Parliament narrowly approves Danish aid

CAIRO: Parliament narrowly approved an aid agreement with Denmark after a heated debate dominated by memories of a dispute over cartoon pictures of the Prophet Mohammad published in a Danish newspaper last year. Acting speaker Abdel Aziz Mustafa said the agreement passed by a show of hands on Monday evening, but opposition members of parliament and witnesses said opponents outnumbered supporters. Mustafa did not order a more accurate count. The agreement enables Egypt to receive loans worth 60 million euros ($77 million) from Denmark for projects including the provision of drinking water, setting up a wind farm for electricity generation and building grain silos. The deputy leader of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood group in parliament, Hussein Mohamed Ibrahim, tore up a copy of the agreement and said the house should not even debate it. Others demanded the Egyptian government deposit with parliament a copy of a formal Danish government apology for the cartoons of the Prophet, which outraged many Muslims. After the vote, ruling party member Mustafa El-Katatny said he had approved it reluctantly. I feel bitter in my heart towards Denmark but I accept the agreement if it is in Egypt s interest, he told reporters. Reuters