The announcement by the Syndicate of Pharmacists putting an end to the strike drew mixed reactions. This announcement came after Finance Minister Youssef Boutros Ghali apologized for the Ministry's decree to levy taxies on pharmacists. Many pharmacies throughout the governorates of Cairo, Alexandria, Giza, Port Said and Kafr Sheikh opened early in the morning. Others, though, continued their strike in Cairo itself and elsewhere in the country, waiting to make sure of the agreement between the syndicate and the finance ministry. The heads of the syndicates of pharmacists in the governorates urged pharmacists to end their strike. The Syndicate Secretary General, Mahmoud Abdel Maqsoud, stressed the pharmacists have the right to be rehabilitated by the Tax Authority chairman. Although the first steps have been taken to strike an agreement with the finance minister, this does not mean allowing what happened to a syndicate delegation during a visit to the Authority, he said. Meanwhile, President Hosni Mubarak called for quickly amending the new specifications of trailers. He said these amendments should be easy and agreed upon by truck owners. He also called for these amendments to be in line with global specifications and for all possible facilitations to be given when it comes to financing. Finally, he demanded that the law be totally abided by in the future and that the clause on trailers in the new Traffic Law be amended, too. President Mubarak held a meeting yesterday at his residence with the ministers of interior, legal affairs, finance, transport, and trade and industry. Following the meeting, Trade and Industry Minister Rachid Mohamed Rachid said the meeting had discussed the framework and the amendments of the traffic law, especially with regard to trailers. President Mubarak was keen to review the measures and the steps carried out in the past to guarantee that the traffic law amendments and the periods of their renewal were abided by, the minister said, adding that they should be easily implemented with truck owners.
