CAIRO: Chairman of the Lawyers' Syndicate Hamdy Khalifa accused his predecessor Sameh Ashour of conspiring to prevent him from assuming his role as head of the Arab Lawyers Union. Khalifa made those statements at a press conference held Sunday after his return from Casablanca, Morocco, where the Arab Lawyers Union's Permanent Bureau meeting was held last weekend. Khalifa said he was not allowed to perform his duties as head of the Arab Lawyers Union but was rather addressed only as the Lawyers' Syndicate chairman at the meeting in Casablanca. In addition, Khalifa wasn't included among the speakers in the meeting's opening ceremony. This, Khalifa claims, is "all a conspiracy by Sameh Ashour, who had questioned the integrity of the syndicate elections even though they were under the supervision of the judicial system, Khalifa was quoted as saying in the Middle East News Agency (MENA). The chairman of the Egyptian Lawyers' Syndicate is automatically appointed the head of the Arab Lawyers Union. Yet Khalifa wasn't allowed to take over and was told that there are internal conflicts within the syndicate in Egypt and there are cases filed regarding the validity of the elections. However, MENA reported that Ibrahim El-Samalaly, secretary general of the Arab Lawyers Union, on Friday apologized to Khalifa for everything he went through since his arrival in Casablanca. Abdel Moneim Abdel Maqsoud, lawyer and member of the Muslim Brotherhood, also believes there was a hidden agenda. "There are people who had personal motives which they've put above the welfare of the country, he said. "Egypt is the head of the Arab Lawyers Union and no Egyptian should play on that, just to get back at someone. The union's general secretariat elected on Saturday six Egyptian candidates to join its permanent bureau. Egyptian lawyer Lamiaa Sabri received the highest number of votes, and became the second female lawyer in the Arab world to join the union s permanent bureau. Tahani El-Gebali was the first woman but left the bureau after she became Egypt's first female judge. Other Egyptians in the bureau include Saber Amaar, Mohammed Akef Gad, Sayed Abdel Ghani, Khaled Abu Kresha and Yehia Al-Tuni. Originally, 13 Egyptian candidates were competing. Khalifa, who was supported by the Muslim Brotherhood, received more votes than Ashour, who was allegedly supported by the ruling National Democratic Party, in the Lawyers' Syndicate elections last month. Ashour is currently facing charges from the public funds investigation bureau after a number of lawyers filed an investigation request to Prosecutor General Abdel Meguid Mahmoud regarding financial violations at the syndicate during Ashour's tenure as chairman.
