Category: News

The Economist, UK
Nov 25 2004
A court freeze on a contested election
>>From The Economist Global Agenda
As huge protests continue in Ukraine, the country’s supreme court has
suspended the publication of official results from Sunday’s
presidential vote while it judges claims by the opposition candidate,
Viktor Yushchenko, that widespread ballot fraud has robbed him of
victory
ON THURSDAY November 25th, the fourth day of massive protests
following Ukraine’s deeply flawed presidential election, the
opposition candidate, Viktor Yushchenko, again addressed at least
100,000 supporters in the main square of the capital, Kiev. He
pledged to fight on until he has overturned the official results of
Sunday’s run-off vote, which awarded the presidency to Viktor
Yanukovich (currently the country’s prime minister) whereas exit
polls had shown Mr Yushchenko heading for a clear victory. Within
hours, the vast crowds of demonstrators braving Ukraine’s bitter
winter had something to warm their hearts: the country’s supreme
court announced that it would hear Mr Yushchenko’s complaints of
ballot-rigging; and it banned the electoral commission from
officially publishing the results in the meantime. This prevents Mr
Yanukovich from being inaugurated.
In an inconclusive emergency session of the parliament on Tuesday, Mr
Yushchenko had declared himself the rightful winner and had even
sworn the presidential oath. Accusing Mr Yanukovich and the outgoing
president, Leonid Kuchma, of engineering an electoral fraud, Mr
Yushchenko said that, as a result, the country was now “on the brink
of civil conflict”. As the crowds of protesters swelled, there were
rumours—officially denied—that the Ukrainian army was sending tanks
to Kiev; and others—denied by Moscow—that Russia had sent its special
forces across the border.
The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe reports from
its independent electoral observation mission in Ukraine. The Kremlin
publishes press releases from President Putin.The EU issues
statements on the elections and gives information on foreign
relations. See also the US State Department. “Governments on the WWW”
provides a comprehensive resource on the government and politics of
Ukraine, including previous election results.
While pursuing his case in the supreme court, Mr Yushchenko is
keeping up the pressure on the streets. His supporters have begun
blocking roads and have called a national strike—though coal miners
in the Russian-speaking east of Ukraine, which is Mr Yanukovich’s
power base, said they would not stop work.
How Ukraine’s conflict turns out may have far-reaching effects on the
future of eastern Europe. Russia has already seen several of its
former satellites break away and join both the European Union and the
American-led defence alliance, NATO. Mr Yushchenko proposes that
Ukraine do the same, whereas Mr Yanukovich argues that maintaining
the country’s traditional ties to Moscow should take priority. If the
second-largest economy in the former Soviet Union goes West, so to
speak, Russia’s dreams of reasserting its grip on the remaining bits
of its former empire may be frustrated. And if Ukraine starts to
enjoy western-style human rights and prosperity, voters in Russia
might begin to wonder why they cannot have the same.
During the election campaign, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin,
twice visited Ukraine to lend support to Mr Yanukovich. Even before
the Ukrainian election commission announced the official result on
Wednesday, Mr Putin jumped the gun and congratulated his candidate on
his “victory”. But with the EU, America and Canada (which has 1m
residents of Ukrainian descent) all strongly condemning the elections
as fraudulent, Mr Putin has since wavered: calling on both sides to
act within the law; then congratulating Mr Yanukovich a second time;
and then, after meeting EU leaders on Thursday (see article), calling
for the matter to be settled in court.
Mr Kuchma, meanwhile, stayed silent until Tuesday night, when he
issued a statement calling for talks between the two sides.
Aleksander Kwasniewski, the president of Poland (which has already
made the jump from east to west and is now encouraging Ukraine to
follow), said on Thursday he intended to visit Ukraine shortly to try
to broker such talks.
The conflict’s eventual outcome remains uncertain. Mr Yushchenko’s
supporters are hoping for something like the non-violent “rose
revolution” a year ago in Georgia, another former Soviet state, in
which huge popular demonstrations forced the country’s then
president, Edward Shevardnadze, to resign following dubious
parliamentary elections. Mr Yanukovich and his supporters, in turn,
so far show no sign of backing down. On Wednesday, Mr Yushchenko
hinted at a possible compromise, saying that he would be prepared to
stand again in a re-run of the second round of voting.
What happens now depends on several factors. First, the strength of
ordinary Ukrainians’ feelings about the outcome—how sick they are of
the current regime and the business oligarchs who prop it up, and how
far they are prepared to go to defend Mr Yushchenko’s claims of
victory. Strikes, blockades and protests could soon bring much of the
country to a halt. However, staying on the streets through the
freezing winter would demand great fortitude.
