. The New Capital, located 50 kilometres east of Cairo, is set to host all ministries, parliament, and governmental institutions as well as residential units and services for 6.5 million people.
Initially, the cost was estimated at $45 billion. The Engineering Authority invited Egyptians to send their proposals to choose a name and a slogan for the new capital, as well as an innovative logo and visual identity, according to a statement by the Ministry of Defence.
The deadline for submitting proposals is 18 November.
A jury of renowned experts, intellectuals, and writers will study the proposals. Winners are promised a cash prize.
Arab interconnection
MINISTER of Electricity and Renewable Energy Mohamed Shaker announced on Friday that Egypt seeks to become a central hub for electrical interconnection between Arab countries.
Shaker’s statements came during a high-level meeting with Arab ministers of electricity and energy and senior officials from the World Bank Group.
During the meeting, the Egyptian delegation reviewed governmental steps taken in this regard and efforts made to promote investment in energy.
Shaker explained that Egypt was “greatly” interested in serving as a pivotal centre for energy exchange between Arab countries “given the great production of electricity and the inauguration of giant transformer stations”.
According to Shaker, the state has succeeded in electrical interconnection with Jordan, Libya and Sudan and has signed award contracts with Saudi Arabia.
Egypt is currently working to take steps towards interconnection with Europe through Cyprus and Greece.
*A version of this article appears in print in the 28 October, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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