Egyptian blogger expelled from Al Azhar University for his progressive views,THAT IS NO GOOD, for Egypt,Abdel Karim Nabil Suliman, an Egyptian Muslim student, was expelled from Al Azhar University in Egypt for expressing his progressive views.Abdel Karim Nabil Suliman [AKA: Kareem Amer] is a 22 year-old Egyptian student of law at the Azhar University in Egypt (Largest Islamic University in Egypt and the Islamic world), Damanhour Campus, and a women-rights activist,

He also maintains his own blog where he posts articles expressing his views on the need for political reform as well as reforming Islam

On Wednesday October 25, 2005 , Egyptian State Security forces took Abdel Karim from his home, and confiscated hard copies of his writings, this came right after Karim published an article titled: “The Naked Truth Of Islam As I have Seen In Alexandria� where he condemned the actions of the Muslim mob that surrounded the Coptic church in Muharam Bek, Alexandria and attempted to destroy it 2 years after a stage play in the church alleged to be offensive to Muslims.
On Tuesday, March 14th, 2006 Karim was called in for investigations by a "Disciplinary council" set up by Al Azhar University to question Karim over his articles and views
On Wednesday March 15th, 2006 Karim wrote on his blog under the "Events of Al Azhar Inquisition" saying:

"Yesterday, I went to my college in Damanhour to attend the disciplinary council I was referred to because of my views and articles that I post online, the accusations ranged from defaming Islam to atheism to libel against the grand Imam of Al Azhar and some of the university scholars
Karim adds: (They simply turned criticism into libel and defamation, they considered the criticism of terrorist teachings as a derogatory act against religion), Karim went on to say "
" I did not try to deny the writing of these articles that they took as an incriminating evidence, but rather I insisted that they are my personal product despite their warnings that by admitting so, I might face many consequences"

On March 17th, 2006 the semi- official Algomhuria Egyptian newspaper published the following:
"Professor Hamdi Shalany, PHD., Dean of the School of Islamic Sharia and Law in Damanhour decided to expel the student Abdel Karim Nabil Suliman for perpetrating acts and writings that defames religion in addition to defamation and libel against the grand Imam of Al Azhar
The disciplinary council has submitted a copy of the investigation documents for public prosecution".

Upon receiving the university's decision letter, Karim wrote the following:
"I am not sad! Would one be depressed and sad when he recuperates his freedom? As I was being investigated, I discovered- for the first time- that being a student at El Azhar University means I was a slave owned by it.

Would I be sad because I recuperated my freedom? Would the slave be depressed when he manages to forcibly extract his freedom from the grasp of that who considered himself a master? Would he who wins over injustice, slavery, and intellectual restriction cry? I extracted it from them as they were bargaining with me over it.

They were expecting me to deny or evade responsibility of my free and courageous opinions - they were awaiting for me to give birth to a second personality during the investigations - but how preposterous!
The University of El Azhar is a racist university, with all that the word "Racism" entails. Its Imams and scholars always decry countries of the West, which reached a high caliber in terms of human rights, for having been racist countries at one point of their history.

Would those turbans void of brains remove the speck from their eyes first before blaming others for actions carried out centuries ago? It is a racist university for; in spite of the fact that it is a public university financed by all Egyptian taxpayers - Muslims and Christians alike - it only accepts Muslim students! Isn't that racism?

It is a racist university because it separates male and female students and places them in separate campuses. It even goes as far as banning its female students from studying certain specialties. Isn't that racism? If there is one thing for which I would like to thank that university of El Azhar, it is for having showed me its unveiled face that I would not have been able to witness had I not been one of its students.

I thank it for having opened its doors to me so I could see the laboratories of brain-washing and two-legged bombs, where an innocent kid becomes a rotten swamp after a couple of years, from whom emanates the odors of hatred, violence, and rejection of the other! "

ebanese premier dismayed at failure of UN resolution on Israel
Beirut- Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Seniora expressed his "stong dismay" at the United States veto of an Arab-sponsored draft resolution in the UN Security Council condemning Israel's latest offensive in the Gaza Strip. In a statement, Seniora said it was the responsibility of the international community and the UN Security Council to stop Israel's actions in Gaza, which contradicted international law and several UN resolutions.

Ten of the council's 15 members voted in favour of the draft resolution introduced by Qatar, while four countries - Britain, Denmark, Japan and Slovakia - abstained.

The US ambassador to the UN, John Bolton, rejected the text as "biased against Israel and politically motivated."

The resolution was proposed after an Israeli artillery strike on a building in the Gaza town of Beit Hanoun killed 18 Palestinians, most of them members of the same family.

The Pearl of the Mediterranean
The
second largest city in Egypt, Alexandria has an atmosphere
that is more Mediterranean than Middle Eastern; its ambiance
and cultural heritage distance it from the rest of the country
although it is only 225 km. from Cairo.

