Tabs for students and teachers did successful bidder violate tenderprocedure?

High officials at the Ministry of Education are alleged to have been involved in awarding a tender to a bidder to purchase computer tabs despite the bidder not meeting the tender requirements at the time the tender was opened. 

•  Friday, 15 December 2017 00:27

Eyebrows have been raised at the manner in which the tender was awarded to the bidder whose application had not been recommended by the Standing Cabinet Appointed Procurement Committee (SCAPC) for not meeting essential tender requirements. However the bidder had been recommended by the Procurement Appeal Board.   

The  is in possession of documental proof pertaining to the computer tab procurement and information regarding the latest document signed by Chairman Procurement Appeal Board K.A.S. Gunasekera and its members Lalith R. de Silva and A.D.S. Gunawardena, sending Procurement Appeal Board recommendations to the Cabinet of Ministers.   

The recommendation letter further states, ‘The Procurement Appeal Board recommends the Cabinet of Ministers to set aside the recommendation by the Standing Cabinet Appoint Procurement Committee to award this tender to M/s Metropolitan Computers (Pvt) Ltd and to award the tender to (name withheld) who have submitted the lowest bid on this tender and proved that they have fulfilled all major conditions of the tender’.   

Although the principal mandate of the Ministry of Education is to  formulate appropriate policies and monitor their implementation and delivery of quality education for all, it’s now learned how the top officials at the Ministry of Education (MoE) had failed to focus on their main duties. These duties are the formulation of policies, carrying out research and the monitoring and evaluations of educational delivery. 

And they are accused of allegedly getting involved in bypassing Government procurement guidelines.   
Despite SCAPC’s recommendation to purchase health safety computer tabs for Advance Level students and teachers, questions have been raised as to on whose direction the Procurement Appeal Board recommended the Cabinet of Ministers to award the tender to the bidder who had quoted a lower price, but did not meet the tender requirement?

The tender was opened on August 22, 2017. The selected bidder is alleged to have obtained the world acclaimed certification - the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) product certification- that guarantees health safeties of those who use these devices only after the tenders were opened.   

Non ionizing radio frequencies

“How can the MoE allow bidders to fulfill tender requirements after the tenders were opened? Why was only a selected bidder given this opportunity? The members of the SCAPC recommended Metropolitan Computers (Pvt) Ltd to be awarded the tender as their quoted ‘Acer’ brand had fulfilled all the tender requirements, specially the world acclaimed FCC product certification. This is the most important factor SCAPC considered rather than the quoted prices.

Consideration was on health safeties as these tabs are to be given to schoolchildren. According to World Health Organization the wireless devices emit non ionizing radio frequencies which pose a possible cancer risk. It’s also said that these radio frequencies decrease human sperm motility and increase sperm DNA fragmentation. That was why the FCC product certification was required in the tender document,” a reliable high official at the MoE said.   

As a pledge given by the Government, Rs. 5 billion had been allocated from the 2017 Budget to purchase 159, 078 Computer Tabs for A/L students while another 36, 070 tabs are to be purchased to be given away to teachers.

Tenders were called in early this year and although many prospective bidders had taken part in the pre-bidding meetings only a few had forwarded their bids. Out of them only a few had been selected by the Technical Evaluation Committee (TEC). This committee had decided to offer the tender to the highest bidder amongst the selected parties considering the fulfillment of the tender requirements. 

By letter dated October 12, 2017 and sent to all bidders, Additional Secretary (Procurement) Anuradha Wijekoon had stated that on the recommendation of the TEC, a decision had been taken to offer the tender to Metropolitan Computers Pvt Ltd of 85, Braybrook Place Colombo as per Section 8.2.1 of Government Procurement Guidelines and to send appeals if any against the decision taken by the TEC.   

“All good efforts made by the TEC were in vain following the request made to bidders to appeal if they opposed the decision in awarding the tender to Metropolitan Computers,” sources said.   

Suitable in non-tropical areas   

Be that as it may, when browsing through the user manual of the brand that had been selected by the Procurement Appeal Board, it was revealed that this production is suitable for use in non-tropical areas and that the device is not recommended to be used long term in any environment where the air is too cold, too hot, too humid or one that contains too much dust. 

