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EGYPT: General warns finance minister may face assassination attempt over policies

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An Egyptian Army general warned that the widespread ‘hatred’ toward the policies of Finance Minister Youssef Boutros Ghali could lead to his assassination. The comment may have been a bit of political theater, but it resonated in a nation where the working class and poor have been struggling for years with inflation and paltry salaries.

In a meeting on Tuesday, Mohamed Abdel Fattah Omar, a general and deputy chair of parliament’s defense and national security committee, launched a vigorous attack on Ghali, saying the minister’s fiscal policies in recent years have resulted in low public salaries. Omar described as ‘inhumane’ wages paid to nurses and doctors, who can earn as little as $40 a month.

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Omar continued by saying that Ghali could face the same fate as his grandfather, a former Egyptian foreign and prime minister, who was assassinated by nationalists in 1910 after being accused of supporting the British occupation at the expense of Egyptian interests.

More than 40% of Egyptians live on $2 a day or less and barely keep pace with inflation figures as unemployment figures in the country loom around 9%. The unofficial figure is much higher. However, along with the financial deficiencies, Ghali has irritated Egyptians on a number of other matters in recent months.

In December 2009, Ghali made headlines after cursing during a parliamentary session when he was asked about the government’s decision to evict residents and tear down dozens of buildings in the Cairo area of Ezbet el Haggana for safety and code violations. The 57-year-old has also been the subject of a newspaper campaign accusing him of using taxpayer’s money for his personal medical treatment in the U.S.

On Thursday, Al Destour opposition daily published photocopies purportedly of original documents showing that Ghali visited the United States three times for treatment in 2009 and that all three journeys (costing a sum of $70,000) were fully sponsored by the government, even though all ministers are already covered by other medical insurance programs.

Ghali, who is fluent in five languages and has a PhD in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is also the nephew of Boutros Boutros Ghali, who served as the United Nations’ secretary general between 1992 and 1997.

-- Amro Hassan

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