Sunday, May 13, 2007

نحمدك و نشكر فضلك يا رب

Whew, thank God...

From The Times
May 14, 2007

Mubarak rejects $3bn bridge

President Mubarak of Egypt has rejected a Saudi plan to build a bridge linking the kingdom with the Sinai Peninsula, a newspaper said.

"Nobody has talked to us about this," Mr Mubarak told the Cairo paper al-Messa. "I refuse to build such a bridge or its passing through Sharm el-Sheikh." Saudi newspapers said last week that King Abdullah was expected to launch the $3 billion (£1.5 billion) project this week.

The proposed bridge over the Gulf of Aqaba will connect the western coast of Saudi Arabia to the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

Egypt has been pushing for such a bridge for years, and it is not clear whether there are political considerations behind Mr Mubarak's rejection.

"The passing of the bridge through Sharm el-Sheikh will inflict damage on [its] hotels, its touristic installations and will spoil the tranquility and security of life there," he was quoted as saying. (AP)

Thank you for your wisdom, Mr. President.

6 comments:

Scarr said...

"Nobody has talked to me about this."

I love it. Like an outraged Dad who has just discovered that his wife and kids were planning to buy a new sofa.

Assem said...

Ones got to love the good things that just happen out of nowhere!

The thing is, it was said in Ahram that they already began working on the bridge!

Seneferu said...

WOOHOOO! Let's party like it's 1999!

Lol@ Amnesiac, funny analogy...but the scarier thing is that other members of the family of government have suicidal taste.

In the end I am just very grateful to the president's clear-headed and firm decision. But I'm also mortally worried of the stupidity of the officials of gov. who were going to pull this through...

Memz, el mohem now they are obligingly toeing the president's line, thank God.

Assem said...

you gotta love how it was worded in Al Ahram today. quite the "WTF" kind of response

Anonymous said...

Lots of nice folks in Saudi Arabia. I spent a lot of time there. But that bridge is the last thing you need.
Good call on that one.

Anonymous said...

Sorry to bug you about this in comments, but I want to steal...I mean link to one of your earlier pieces and you don't have a contact button.