The loyalty or otherwise of the state bureaucracy to Mr Yanukovich,
who recently gave them a big pay rise, could be a determining factor.
On Thursday, the deputy economy minister, Oleh Haiduk, resigned in
protest at the official election results. A number of Ukrainian
diplomats around the world have signed a document denouncing them;
and local authorities in Kiev and several other big cities have
refused to recognise them.
In particular, it is not yet clear how the security forces will react
to any escalation in the protests. On Monday, they issued a statement
promising that any lawlessness would be put down “quickly and
firmly”. But Mr Yushchenko has urged the Ukrainian forces to come
over to his side. It was reported that a mid-ranking officer in an
elite riot-police unit had been sacked after denouncing his superiors
for issuing “illegal” orders to use force against protesters.
Meanwhile, the defence minister has insisted that the army has not
been mobilised and has asked it to stay calm.
International pressure may also have a significant effect on the
outcome. As well as the pressure from America and the EU, a key
determining factor will be the attitude of Mr Putin. He would risk
serious difficulties in his relations with both Europe and America if
he were to back Mr Yanukovich in repressing the protests. Towards the
climax of the Georgian revolution last year, Mr Putin seemed to lose
patience with Mr Shevardnadze, perhaps contributing to his downfall.
Does his wavering response to the Ukrainian conflict mean he is
already hedging his bets?
Though Mr Yushchenko is now hoping for a Georgian-style bloodless
revolution to deliver him the presidency, there are also some less
promising precedents among the former Soviet states: only two months
ago, Belarus’s president, Alexander Lukashenka, “won” a rigged
referendum to allow him to run for re-election. The EU decided this
week to tighten its sanctions against those in his government it
blames for the fraudulent ballot. Azerbaijan and Armenia also held
flawed elections last year: in Azerbaijan, there were riots after the
son of the incumbent president won amid widespread intimidation and
bribery, but these were violently put down; and in Armenia, voters
reacted with quiet despair at the re-election of their president amid
reports of ballot-stuffing. If Ukraine follows these precedents,
hopes for change there, and in other parts of the former Soviet
Union, may be dashed.
–Boundary_(ID_Da8uNxdYnbt6gFhXyNXkzA)–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AzerTag, Azerbaijan State Info Agency
Nov 25 2004
BAKU CONFERENCE ON “GLOBAL INFORMATION-COMMUNICATION
TECHNOLOGIES-2004”
[November 25, 2004, 19:22:33]
Dear participants of Conference!
I am glad to welcome you in capital of Azerbaijan, in the city of
Baku, and I wish work of the Conference success, and each of you –
health and happiness.
Statement of principles and the Plan of the activity, adopted at the
December 2003 World Summit in Geneva, being extremely a successful
step on the way of creation of information society, have put in pawn
a strong basis for solution of global problems of mankind.
Azerbaijan, known in the world as the oil country, confidently coming
nearer to the information society, has stated at the Summit that is
ready to transform the oil resources into real potential of each
citizen of our country, and began to carry out concrete measures in
this direction.
The Ministry of Communications of Information Technologies created
after the Summit, playing a leading role in this area, within the
framework of the special state program realizes various projects
connected to economy, basing on knowledge. It is confident that
results of the work, which have been successfully implemented by
Azerbaijan together with a number of the international structures,
including the UN Development Program (UNDP), in many spheres on
application of information-communication technologies, will evoke
interest of participants of the Conference.
Azerbaijan as the most dynamically developed country of region
possesses today good opportunities for expansion of sphere of
information technologies. However, the occupation continuing for
already over ten years of the Azerbaijan lands by Armenia and stay
over one million people in position of refugees complicate
realization of large-scale programs. In this sense, the problem of
“Information divide” which will be discussed at the Conference
represents for us extremely great value.
I hope, that your conference will make worthy contribution to the
cause of establishment of information society.
Ilham Aliyev,
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan
Baku, November 24, 2004

AzerTag, Azerbaijan State Info Agency
Nov 25 2004
PRIME MINISTER RECEIVES ITALIAN DELEGATION
[November 25, 2004, 17:31:49]
On 25 November, Prime Minister of Azerbaijan Artur Rasizade received
the Italian delegation led by Deputy Foreign Minister Margherita
Boniver.
During the meeting, the parties exchanged views on the prospects of
the Azerbaijani-Italian economic cooperation and touched upon the
problem of peaceful settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict
over Nagorno-Karabakh.
Prime Minister of Azerbaijan noted that Italy is a leader in
Azerbaijan’s foreign trade turnover, but expressed regret about law
level of Italian investments in the economy of Azerbaijan. Our
country is very interested in attraction of Italian investors and
their active involvement in global transport projects.
