Al-Laithi: Mubarak witnessed that he was a good man, but he was surrounded by thieves

The controversy over the issue of "carcinogenic pesticides" renewed after the departure of Youssef Wali

• Hosni Mubarak ruled out the involvement of Wali in the pesticide issue.

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• Wali (first from right) knew about the existence of carcinogenic pesticides and brought them back to the source.

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Renewed controversy over the issue of "carcinogenic pesticides" that occupied public opinion twice in previous times: the first in the mid-1990s when an Egyptian opposition newspaper blew them up, and the second after the January 25, 2011 revolution, and the opening of political files for the leaders of the Mubarak regime.

The opening of the file currently underway was characterized by its limitation to the moment on the media side and the presentation of testimonies, and it was also characterized by the focus of effort on trying to find out the naked truth, since the case has passed nearly a quarter of a century, and most of its heroes have moved away from the forefront of the political scene.

Open the case again

The journalist Amr Adib said in his program "Al-Hekaya" on the MBC channel last week that "the issue of the entry of carcinogenic pesticides into Egypt in the 1990s must be opened again in the media, not for the sake of Youssef Wali, as he went to Dar Al-Haq, but rather to own it." The truth for generations is on two levels: The first is whether there were actually carcinogenic pesticides that entered Egypt, and was this done with the knowledge of the most senior head in the ministry or who was behind it?

Adeeb added, "The late President Hosni Mubarak was very upset when he heard about this issue, and woke him up early when he presented - that is, Amr Adeeb - an episode about its circumstances, and Mubarak asked him to send a list of the names of all the guests of the episode and their phones so that Mubarak knows the truth from them."

For his part, former Minister of Agriculture, Ahmed Al-Laithi, said in a television testimony for the same program, "There are indeed carcinogenic pesticides that have been introduced into Egypt. Nine people were accused and convicted in which they were arrested and served their sentences, but the late Minister of Agriculture Youssef Wali was not among them."

Al-Laithi added, “When I took over the Ministry of Agriculture, I was not satisfied with imprisoning and convicting these people, because this is a matter of public law, but I formed a committee to examine the issue of senior scholars and specialists, who are still alive, and they are the former dean of Minya University, Jamal Abu Al-Makarem, Jamal Mansour, and the researcher at the Agricultural Research Center. Muhammad Khalifa, and they identified the pesticides that entered Egypt, and proved that there are actually four carcinogenic pesticides that entered Egypt, and they determined the quantities of these pesticides and the timing of their entry into Egypt, and I announced the results of the investigation in a press conference, and sent a report about it to all official authorities, as I sent An appeal to farmers to hand over any quantities of these pesticides they have provided that I pay them in full, so no one came to me. ”

Al-Laithi added that the late President Hosni Mubarak told me in February 2005 during my presentation of the agricultural policy, "What is the issue of pesticides? I explained the details to him."

Ali replied in front of his assistants, "Dr. Youssef is a good and respected wali, but there are thieves who play behind his back."

For his part, former head of the Pesticides Committee at the Ministry of Agriculture, Salah Suleiman, said in his testimony on the Al-Hadath channel: “I must clarify that the conviction that included some people in the (carcinogenic pesticide) case that exploded in the 1990s was not due to the presence of carcinogenic pesticides, but because of Administrative offenses, meaning that there was a decision to prohibit some pesticides, which was violated.

Suleiman added, "Youssef Wali is the one who deprived the pesticides that the media called carcinogens from entering Egypt, and there are developments that were not reported to public opinion at the time and are necessary."

Israeli company

Soliman added, “There is an Israeli pesticide company that registered its name in 1996 to supply its products to Egypt, and when the Ministry of Agriculture rejected the request, and informed it that the product’s name is on warning lists on the one hand that defends organic farming and warns about chemicals, and this pesticide is likely to be carcinogenic.” The company responded by providing names of pesticides that the Ministry of Agriculture dealt with and dealt with, which are on the same list and include 39 pesticides from other companies, so a decision was issued by the Agriculture Committee banning all these pesticides, and this resulted in the collapse of agricultural production by 70%, so Dr. Youssef Wali was forced to return these pesticides. .

The journalist and head of the investigations department in Al-Shaab newspaper at the time of the bombing of the case, Mahmoud Sultan, said on his Facebook page: There is a volume of lies, alleged documents and political trade in this file, and that he intends to present full testimony as it was (the people) that led the campaign against Wali, after a master's student at the College of Agriculture visited the newspaper with the case documents.

Youssef Wali had mentioned in his last interview with Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper that the story of bringing carcinogenic pesticides to Egypt is a "brotherly lie" and that it "should be studied in media colleges because it relied on the repetition model to believe the lie."

Contradictory testimonies

Jamal al-Fayoumi, a lawyer and a former Labor Party member who used to issue the newspaper, said that “the testimonies until this moment are contradictory. Ministerial, foggy region, and the Wali, as a minister responsible for solidarity and political, regardless of direct responsibility for this or that situation.

Former Minister of Agriculture Ahmed Al-Laithi said in a television testimony, "There are indeed carcinogenic pesticides that have been introduced into Egypt. Nine people were charged and convicted in which they were arrested and served their sentences, but the late Minister of Agriculture Youssef Wali was not among them."

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