A new presidential call in Egypt, to start a dialogue that includes “all institutions and orientations,” about 3 years after the first national dialogue sponsored by President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, in a step that a former diplomat considered “an opportunity to move from the stage of diagnosing challenges to the stage of practical construction around the state’s priorities.”
On Thursday, the Egyptian President announced the launch of the preparatory sessions and the website for the “Egypt Forum 2026”, to begin registering attendees, and conducting a series of academic and community discussions and dialogues, in preparation for the forum to be held during the period from 19 to 24 October. According to a statement by the Egyptian Presidency.
Former Egyptian Assistant Foreign Minister, Ambassador Mohamed Hegazy, believes that the forum “represents an important opportunity to move the national dialogue from the stage of diagnosing challenges and exchanging visions, to the stage of building practical consensus on the state’s priorities and projects.”
Dialogue, from Hijazi’s point of view, “gains its value not only from its ability to produce understandings, but also from its ability to transform these understandings into decisions, programs and initiatives that respond to actual needs and open new paths for development.”
In a statement to Asharq Al-Awsat, Hegazy called for the forum to be “a space to agree on what should be done, how to implement it, the parties responsible for it, and the targeted results, and not just a platform for exchanging views.”
During Sisi’s call for dialogue, he stressed the importance of “the participation of all state institutions, experts, and the Egyptian people, of various sects and orientations, in registering on the forum’s website, expressing opinions, and registering proposals.”
Al-Sisi’s call came two days after a meeting with Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and officials from various parts of the country, during which he stressed “the importance of making good use of the state’s resources, establishing confidence in its institutions, and ensuring the security of the internal front,” stressing that “preserving Egypt is a collective responsibility, and that work must be done on the cohesion of the internal front, which requires the combined efforts of all institutions and citizens.”
In April 2022, the Egyptian President called for the first national dialogue of its kind since he assumed the presidency in 2014, and it began in May 2023.
According to Hegazy, the importance of Sisi’s call lies in its orientation to “all institutions and trends to participate in expanding the base for creating ideas and solutions, and to benefit from the expertise of the state, the private sector, universities, research centers, civil society, youth, and Egyptians abroad.”
The value of this participation, according to Hegazy, “will be determined by its ability to transform consensus into concrete policies and projects in the economy, education, health, employment, administration, and local development.”
Hegazy proposed creating “an announced executive record of the forum’s outcomes, which includes the responsible parties, the required resources, timetables, and indicators of achievement, with periodic reports that allow public opinion to follow up on what has been implemented, what has failed, and the reasons for that.”
The Egyptian army announced the implementation of joint military exercises with the Italian side, which included maneuvers in mountainous areas in Italy, days after a court ruling was issued that convicted three Egyptian security officials in the case of the murder of researcher Giulio Regeni.
The Egyptian military spokesman said, in a statement on Thursday, that “within the framework of the Armed Forces’ keenness to strengthen military cooperation with friendly and brotherly countries, elements of the Egyptian Thunderbolt Forces and the Italian Special Forces carried out joint training (4IT-EGY-T-) to train for combat in mountainous areas, and its implementation continued for several days in Italy.”
He added, "The events included the implementation of a number of tactical and specialized activities, including training on safe movement methods in mountainous areas and dealing with the nature of the rugged geographical terrain, as well as training on mountain climbing skills and rapid descent from heights in unconventional environments and weather conditions."
According to the Egyptian Army, “the training aims to exchange experiences, refine combat and specialized skills, and raise the levels of competence and readiness of the elements participating in carrying out tasks with special skills efficiently and competently.”
The training comes at a time when an Italian court, on Monday, sentenced three Egyptian officers to 10 years in prison, after convicting them of involvement in “kidnapping and detaining Regeni,” while the court acquitted Major General Tariq Saber, the former head of the National Security Service, in the case in which Egypt denies any involvement by state agencies.
The four were tried in absentia under Italian legislation that allows the prosecution of crimes committed against Italian citizens abroad. The Italian authorities said that they were unable to determine the whereabouts of the accused.
Regeni, a graduate student at the British University of Cambridge, disappeared in the Egyptian capital on January 25, 2016, and his body was found about a week later.
Relations between Italy and Egypt deteriorated severely following Regeni's murder, but they gradually recovered in the past few years. On September 3, Cairo hosted the joint supreme committee between Egypt and Italy, headed by the two foreign ministers, for the first time since 2014. A business forum was also held between the two sides to discuss enhancing economic cooperation between the two countries.
In a previous statement to Asharq Al-Awsat, a member of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Rakha Ahmed Hassan, said that Cairo and Rome separate bilateral relations from the procedures of the Regeni case, noting that “there is an agreement between Egypt and Italy to strengthen joint relations in various fields,” in addition to “dealing with the Italian researcher’s case file as an exceptional, individual crime, to be dealt with legally.”
On Wednesday evening, the Mauritanian government announced the arrest of six people during a security campaign to track down and dismantle a “financial blackmail network,” in which it accused bloggers who are active on social media sites, most of whom reside abroad.
This campaign began three days ago with the arrest of members of the family of a blogger residing in the United States, called Sidi Ould Akmash, who has recently become famous for his positions opposing the authorities, but is accused of participating in a network that blackmails officials by publishing false news in exchange for obtaining money through intermediaries.
The blogger denies the charges against him, and confirms that this campaign is due to his political positions on the ruling regime, indicating that targeting his relatives will not change those positions.
In the first official comment on the matter, the Minister of Culture and government spokesman, Hussein Ould Madou, said that during the past few days, the security authorities launched “a campaign to dismantle a financial extortion network and trace its leads. So far, they have been able to arrest six people, and the number is expected to rise as the search progresses and deepens.”
He added: “This network has turned into an industry, with its own mechanisms and tools, and it is used to manufacture, publish and distribute false and fake news,” and to delve into people’s honor “for material or malicious purposes, to buy silence... and to abuse the public space of discussion.”
During a press conference on Wednesday evening, Ould Madou accused this network of “attacking people’s individual sanctities,” stressing that “it is the state’s duty to confront this industry, its financing mechanisms, and the blackmail mechanisms that are practiced in it, whether buying silence, manufacturing fake news, or anything else.”
He stressed that “there is absolutely no tolerance for any financing of blackmail, or any violation of the sanctity of individuals protected by law and Sharia.”
He also emphasized ensuring credibility and transparency, saying: “There is absolutely no fear for anyone who the investigation proves is innocent of these operations. What is happening now is investigation and investigation, and it will be done according to the highest levels of credibility and transparency.”
He said: “The goal is to track the stations through which the funds pass, in order to reach the beneficiaries or participants in blackmail and defamation campaigns.”
The debate has heated up among Mauritanians on social media, with supporters of the security campaign accusing these bloggers of targeting the private lives of officials and spreading false news, and others who refuse to target activists on social media and believe that they are trying to expose corruption.