Italian Deputy Foreign Minister Margherita Boniver for her part
pointed out that the agreements on establishment of the
Italy-Azerbaijan Economic council and joint Chamber of Commerce and
Industry signed during this would strengthen economic cooperation
between the two countries.
Touching upon the Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh problem, Prime
Minister Artur Rasizade recalled that during her visit to Yerevan,
the Italian diplomat stated on Italy’s abstention while voting at the
UN General Assembly on the situation in the occupied territories of
Azerbaijan. He stressed in this connection, that it is Azerbaijan not
Armenia that was subjected to the aggression, expatriation of
peaceful population and occupation of its lands.
It is these factors that should be kept in mind in the first place
while discussing the issue, he said.
The meeting was attended by Ambassador of Italy to Azerbaijan Mrs.
Margherita Costa.

PRESIDENTS OF KAZAKHSTAN, ARMENIA AND UZBEKISTAN CONGRATULATE VIKTOR YANUKOVICH
RIA Novosti, Russia
Nov 25 2004
KIEV, November 25 (RIA Novosti) – President of Kazakhstan Nursultan
Nazarbayev has congratulated Viktor Yanukovich with his victory in
the Ukrainian presidential election, the Ukrainian government’s press
service informed the Novosti-Ukraina agency.
“I congratulate you with all my heart on your election to the highest
post in Ukraine. Your victory stands for the nation’s choice of unity,
democracy and economic progress,” the statement says.
The Kazakh head of state was echoed by his Armenian counterpart Robert
Kocharyan, the press service reported.
“I would like to congratulate you on this occasion. I hope Armenia
and Ukraine will continue developing and enhancing the relations of
friendship and mutual understanding for the good of our states and
nations,” the greeting says.
Uzbekistan’s President Islam Karimov followed suit.
“It is my strong conviction that your occupying the highest post will
secure Ukraine’s independence, enhance the country’s prestige on the
world arena and provide for the welfare and prosperity of the people
of Ukraine,” Karimov stated.

Pressure group starts protest actions
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Nov 25 2004
Over 50 members of the Garabagh Liberation Organization (GLO) held
an action at the Samad Vurgun garden in Baku at noon on Wednesday in
protest against the Armenian parliament members’ intended participation
in the NATO Rose Roth seminar due in Azerbaijan late in November.
The protesters held posters saying “Shame on those allowing Armenians
in Baku”, “Keep away Armenian invaders” and “NATO, stop supporting
Armenia!” and released some 100 black balloons in the air, the GLO
chairman Akif Naghi said.
After interference by the police, four protesters were taken to the
Sabayel police precinct, and released two hours later.
About 30 GLO members held another action in front of the Baku Airport
Terminal exit door at 3 p.m. on the same day and read out an appeal
to the airport workers.
“You also represent the Azerbaijani people and should prevent the
entry of aggressor Armenians to Baku”, the document said. GLO will
continue protest actions on Thursday.*

OSCE report on Garabagh conflict to be discussed in Baku
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Nov 25 2004
The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly special envoy on the Armenia-Azerbaijan
conflict Goran Lennmarker is scheduled to visit Baku on Friday. The
goal of the visit is to discuss with Azerbaijani officials his report
on the Upper Garabagh conflict.
The OSCE envoy is expected to meet with President Ilham Aliyev,
Speaker of the Milli Majlis (parliament) Murtuz Alasgarov and Foreign
Minister Elmar Mammadyarov.
Baku has expressed discontent with some provisions of the report,
head of the Azerbaijani delegation at OSCE PA Sattar Safarov has
said. During Lennmarker’s visit, these disputed provisions will be
clarified and a final version of the report agreed upon, Safarov
added.*

Business wire (press release)
Nov 25 2004
Announcement by the Government of Armenia, OTE and Armentel
ATHENS, Greece–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Nov. 25, 2004–The Board of
Directors of Hellenic Telecommunications Organization SA (ASE: HTO,
NYSE: OTE), the Greek full-service telecommunications provider,
issued the following announcement:
On November 25 2004, after a period of intensive negotiations, the
Government of Armenia, OTE and Armentel settled all outstanding
disputes between them.
The settlement package includes the mutual dismissal of an
arbitration proceeding between the Government and OTE in London, the
issuance of a second GSM license as well as an amended license to
Armentel with rationalized build-out obligations.
The Government, OTE and Armentel agreed to a compromise from their
respective positions, in order to replace a costly and
confrontational relationship, with one which is founded on
cooperation and the efficiency of the regulatory and business
environment, which will lead to the offering of consumer-oriented
services.
As a result, the Armenian consumer will benefit from an enhanced
competitive offering of telecommunication services rendered.
