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Illegal Gold Mining Puts Egypt Investment at Risk

Egypt’s petroleum minister tours the Sukari gold mine. (Petroleum Ministry)
Egypt’s petroleum minister tours the Sukari gold mine. (Petroleum Ministry)
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Illegal Gold Mining Puts Egypt Investment at Risk

Egypt’s petroleum minister tours the Sukari gold mine. (Petroleum Ministry)
Egypt’s petroleum minister tours the Sukari gold mine. (Petroleum Ministry)

Illegal gold mining in Egypt threatens “investment opportunities and the ability to benefit from the country’s reserves,” as “clashes among illegal prospectors” continue to recur.

Businessman Naguib Sawiris said Egypt’s mineral wealth was being continuously wasted because of random and illegal mining by outlaws, adding that most mining companies suffer from illegal practices that can include threats with weapons.

Commenting on a report on global gold and silver reserves on his X account, Sawiris said such practices, carried out by people, some of whom are not Egyptian, deprive Egypt of becoming one of the countries with the largest gold reserves.

Sawiris is among the businessmen who have long been enthusiastic about investing in gold. In late April, he spoke of injecting about $400 million into the gold mining company in which he is a shareholder, and has bet on gold prices even during periods of price turbulence.

Rahab al-Ghoul, a member of parliament’s Energy and Environment Committee, told Asharq Al-Awsat that illegal mining for gold and minerals threatens investment opportunities, adding that there have been significant efforts recently to confront it. She said that in some desert and mountainous areas, there is cooperation between state agencies and citizens to confront those prospecting for gold.

She added that the state can exercise its sovereignty over any area where foreign companies want to explore, and that the Petroleum Ministry is already holding exploration tenders and cooperating with companies with experience in the field. She stressed the government’s keenness to encourage investment and resolve any obstacles facing investors.

Early last month, the Interior Ministry announced the arrest of a man accused of killing eight others after a fight among a number of people illegally prospecting for gold in the Red Sea governorate in southeastern Egypt.

The incident came one day after one person was killed in similar clashes in the mountainous al-Baramiya area in Aswan governorate in southern Egypt.

There are no official statistics on illegal mining operations, which usually involve selling minerals at prices below their real value.

Economist Karim al-Omda spoke of the difficulties facing investors in gold and silver exploration, including illegal mining operations, or the lack of agreement on attractive shares and incentives for foreign companies, which at times demand high percentages of exploration revenues.

Al-Omda told Asharq Al-Awsat that there is a clear absence of a government investment vision for this sector, unlike the clear vision, for example, in the gas and oil sector. He said random mining wastes existing wealth by depleting it.

Egyptian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Karim Badawi said during a meeting with leaders of three global mining companies last Wednesday that reforms had been implemented to develop the role of the Mineral Resources Authority so that it becomes an independent economic entity capable of supporting investors with data and technical services, in addition to activating the one-stop-shop mechanism to facilitate dealings with government bodies.

He said at the time that the modern airborne survey project represented an important step toward providing more accurate geological data on promising areas, helping investors make better investment decisions and increasing the likelihood of new discoveries, especially since Egypt has significant mining potential that has not yet been fully exploited.

The government is seeking to launch a major international gold exploration tender covering more than 210 areas in the Eastern Desert, aiming to attract $1 billion in investments by 2030 to increase production.

This comes as part of a plan to raise the mining sector’s contribution to gross domestic product from less than 1% to about 6% by 2030, according to local media reports.

Late last year, the government approved several incentives in the mining sector, including lowering licensing fees and granting tax and customs exemptions on exploration equipment, supplies, and related services, according to repeated statements by the Petroleum Ministry.

Al-Ghoul said these decisions reflect the state's current investment priority in mineral exploration, including gold, adding that some obstacles are being overcome gradually to achieve the maximum benefit.