“Sri Lanka is a tropical country and how can the students use these devices unless they operate them in an A/C room,” sources queried.   

According to sources who wished to remain anonymous, the ministry higher officials, although attempting to manipulate the TEC/SCAPC recommendation from the inception, in order to offer the tender to one of their ‘favourities’ since the bidder failed to fulfill the tender requirements, the TEC had stood firm with its decision.  

Failing to influence the TEC members, by letter dated July 12, 2017, Secretary Education Ministry (Ref:ED/07/101/10/PRO/CAPC/2017) had made a request to the Department of Public Finance to appoint new members to the TEC. By letter dated July 24, 2017, Director General Department of Public Finance P. Algama in his reply to Secretary Ministry of Education has claimed that the request made by the Secretary to replace the TEC with new members would create a negative impact on the credibility and transparency of the Government procurement procedure.   

The letter further states, ‘For the procurement of free tabs for teachers and students in A Level classes, I have already appointed seven members to the TEC by letter dated March 3, 2017, and without giving any reasons you have made a request to null and void the appointed TEC.   
‘The TEC had already followed the procurement guidelines and had called for tenders. Hence to remove the members of the TEC at this juncture, shall bring negative impact on the credibility and transparency of the Government procurement procedure. If you need to strengthen the TEC, he could consider to appoint more members to the committee.   

“The entire staff at the MoE hails the TEC for being very stern in recommending the best brand to be purchased for our future generation without putting their lives at risk. What was the reason for the Education Ministry to request from the Department of Public Finance to remove the TEC at a later stage instead of making the request before tenders were advertised?” sources alleged.  

According to the sources, merely because there was a bidder who had quoted the lowest price, the TEC didn’t want to offer the tender as they didn’t comply with the FCC product certification requirement. “The bidder in question instead had submitted the FCC certification only after the tender was closed.

Initially this bidder submitted an incorrect FCC product certificate and referred to a model different from the one that was offered in the tender. Submitting another FCC product certification at the time the appeal was made after the tenders were closed violates the tender guidelines. No evaluation has been conducted on account of this bid being non responsive on the evaluation conducted initially and this particular brand doesn’t comply with the tender requirement,” sources added.   

The sources further said it had come to light that most of the bidders had submitted the FCC declaration of conformity instead of a FCC product certification. If one logs on to the FCC website any FCC certified product could be verified. “Although the European certification and FCC product certification requirement was mentioned in the tender document, research has revealed that radio frequency (RF) radiation from personal computers and Tabs that aren’t certified pose serious health risks as these devices by nature are used for long hours in close proximity to the skin and most of the time is kept on the laps of users.

In such a backdrop what made the Education Ministry official to award the tender to the bidder that doesn’t have the FCC product certification,” sources queried.   

The sources meanwhile accused the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) of Sri Lanka for accepting European Certification (CE) or FCC to grant approval to import computer tabs, as it is questionable why the TRC has failed to stop the usage of non FCC product certificated electronic devises in the country. Deputy Director TRC by letter dated September 21, 2017 had stated that they accept either EC or FCC certification.   

“Now the bidders claim the TRC accepts FCC or CE certifications. Although the TRC letter to the Education Ministry claims that they accept FCC and EC certification, TRC website clearly explains what the mandate of the TRC is. It says that although it is the regulatory body to manage and control the use of the radio frequency spectrum, they are not the regulator on health and safety standards.

The MoE can’t accept only the letter written to them by the TRC, but should know how to consider the health and safety of these devices as well,” sources claimed.   

When contacted Managing Director Metropolitan Computers, Ivor Maharoof he declined to talked to this paper. “Sorry I can’t make any comment in this regard,” Maharoof said.   

Cancellation of the four Airbus A350-900 leases and the downfall of SriLankan Airlines

---

By Sanjana Fernando-Monday, 8 January 2018

The cancellation of the four Airbus A350-900 leases, executed under the current management led by the pilot CEO, was one of the most controversial decisions ever taken in the history of the airline. It also turned out to be the decision that finally broke the airline.