On the other hand, Armentel will function under an equitable
regulatory framework, which will enable the implementation of
high-quality services based on rapidly evolving technologies.
With the support of the Armentel customers and the stabilization of
the regulatory and business environment for the investor, this new
chapter in the field of telecommunications will significantly
contribute to the growth of the economy of the Republic of Armenia,
and the prosperity of the population.
The Government of Armenia OTE Armentel JV,
JSC
About OTE
OTE is a provider of public, fixed switch domestic and international
telephony services in Greece. With local, long distance and
international communications services in addition to mobile
telephony, internet services, and high-speed data communications, OTE
provides consumers and businesses the ability to communicate globally
through its extensive network infrastructure. In addition, OTE has a
number of International investments in the South East European region
and addresses a potential customer base of 60 million people.
Listed on the Athens Stock Exchange, the company trades under the
ticker HTO as well as on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker
OTE. In the U.S., OTE’s American Depository Receipts (ADR’s)
represents 1/2 ordinary share.
Additional Information is also available on
Contacts:
OTE: Dimitris Tzelepis- Head of Investor Relations,
Tel: +30 210 611 1574 / 1429
email: [email protected]
Nikos Kallianis – Senior Financial Analyst,
Investor Relations Tel: +30 210 611 5070;
email: [email protected]
Daria Kozanoglou – Communications Officer,
Investor Relations Tel: +30 210 611 1121;
email: [email protected]
Taylor Rafferty: London: +44 20 7936 0400, New York: +1
212-889-4350;
email: [email protected]

AZERBAIJAN FAILS AT UN
Azg/arm
26 Nov 04
This Is No Victory for Armenia and Karabakh
During discussions of the issue of “condition on Azerbaijanâ~@~Ys
conquered territories” at the UN General Assembly, foreign minister of
Azerbaijan singled out the situation in Lachin region, which as he put,
“was inhabited by the Azeris before the war and 13 thousand Armenians
were settled there recently”. “750 thousand Azeris were forced out from
the conquered territories of Azerbaijan”, Mamediarov said. He noted
that the Armenians are renaming Azeri towns and that the Armenian
armed forces had a hand in creation of two new settlements in Qelbajar.
Suzan Moor, US representative at the UN, opposed on behalf of the
OSCE Minsk group co-chairmanship to Bakuâ~@~Ys initiative thus proving
that the Minsk group does not approve of transmitting Nagorno Karabakh
issue to the UN.
It is still uncertain when the formula will be put to the vote. Minsk
group co-chairs were supposed to meet Mamediarov on November 24. Last
time Karabakh issue was discussed at the UN was in 1993 during torrid
battles in Karabakh. UN Security Council adopted 4 formulae.
Permanent representative of Armenia to UN, Armen Martirosian, addressed
the Assembly reminding that it was Azerbaijan who began pogroms of
Armenians in Baku, Sumgait and Kirovabad in 1988-1990 and made 400
thousand Armenians flee their homes particularly in the regions of
Shahumian, Getashen and Northern Martakert.
Martirosian stated in his speech that Nagorno Karabakh had never
been in the structure of independent Azerbaijan, Armenian population
of Karabakh won its right of freedom in a legitimate way through a
referendum in 1991. He also noted that first and foremost issue is
to reconcile Karabakh and Azerbaijan but Baku has been turning down
Minsk groups suggestions since 1998.
Since Aliyev seniorâ~@~Ys presidency Azerbaijan has been constantly
attempting, sometimes successfully, to make diverse institutions
adopt formulae on Karabakh that are not desired for Armenia and
Karabakh. So, the European Parliament adopted a formula on Karabakh
issue in January of 2004, the PACE Commission on Political Issues
and NATOâ~@~Ys Parliamentary Assembly adopted formulae too.
The Karabakh war of 1992-1994 is not included in all those formulae
thus distorting the essence of the issue. Armenian diplomacy failed
to make the world community understand that the Karabakh issue emerged
in Azerbaijan as a result of Karabakh peopleâ~@~Ys legal wish to gain
independence, it also keeps silent of the fact that Azerbaijanâ~@~Ys
Supreme Council took a decision on November 26, 1991, to clear Nagorno
Karabakh off Armenian population and secure Azeris.
Azerbaijan succeeded in convincing the world community that it is the
victim of aggression, has lost 20 percent of its territory and has
more than 1 million refugees. Most of the territories controlled by
Armenian forces were once presented to Azerbaijan by Moscow. In 1923,
when Stalin created “Red Kurdistan” (breaking overland connection
between Armenia and Karabakh) newly formed unit included Armenian
Qashunik (Kubatlu), Qarvachar (Qelbajar), Qashatakh (Lachin) regions
that were populated by Turkish-speaking Kurds.