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Arab World

Syria Hails Shift From Captagon Hub to Anti-Drug Partner

Syria’s Anti-Narcotics Directorate seized 25 million professionally packaged Captagon pills. (Syrian Interior Ministry)
Syria’s Anti-Narcotics Directorate seized 25 million professionally packaged Captagon pills. (Syrian Interior Ministry)
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Syria Hails Shift From Captagon Hub to Anti-Drug Partner

Syria’s Anti-Narcotics Directorate seized 25 million professionally packaged Captagon pills. (Syrian Interior Ministry)
Syria’s Anti-Narcotics Directorate seized 25 million professionally packaged Captagon pills. (Syrian Interior Ministry)

Syria on Friday marked what it called its shift from a “Captagon hub” to a “partner in combating it,” as the world observed the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.

The official Syrian Arab News Agency, SANA, said this year’s event was held under the slogan “The global drug problem: persistent issues, new challenges and innovative responses,” citing rapid changes in global drug markets, the rise of new substances and increasingly complex smuggling routes.

SANA said the occasion came as Syria presses ahead with efforts to dismantle drug production and smuggling networks following changes in the file after the fall of the former government, a reference to the government of former President Bashar al-Assad.

“After years in which Syria, under the former regime, was one of the world’s most prominent hubs for producing and smuggling Captagon, the country entered a new phase after liberation,” SANA said in a report on Friday.

That phase, it said, is focused on dismantling drug factories, pursuing trafficking networks and expanding international cooperation, turning Syria “from a source of threat into an active partner in combating it.”

SANA said that in December 2025, one year after Assad’s government fell, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, UNODC, confirmed the disruption of large-scale Captagon manufacturing in Syria.

It said the Syrian government had dismantled 15 Captagon manufacturing facilities and 13 smaller storage sites since December 2024, the month the former government fell.

The agency said UNODC’s 2026 report also noted that disruption in the Captagon market after Assad’s fall had pushed up pill prices in some areas. The report also warned that some users could turn to other synthetic drugs, such as methamphetamine.

Coinciding with the international anti-drug day, SANA said the Interior and Health ministries had launched a national campaign under the slogan “Syria Without Drugs.”

Brig. Gen. Khaled Eid, head of the Anti-Narcotics Directorate, told Syrian Alikhbariah that reaching a “Syria Without Drugs” was not just a slogan, but a national project built on scientific and carefully studied plans.

He said the campaign rests on a balance between deterrence and treatment. “The user is viewed as a victim who requires care, while the dealer and smuggler are treated as perpetrators of a crime that requires punishment,” he said.

Eid said the Interior Ministry had faced “a complex reality” in recent months, including local manufacturing centers and distribution networks targeting young people. He said this required stronger security controls, tighter oversight of border crossings, better-equipped anti-narcotics units with modern tracking technology, and an integrated database on active networks.

According to SANA, Syria’s Anti-Narcotics Directorate has carried out 1,550 drug seizures and interdiction operations since Assad’s fall. The operations led to the dismantling of 90 international smuggling networks and the closure of 17 Captagon factories.

The seized materials included 697 million Captagon pills, 15 metric tons of hashish, 10 million narcotic pharmaceutical pills, 180 kg of cocaine, 84.5 kg of crystal meth, 7 kg of heroin and 221 metric tons of chemical precursors, according to Eid.

Separately, the UN Security Council unanimously passed a resolution renewing the mandate of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force in the Golan, known as UNDOF, during a session on Thursday.

Syrian Alikhbariah quoted Syria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ibrahim Olabi, as saying at the session that Syria was now one of the most stable countries in the region and was “engaged in reconstruction, restoring institutions and attracting investment.”

He also cited Syria’s cooperation with international partners on counterterrorism, chemical weapons-related obligations and regional security.

Olabi also addressed political change in Syria, saying “the change in Syria was represented by the disappearance of a regime that practiced torture and used chemical weapons.”

On Israel, Olabi expressed “Syria’s concern over Israeli statements about not withdrawing from Syria,” saying “Israel’s current actions can be interpreted as an attempt to seize the lands it occupied.”

Olabi said the change in Syria that Israel appeared to fear was the removal of “an authoritarian regime that used chemical weapons against its people.” He asked whether Israel preferred the situation that had existed under Assad.

