The intelligence service seeks to whitewash Hala Zayed’s reputation (AFP)
Private Egyptian sources revealed to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that the Egyptian regime intends to return Health Minister Hala Zayed to her ministerial position. This comes after The Public Prosecutor, Counselor Hamada Al-Sawy, finally referred 4 accused In a case of bribery and corruption within the Ministry to the Criminal Court, Among them is the ex-wife of the minister, Mohamed Abdel Majid Mohamed Hussein.
The possibility of Zayed returning to her position is also enhanced due to the start of a propaganda campaign to whitewash her image. Knowing that Zayed had She left the ministry after she fell ill In conjunction with the exposure of the corruption issue, the Minister of Higher Education Khaled Abdel Ghaffar was assigned to carry out her duties without issuing any official decision to dismiss her from her position.
Support from Sisi and Abbas Kamel to Hala Zayed
The sources said, in exclusive interviews with Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, that Zayed enjoys the support and support of the close circle of President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, the head of the General Intelligence Service, Major General Abbas Kamel, and Mahmoud Al-Sisi, the president’s son.
The sources added that Zayed’s work within the ministry was carried out in coordination with these and other military figures in various economic sectors linked to work with the Ministry of Health, and therefore there is a tendency to return her to her position, especially after the corruption case of the Ministry of Health was stopped at this point.
Zayed enjoys the support and support of the close circle of Sisi and Abbas Kamel
The sources pointed out that the men of the Administrative Control Authority, at the end of last October, stormed the Ministry of Health, entered the office of Minister Hala Zayed and arrested a number of her assistants and the director of her office, so that they were about to arrest her personally, disturbing the intelligence service, whose leaders decided to obscure the case. and covered.
The suspects in the Egyptian Ministry of Health corruption case
On December 29, the Public Prosecutor, Counsellor Hamada El-Sawy, referred 4 defendants to the criminal trial, accusing the first of “asking for himself an amount of 5 million pounds (318,000 dollars), and taking 600,000 pounds as a bribe from the owners of a private hospital through two other defendants.” “.
This came in exchange for this employee’s use of his influence to obtain from officials at the Ministry of Health decisions and benefits related to not implementing the decision to close this private hospital to run it without a license, and to prepare a false report that proves, contrary to the truth, that there are no violations in it. The fourth accused was charged with committing the forgery.
Judicial sources revealed that the referral order in the case restricted to No. 2284 for the year 2021 limiting Supreme State Security included: Muhammad Abdul Majeed Muhammad Husayn Al-Ashhab, who is the free-lance Minister of Health Hala Zayed and works as a first specialist at the Misr Life Insurance Company.
The referral order also included Attia al-Fayoumi, a doctor and hospital owner, Husam al-Din Fouda, a retired, and Muhammad Ahmed Behairy, director general of the General Administration of Licensing in the General Administration of Treatment Institutions.
Corruption of the Administrative Control Authority case
The sources said that officials in the intelligence service decided to spoil the issue of the Administrative Control Authority, which did not coordinate with them, and arranged the file with one of the other security services.
The sources indicated that it has been waiting for two full months since the outbreak of the case known in the media as “corruption of the Ministry of Health” at the end of last October, and the assignment of Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and Minister of Higher Education Khaled Abdel Ghaffar to the work of the Minister of Health, on the pretext that Zayed took a sick leave, before the Public Prosecution decided Referring four defendants in the case to the Criminal Court, without the referral order containing any names.
The sources added that the last step in the plan, which the agency waited two months to complete, is a public relations campaign to whitewash and polish the minister’s reputation, in order to bring her back to her position in the ministry.
Intelligence officials decided to spoil the issue of the Administrative Control Authority, which did not coordinate with them
archyde news campaign for Hala Zayed
Finally, publications of journalists working on websites and newspapers affiliated with the “United Media Services Company” owned by the General Intelligence confirmed the existence of the minister’s propaganda campaign, as some of them described Hala Zayed as the “iron woman”, and that she was “the best health minister in the history of Egypt.”
The publications, which appeared to be distributed by electronic committees, enumerated what their writers said were the advantages of Zayed, including “her success in eliminating waiting lists in hospitals, implementing the president’s initiatives, eliminating hepatitis C, implementing 100 million health initiatives, and treating non-communicable diseases.” In force, early detection of newborns, and detection of anemia, dwarfism and obesity for primary students.
And one of these journalists said, “This woman succeeded with courage, which some men do not have, in confronting Corona, and she went to all countries that manufacture vaccines to save the lives of Egyptians, and she is the first to receive the vaccine and make herself a laboratory for clinical trials,” wondering, “Is what is happening with her now is a response? The beautiful?”
The sources said that if Hala Zayed is not returned to her position in the ministry, at least the agencies will direct a campaign to wash her reputation, given the services she provided to the system on the one hand, and on the other hand because the minister was responsible for serious files, such as facing the Corona pandemic and the “C” virus, and other files.
The sources confirmed that “the accusation of Zayed in a major corruption case, would have put the entire Egyptian system, not only the health sector, under the eyes of international organizations, because the health sector in Egypt receives huge funds from the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the World Health Organization, and other parties Another donor, to confront Corona and other health disasters, and therefore the emergence of suspicions of corruption in the Ministry of Health Strongly affects Egypt’s position as a grantee“.
The emergence of suspicions of corruption in the Ministry of Health strongly affects Egypt’s position as a recipient of international grants
An informed source had He confirmed in statements to “Al-Araby Al-Jadeed”, on December 31, last year, that what the security services reached in the Ministry of Health corruption case is that “a scapegoat is presented by the Public Prosecution, and the case is ended in this way due to the presence of large military names, and due to the public opinion’s demand to reveal the details of the case.”
The source did not rule out that “the next step would be the return of Minister Hala Zayed to her position in the ministry,” but said at the same time that she is “excluded at the present time,” suggesting that “the situation will remain as it is for a while.”
The source said, “It was agreed that the minister would stay at her home until a way out of the impasse caused by the Administrative Control Authority, which worked without coordination with the General Intelligence, is found.”
The source pointed out that “there are strong rumors that Mahmoud al-Sisi, the president’s son, is now supervising the work of the Administrative Control Authority with the help of a special team.”