The politically motivated decision is costing the airline accumulated P&L losses of over Rs. 35 billion, including lease cancellation costs (phase 1) and lease cancellation loan payments (phase 2). Although the penalty fee to the lessor (AerCap) is now paid in full, the bank loan that was taken to pay the penalty still sits in the Balance Sheet of the company and will need to be paid out at a cost of around Rs. 1.5 billion every year for the next 12 years.
A breakdown of the Lease Cancellation Costs (phase 1), are as follows:

• $ 7.5 million security deposit forfeited
• $ 17.7 million paid as compensation for one aircraft due on November 2016. No Cabinet approval at the time of payment
• $ 98.0 million paid as compensation for the remaining three aircrafts but with two conditions
• Lease another additional aircraft (a 10 year old aircraft with wrong seat configuration which is unusable. Subleased out)
• Extend existing aircraft (at a lease cost above market prices)

The story begins in June 2013when the previous management made a strategic rational business decision to replenish the ageing fleet with new assets including 8 new A350 widebody aircrafts.  These aircrafts are the future of medium-to long-haul airline operations and its fuel efficiency provided a natural hedge against the challenges of volatile fuel prices at a time when fuel prices were at record levels and when over 50% of the Revenues earned was spent on fuel costs in that year. With 25% lower fuel consumption it is fast becoming the plane of choice for airlines around the world fighting against the common enemy, the fuel prices. The A350s are so popular that over 500 planes were ordered by various airlines around the world and only around 20% have been delivered so far. Such was the demand that it took AerCap (the lessor) only 3 weeks to find another home for the orphaned SriLankan aircrafts, placing them in the hands of Sichuan Airlines in China. Although it remains a mystery as to why Sri Lankan Government’s own efforts to sub-lease them to Turkish Airlines and Iran Airlines failed.

A preliminary analysis shows that if the four leases were not terminated the airline may have generated additional gain (Incremental EBITDA) of over Rs. 50 billion over the 12 year lease period. The number used to justify the cancellation was Rs. 70.1 billion loss, which may have been cooked-up to support the politically motivated decision. Apart from the initial staff training costs and the tooling and equipment costs, the 4 planes could have had a positive impact to the P&L, generated additional income of over Rs. 4 billion per year, as seen below:
P&L Impact – Leases Cancelled (Actual)

• 2016 – Rs. 2.6 billion loss (lease cancellation costs)
• 2017 – Rs. 14.4 billion loss (lease cancellation costs)
• 2018 – Rs. 1.6 billon loss (bank loan payments)
• 2019 – Rs. 1.6 billon loss (bank loan payments)
• ……..
• 2029 – Rs. 1.6 billion loss (bank loan payments)

P&L Impact – Leases NOT Cancelled (Forecasted)

• 2016 – Rs. 0.2 billion loss (staff training)
• 2017 – Rs. 2.6 billion loss (tooling and equipment)
• 2018 – Rs. 4.4 billon profit (incremental EBITDA)
• 2019 – Rs. 4.4 billon profit (incremental EBITDA)
• ……..
• 2029 – Rs. 4.4 billion profit (incremental EBITDA)

Summary of accumulated P&L impact under the 3 scenarios:

1.R s. 70 billion loss – this was the number used by the “government” to justify the cancellation

2. Rs. 35 billion loss – actual loss impacting the P&L

3. Rs. 50 billion gain – forecasted gain based on above analysis

The above preliminary analysis is based on the Lease Cost of the A350 and then applying revenue margins from the 2017 Audited Financials. I have also used manufacturers efficiency margins including fuel cost savings. Although lease costs are marginally higher, compared to the A330-300s which are currently used by the airline, it is more than off-set by the benefits brought about by costs savings from fuel & maintenance efficiencies and enhanced revenues due to more seating (ASK) and cargo space. While this is not a detailed analysis it highlights that the airline may have been able to make money with the A350s in use.

