ESA official probed over Doha forum participation

Cairo - 15 September 2017: An Egyptian official at the Ministry of Water Resources and
Irrigation is under investigation for attending a Qatar-hosted forum on the Geographical Information System without getting an approval to attend, Egyptian Water Resource Minister Mohamed Abdel Ati told Egypt Today on Friday.

The investigated official, whose name was not mentioned, works for the ministry’s Egyptian Survey Authority (ESA). He participated in the forum, held on Wednesday in Doha, despite its severed ties with four Arab quartet countries (Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Bahrain) over allegations Qatar supports terrorism.

Medhat Kamal, head of Egyptian Survey Authority, said that the ESA did not participate officially in this conference as it was not invited, and the employee attended in a personal capacity.

He added that he will notify the Arab Union of Geomatic that Egypt has not sent a representative to the forum and the official’s visit was his own decision.

Kamal also revealed that they will implement rules for all authority officials and employees forbidding them to travel abroad without formal approval.