CAIRO, 18 August 2006 — Noted Egyptian geneticist Ahmad Mostajir died of cerebral bleeding at the age of 72 in a hospital in Austria, last week. Mostajir who was called the father of genetic engineering in his country was vacationing at an Austrian resort when the bleeding started.
Mostajir is internationally acclaimed for his “poor man’s” farming scheme in which he developed wheat and rice strains that could withstand drought and hot weather and could be economically farmed in desert lands.
He was a member of various Egyptian and international scientific and literary organizations including the World Academy of Arts & Science of San Francisco, the Arab Writers’ Union, the Arabic Language Academy and the Egyptian Society for Animal Breeding Sciences.
Born at Al-Salahat village in northern Egypt in 1934, Mostajir showed a rare interest in biology and obtained his degree in agriculture in 1954. His first job, in the Agricultural Ministry, was as an agricultural engineer but he shortly resigned the position protesting the harsh treatment meted out to the peasant workers.
He then joined the Egyptian National Research Center and later received his masters’ degree in poultry farming from the College of Agriculture at Cairo University in 1958.
Serial on Imam Ghazali Set to Begin Filming
CAIRO, 18 August 2006 — The shooting of a television serial on the life of the great 12th-centuryIslamic philosopher Imam Ghazali will shortly be starting in Cairo with Syrian actor, Jamal Suleiman playing the lead role, the Al-Watan daily reported yesterday.
Due to the historical and religious aspect of the serial, it has been shrouded in controversy since day one.
Five years ago, when the script was shown to television censors, they came up with a list of objections. When the censor board’s obstacles were cleared some scholars at the Al-Azhar University and its historical society came up with more objections.
After the green light was given for shooting to begin, the scriptwriter had a disagreement with the director on the actor who would play the hero’s role. Finally he sold the production rights to another company and Jamal was casted as the most suitable actor for the role.
Amr Diab to Sing About Religion
JEDDAH, 18 August 2006 — Amr Diab has decided to reconsider his decision to retire from the music industry, the Okaz daily reported yesterday. Diab now plans to sing religious songs.
The Egyptian singer has not fully recovered yet from the trauma of the death of his manager and percussionist Ashraf Fuad who had a heart attack while playing squash with him two months ago. The grief-stricken singer, out of respect, canceled his concerts in Germany and requested his fans to pray for his friend’s soul.