In fact the use of the A350s in the high yield European routes may have even turned the routes profitable. Germany is the largest outbound tourist market in the world and has been a strong high value inbound market for Sri Lanka for decades. Terminating the key European routes resulted in a Revenue drop of Rs. 6 billion in 2017 for the airline and the loss of a highly sought after exclusive routes. The routes form part of the intangible assets of the business and the terminations of these valuable routes is equivalent to an asset destruction exercise. The impact and the damage by this decision to the Tourism and Hospitality industry of the island is unmeasurable.

If not for the politically motivated destructive decisions by a corrupt few, SriLankan airlines would be proudly flying these brand-new beauties today.

(The writer is a former Investment Banker from London with Mergers & Acquisition and Corporate Strategy experience. He has worked for a number of International companies in London including HSBC Bank and Goldman Sachs. As an Investment Banker in London he was also involved in the team that advised Emirates when they were looking to sell their stake in SriLankan Airlines at the time. He holds an MSc in Engineering from Imperial College London) 

Israel fast-tracks expulsions of Palestinian communities

Children playing in rubble after Israeli forces demolished four homes in Khan al-Ahmar, April 2016. 

Hamza ShalashAPA images

Tamara Nassar- 9 January 2018

Israel forcibly displaced more than 650 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank in 2017 by demolishing their homes.

In total, occupation forces destroyed 400 structures in the West Bank, according to UN figures.

More than 100 of the demolished structures had been funded by international donors. Another 12,500 are under threat from pending Israeli demolitions orders.

Israel systematically denies Palestinians under military occupation in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, permission to build on their own land.

Much of its destruction has targeted communities in Area C, the roughly 60 percent of the West Bank that remains under full Israeli military control under the terms of the Oslo accords signed between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization in the early 1990s.

Israel drops legal pretense

Palestinians are forced to build without permits and live in constant fear that their homes will be demolished. Israeli politicians are increasingly calling for the permanent annexation of Area C, which would leave the majority of Palestinians in the West Bank corralled into tiny islands of territory.

Although 2016 marked a record year for Israel’s demolitions, – almost 1,100 structures were destroyed displacing 1,600 Palestinians – Israel began in 2017 bypassing legal formalities in order to expedite the expulsion of Palestinians.

“It seems that Israel is so confident in its ability to expel entire villages without incurring judicial or international criticism that it is no longer bothering to create even the illusion of legal proceedings,” accordingto Israeli human rights group B’Tselem.

Fast-track expulsion

Previously Israel would issue military orders requiring specific building plans and had protracted procedures including “precise mapping of the land and buildings, as well as the issuing of separate demolition orders for each building,” B’Tselem states.

But in the last year, Israel began relying on a military order concerning “unauthorized buildings” to carry out quick expulsions of Palestinians. That order had originally been intended for the eviction of settlers from settlement outposts established without Israeli permission, although it was rarely ever used for that purpose, according to B’Tselem.

While Israel distinguishes between “unauthorized” and “authorized” settlements – and often retroactively converts the former into the latter – all of its settlements are illegal under international law.

By using this order, Israel targets entire communities for forced removal without bothering to issue specific demolition orders for each building.

This order was never previously used on Palestinians.

Now, communities threatened with expulsion by Israel view this as a continuation of the Nakba – the ethnic cleansing of more than 750,000 Palestinians by Zionist militias in 1948.

B’Tselem says that it is “virtually unprecedented since 1967” – the year Israel occupied the West Bank – for entire communities to be demolished.

In September, the human rights group warned that Israeli leaders including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could be personally liable for war crimes if they proceed with the planned demolitions of two such communities, Khan al-Ahmar and Susiya, to make way for Israeli settlements.

According to the UN, the number of demolitions and seizures of Palestinian structures in 2017 in Area C was 265 to the end of November, compared with almost 900 for all of 2016.

“However, obtaining construction permits remains nearly impossible as a result of a restrictive and discriminatory planning regime,” according to UN humanitarian coordination agency OCHA.

Susiya’s 340 residents have been living under constant threats of expulsion for years, fighting many legal battles with Israel to remain on the land they’ve been on since the 1800s.

