#Ramadan Arabian Nights #2013 : The Tale of Prince Amar El Din and King Zanzibar-10

And we continue the Saga of Prince Amar El Din of Jinn and Princess Amar El Din of humans. Tonight is the 10th episode in this season Radio Arabian Nights on Egyptian Chronicles. It was the 301th episode on Egyptian radio from several decades ago. You can refresh your memory with what happened last night here.

and below after the break the old player

 

Synopsis :

Cruel king Zanzibar decides that it is the prefect time for his son “who is actually daughter” to marry from a wealthy princess. He asks the hand of princess Set El Banat , the daughter of King Himalaya.

Princess Amar El Din does not know what to do except that she decided to escape along with her mother Sultana and their. At the same time her father the cruel king decided to arrest the stranger known as Amar El Din “The Jinn” because he believes that he is a spy. Amar El Din escapes the guards of the king and sees the other face of the humans.. of course he killed 20 guards and then vanishes.

Princess Amar El Din and her mother along with their maid escape. 

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#10Ramadan : The Usual Friday in #Egypt

Today is the 10th Ramadan of anniversary aka the the anniversary of the 1973 war. 
Of course this year we are celebrating in very different way. We do not remember the war heroes or learn from the lesson of that war or the six days war or the attrition war. No we are celebrating it in the usual Egyptian standard way of spending Friday in Cairo : Mass protests.
Oh yes today we have two counter protests or mass protests. The Muslim brotherhood is organizing a mass protest against the coup while Tamaroud "Rebellion movement" is organizing mass protest against terrorism. Of course Tamaroud is referring to the terrorism of the Muslim brotherhood in Egypt. Both protests are supposedly kicked off after prayer. The Muslim brotherhood will have alone 18 rallies today in Cairo and Giza besides other governroates in Upper Egypt and Delta as well in North Sinia.
We expect to see violence once again in Egypt today.
Here is a storify story for the day which I hope it would end peacefully.

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And The Interim President Addresses The Nation

Interim President Adly Mansour has addressed the Egyptian tonight in a very short speech on the anniversary of the 10th Ramadan War aka October 1973 war “according to the Islamic calendar”. It is considered his first true speech.
Here is the televised speech as it was shown on the Egyptian National TV on time. There was no single delay for one minute. Yes the Egyptian National TV announced that it would be aired on 9 PM and so it was.

Adly Mansour addresses the nation.

This made many Egyptians compare between the ousted President and the interim President and how Morsi made Egyptians woke up till dawn to listen to his speech. The comparison does not stop at the timing and how long speech is but also the seriousness of the speech and its terms . The Arabic of Mansour is perfect , not surprisingly as a judge.
Anyhow to the short speech and its major points :

• The interim president mentioned that 30th June is an extension to 25th January revolution despite he stressed later on “30 June” a revolution.
• The interim president said soon enough we will national reconciliation and there will be no exclusion.

• We are going forward in the political roadmap.
• The interim president emphasized on “The will of the people” and the greatness of the Egyptian people and how it does not know the impossible.
• The people want to go forward while there are others who want to attract the people to violence “in reference to the Muslim brotherhood”
• Egypt is going to restore back its position in the world
• Egypt respects its agreements and seeks peace “in other words to our neighbor Israel we are sticking to the peace agreement”

I would bet that the man who wrote this speech is none other than his media advisor and spokesperson Ahmed El Muslimany. Yes those ideas about the greatness of our people , our nation , our history and our location are always reflected in El Muslimany’s talk as TV host and writings as writer.
For those who do not know  Mr. El Muslimany used to write some ousted President Mubarak’s speeches. I do not know how to El Muslimany’s videos except that he is nationalist. El Muslimany is smart , he avoided all Morsi and his MB media’s mistakes from long speeches.
By the way speaking about media in presidency , yesterday Al Jazeera Arabic and Anadolu News agency correspondents were not allowed to attend the press conference held by Presidency. This is extremely wrong message to send to the world regarding the freedom of speech and freedom of press in the country.
This is the second time Al Jazeera Arabic is not allowed to cover an official presser. The first time was the army presser held next day the clashes at the Republican guards HQ. Of course they were kicked by other military correspondents from state owned media.
The TV channels and reporters knew that the short speech was recorded at the presidential palace and then was sent to Maspero. Amazingly earlier this week I remember that one of the army officers on twitter stated that Mansour was going to address the public on the 10th of Ramadan.
Interestingly I was expecting another speech on the 23 July as it is our national day.
By the way this year marks the 40 anniversary of 1973 October war.

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#Ramadan Arabian Nights #2013 : The Tale of Prince Amar El Din and King Zanzibar-9

And here is the  9th episode of Prince Amar el Din’s tale. This was the 300th episode in the Egyptian National radio’s Arabian nights.

