Egyptian businessman admits personal motivation for gas deal with Spain / Eni

Businessman Hussein Salem – on the run from corruption charges in Egypt –  admitted his personal & political motivations in signing Egypt’s controversial gas export deals with Israel (via pipeline) and Spain (via Damietta LNG), in discussion with Egyptian journalist Mohamed Heikal: “Yes I made gas deals with Israel. We have a lot of gas...

Pillage not development: Egypt’s military junta & the European public banks

(this article initially appeared in Bankwatch Mail 50) Bread, freedom, dignity, social justice. These were core demands articulated during the democratic and inspirational Egyptian revolution in Tahrir Square at the beginning of this year. Beyond this, there was widespread support for improved public services to the poor, a shift from subservience to US foreign policy,...

Mass environmental justice uprising engulfs Damietta on Egypt’s Mediterranean coast

The popular movement against a Canadian petrochemical plant has forced the Egyptian government to shut down the Agrium-Mopco gas-fertiliser factory, after residents shut down highways, bridges and a deepwater port, and battled the Egyptian military in the street. Grainy photos and video-clips  tweeted out – especially by Al-Jazeera’s @Mansourtalk – show locals standing up to...