Rare intervention

In November, Israel renewed its demolition order against the Area C village, announcing that it could destroy about a fifth of Susiya’s structures within weeks.

That prompted a rare intervention from 10 US senators who wrote to Netanyahu urging him “not to demolish the Palestinian village of Susiya and the Bedouin community of Khan al-Ahmar.”

Khan al-Ahmar, also in Area C, lies between the Israeli settlements of Maaleh Adumim and Kfar Adumim in the so-called E1 area of the West Bank.

The E1 area is targeted by Israel for expansion of its mega-settlement of Maaleh Adumim, which would complete the encirclement of Jerusalem and isolate the northern and southern parts of the West Bank from each other.

Israel issued evacuation orders to Khan al-Ahmar multiple times in the past year, prompting strong condemnation from human rights groups.

Khan al-Ahmar is home to approximately 175 members of the Jahalin tribe. Israel is threatening to destroy its only school.

In addition, Israeli forces harass residents by confiscating building materials.

In November, Israel also ordered all 300 residents of the Jabal al-Baba community, also in E1, out of their homes within eight days.

Villagers are refusing to comply and have held protests against their expulsion.

The Jabal al-Baba community was originally in the southern Naqab (Negev) region, before its members were forcibly displaced to their present location near Jerusalem.

Khan al-Ahmar and Jabal al-Baba are two of 12 Palestinian communities, with a total of about 1,400 residents in the area east of Jerusalem which face Israeli expulsion.

Israeli forces also issued expulsion orders to the communities of Ein al-Hilweh and Umm Jamal in the northern Jordan Valley on 9 November, giving residents eight days to evacuate.

There are over 20 families in the northern Jordan Valley area who face expulsion.

One reason Israel gets away with these expulsions is that the international donors that fund the schools and other facilities Israel is destroying have done nothing to hold it accountable.

Netanyahu defends son taped illicitly outside strip club

FILE PHOTO: Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) reads a prayer with Western Wall Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz (L) as his son Yair (R) stands next to him, at the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City March 18, 2015. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun/File Photo

JANUARY 9, 2018

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday defended his son over drunken remarks made between visits to strip clubs and taped illicitly that drew criticism for being derogatory of women.

The recording, aired late on Monday by Israeli Hadashot News, was made in 2015 while Netanyahu’s son, Yair, toured strip clubs in Tel Aviv while partying with two friends.

In it, Yair Netanyahu and his friends are heard teasing each other on who has paid for what during their night out on the town. When one of the friends tells Yair he spotted him 400 Shekels (about £85.07), Yair says: “No, that was for the hooker.”

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In other portions of the recording Yair offers “to arrange” an ex-girlfriend for his friend in order to settle his debts, appears to rate strippers’ skills and appearances and is embarrassed by a late-night phone-call from his mother.

Yair issued a statement in which he said the news report was salacious, the recording illegal and that he was inebriated at the time.

“I said ridiculous things about women and about other people, which should not have been said. These things do not represent me, the values I was raised on and what I believe in. I regret these and apologise to anyone hurt by them,” said the statement, quoted in Israeli media.

The recording has made headlines in Israel, where Yair was criticised for using a state-funded car and driver to take him around strip clubs along with his state-funded security guard.

“This is terrible moral bankruptcy. Debased, disgusting, rude behaviour objectifying women while accompanied by a car and security funded by the state,” opposition lawmaker Shelly Yachimovich said on Facebook.

Speaking with reporters in Jerusalem on Tuesday, the prime minister said his son was right to apologise. “My wife and I raised our children to respect any person and to respect all women,” Netanyahu said.

One of the friends Netanyahu was with is the son of an Israeli businessman, Kobi Maimon, who has a stake in Israel’s offshore natural gas fields. At the time of the recording Netanyahu’s government was finalising a deal for their development.

“Bro, my dad just arranged 20 billion dollars for your dad and you can’t spot me 400 Shekels?” Yair told his friend jokingly as laughter was heard.

In a written response issued to the report on Monday, Netanyahu said he was unaware of his son’s friendship with Maimon and that it had no bearing on the gas deal, nor did Yair have any knowledge of it.
He called the report wicked gossip and said the media was hounding his family as part of a campaign against his right-wing government.

