Calls for mass rally to bring Egypt revolt 'back to basics' (AFP)

CAIRO (AFP) – Egyptian activists are calling for a massive rally on July 8 to "save the revolution" that toppled Hosni Mubarak, urging politicians to drop debates on the timing of elections and focus on restoring basic freedoms.

On a Facebook page entitled "The 2nd revolution of anger", activists say the fundamental demands of the uprising -- to protect rights and freedoms -- have not been met, and have instead become clouded by arguments on whether elections or a constitution should come first.

"To all rival political forces debating which should come first, constitution or elections, save your revolution first, save Egypt first. Our revolution is collapsing," the activists said on their Facebook page, which by Friday had garnered over 55,000 members.

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which took over when nationwide protests forced Mubarak from power in February, has scheduled parliamentary elections for September.

But an autumn poll is expected to play into the hands of the well entrenched Muslim Brotherhood, prompting calls from secular politicians for a delay to allow new parties to organise themselves.

Some have also called for a new constitution to be drawn up before the election, for fear that the Islamist group will otherwise have too much influence over the drafting of the charter.

But those behind the call for the July 8 protest say the debate is premature, arguing that the priority should be on ensuring freedom of expression, the public trial of those found guilty of abuse, and an end to military trials of civilians.

"When (a) protest is dispersed with the use of thugs and when the army performs virginity tests on women, and when protesters are tortured, then something is definitely wrong," the activists said in a video posted on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhlnuQX3qVI&feature=player_embedded).

The army, which has been accused of rights abuse since taking over in February, has come under intense fire from local and international rights watchdogs for allegedly performing virginity tests on female protesters they detained during a March 9 demonstration in Cairo.

"When army officers who killed protesters are not put on trial, and when those who joined the protesters are tried and sentenced to 10 years, then something is definitely wrong," they said.

"When journalists and judges are referred to military prosecution for mentioning the military council and there is no freedom, then everything is wrong," they continued.

Protesters who first took to the streets to demand the overthrow of Mubarak, began shifting their anger towards the ruling military council, accusing it of using Mubarak-era tactics to stifle dissent.

Politics during Mubarak's three decade-rule was dominated by his National Democratic Party, working among a stagnant opposition. Any credible dissent came from the banned Muslim Brotherhood and a handful of opposition groups working outside the formal framework.

Then came the January 25 uprising, opening the door to new parties, new ideas and new debates in a scene that would have been inconceivable just months earlier.

But some argue that this new political effervescence risks turning flat if the basic goals of the revolution are not fulfilled, with irrelevant battle lines being drawn.

Debating whether elections or the constitution should come first pits the Islamists against the secularists whereas the focus should be on working for a civilian democratic state, argues Rabab al-Mahdi, professor of political science at the American University in Cairo.

"We in Egypt have paid the price for a democratic state which separates the army from politics... based social justice. This democratic state is now being threatened by a minority concerned only with the relationship between religion and the state," Mahdi wrote in the independent daily al-Shorouk.

The activists calling for the July 8 protest are urging Egyptians to look at the broader picture. The page's slogan: "I haven't felt the change, I'm going back to Tahrir Square" -- the epicentre of protests that toppled Mubarak.

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Iraq to bring banks to the masses -- by mobile (AFP)

BAGHDAD (AFP) – Just a fifth of Iraqis have bank accounts, but 70 percent have mobile phones, so Baghdad is hoping to close the gap by getting people to open accounts, make payments and transfer cash -- all via mobile.

In a country that is one of the most corrupt and violent in the world, the initiative is aimed at securing Iraqis' funds, and strengthening the banking sector as higher revenues resulting from a greater number of transactions boost profits.

"It's a very important project" in terms of "increasing the capacities of private banking," Sinan al-Shabibi, the governor of the Central Bank of Iraq, told reporters at a conference on the initiative organised by the bank and USAID.

Shabibi said he hoped the project would be ready "in the coming year".

Only about 20 percent of Iraqis hold a bank account, according to experts. That figure is markedly lower than the average for developing countries, which a World Bank report released last year pegged at 28 percent among adults.

By contrast, 81 percent of adults in developed countries held bank accounts, the "Doing Business 2011" report said.