UNDOF was established after the October 1973 war under the Disengagement of Forces Agreement signed by Syria and Israel in 1974. The force has operated since then in the buffer zone to monitor compliance with the ceasefire in the Syrian Golan Heights, which Israel has occupied since 1967.

Arab World

Iraq Row Erupts Over ‘Missing’ $140 Bn

A session of Iraq’s parliament in Baghdad, March 2026. (Iraqi News Agency)
A session of Iraq’s parliament in Baghdad, March 2026. (Iraqi News Agency)
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Iraq Row Erupts Over ‘Missing’ $140 Bn

A session of Iraq’s parliament in Baghdad, March 2026. (Iraqi News Agency)
A session of Iraq’s parliament in Baghdad, March 2026. (Iraqi News Agency)

A senior Iraqi official has ignited a new dispute over the fate of about $140 billion in public revenues, as Iraq presses ahead with corruption investigations involving high-ranking officials at the oil and electricity ministries.

The cases center on allegations that tens of millions of dollars and billions of Iraqi dinars were stolen through contracts suspected of being fake.

The developments come as the Iraqi government faces mounting financial and political pressure ahead of Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi’s visit to the United States in mid-July.

The government is also grappling with efforts to bring weapons under state control, complete the formation of the government and confront financial strain caused by a drop in Iraqi oil exports after the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

The pressure has prompted Baghdad to seek alternatives to secure state employees’ salaries for the next three months.

Missing $140 billion

In a televised interview broadcast two days ago, former Finance Ministry undersecretary Masoud Haider said the state treasury had received about 455 trillion dinars over the three years of the previous government, equivalent, by his estimate, to about $345 billion.

Haider said operating spending and public-sector salaries totaled about $205 billion, then questioned the fate of the remaining $140 billion.

Haider, a member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, said spending on infrastructure projects, including overpasses in Baghdad, could not explain the gap.

He accused the Finance Ministry of blocking his access to data from the accounting and budget departments while he served as undersecretary.

He said the restriction was imposed because of his ethnic and party affiliation and presented an official document that he said barred the two departments from dealing with him without the minister’s approval.

Haider said he informed former Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani of what he described as a legal violation, but said Sudani took no action.

Former Finance Minister Taif Sami denied the accusations. In a statement, she said Haider’s remarks were “baseless and not supported by any reports or official documents issued by the relevant oversight authorities.”

Sami said oil revenues are monitored and audited by the Federal Integrity Commission and the Federal Board of Supreme Audit, as well as by international auditing systems that track oil exports and reconcile exported volumes with collected revenues.

She said the disappearance of the cited sums would be “impossible” without their appearing in official records and reports.

She said non-oil revenues had also grown in recent years as a result of reform measures, including the introduction of point-of-sale systems and follow-up with public companies to collect dues and transfer them to the public treasury after audit by the Federal Board of Supreme Audit.

On revenues from the Kurdistan Region, Sami said the file differed from other federal revenues. She said the region’s revenues had not been transferred to the federal treasury in a way that would allow them to be included in the accounts cited.

Sami said maintaining public trust in financial and oversight institutions required accuracy and reliance on facts and official documents, not estimates or accusations unsupported by evidence.

Major budget changes

On Iraq’s severe financial crisis, lawmaker Hussein al-Daraji said in press remarks that the time left this year was not enough to prepare and pass a 2026 budget draft in parliament.

He said the government was instead preparing a draft 2027 budget, which he expected to be sent to parliament in October or November.

Daraji said the government planned major changes to the 2027 budget law, making it different from previous budgets in how it is prepared, how its tables are structured and how spending is set.

He said the decision to bypass the 2026 budget was driven by accounting issues stemming from the advanced stage of the fiscal year. The state, he said, is still spending under a temporary one-twelfth disbursement mechanism, based on the Financial Management Law and the previous three-year budget.

According to the parliamentary finance committee, the government and parliament have agreed to focus technical efforts on preparing the 2027 budget in an economic format with new spending tables.

The draft is expected to be referred to parliament before the end of the year, with the aim of reducing the deficit and passing it before the start of the new fiscal year.

