Thursday, February 17, 2011

A panel of legal experts appointed by Egypt’s military met Wednesday to discuss changes to the Constitution, while some organizers of the 18-day protests said they had formed a “Council of Trustees” to negotiate the transition to democracy with the military council.

Meanwhile, the Health Ministry said at least 365 people died in the anti-government protests, in the first official accounting of the death toll. Minister Ahmad Sameh Farid said it was only a preliminary count of civilians killed and did not include police or prisoners.

There was a frenzy of rumor Wednesday about the health of Mubarak, 82, who is holed up at his residence in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh after flying from his Cairo palace.

One Saudi official in Riyadh said: “He is not dead but is not doing well at all and refuses to leave. Basically, he has given up and wants to die in Sharm.” The official added that Saudi Arabia had offered to be his host.
A committee, set up to amend the Constitution within 10 days, met as the military dismantles the mechanisms used to maintain Mubarak’s rule.

“The current Constitution is dead and nothing should be used from it,” said Hisham al-Bastawisy, a top judiciary official who said he spent the last few years in Kuwait because Egypt’s security services harassed and kept tabs on him.

He added that civil society groups had already produced several drafts and a new constitution could be ready in a month. Those groups are not waiting for the nod from the army.

The Cairo-based Arabic Network for Human Rights Information plans to contact other non-government organizations and get to work immediately, its director Gamal Eid told Reuters.

Hafez Abou Saeda, head of Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, said he already had a draft ready. “I filed it with the state many years ago and they put it in the drawer. I also know there are many other drafts made by other groups,” he said.

The head of the amendment committee, Tarek al-Bishry, told Reuters it was meeting daily at the Justice Ministry and would announce final suggestions after the 10-day timeframe.
Committee member Sobhi Saleh said the panel will submit a revised constitution to a referendum within two months.

Secularists – and some Coptic Christians, who make up a tenth of the population – are calling for the scrapping of Article 2, which says Islam is the religion of the state and Islamic jurisprudence the main source of legislation.
Members of the newly formed 19-person pro-democracy Council of Trustees of the Revolution appeared at a news conference in Cairo to say its main aim was to unite ranks, protect the revolution and open a dialogue with the military.

The council’s membership includes political scientist Hassan Nafaa, Judge Zakaria Abdel-Aziz, Mohammad al-Beltagi of the Muslim Brotherhood, Khaled Abdel-Qader Ouda, an academic, author Alaa al-Aswany, and veteran television presenter Mahmoud Saad, among others.

“There will be attempts to abort it and divert it, so we must be on the alert,” said Nafaa.
One of its members, former army brigadier Magdy Aaty, told Reuters: “The council will seek to initiate dialogue with the Higher Military Council to carve out the way forward in the transitional period.

Meanwhile, senior leaders of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood said Wednesday that the movement would not seek a majority in parliament when elections are held later this year.

“We do not aspire for a majority in the upcoming parliament, and this is a message to all political parties,” said Essam al-Erian, a member of the group’s politburo. “This is not the time for competition.” – Agencies