CAIRO: Egypt strongly reaffirmed its position during the UN Security Council session on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam negotiations, a top diplomat said. 

Mohammed Idris, Egypt’s permanent representative to the UN, stated that Cairo held the Security Council accountable for its responsibilities regarding the Renaissance Dam crisis.

The Egyptian state has engaged in intensive diplomatic moves to present the Ethiopian dam crisis to the Security Council, the ambassador announced in televised statements.

The world is full of issues that threaten security and peace, and the Security Council must play its role, the envoy added.

The members of the Security Council do not want to take a position on the dam, said the envoy. 

In previous statements, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said that the matter within the Security Council was complicated, given “political considerations and alignments,” the interaction between permanent and non-permanent members, and “overlapping interests.”

He stated that bringing the issue of the Renaissance Dam to the Security Council was an important matter in order to “hold it responsible as the main organ in the UN system concerned with maintaining peace and security.”

He added that Ethiopia’s argument during the Security Council session was “weak and did not live up to the words of Egypt and Sudan.”

Battle for the Nile

How will Egypt be impacted by Ethiopia filling its GERD reservoir ?

Enter

keywords

LONDON: France said the European Union had reached a consensus to sanction Lebanese leaders to pressure them to form a stable government, the French foreign minister said on Monday.
“Lebanon has been in self-destruct mode for several months,” Jean-Yves Le Drian said. “Now there is a major emergency situation for a population that is in distress.”
A political crisis has left the country without a functioning government since the last one resigned after a massive explosion killed 200 people and destroyed swathes of Beirut in August 2020.
Speaking during an EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting, Le Drian said: “For several months now, we have been urging the Lebanese authorities to form a government, to make the necessary reforms to get the country out of the tragedy into which it is going to enter and there is now a political consensus to put in place a legal framework and sanctions before the end of the month.”
He said this will happen before the “unfortunate anniversary of the explosion in the port of Beirut on Aug. 4.”
The French foreign minster said the legal framework “will serve as a tool to pressure the Lebanese authorities to form the government, and to advance in the implementation of the essential reforms that this country is waiting for.”
Josep Borrell, EU foreign policy chief, also confirmed that the 27 nations gave the green light to establish the legal framework.
“The objective is to complete this by the end of the month,” Borrell said, adding: “The economy’s imploding and the suffering of the people of Lebanon is continuously growing.”
“They need to have a Lebanese government in order to avoid the breakdown of the country, (one that is) fully able to implement reforms and protect this population.”
Lebanon is mired in what the World Bank has called one of the worst economic crises since the 1850s. The state is struggling to buy enough fuel to keep the lights on.
The economic crisis has seen the Lebanese pound lose more than 90 percent of its value against the dollar on the black market, and left more than half the population living below the poverty line.
In April, France imposed sanctions by restricting entry of Lebanese figures it says are responsible for the political crisis.
(With Reuters and AFP)

CAIRO: The Egyptian parliament on Monday approved harsher penalties for sexual harassment and related crimes and upgraded them to felony offenses, aiming to curb sex-related assaults in a nation where women have long felt disadvantaged.
Sex crimes have been an increasing topic of conversation in recent years in the conservative, Muslim-majority nation, with several high profile court cases coming to varying conclusions.
Dozens of Egyptians began posting accounts of sexual assault on social media last year, but campaigners say there remains a deep-rooted bias in Egypt to place more blame on women for behavior deemed provocative than on men for sex crimes.
Public prosecutors in May shelved a case over a woman’s allegation that she was gang raped at a luxury hotel in Cairo in 2014 because of “insufficient evidence” against the defendants.
Referring to earlier laws passed in 2014, a parliamentary committee said in a report on Monday that “although the punishments listed were a quantum leap at the time, they did not achieve the necessary deterrence.”
In the measure approved on Monday, the penalty for sexual harassment was increased from a minimum of one year in prison to a minimum of five years, or a penalty of up to 300,000 Egyptian pounds ($19,100), up from 20,000 pounds.
In situations where a power imbalance was in place because of a professional or familial relationship, or in cases involving the use of weapons or accomplices, the penalty was increased from a minimum of two to a minimum of seven years, in addition to a 10-fold increase of the maximum fine to 500,000 Egyptian pounds.
The penalties for stalking and general harassment were also increased substantially.
In August, the parliament approved a law protecting the identity of victims of sexual harassment and assault, after a social media campaign led to the arrest of a suspected sex offender.

LONDON: Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry met his Israeli counterpart Yair Lapid in Brussels on Sunday for the first time since Israel’s new cross-party coalition took office last month.
Shoukry said “urgent action was needed to resolve the current stalemate between the Palestinian and Israeli sides, leading to just and comprehensive peace negotiations,” Egypt’s foreign ministry spokesperson said on Twitter.
The meeting was held on the sidelines of Shoukry visit to the Belgian capital where he held talks with European counterparts on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam issue.
Both minsters are also in Brussels to attend the European Union foreign ministers’ summit.

During his visit to Brussels, FM #Sameh_Shoukry meets his Israeli counterpart, Yair Lapid, and stresses the need to resolve the current stalemate between the Palestinian and Israeli sides, leading to a just and comprehensive peace negotiations.@yairlapid pic.twitter.com/VEdDT5gcSB

— Egypt MFA Spokesperson (@MfaEgypt) July 11, 2021

On Thursday, Lapid, foreign minister in a cross-partisan coalition that ousted long-serving conservative Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government a month ago, held his first meeting with his Jordanian counterpart Ayman Safadi.
Lapid said the countries also agreed to explore increasing Jordan’s exports to the West Bank to $700 million a year, from $160 million now.
“The Kingdom of Jordan is an important neighbor and partner,” Lapid said in a statement. “We will broaden economic cooperation for the good of the two countries.”
(With Reuters)

RIYADH: Yemen’s foreign minister condemned on Sunday the Houthi militia’s continued “intransigence and rejection” of a proposed peace initiative for Yemen.
Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak warned that the continued escalation and military aggression by the Iran-backed Houthis, especially against civilians in Marib, exacerbates the country’s humanitarian catastrophe and increases the suffering of the displaced.
Saudi Arabia proposed in march a peace initiative that included a comprehensive cease-fire, reopening Sanaa airport and returning to political negotiations.
However, the Houthis responded by continuing a brutal offensive on oil and gas-rich Marib province. The attack sparked international condemnation as the province had served as a safe haven for around 2.7 million displaced persons who had been fleeing the fighting since the conflict began seven years ago.
Bin Mubarak’s comments came during a meeting with Cathy Westley, the charge d’affairs of the US embassy to Yemen, to discuss the latest developments in the war and the political process.
The foreign minister called for the need to complete the implementation of the Riyadh Agreement for the south of the country and said Yemen’s government appreciates the support and efforts made by Saudi Arabia in order to ensure the full implementation of the deal, state-run Saba news agency reported.
The agreement was signed between the internationally-recognized Yemeni government and southern separatists in the Saudi capital in December 2019, and called for the formation of a new government, disarmament of militia groups, the demilitarization of the temporary capital Aden, and improving the economy.
Westley said the US calls on the Houthis to immediately accept a cease-fire and enter into negotiations.
She also reiterated the US position in support of the legitimate government and the security, unity and stability of Yemen.