Jerusalem – The Middle East Newsline has confirmed Gamal Mubarak, the son of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, has been linked to several scandals. The 44-year-old Gamal, a leading figure in Egypt’s ruling National Democratic Party, has seen several of his associates, many of them former parliamentarians, charged with corruption and murder.

“These scandals have played into the hands of the old guard in the ruling party,” Mr. Diaa Rashwan, a leading Egyptian analyst, said. “After all, Gamal Mubarak is widely seen as the one who has ushered businessmen into the top ranks of the party.”


Several business associates of Gamal Mubarak have been dragged into the spotlight by murder and corruption charges. One of them, Hesham Talaat Mustafa, a leading property developer and NDP member, has been on trial on charges of inciting the murder of Lebanese singer Suzanne Tamim in the United Arab Emirates. Mr. Mustafa’s trial resumes on Saturday.

Other business associates of Mr. Mubarak included former parliamentarian Mamdouh Ismail, the owner of a ferry that sank, which resulted in the death of more than 1,000 people. Mr. Ismail was cleared of a charge of negligence and relocated to Britain. The sentence has come under appeal.


Ahmed Ezz, a senior NDP figure, has been accused of forming a monopoly in the steel industry in Egypt. Mr. Ezz was also said to have been brought into the ruling party by Gamal Mubarak.


The scandals resulted in the re-emergence of the old guard at NDP. At the NDP conference in late October, Gamal Mubarak’s associates maintained a low profile. Gamal Mubarak, regarded as the No. 2 figure in NDP, has been seen as successor to his 80-year-old father. Egypt’s state-owned media has portrayed Gamal Mubarak as a political and economic reformer. For his part, Gamal Mubarak has refused to discuss his plans.


“Is there a country or a party that decides on its candidate for elections three years before they take place?” Gamal Mubarak asked.


Egyptian sources said the scandals around Gamal Mubarak, as well as the economic crisis in Egypt, could delay the reported retirement plans of the senior Mr. Mubarak. They said Hosni Mubarak, whose term ends in 2011, has been allocating unprecedented amounts of money into internal security amid the threat from
al-Qaida-aligned elements.


“Article No 77 in the Egyptian constitution allows the president,
 whether good or bad, to keep his post for life,” Egyptian analyst Suleiman
 Juda said.


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David Bedein
David Bedein
David Bedein is an MSW community organizer and an investigative journalist.   In 1987, Bedein established the Israel Resource News Agency at Beit Agron to accompany foreign journalists in their coverage of Israel, to balance the media lobbies established by the PLO and their allies.   Mr. Bedein has reported for news outlets such as CNN Radio, Makor Rishon, Philadelphia Inquirer, Los Angeles Times, BBC and The Jerusalem Post, For four years, Mr. Bedein acted as the Middle East correspondent for The Philadelphia Bulletin, writing 1,062 articles until the newspaper ceased operation in 2010. Bedein has covered breaking Middle East negotiations in Oslo, Ottawa, Shepherdstown, The Wye Plantation, Annapolis, Geneva, Nicosia, Washington, D.C., London, Bonn, and Vienna. Bedein has overseen investigative studies of the Palestinian Authority, the Expulsion Process from Gush Katif and Samaria, The Peres Center for Peace, Peace Now, The International Center for Economic Cooperation of Yossi Beilin, the ISM, Adalah, and the New Israel Fund.   Since 2005, Bedein has also served as Director of the Center for Near East Policy Research.   A focus of the center's investigations is The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). In that context, Bedein authored Roadblock to Peace: How the UN Perpetuates the Arab-Israeli Conflict - UNRWA Policies Reconsidered, which caps Bedein's 28 years of investigations of UNRWA. The Center for Near East Policy Research has been instrumental in reaching elected officials, decision makers and journalists, commissioning studies, reports, news stories and films. In 2009, the center began decided to produce short movies, in addition to monographs, to film every aspect of UNRWA education in a clear and cogent fashion.   The center has so far produced seven short documentary pieces n UNRWA which have received international acclaim and recognition, showing how which UNRWA promotes anti-Semitism and incitement to violence in their education'   In sum, Bedein has pioneered The UNRWA Reform Initiative, a strategy which calls for donor nations to insist on reasonable reforms of UNRWA. Bedein and his team of experts provide timely briefings to members to legislative bodies world wide, bringing the results of his investigations to donor nations, while demanding reforms based on transparency, refugee resettlement and the demand that terrorists be removed from the UNRWA schools and UNRWA payroll.   Bedein's work can be found at: www.IsraelBehindTheNews.com and www.cfnepr.com. A new site,unrwa-monitor.com, will be launched very soon.

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