Netanyahu, who has a sometimes adversarial relationship with Israeli media, is under police investigation for alleged corruption in two criminal cases. He denies wrongdoing.

 

The 26-year-old Yair Netanyahu has found himself the centre of controversy in the past.
In September he drew anger in Israel and abroad for posting a cartoon using what the Anti-Defamation League, which monitors anti-Semitism worldwide, described as anti-Semitic imagery in a Facebook post mocking some of his father’s critics.

In August, he made another headline-grabbing post after a protester was killed during a white nationalist rally in the U.S. state of Virginia, that suggested hard-left organizations pose more of a danger than neo-Nazi groups.

Shafiq quit Egypt election bid after threats of 'sex tape' and corruption slurs: Sources

Ahmed Shafiq told he would be smeared if he challenged Sisi, sources say

Ahmed Shafiq ended his presidential campaign at a press conference in Cairo on Sunday (Reuters)

David Hearst-Tuesday 9 January 2018

Ahmed Shafiq abandoned his Egyptian presidential bid after being told that he would be smeared with allegations of sexual misconduct and corruption, sources close to the former prime minister have told Middle East Eye.

MEE understands the threat was delivered to Shafiq by people close to the incumbent, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, following his return to Egypt from exile in the UAE at the beginning of December when he was under observation by Egyptian intelligence.

It came amid concern in the Sisi camp that Shafiq, who spent five years in the UAE, was building broad support for his campaign - ranging from the former president Hosni Mubarak to the old guard of the Muslim Brotherhood, and even elements within Egyptian intelligence.

MEE's sources did not divulge the identity of the messenger but said that they had claimed to have video tapes of alleged sexual misconduct and threatened to make Shafiq the focus of a corruption investigation.

One of Shafiq's two daughters would also face corruption charges, the messenger is alleged to have said.

Sources in the Shafiq camp told MEE that the threats were made to force him to abandon his bid for the presidency.

Shafiq on Sunday ended his short-lived presidential bid, announced in Abu Dhabi at the end of November, by confirming in a televised statement that he would not stand against Sisi in the March election, stating that his five years in exile in the UAE had “distanced me from... what is going on in our nation".

Shafiq left Egypt after losing to the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi in the country's first democratic presidential election after the 2011 “Arab Spring” revolution against Mubarak. Morsi was subsequently deposed by Sisi in a military coup in 2013.

The latest revelations come after Mekameleen, a Turkish-based Egyptian opposition television station, broadcast audio of conversations between an Egyptian security official and a prominent TV host, in which the official ordered him to prepare a showreel discrediting Shafiq should negotiations with him go wrong.

Read more ►

Egyptian spy ordered TV smears against presidential hopeful Shafiq

The secret agent, Captain Ashraf al-Kholi, reportedly told Azmi Megahed there was a plan to "crack" Shafiq's head and smear him if he stepped out of line.

MEE spoke to sources close to Shafiq, opposition figures outside the country with whom they were in contact, and sources inside Egypt, who all confirmed the existence of a campaign to close down Shafiq's candidacy.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, they also revealed how Shafiq had reached out to members of the Egyptian armed forces, the Coptic Church and the Muslim Brotherhood to garner support for his challenge to Sisi.

Backed by Mubarak

Shafiq's campaign to become a candidate in this year's election shifted gear in September last year when he received pledges of support from former president Mubarak, his family and business partners, as well as parts of the deep state.

The fact that Shafiq had some support in intelligence circles was also alluded to in the leaked conversation broadcast by Mekameleen, in which Al-Kholi said there were “a few whores” inside Egyptian General Intelligence who were sympathetic to him. The alleged conversations took place in the last two weeks. 

Shafiq then reached out to a wide group of Egyptian opposition leaders, including both the reformist camp and the old guard of the divided Muslim Brotherhood.

Read more ►

EXCLUSIVE: The Emirati plan for ruling Egypt

As MEE reported in November 2015, the UAE harboured doubts about Sisi. For Saudi Arabia also, Sisi was not providing the stability Egypt needed, nor was he considered to be helping Riyadh enough in its regional campaigns, particularly in Yemen.

