Ayoon Wa Azan (Egyptian by Hobby)

by Jihad el-Khazen Al-Hayat - 29/05/06

Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif is a prominent figure; he eclipsed all the participants at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in the Middle East in Sharm el-Sheikh. With his tall stature, he towered over all other participants. He must have played baseball when he was a student. The Prime Minister exerted a striking effort in hosting the participants from every country. The new conference center has facilities and a capacity as large as that of international conferences. Sharm el-Sheikh resort has international hotels, some of which are villages standing on their own. The hospitality was generous and services were up for grabs. However, I'm Egyptian 'by hobby', but I will not give preference to my hobby, and will try to be objective. There were minor blemishes, like water-tight security measures that had led to my reaching the conference center in two minutes from my hotel and going back in eight minutes through ring roads, and being subject to security vetting at least twice inside and outside.

I know some will say that tight security is better than the alternative. I also know that it is indisputable that the Egyptian concert in which Amr Diab sang, and which was attended by President Mubarak and his wife, was more important that any other session I had attended...more