Founded by Alexander the Great in 331 B.C., Alexandria became
the capital of Greco-Roman Egypt; its status as a beacon of
culture is symbolized by Pharos, the legendry lighthouse that
was one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The setting for
the stormy relationship between Cleopatra and Mark Antony,
Alexandria was also the center of learning in the ancient
world. But ancient Alexandria declined, and when Napoleon
landed he found a sparsely populated fishing village.

Since the 19th century Alexandria has played a new role, as
a focus for Egypt's commercial and maritime expansion. This
Alexandria has been immortalized by writers such as E.M. Forster
and Cavafy. Generations of immigrants from Greece, Italy and
the Levant settled here and made the city synonymous with
commerce, cosmopolitanism and bohemian culture; Lawrence Durrell
described it as " the capital city of Asiatic Europe,
if such a thing could exist."
Alexandria

Alexandria (àl´îg-zàn´drê-e), city (1986 pop. 2,917,327), N Egypt, on the Mediterranean Sea, W of the Nile R. delta. The city is Egypt's leading port, a commercial and transportation center, and the heart of a major industrial area with such manufactures as refined petroleum, textiles, processed food, paper, and plastics. Founded in 332 B.C. by ALEXANDER THE GREAT, Alexandria was (304 B.C.-30 B.C.) the capital of the PTOLEMIES. The city was the greatest center of Hellenistic and Jewish culture. It had a great university and two celebrated royal libraries, but their valuable collections have not survived. Alexandria became part of the empire of ROME in 30 B.C. and later of the BYZANTINE EMPIRE. The Muslim Arabs took the city in 642 A.D. After Cairo became (969) Egypt's capital, Alexandria declined. It fell to NAPOLEON I in 1798 and to the British in 1801. During WORLD WAR II the city was the chief Allied naval base in the E Mediterranean. At a 1944 meeting in Alexandria, plans for the ARAB LEAGUE were drawn up. A few of Alexandria's ancient monuments are still visible. The Greco-Roman Museum houses a vast collection of Coptic, Roman, and Greek art. Approximately 300 BC: The accumulation of books to create the famed Library of Alexandria in Egypt is  begun by the Macedonian Greek general Ptolemy I

548 BC- 640 AD: The Library of Alexandria in Egypt (along with the vast majority of its irreplaceable
treasures of human history and knowledge) is repeatedly damaged, then finally destroyed, in a series of   man-made catastrophes. Humanity now loses yet another enormous piece of its collective memory,   knowledge, and history. Human civilization's substantial amnesia in regards to its past grows by perhaps several entire magnitudes with this latest blow.

A harbor fire started by Roman soldiers accidentally destroys several thousand volumes of the library in 48 BC. It burn and pillage much of the Library and its contents in 391 AD. Around 640 AD Islamic Arab fanatics complete the destruction, burning the remaining books in order to heat their bath water over a period of months. Humanity may never recover that in 548 BC- 640 AD: The Library of Alexandria in Egypt (along with the vast majority of its irreplaceable treasures of human history and knowledge) is repeatedly damaged, then finally destroyed, in a series of   man-made catastrophes. Humanity now loses yet another enormous piece of its collective memory,   knowledge, and history. Human civilization's substantial amnesia in regards to its past grows by perhaps several entire magnitudes with this latest blow.

Alexandria's information is aggressively collected from roughly 300 BC through 640 AD (a range of almost 1000 years): master copies of some works are sometimes bought, sometimes stolen; many scrolls from Persian, Indian, African, and Hebrew sources are translated into Greek; original works of documentation are generated from the Library's own local research labs/theaters focusing on subjects like chemistry, botany, astronomy, zoology, and anatomy, as well its sister university classes relating to mathematics, physics, biology, engineering, geography, medicine, and literature. Unfortunately, increasingly large chunks of the library are lost beginning around 48 BC. At its height, the complete Library may have consisted of as many as 550,000 volumes.

_The Tragedy of Alexandria, Feats and Wisdom of the Ancients_, Library of Curious and Unusual Facts, Time-Life Books, 1990]

A harbor fire started by Roman soldiers accidentally destroys several thousand volumes of the library in 48 BC. It burn and pillage much of the Library and its contents in 391 AD. Around 640 AD Islamic Arab fanatics complete the destruction, burning the remaining books in order to heat their bath water over a period of months.

Humanity may never recover (or realize the full extent of) all the knowledge and history lost at Alexandria. Note the knowledge store erased here is a major portion of that native to both the Eurasian and African continents.
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Africa needs the support of its friends to overcome this challenge.HAVE YOUR SAY.
China to double its aid to Africa,China has pledged to double its aid to Africa and provide $5bn in loans and credits over the next three years.,Chinese President Hu Jintao made the announcement as he opened a summit in Beijing attended by nearly 50 African heads of state and ministers.

The summit is focusing on business with more than 2,000 deals under discussion.