For the Egyptian listeners , I would like to pay attention to the voice of Princess Amar El Din as an adult. Oh yes it is Karima Mokhtar aka Mama Karima

Here is the new audio player and after the break the old player.

Princess/Prince Amar El Din discovered the truth of her gender 7 years after we stopped last time. She knew the truth from her mom about her cruel father King Zanzibar of the island of fire. Fearing the brutality of her father , the princess decided to complete playing the role of prince. The princess loves Prince Amar El Din , the Jinn but she does not know who he is and of course he does not know that she is girl and loves her in a brotherly way. On the other hand the princess hates Nagm El Din and had a fight with him.

Cruel king Zanzibar orders the arrests of Jinn Amar El Din but he suddenly disappears. 

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#Ramadan Arabian Nights #2013 : The Tale of Prince Amar El Din and King Zanzibar-7& 8

Dear readers I am sorry for not posting the seventh episode yesterday as I was busy working covering the new cabinet.
Tonight we will have two episodes “7” and “8” as double bill. Those were the 298th night and 299th night from the Egyptian Radio’s Arabian night. Yes the show continued for years and you exceeded over 200 episodes.
To refresh you memory please check the 6th episode.


Here is the old player for those preferring it.

Synopsis 

Episode “7”

The Queen Sultana gives a birth to a baby girl and she is scared from the cruel king Zanzibar. Her maid tells the king that she gave a birth to a baby boy and then decided with the Queen to disguised the baby princess as baby prince. They are praying God to save them and not to be exposed.
The king names the princess or rather the prince as Amar El Din.
The vizier’s wife gave birth to a boy baby whom he named Nagm El Din. Of course the vizier and the king do not know that the crown prince is actually a crown princess and thus they forgot their deal. On the 7th day following the birth of the princess that became a prince , the baby will be brought to the High temple. At the same time the high priest reveals that all the queens that he saved from the King’s madness are safe and alive an island that is 3 days away from the mainland.
Episode "8" Queen Sultana is raising her daughter as a son keeping her away from all eyes. She lets her daughter/son to play for one hour in the garden. Princess/Prince Amar El Din got a daily play date with the vizier's son Nagm El Din. Interestingly the son of Jinn King Prince Amar El Din. The little Jinn is interested in knowing humans more thus after lots begging his father king Bahrain he goes to the land and visits the Island of fire with Vizier Atlas. Again the young prince begs his vizier to let him play with the young humans in the royal garden aka Amar El Din and Nagm El Din. The Jinn prince plays with the other two kids without realizing that that the other Amar el Din is a girl and not a boy. Returning back to the sea world , Jinn Amar el Din reveals to his dad , the king that he likes human Amar El Din. On the other hand Queen Sultana is crying day and night over her big secret that her daughter "who believes that she is boy" is dying to know. The cruel king gets bored and it seems that Sultana will join the other queens in the Queens island.

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The new Crisis Cabinet of #Egypt

First of all Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei has sworn in from couple of days ago as the vice president of Egypt for foreign affairs. Yes here is the the video below.

ElBaradei swears in

I believe that is a huge responsibility on ElBaradei. He will face a lot of challenges. Already the world looks to Egypt and feels sad for the coup that took place against the elected president. ElBaradei’s name and credibility abroad should send the message that this is not a coup.There is no doubt that the democratic progress in this country is the true indicator whether it is a coup or not.
Some people began to believe that the invincible Egyptian deep state is trying to burn ElBaradei and other reformists in the same way like the Muslim brotherhood. “Of course with the MB it was an easy mission”
Personally I wish Dr. ElBaradei all the luck and success for real because I believe he could be from the people who can break the cycle I spoke about it before.
Now we began to see the final formation of the “crisis” cabinet. Oh yes this is its name now “Crisis” cabinet and God knows it does not face a single crisis but a series of crises.
The cabinet is headed by the liberal economist and co-founder of Egyptian Social Democratic Party PM Hazem El Beblawi. Here are the names and short bios of the 33 ministers. “There problems regarding ministry of justice and ministry of transportation”