Arab World

Lebanon Banking on US Pressure to Yield ‘Declaration of Intent’ in Negotiations with Israel

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun chairs a cabinet meeting on Thursday. (Lebanese Presidency)
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun chairs a cabinet meeting on Thursday. (Lebanese Presidency)
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Lebanon Banking on US Pressure to Yield ‘Declaration of Intent’ in Negotiations with Israel

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun chairs a cabinet meeting on Thursday. (Lebanese Presidency)
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun chairs a cabinet meeting on Thursday. (Lebanese Presidency)

Lebanon is counting on US pressure to push Israel to soften its position after the third day of the fifth round of Lebanese-Israeli negotiations in Washington failed to yield a breakthrough.

The two delegations failed to agree on a declaration of intent, prompting the US State Department to extend the round by one day and schedule a fourth session for Friday.

The extension came after Lebanon’s cabinet on Thursday approved a mandate for the negotiating delegation to continue the talks.

The decision was backed unanimously by ministers, including those aligned with Hezbollah and the Amal Movement, even as the “Shiite duo” continues to reject direct negotiations with Israel.

Differences remain

Thursday’s talks were the longest since the fifth round began, lasting 11 hours. They had been expected to end with a news conference, and journalists were invited in the evening.

But the event was canceled without explanation before the US State Department announced that negotiations would continue for another day, signaling that major differences remained.

Sources familiar with the talks said the extension followed a failure to agree on the final wording of the declaration of intent, despite discussions having reached the stage of detailed drafting.

The sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Lebanon is insisting the declaration include core principles: affirmation of Lebanese sovereignty, recognition of the Lebanese army’s role in extending state authority, and a clear link between any field arrangements or “model areas” and a full Israeli withdrawal from occupied Lebanese territory, along with the return of displaced people.

Israel, the sources said, remains firm. It is demanding security guarantees to prevent Hezbollah from rebuilding its military infrastructure and is refusing to include any clear commitment to a full withdrawal from Lebanese territory in the declaration of intent.

(2L/R) Israel's Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter, State Department Chief of Staff Daniel Holler, US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa and Lebanese Ambassador to the US Nada Hamadeh attend a meeting between Israeli and Lebanese delegations hosted by the United States at the State Department in Washington, DC, on June 3, 2026. (AFP)

The sources said the main sticking point is the issue of “model areas.” They said Israel had retreated from an earlier approval of the proposal and is now demanding that the Lebanese army first deploy in areas outside the yellow line, meaning areas still under Lebanese state control north of the Litani River.

The aim, the sources said, is for the army to impose control there and disarm Hezbollah. Lebanon rejects that approach and insists that any model areas must first be tied to Israel’s withdrawal from the territory it occupies.

The sources also pointed with concern to security developments on Friday in the south, where Israeli incursions continued. They cited indications of attempts to expand the yellow line on the ground.

“All of this makes Lebanon even more determined to link any understanding to a full Israeli withdrawal,” one source said.

Lebanon banks on US pressure

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had said Thursday that progress had been made in the negotiations and suggested that a declaration of intent could be reached. But that has not happened, with differences between the two delegations still unresolved.

Lebanon is now counting on further US pressure to push Israel to ease its stance and accept the Lebanese proposal in Friday’s session, particularly on withdrawal and the model areas. The sources said Rubio was expected to follow the talks from Washington after returning there.

In parallel, Lebanon’s cabinet approved on Thursday a decision “taking note” of the negotiations underway in Washington.

The decision said the cabinet took note of the mandate granted by the president, in agreement with the prime minister, to the Lebanese negotiating delegation, authorizing it to take the necessary steps to achieve the desired outcome under the delegation's supervision.

The sources said the mandate allows the Lebanese delegation to sign in Washington any agreement or declaration of intent that may be reached, but does not bring it into force. Implementation would still depend on cabinet approval.

They stressed that the delegation is not acting independently. President Joseph Aoun is continuously following the talks and issuing instructions to ensure the delegation remains committed to Lebanon’s core principles throughout the negotiations.