It is very important that the UN General Assembly voted
Azerbaijanâ~@~Ys initiative down. Such sentences of the formula as
“continues occupation of Azeri lands”, “condition in the occupied
territories” were unacceptable for Armenia. Though Azerbaijan failed
in UN that can be no relief to Armenia and Karabakh.
By Tatoul Hakobian
–Boundary_(ID_Gj5carxjR6swCZ22qnWQaA)–

Al-Ahram Weekly, Egypt
Nov 25 – Dec 1, 2004
Way to go
It is now eight years since an innovative programme was set up in
Sinai to preserve and nurture the heritage of a local community.
Jenny Jobbins reports on the St Catherine’s Bedouin project
St Catherine’s new Visitor Centre
THIS IMAGE of the Archbishop of Sinai drinking tea with Bedouin in
the garden of the Monastery of Saint Catherine by Bruce White is
one of many unique photographs that grace a new publication from the
American University in Cairo Press. Saint Catherine’s Monastery: Sinai,
Egypt — a Photographic Essay is a handsome book on the Greek Orthodox
monastery and its buildings containing many newly-commissioned colour
photographs. The concise and informative text by Helen C Evans is
preceded by a special introduction by His Eminence Archbishop Damianos
of Sinai, abbot of the monastery. (Published by the Metropolitan
Museum of Art, New York. Distributed in Egypt by AUC Press)
Egypt’s national parks were set up primarily to protect the country’s
natural heritage. St Catherine’s, however, is also safeguarding a
historical and social legacy. The St Catherine’s Bedouin project is
centred at the small village near the famous monastery. It happens
to be the only town or village in Egypt to fall within a national
park, and its advantage of location places it in a special position
vis-ˆ-vis conservation.
When the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA) established St
Catherine’s as a protected area, it found itself guardian not only
of the mountains of Sinai but also of the village that had grown up
round the Greek Orthodox monastery, largely peopled by the monastery’s
Bedouin servants and their dependents. Dozens of smaller settlements
also fell within the new park. And like the natural heritage which
the EEAA is fighting so hard to protect, the cultural inheritance
of the South Sinai Bedouin is under threat from the changes brought
about by modernisation and global shrinkage with its consequent influx
of tourists.
St Catherine’s National Park encompasses virtually all the mountainous
area of South Sinai, from the Taba-Mitla road in the north to the
borders of the Ras Mohamed National Park in the south, and from the
inner rim of the coastal plateau in the west to the Taba, Nabq and
Ras Abu Galum Managed Resource Areas in the east and north east (in
all the protected areas encompass 30 per cent of South Sinai). Its
establishment in 1996 came some time after the foundation of the
Ras Mohamed National Park, but while attention there was focussed
on ecosystems and aspects of protecting the coast and coral reefs
from mass diving and recreational fishing, it was realised that
St Catherine’s not only enveloped a stunning landscape and local
biodiversity, but also a huge number of prehistoric sites and a local
population whose way of life was under threat.
The St Catherine’s covers an area of 5,750 squared kilometres, or
20 per cent of South Sinai. It contains Egypt’s highest mountain,
St Catherine’s (2,624 m), as well as Mount Sinai — held sacred as
the place where Moses received the Ten Commandments — Mount Serbal,
Mount Um Shomer and Mount Tarbush. The mountains are composed of
igneous rock between 500 and 1,000 million years old — one of the
most violent periods of activity took place in the Pre-Cambrian era
about 800 million years ago. The towering granite crags overlooking
St Catherine’s Monastery are some of the oldest in the world.
The mountains enclose wadis (dry valleys) studded with acacias and
other vegetation, while higher in the rocks are clefts where water
gathers seasonally, forming pools and nurturing the variety of herbs
and desert shrubs from which the Bedouin draw nutritional supplements
and medicinal remedies. Forty- five per cent of all the plants in
Egypt are found in Sinai: of these 320 species 19 are unique to Sinai
(including a native primrose) and more than 100 have a medicinal use.
Wildlife includes the Nubian ibex, Dorcas gazelle, Striped hyena,
Red fox, Fennec fox, Wolf, Wild cat, Sinai leopard, Rock hyrax,
Rodents, Geckos, Skinks, Hedgehogs and Hares. There are 46 reptile
species, 15 of which are found nowhere else in Egypt, among them
two species of snake, the Sinai banded snake and the Innes cobra,
which are found only in the National Park. There are 150 species of
migrating birds, including about 40 raptor species. Sinai is also
home to the smallest butterfly in the world, the Sinai Baton Blue,
half the size of a fingernail and confined for eternity to the top
of one mountain since it cannot live below a certain altitude, and
its tiny wings cannot carry it as far as the next peak.
