CAIRO // Egypt's prosecutor general has accused four top security officials of ordering the use of live ammunition against protesters during the early days of the country's uprising.
Protesters have been calling for the trial of police officials responsible for the death of more than 300 protesters during the 18-day uprising that forced the long-time leader Hosni Mubarak to step down.
Police confronted the huge protests with tear gas, rubber bullets and live ammunition.
The prosecution announced the accusations yesterday against the Cairo security chief, the head of the hated state security agency, and the heads of General Security and the riot police.
The four, already under house arrest, will be jailed for four days pending investigation.
The announcement came as Egypt's new military rulers have ordered the release of two Islamist prisoners jailed over the 1981 assassination of President Anwar Sadat, state television reported yesterday.
Cousins Tareq and Abbud al Zomor, members of Egypt's Islamic Jihad, were convicted for their involvement in Sadat's murder but were never discharged from jail after their sentences expired.
Abbud al Zomor, at the time a senior military intelligence officer, was due to be released in 2006 but was kept in prison, while Tareq al Zomor was first ordered released in 2003 but was also kept behind bars.
The former interior minister Habib al Adly had used discretionary powers granted by the emergency law to overrule several judicial release orders.
The two were among 69 political prisoners freed on the orders of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which took power in Egypt after Mr Mubarak was forced to step down.
The military rulers said those released would be subject to surveillance for five years.
Sadat was shot dead by Islamic militants at a military parade in Cairo on October 6, 1981, three years after he signed the 1978 Camp David Accords that led to a peace treaty in 1979 with Israel, the first by an Arab country.
Abbud al Zomor is one of the members of the group who carried out the attack, while Tareq al Zomor was said to be involved in the planning.
The main convict in the case, Khaled al Islamboulli, was executed in 1982.
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
What are the main cyber security threats?
Cyber crime - This includes fraud, impersonation, scams and deepfake technology, tactics that are increasingly targeting infrastructure and exploiting human vulnerabilities.
Cyber terrorism - Social media platforms are used to spread radical ideologies, misinformation and disinformation, often with the aim of disrupting critical infrastructure such as power grids.
Cyber warfare - Shaped by geopolitical tension, hostile actors seek to infiltrate and compromise national infrastructure, using one country’s systems as a springboard to launch attacks on others.
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
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Why it pays to compare
A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.
Route 1: bank transfer
The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.
Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount
Total received: €4,670.30
Route 2: online platform
The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.
Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction
Total received: €4,756
The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.
More on Quran memorisation:
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
Profile
Co-founders of the company: Vilhelm Hedberg and Ravi Bhusari
Launch year: In 2016 ekar launched and signed an agreement with Etihad Airways in Abu Dhabi. In January 2017 ekar launched in Dubai in a partnership with the RTA.
Number of employees: Over 50
Financing stage: Series B currently being finalised
Investors: Series A - Audacia Capital
Sector of operation: Transport