While much of Iraq's low bank account penetration has to do with a lack of confidence among Iraqis in banks, other factors are also at play.

"It can... be attributed to long period the country was at war, international sanctions, isolation from the outside world, prevailing security situations, coverage of banks in remote areas," said Indrajit Roy Choudhury, a banking expert working as a consultant for the state-owned Trade Bank of Iraq.

Choudhury added that a lack of modern banking facilities and poor financial literacy among Iraqis' was also to blame.

In addition, most Iraqis are paid in cash, with many avoiding the tedious procedures of dealing with the country's bank branches, where queues are long and customers often spend a great deal of time simply in order to deposit funds that they often end up spending within a month.

Others who receive their salaries in cheques typically withdraw the full amount in cash and eschew making deposits or opening an account.

"This situation is changing," Choudhury noted, pointing out that several banks were opening branches in more of Iraq's provinces, networking those branches, and coming out with more "customer-oriented products".

Iraq is hoping to use the relative popularity of mobile telephones here, with market penetration estimated at 70 percent, to accelerate the development of the banking sector.

A 2009 report by India's National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development notes that "lack of access to finance for... weaker sections of the society has been recognised as a serious threat to economic progress, especially in developing countries."

It added: "Moreover, prolonged and persistent deprivation of banking services to a large segment of the population leads to a decline in investment and has the potential to fuel social tensions causing social exclusion."

According to Carl Rosenquist, an expert who is working on the Iraqi project, it is likely that younger Iraqis will be the system's guinea pigs.

"Experience shows that the take-up of mobile financial services attracts initially the young and subsequently the take-up will increase up the age ladder," said Rosenquist, who has worked on similar initiatives in the Philippines, Mongolia, Jamaica and Kenya.

If the project is fully realised, all it would take for an individual to open a bank account would be a phone call.

Iraqis would be able to make transfers, pay bills, or withdraw funds from non-banking agents such as general stores, who would receive a commission in return.

It is all part of a larger project, estimated to cost between $15-20 million, to unify Iraq's banking system.

"The biggest obstacle is regulation... The law is far behind," said Rosenquist, who complained that Iraqi banks are not required to be linked to a central payment system.

"We have a system and they are not all members.... If they (regulators) don't mandate the use of it, then it's useless."

Discussions are also ongoing between certain banks and mobile phone operators to develop mobile banking, with the chief executive of Kuwaiti firm Zain's Iraqi arm acknowledging that his own company was in talks with two Iraqi banks.

"We're working with a couple banks here in Iraq," Emad Makiya said in an interview with AFP, adding that he could not name which banks as a result of a non-disclosure agreement.

"We're just studying this right now.... We should strike something by the end of this year. We will help them out with their mobile banking."

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Sirens bring Israel to standstill on Holocaust Day

JERUSALEM (AP) — The eerie wail of air raid sirens brought bustling Israel to a halt on Monday, marking two minutes of silence in memory of the 6 million Jews who perished during the Nazi Holocaust.

Israelis stand outside their cars as a siren marking the annual Holocaust Remembrance Day sounds in Tel Aviv.

Ariel Schalit, AP

Israelis stand outside their cars as a siren marking the annual Holocaust Remembrance Day sounds in Tel Aviv.

Cars stopped in their tracks and millions of Israelis stood in an annual tribute to the dead.

In keeping with tradition, media carried somber music and numerous tales from the rapidly dwindling number of Holocaust survivors, including 200,000 aged Israelis. But the melancholy nature of the day was leavened by news that U.S. forces had killed terror mastermind Osama bin Laden just hours before.

"This successful operation sends the important message that terror and evil will find no permanent shelter and will eventually be destroyed, just as the Nazis decades before," Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said in a statement.

The Holocaust ended in 1945 with the Allied defeat of Nazi Germany, but the Nazis' ability to exterminate a third of the Jewish people remains a strong undercurrent in Israeli politics and society.

At a ceremony Sunday night at the start of the sunset-to-sunset commemoration, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu drew a parallel between the Nazis who sought to exterminate the Jewish people and Iran's talk of Israel's destruction.

The most important lesson of the Holocaust for the Jewish people is, "if someone threatens to destroy us, we must not ignore their threats," Netanyahu said.

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