The growing popularity of the Red Sea coastal resorts and their
proximity to the monastery has resulted in increasing numbers of
visitors. Protecting the natural and cultural values of the area was
a primary goal in the declaration of the park. A parallel aim was to
enhance the quality of local tourism by promoting its environmental
and cultural aspects.
There are more than 500 historical sites and buildings in Sinai,
dating from the round stone nawamis built about 4,000 BC to structures
from the Bronze Age and Nabatean, Byzantine and Islamic periods. There
are abundant foundations of tombs, houses, storehouses, animal traps,
and evidence of copper smelting. The sites have yielded Bronze Age
jewellery and amulets and tools and pottery from all ages. In 2002
UNESCO declared St Catherine’s a World Heritage Site.
Visitors have long been drawn here. Overlooking the village is a
palace built by the Khedive Abbas II and still used as an official
rest house. Each day 1,000 people visit the St Catherine’s Monastery,
and it is hoped that the new Visitor Centre will encourage many of
them will pause there to learn more about the park and its resources.
To maximise public access, the centre has been built on the main road
close to the village. Designed by architect Hani Manyawi of Adapt
Egypt, and built in local materials by local labour, it is housed
in seven small buildings modelled on houses left in the area 2,000
years ago by Nabatean forebears. The simple buildings in local stone
blend both architecturally and spiritually into the surrounding crags.
Built into the complex is a model of the base of a Bronze Age house,
a small circle of large, flat stone slaps up-ended; these would have
been topped by poles supporting the upper walls and a roof of wood
or palm fronds.
The Visitor Centre took a year to build with funding support from the
EU. Entry is free of charge up to the end of the year, after which
it will cost three dollars for foreign visitors and three pounds
for Egyptians.
Mohamed Nada, a member of the EEAA’s enthusiastic and knowledgeable
team and administrator of the park’s Visitor Management Programme,
guided us round the Visitor Centre. The first of the six small halls
is the Reception room, which offers an explanation of the aims of
the park. From there a path leads to the Geological hall, where we
learn that the Red Sea cleft began to form 25 million years ago,
tearing Sinai from Africa, and that it still widens at the rate of a
centimetre a year. A fascinating geological column in the hall gives
geological timelines and a stylised representation of the rocks,
including the grey granite which formed 800 million years ago and
red granite from 200 million years later.
Birdsong erupts as the door of the next hall is opened. This section
features wildlife, including the Baton Blue Butterfly, and shows the
workings of the camera traps the EEAA has placed in the park. The
trap mechanism triggers a flash — a literal shot in the dark — and
have captured on film among other animals Ibex, Gazelle, Ruppell’s
sand fox, the Fennec fox and Striped hyena.
Local history is featured in another hall, and the Monastery in
another. Here a model of the complex is painted in pastel shades to
represent the periods of construction. A sanctuary was originally
founded here by Queen Helena, mother of the Emperor Constantine, on
the spot considered to be where Moses came across the burning bush
— the supposed bush is carefully tended in an inner courtyard. The
monastery was built 200 years later — between 527 and 565 — by
the Emperor Justinian to house the remains of St Catherine, who was
martyred in 315 in Alexandria but whose perfectly preserved body (a
sign of her holiness) had only recently been found on the summit of
the nearby mountain which afterwards bore her name. St Catherine’s
may be the oldest continuously inhabited monastery in the world, and
is the second largest repository for illuminated manuscripts after
the Vatican. The collection contains some 3,500 volumes in Greek,
Coptic, Arabic, Armenian, Hebrew, Slavic, Syriac and Georgian. In
the early part of the 11th century the monks escaped the persecution
of the Fatimid Caliph Al-Hakim by incorporating a small mosque into
the complex.
The Bedouin cultural hall contains photographs, costumes and musical
instruments illustrating the lives led by the members of the local
communities. Most of the Bedouin in the area belong to the Jabaliya
tribe, whose original members were installed by the Emperor Justinian
to guard and serve the new monastery. The main local occupation now is
tourism. The Jabaliya and other Bedouin work as tour guides on camel
safaris, one reason why they are keen to preserve their wild animals,
birds and flora.
Local knowledge works both ways. Since the visitor programme involves
the local community, it enhances their awareness of their locality and
this proves useful when they are guiding visitors or archaeologists.
Many members of the community, such as the Community Guards, receive
a salary from the EEAA. The park also employs a dozen rangers from
various backgrounds ranging from a geologist through an anthropologist,
biologists and entomologists to a business studies graduate. They help
run the Bedouin Support Programme, which comprises nine sections:
health, veterinary services, community guards, traditional crafts,
the acacia programme, dam construction, the wildlife and botany
monitoring programme, visitor management and the awareness education
programme. In just one example of the project’s effect, the landscape
management plan — which incorporates the dam construction and clean
water projects — has successfully reduced the number of stone quarries
in operation from 72 to 24.