1. Ziad Bahaa El Din as deputy PM and minister of International Cooperation: A co-founder of the Egyptian Social democratic party. An economist and lawyer. Very respectable man according to those who know him. “Yup it turned out that I got relatives and friends who know him personally”
2. Nabil Ismail Fahmy as minister of foreign affairs : The former Egypt ambassador to Washington and founding dean of the school of public affairs in the AUC. He is the son of late minister of foreign affairs Ismail Fahmy. He is a member in the constitution party headed by ElBaradei.It is worth to mention that Dr. ElBaradei was Ismail Fahmy’s aide and resigned with him in the mid 1970s. Now to the son I think he was chosen to amend the relations with D.C.
3. Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour as minister of industry : The leading member of Al Wafd Party is returning back to cabinet as a minister of industry. The 1945 born former minister of tourism descends from a famous political Coptic Christian family. Abdel Nour is a businessman and he is the founder of the famous Vitrac for Jams company.
4. Ahmed Galal as minister of finance : The World bank veteran and economist is chosen from this position after several names. He has been the managing director of the Economic Research Forum (ERF), a research institution covering the Middle East, since 2007. Galal worked in the bank for nearly 18 years in different positions : As industrial economist for Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa,  as economic advisor at the private sector development department, and finally as adviser on the Middle East and North Africa from 2006 to 2007
5. Doria Sharf El Din as minister of information : The political sciences graduate is a famous critic , writer and TV host. Her TV show “Cinema Club” on Ch.1 of the Egyptian National TV continued for decades till it was stopped suddenly in 2009. She headed the arts censorship for some time. She is considered the first woman to hold this position. The revolutionaries in Maspero aka National TV do not welcome her as they accuse her of being a member in the NDP policies committee. Again we got a promise from the Presidency that the ministry of information will be cancelled and Sharf El Din would be her last minister.
6. Kamal Abu Eita as minister of manpower : The 1953 born labor activist and icon has at last become the minister of manpower. According to some this is a victory for real for the 25 January revolution. Leftist Nasserite Abu Eita Abu is known for leading the formation of the first independent trade union, the Real Estate Tax Authority Independent General Union, in 2009 after leading the Tax Authority employees’ national strike in 2007. A former MP in the 2012 parliament , Abu Eita a member of the Nasserite El Karma Party ran on the Freedom and Justice Party’s electoral list.  Amazingly Egypt Labor Union is protesting against Abu Eita.
7. Hossam Eissa as minister of higher education : The co-founding member of the Constitution Party is a professor of the Constitutional law. He is also appointed as a deputy PM.
8. Mohamed Amin Mahdy as minister of transitional justice and national reconciliation: The 1936 born minister of the newly founded ministry used to head the State council and the administrative court. Despite his impressive Wikipedia page and his history , the Judges Club does not approve his nomination to become the minister of Justice.Thus a new ministry came to life.  I do not know why El Zend does not like him . Anyhow Mahdy’s father was a member in the Old Wafd member. He was a member our legal team in Taba dispute as well  and a former judge in the International tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Judge Mahdy was also a member in the first fact finding committee of 25 January revolution.
9. Ahmed Emam as minister of electricity : In one of the mysteries of the universe the minister of electricity in the last Hisham Qandil’s cabinet continues in his position despite the frequent blackout !!  
10. Ibrahim Mahlab as minister of housing : The former CEO of Arab contractors. He was a member in the NDP and its police committee. He also was appointed as a MP in the Shura council during the days of Mubarak. After serving as the CEO of Arab Contractors “appointed by Ibrahim Soliman” , he resigned in 2012.
11. Ahmed El Borai as minister of social solidarity : The co-founder and leading member of Constitution Party. Dr. ElBorai served as minister of manpower during the first Essam Sharaf’s cabinet.
12. Hisham Zazou as minister of tourism : The 1954 born minister used to be the minister of tourism in Hisham Kandil cabinet.
13. Adel Labib as minister of local development : The 1945 born was the former governor of Al Behaira and Alexandria as well Qena during the time of Mubarak. The former police general became the governor of Qena once again in August 2011 after the protests of the locals demanding him by name and rejecting the Christian governor appointed there. On the other hand Alexandrians do not welcome his appointments.
14. Maha Rabat as minister of health : All what we know about Dr. Maha is that she is the head of the public health department in the faculty of medicine , Cairo university. She was nominated by the National Council of Woman. Some activists including Mamdouh Hamza accuse her of working in privatizing public hospitals with the help of the U.S. Aid program during the Mubarak era. Trivial info : She graduated from the faculty of medicine in 1982.
15. Laila Iskander as minister of environment : Laila Iskander is renowned figure as social entrepreneur working in environmental development. I think it is one of the best choices n the cabinet.
16. Ramzy George as minister of scientific research : Nothing much about except that he was graduated from the faculty of agriculture , Cairo university in 1963.
17. Atef Helmy as minister of telecommunications : The former general manager of Oracle Egypt continued in his position as minister of telecommunication. Helmy was graduated from the military technical colleague in 1973 and took a diploma in computer science in 1979. He served in the army from 1973 to 1983 then he left it to work in the civilian telecommunications field and multinational companies till he joined Oracle Egypt in 1996. His CV is quite impressive for real.
18. Mohamed Ibrahim as minister of Antiquities : He used to serve as the minister of antiquities in Hisham Qandil’s cabinet. Archeologists in Egypt are extremely furious to find him again as minister. The archeologists are angry and are going to have a sit in against him tomorrow.
19. Khaled Abdel Aziz as minister of youth : The member of Egypt Party was a former minister of youth before during Essam Sharaf Cabinet. I do no know what the need for this position is except it is something from the 1960s legacy. Egypt Party is founded by famous preacher Amr Khaled by the way. Khaled Talmiah , the member of popular current and famous activist recommended him to PM Beblawi.
20. Tarek Abu Ziad as minister of Sports : The famous and popular ex-footballer born in 1962. Abu Ziad was the minister of this unneeded ministry during Essam Sharaf’s cabinet. He is a member of Al Wafd Party and ran for parliament in 2010 and lost for the NDP.
21. Mahmoud Abou El Nasr as minister of education : The current faculty member of Cairo University’s mechanical engineering department was heading the mechanical education in the ministry of education.
22. Sherif Ismail as minister of petroleum : He was the Chairman of Ganoub El-Wadi Petroleum Holding Company (GANOPE) 
23. Abdel Aziz Fadel as minister of civil aviation : The former Air forces engineer joined Egypt Air in 2003.In 2004 he became the Vice President for Egypt Air.
24. Mohamed Abdel Motaleb as minister of  irrigation and water sources : Mohamed Abdel Motaleb was the chairman of the National Water Resource center since 2012. According to his profile at the National Water Research Center website Professor Abdel Motaleb has over 25 years of experience in the field of water resources management. The current minister of irrigation and water sources holds a Ph.D. from Colorado State University and is a member in the world water Council.
25. Osama Saleh as minister of investment : The 1960 born was a minister of investment in the first Hisham Qandil’s cabinet. Before that he was the chairman of chairman of Egypt's General Authority for Free Zones and Investment (GAFI). The graduate of the faculty of commerce ,Cairo University was appointed by former PM Nazif in 2009 as chairman of GAFI.
26. Ashraf Al Arabi as minister of planning : Al Arabi was also a minister in the first Hisham Qandil’s cabinet in August 2012. El-Arabi received his PhD in the subject from Kansas State University in the United States. From 2006 until the end of 2011 he headed the technical advisory office of the former planning minister, Fayza Abul-Naga.
27. Mohamed Mokhtar Gomaa as minister of religious affairs : The Sheikh works in the office of the grand Emam of Al Azhar as far as I have read.
28. Mohamed Saber Arab as minister of Culture.
29. Mohamed Abu Shady as minister of supply : A former police general.
30. Ayman Abu Hadid as minister of Agriculture : The former head of the Agriculture researches center was a minister of agriculture in the first Essam Sharaf cabinet after the revolution.