Shafiq received three high-level visits in Abu Dhabi late last year, MEE sources said.

These were from a group of Egyptian generals from the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF); from Salman al-Ansari, the founder of the Washington-based Saudi American Public Relations Affairs Committee with whom Shafiq talked for three hours; and from a representative of the Coptic Church in Egypt.

None of the three groups of visitors publicly endorsed Shafiq. One of them from the Coptic Church told Shafiq that if the UAE backed him as a presidential candidate, the church would.

In his contacts with members of the Egyptian opposition, Shafiq delivered three main messages. He told them that he recognised the need for reconciliation, that he believed that “a lot” of the people in prison should not be there.

Thirdly, Shafiq, a former pilot and commander of the Egyptian air force, said that although he recognised that the Egyptian army played a fundamental role in the political life of the country and should continue to do so, he thought that the army should “step back a bit and gradually”.

Shafiq said he thought there should be a gradual loosening of the grip that the army had over the economy. More of their businesses should be returned to the private sector.

Shafiq did not go into detail. He did not say he thought that Morsi, to whom he narrowly lost in 2012, should be released. Nor did say how many of an estimated 50,000 political prisoners in Egyptian jails should be freed.

His points were presented as statements designed to start a political dialogue and form the start of negotiations.

Shafiq casts his vote in the 2012 presidential election in which he stood as a candidate (AFP)

Shafiq's contacts with one of the two MB groups caught the attention of the Egyptian security services. In response, Sisi launched a campaign of arrests to target this group in Egypt.

Alarmed at the heavy price they were paying for continuing to talk to Shafiq, this group pulled out of the talks.

Sisi calls MbZ

A few days before Shafiq was due to travel from UAE to Paris on 26 November, Sisi phoned Mohamed bin Zayed (MbZ), the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, to inform him that Shafiq was due to meet opposition figures in Paris, including a leading member of the second Brotherhood group. Sisi asked MbZ to stop that from happening.

Sources told MEE that it had been this call that led MbZ to stop Shafiq from leaving the country. After allegedly failing to convince the UAE to allow him to leave, Shafiq put out a statement to the Reuters news agency, declaring his intention to run for Egypt's presidency.

At the same time, Shafiq sent a video to Al Jazeera Arabic - which has been demanded by the UAE to be shut down - alleging that the UAE had banned him from travelling. In the video, Shafiq also said that the UAE was interfering in "Egyptian internal affairs".

"I would like to express my gratitude to the United Arab Emirates for hosting me throughout the past period. Yet I reiterate my rejection of the UAE's intervention in Egyptian internal affairs and I object to banning me from moving freely or from exercising my constitutional right," he added.

"I will not reverse my position, which I declared earlier. I am willing to confront all the troubles I am likely to face. I also appeal to the officials in Egypt to intervene quickly so as to remove any obstacles curtailing my freedom of movement.”

The statement on Reuters and the Al Jazeera video reportedly surprised MbZ, who had expected Shafiq to stay silent, sources said.

The UAE's foreign minister, Anwar Gargash, subsequently denied in a series of tweets that there had been an "obstacle" to Shafiq's departure from the UAE.

"[Shafik] took refuge in the UAE and ran away from Egypt after the results of the 2012 presidential election. We presented him with every facility and generous hospitality despite our severe reservations about some of his positions," Gargash said.

'Dig out the old stuff'

Shafiq was then arrested and, according to his lawyer, Dina Adly, deported to Egypt on 2 December.

In Egypt he was taken by intelligence to a hotel. Although he had access to people and was able to make calls, he was kept under observation.

Read more ►

Actress, presenter, MP, spy: Egypt's covert operatives pushing Trump Jerusalem move

Mekameleen's leaks show media figures were briefed to hold their fire on Shafiq, but told to be ready to attack him, when given the signal.

Al-Kholi reportedly told Azmi Megahed: “I want you to prepare Shafiq's videos when he was talking to the Brotherhood, because now there is bargaining and we want to see where we get with him. If he persists we shall dig out the old stuff."