About 7,000 people live around St Catherine’s. While the largest
number belong to the Jabaliya tribe, others are from the Muzeina,
Gharaja, Sawalha, Aligheit, Awlad Said and Beni Hassan. All are Arabs
— that is, coming originally from the Saudi Peninsula — apart from
the Jabaliya, who were brought to Sinai from the vicinity of Macedonia
in the sixth century to provide security and service to the monks at
the new monastery. Over the generations the Jabaliya married members
of other tribes and gradually converted from Christianity to Islam,
but continued to work at St Catherine’s Monastery.
The park’s founders believed that a sustainable project must have a
built-in source of revenue, and that local support was essential. The
EU’s then representative, John Grainger, deemed it important to
ascertain the Bedouins’ needs, and in 1996 members of the seven local
tribes assembled for a meeting with environmentalists to discuss what
role they might play in the new national park. They asked for dams,
health care, and a women’s craft centre.
The health programme has proved extremely beneficial. A doctor with
a mobile 4×4 clinic travels to all 77 settlements in the park in
rotation, visiting each one every 45 days. Under the women’s health
education programme, women from each settlement are trained to train
others in community nursing and health care. Each representative is
responsible for the rest of the women in her settlement. The veterinary
programme has also proved effective in the care of livestock. All
camels are now inoculated and numbered.
The dam construction — through which rain water is chanelled and
collected to minimise wastage — and acacia rehabilitation projects
involve a large local workforce. Acacias have been so over-harvested
that the lush groves pruned of dead growth for firewood are a thing
of the past. With the aim of regenerating this essential resource,
seeds are collected and, once generated, are replanted in chosen
spots. So far 34,000 seedlings have been planted.
The medicinal plant programme — funded separately by the United
Nations Development Project (UNDP) –runs in cooperation with the
EEAA in growing medicinal plants for local use. Training is given in
cultivating, packaging and marketing the plants, while at the same time
Bedouin and ethno- pharmacologists cooperate in correlating indigenous
knowledge. Fifty-five families work on the acacia and flora programmes.
“The Bedouin themselves are natural conservationists, it’s part
of their heritage,” says Youssreya Hamid, an anthropologist with a
Master’s degree in sustainable development from South Bank University,
London. “They have a system of alliance through which they protect
wild plants and animals. They will close a certain valley for three
to six months to prevent grazing until it has regrown, to respect
sustainability. The health, craft, human and animal medical and acacia
programmes have all been well received by the Bedouin.”
Bedouin are also occupied in tourism, from running and guiding camel
and wilderness camping safaris to operating accommodation services.
These include five hotels, two main tourist camps and the St
Catherine’s Ecolodge, also built to a Nabatean design and run by a
Bedouin cooperative under EEAA supervision. Twenty-six experienced
Bedouin work as Community Guards, policing the wilderness to watch
out for infringements of EEAA rules.
Of all the projects at St Catherine’s, perhaps the best known outside
the park is the women’s cooperative. The 40 women who were initially
involved started with traditional items such as scarves, beading,
necklaces and sugar bags, but gradually they modified these ideas
into fashionable, marketable items. In 2000 the traditional programme
became a separate project under the name of Fansina. Now 350 women
are marketing their handicrafts here and internationally. They still
prefer to work with the raw materials at home in the time-honoured way.
British textile artist Sally Hampson was involved from the very early
stages. “My job was to see what the women were already making and how
they were accessing materials and selling their projects,” Hampson
says. “What was happening was that the women would make things and
the men would be working close to the people at the monastery and
taking tourists on treks, and they would sell them the things the
women made. It was all very ad hoc. When this programme was set up
the women showed a desire for support in their textile production.”
Hampson’s job was to assess what was going on and find out how the
system worked. She had to become acquainted with the crafts including
some unfamiliar to her, such as beadwork.
“The most pressing need they had was accessing materials, and because
of where they were they depended on passing traders — men selling
household goods and sometimes carrying wool and sewing thread. The
women were in the hands of what these vans had on board. The variety
and quality wasn’t there. It seemed important to give the women access
to good quality materials, like colourfast cotton.”
Some of the first items they sewed together were the embroidered sugar
bags they made for their husbands, sons and brothers to take on their
trips into the mountains to graze flocks or gather herbs. The bags
were of white cotton and had a little inside pocket for the tea. “They
drew their inspiration for their embroidery from their surroundings,”
Hampson says. “They stitched little desert plants, camels and other
animals, stars and the sun, fish and flowers, both stylised and
abstract. Tourists wanted to buy them, and it evolved from there.
