President Sheikh Khalifa has ordered the release of 103 Egyptian prisoners this week.
The pardon, which comes on the eve of his state visit to the UK, was welcomed by the Egyptian ambassador to Abu Dhabi, Tamer Mansour. He said the gesture will improve strained relations between the two countries which soured after veteran Egyptian ruler Hosni Mubarak, a longtime Gulf ally, was toppled in 2011.
In an email sent to news agency Reuters, Mansour said the move was "an initiative that is bound to open all paths of good deeds between Egypt and its sister, the UAE. It will also remove all the harmful residues that had clung to their historic relations in the previous period".
The President also pledged to settle the prisoners' financial obligations that came as a result of their sentences.
The state news agency Wam said the pardon "underlines the president's keenness to offer the released prisoners the opportunity to start a new life and alleviate the suffering of their families".
Eleven Egyptians remain imprisoned. These men were detained last year on suspicion of training revolutionary Islamists.
newsdesk@thenational.ae
* additional reporting by Reuters
The more serious side of specialty coffee
While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.
The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.
Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”
One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.
Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms.
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