Meanwhile Sisi dispensed with another potential threat to his presidency. MEE sources said that General Mahmoud Hegazy was dismissed as chief of staff of the armed forces the moment he arrived back in Cairo from a trip to the US in October.

Sisi had received reports that Hegazy had behaved in the US as if he is the next Egyptian president, and this was the reason he was dismissed.

At the time his dismissal was linked in press reports to an attack on a police convoy in the western desert in which over 50 police officers were killed.

This article is available in French on Middle East Eye French edition.

Syria war: Hospitals being targeted, aid workers say

Syria and Russia deny targeting hospitals or other civilian areas

6 January 2018

At least 10 hospitals in rebel-held areas of Syria have suffered direct air or artillery attacks over the past 10 days, aid workers say.

An adviser to a coalition of medical charities told the BBC that the attacks had been the most intense for a year.

A senior UN official also told the BBC that health facilities in Syria had been hit "yet again".

Meanwhile, 17 civilians died in air raids in Eastern Ghouta, near Damascus, on Saturday, a monitor said.

The most deadly raid was in Hammuriyeh where 12 people, including two children, died, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Last week, at least 25 civilians were reported killed in air strikes on two towns in rebel-held Eastern Ghouta. About 400,000 people there have been under siege by Russian-backed Syrian government forces since 2013.

• Urgent transfer of sick Syrians ends
• Why is there a war in Syria?

The Syrian government and Russia military have consistently denied targeting civilian areas.

Aid agencies said medical centres hit by recent air strikes included a maternity hospital in Maarrat al-Numan, in Idlib province, which was reportedly hit three times in four days.

Five people died in the worst attack, on Wednesday, according to the Syrian American Medical Society (Sams), and the hospital was temporarily put out of service.

Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, who advises the Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations (UOSSM), said other attacks in recent days had targeted hospitals predominantly in Eastern Ghouta, on the outskirts of the capital.

"This has been at a level, again, we haven't seen," he said.

Media captionCampaigners are covering their eyes in solidarity with baby Karim

Mr De Bretton-Gordon said many children in Eastern Ghouta needed medical evacuation.

"There are over 125 children needing live-saving surgery, including three very young children [whose injuries are] too graphic almost to describe," he said.

"A six-month old who has lost an eye who will die if he doesn't receive surgery and an eight-year old girl who weighs only 8kg [17lb] who is dying of malnutrition."

The UN's Humanitarian Co-ordinator for Syria, Jan Egeland, also told the BBC that several of the remaining health facilities in the Eastern Ghouta had been hit "yet again".

"This war is continuing as bad in 2018 as it ended in 2017," he said.

Other attacks on medical facilities documented by UOSSM include:

• An air strike on a health centre in Harasta, Eastern Ghouta, on 31 December that injured two nurses and damaged the building
• A paramedic was killed when an artillery shell struck a hospital in Harasta on 30 December
• A barrel bomb attack in Maarrat al-Numan, Idlib, on 28 December killed a woman and injured three children at a primary health care centre

UOSSM chairman Dr Ghanem Tayara condemned the attacks.

"This fresh wave of attacks on medical facilities is sickening and unacceptable," he said in a statement.

"These attacks force facilities to shut down, terrorise staff and result in undue hardship for patients already suffering."

He added: "Since the beginning of the crisis, there have been hundreds of well-documented attacks on medical facilities in Syria. It's shameful that there has never been a formal prosecution for these war crimes and it severely undermines the UN's credibility."

Image caption

At least 25 civilians were reported killed in air strikes in Eastern Ghouta last week

The Syrian government recently allowed Red Cross teams to evacuate 29 critically-ill patients from the Eastern Ghouta as part of a deal that saw rebels release the same number of prisoners.

However, hundreds more patients are in urgent need of evacuation from the enclave.

The Eastern Ghouta is designated a "de-escalation zone" by Russia and Iran, the government's other main ally, along with Turkey, which backs the rebels.

But hostilities intensified in mid-November when the Syrian military stepped up air and artillery attacks on the enclave in response to a rebel offensive.