BBC Monitoring

Text of report by Egyptian news agency MENA website

[Passage omitted: already covered] Mr Makram Muhammad Ahmad has been jubilant over his winning the Union of Journalists chairman post. In statements to reporters after his victory, he said he would be a "chairman for all journalists in all state-owned, party and private institutions and that he would turn over a new leaf in the Union of Journalists, together with the new board which is being elected".

He said that the first thing he would do after the union's new board was formed would be to call a conference for young journalists, so as to get acquainted with their views and hold a debate to promote the profession's potentials. He affirmed that young journalists were the future of the press in Egypt and that they should be given full attention.

On his stand on the imprisoned journalists' cases, he said he agreed with Mr Safwat al-Sharif, chairman of the Higher Press Council, on launching a dialogue between the union and the council on some issues, at t! he forefront of which was imprisonment of journalists and a bill on handling information.

He said he was looking forward to resolving all issues related to imprisonment of journalists with a view to improving the journalist profession.

Source: MENA news agency website, Cairo, in Arabic 1803 gmt 17 Nov 07