Minister of Defense Abdel Fatah El Sisi will continue in his position of course besides the minister of interior Ahmed Ibrahim and minister of military production Reda Hafiz. Man every time I remember how the MB members bragged on how those both men are Closet Islamists in the past !! El Sisi will also become the first deputy.
There are 3 women in this cabinet : Doria Sharaf El Din , Laila Iskander and Maha Rabat
There are also there are three Christians : Ramzy George , Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour and Laila Iskander. We got two Wafd party members , two Constitution Party members , two Egyptian Social Democractic party members , One member from Egypt party and one member from El Karma Party.
There are 3 ministers from police : Supply, Local development and interior
I know someone is missing, tomorrow I will check them again
One of the most important demands Egyptians had been begging the Muslim brotherhood for a new cabinet. That demand if it were fulfilled in time , would have changed a lot.

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#Ramadan Arabian Nights #2013 : The Tale of Prince Amar El Din and King Zanzibar-6

Here is the sixth night of our tale “Prince Amar El Din and King Zanzibar”. It was the 297th night from the Egyptian Radio’s Arabian nights.

The old audio player is below after the break.

 

Synopsis

After months both king Zanzibar and his viziers’ wives are pregnant after drinking from that magical potion from the Jinn undersea realm. Vizier Atlas visits them again as a dervish. He is shocked to know that both men drank the potion as only one was supposed to drink. He tells the cruel rude king to bear the consequences asking him to return back the magical gemstone. The king refuses rudely thus Atlas then disappears and turns in to a raven. Atlas as a raven then steals the gemstone.

Later the vizier proposes that if his wife gives a birth to a girl and the queen gives a birth to a boy , the girl marries the crown prince and if the opposite happens , his son marries the king’s daughter. Of course cruel dictator Zanzibar goes mad as soon as he hears that he can have a daughter.

After couple of months the queen gives birth to….. Come back tomorrow.

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