“I was trying to get them to work with good materials but keep the
narrative. For tourists this becomes part of the story they bring
home — it isn’t just an anonymous bag.”
Everything the women made had a reason and a purpose. “It’s not
that they can just knock up this and that. I was very cautious about
not dictating the design. I know I had things to offer because as a
Westerner I had sensibilities for the people who buy this, so I was
trying the bridge the two. But for myself, I want something genuine.”
A Bedouin woman’s dress is a sign of her social standing, her hairstyle
of her age or marital status. Every unmarried Bedouin girl, for
instance, sports a lock across her forehead, but this is substituted
by a plait in an elderly woman. Married women of the Jabaliya tribe
wear a black shawl ( Al-ghurna ), unmarried girls a white one ,
( Al-malfah ). A married woman wears a long face veil ( Al-burgah
), a bride a short one until she has had her first child. In North
Sinai women wear an open veil, a beaded breastplate ( Al-mallab ),
and metal accessories given by her husband in the first months of
her married life.
Hamid stresses the strong position held by women in Bedouin society.
“From my point of view women are equal to men,” she says. “Each has
her own job, and the women keep their own money.”
While the craft programme has brought new economic strength for the
women, the health programme has also brought benefits, improving
maternity services and reducing the infant mortality rate.
Hamid, a native of Alexandria, has worked at St Catherine’s since 1998,
taking a year off to study in London. She also teaches environmental
education to children at the 30 primary and local secondary schools
within the protected area. As part of the educational programme, a
traditional healer teaches the children how to find, recognise and use
plants. Bedouin knowledge is thus being used to protect the natural and
cultural resources of the area, and transferred down the line. “Being
forgotten because of the interaction with other cultures would be a
tragedy,” Hamid says. “It needs to be transferred to new generations.”
In eight years the EEAA’s care and intervention has meant a great deal
to the area, and the local Bedouin are backing the programme to the
hilt. The village, though founded on the pickings of the monastery,
has taken up a mantle of its own.
However St Catherine’s Park is constantly growing and taking shape.
The national parks recently made the transition from EU to Egyptian
stewardship, and one of the services disrupted by the changeover has
been the Bedouin-staffed mountain rescue service, temporarily suspended
because of logistical use of equipment, notably mobile phones. But
the park staff see such blips are minor. “The programme is working
well, and it serves as an inspiration and a model for similar areas
in Egypt and elsewhere,” Nada says.
–Boundary_(ID_6EHs31K0IPlwk7J7cLVG6w)–

Mark Thatcher’s trial postponed until April
By ELLIOTT SYLVESTER
AP Worldstream
Nov 25, 2004
A South African court on Thursday postponed Sir Mark Thatcher’s
trial for allegedly helping finance a foiled coup attempt in oil-rich
Equatorial Guinea until April 8 for further investigation.
Thatcher, the 51-year-old son of former British Prime Minister Margaret
Thatcher, appeared smiling and relaxed during the brief hearing. He
was not asked to plead.
Magistrate Awie Kotze granted the delay at the request of
prosecutors. He also extended Thatcher’s bail conditions, which require
that he remain in the Cape Town area and report daily to police.
Thatcher, who has lived in South Africa since 1995, was arrested at
his suburban Cape Town home on August 25 and charged with violating
this country’s anti-mercenary laws.
He also faces charges in Equatorial Guinea, where 19 other defendants
are already on trial in connection with an alleged plot earlier this
year to overthrow President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, who has ruled
Africa’s third-largest oil producer for the past 25 years. Officials
there have said they will seek Thatcher’s extradition from South
Africa.
On Wednesday, the Cape High Court ruled Thatcher must answer questions
under oath sent by Equatorial Guinea.
Thatcher’s lawyer, Alan Bruce-Brand, said Thursday the legal team had
not yet decided whether to appeal. Earlier, he told The Associated
Press that his client would most likely answer the questions before
a magistrate on Friday.
Equatorial Guinea alleges Thatcher and other, mainly British financiers
worked with the tiny country’s opposition figures, scores of African
mercenaries and six Armenian pilots in a takeover attempt foiled in
March. Thatcher maintains he played no part in the alleged conspiracy.
Simon Mann, a former British special forces commander accused of
masterminding the plot, was arrested and convicted with 67 accused
accomplices in Zimbabwe on weapons and other minor charges. Three
others later pleaded guilty to violating South Africa’s Foreign
Military Assistance Act as part of a plea bargain under which
they agreed to give evidence in court against other alleged coup
participants.