African leaders welcome their booming trade links with China, but critics accuse Beijing of dealing with repressive regimes.

Beijing says it is just doing business and has no political agenda.

'Historic'

"Our meeting today will go down in history," Mr Hu told the China-Africa summit.

"China will forever be a good friend, good partner, good brother of Africa," he said.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi remembered China's support during many African countries' fight for independence.

"Our main challenge now is not to fight colonialism, but fighting poverty and backwardness and achieving economic independence," Mr Zenawi said.

"Africa needs the support of its friends to overcome this challenge."

The city has been smartened up for the arrival of the African leaders, the BBC's correspondent Daniel Griffiths in Beijing says. Red lanterns hang from trees and posters celebrate Sino-African friendship.

Trade boost

Mr Hu said that China would double its aid to Africa from its 2006 level by 2009, although he gave no figures.

Beijing will offer US$3bn (£1.5bn) in preferential loans and US$2bn (£1.5bn) in export credits over the next three years, President Hu said.

It will more than double the number of goods which do not attract tax when imported to China from Africa.

China will train 15,000 African professionals and set up a development fund to help build schools and hospitals.

China's drive to buy African oil and other commodities has led to a big increase in two-way trade, worth $42bn (£22bn) in 2005.

Africa is also a growing market for Chinese goods, but critics say Beijing is stifling African manufacturing.

Some analysts have said Africa is the only place left to go, as most of the world's other big oil reserves are already being developed by major Western energy companies.

The three-day summit is concentrating on the rapidly expanding economic ties between the two sides, and many new business deals are likely to be announced over the weekend.

Many of them are expected to revolve around China's hunger for African mineral resources, particularly oil.

'Exploitation'

Some critics have voiced concerns over how Chinese-owned firms treat African workers.

Protests broke out in Zambia in July about the alleged ill-treatment of workers at a Chinese-owned mine, and there have been reports of pay disputes in Namibia.


HAVE YOUR SAY
I hope Africa and China can share honest free trade
Max Debutante, Ottawa
Human Rights Watch said that all powers involved in Africa, including China, should place human rights at the centre of their policies.

"Africans do not need another external power enabling abusive regimes," the group said in a statement on Saturday.

Many economists argue that overall, China's growing economic ties to Africa are benefiting the region.

China to double its aid to Africa,China has pledged to double its aid to Africa and provide $5bn in loans and credits over the next three years.,Chinese President Hu Jintao made the announcement as he opened a summit in Beijing attended by nearly 50 African heads of state and ministers.

The summit is focusing on business with more than 2,000 deals under discussion.

African leaders welcome their booming trade links with China, but critics accuse Beijing of dealing with repressive regimes.

Beijing says it is just doing business and has no political agenda.

'Historic'

"Our meeting today will go down in history," Mr Hu told the China-Africa summit.

"China will forever be a good friend, good partner, good brother of Africa," he said.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi remembered China's support during many African countries' fight for independence.

"Our main challenge now is not to fight colonialism, but fighting poverty and backwardness and achieving economic independence," Mr Zenawi said.

"Africa needs the support of its friends to overcome this challenge."

The city has been smartened up for the arrival of the African leaders, the BBC's correspondent Daniel Griffiths in Beijing says. Red lanterns hang from trees and posters celebrate Sino-African friendship.

Trade boost

Mr Hu said that China would double its aid to Africa from its 2006 level by 2009, although he gave no figures.

Beijing will offer US$3bn (£1.5bn) in preferential loans and US$2bn (£1.5bn) in export credits over the next three years, President Hu said.

It will more than double the number of goods which do not attract tax when imported to China from Africa.

China will train 15,000 African professionals and set up a development fund to help build schools and hospitals.

China's drive to buy African oil and other commodities has led to a big increase in two-way trade, worth $42bn (£22bn) in 2005.

Africa is also a growing market for Chinese goods, but critics say Beijing is stifling African manufacturing.

Some analysts have said Africa is the only place left to go, as most of the world's other big oil reserves are already being developed by major Western energy companies.

The three-day summit is concentrating on the rapidly expanding economic ties between the two sides, and many new business deals are likely to be announced over the weekend.

Many of them are expected to revolve around China's hunger for African mineral resources, particularly oil.

'Exploitation'

Some critics have voiced concerns over how Chinese-owned firms treat African workers.

Protests broke out in Zambia in July about the alleged ill-treatment of workers at a Chinese-owned mine, and there have been reports of pay disputes in Namibia.


HAVE YOUR SAY
I hope Africa and China can share honest free trade
Max Debutante, Ottawa
Human Rights Watch said that all powers involved in Africa, including China, should place human rights at the centre of their policies.

"Africans do not need another external power enabling abusive regimes," the group said in a statement on Saturday.

Many economists argue that overall, China's growing economic ties to Africa are benefiting the region.