8745 Articles
CAIRO: The influential Muslim Brotherhood wants an Egyptian president with an “Islamic background”, its leader said, comments that would appear to rule out its support for a leading liberal like Amr Moussa in the forthcoming presidential election. The Brotherhood won more seats than any other party in recent parliamentary elections and its capacity to mobilize …
CAIRO: Two MPs withdrew from the parliament’s constitutional and legislative committee Tuesday in objection to the committee’s insistence on maintaining the current version of a law regulating presidential elections. Article 28 of the constitutional declaration in place since March 30 says the decisions of the presidential elections supreme committee cannot be appealed, and assigns the …
JERUSALEM: Israeli security forces discovered on Tuesday a potentially lethal bomb on the border with Egypt during an operation to foil smuggling from the Sinai desert, the army said. “A powerful explosive device was uncovered in joint Israel Defense Forces-Israel police activity intended to thwart smuggling attempts along the Israel-Egypt border,” a statement said. “A …
CAIRO: Minister of Agriculture told parliament Tuesday he suspects that a plot against Egypt is behind the lack of foreign demand for Egyptian cotton. Minister Mohamed Reda Ismail said that for an unknown reason no countries have shown interest in purchasing Egyptian cotton. He compared the market with last year, when 36 countries were eager …
CAIRO: The German embassy in Cairo denied in a press release Monday allegations against the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) organization. Two members of the NGO’s Cairo office were referred to the Cairo Criminal Court on charges of receiving illegal funds, along with over 40 others working with US NGOs. The trial is scheduled to begin on Feb. …
CAIRO: The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) said on Tuesday that it will not take any legal action against Social Democratic Party MP Ziad El-Eleimy for using offensive language outside of parliament to refer to the head of SCAF Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, in recognition of a resolution adopted internally by the People’ …
CAIRO: The future is promising for Egypt, agreed a panel of local and foreign investors on Monday, but the exact timing of a recharged real estate boom, and the identity of the players involved, remain debatable. “We’ve been selling the Egyptian story for many years,” said Michael Katounas, director of investment banking at Credit Suisse. …
CAIRO: Egypt’s benchmark index slipped 2.4 percent, with telecom shares declining after mobile operator Mobinil posted a fourth quarter net loss. Mobinil, which dipped 1.7 percent, said last year’s political turmoil caused it to lose LE 177 million ($29 million) in the fourth quarter. A year earlier it earned a net profit of LE 342 …
ISTANBUL: Dubai-based Abraaj Capital is among companies interested in bidding for the media assets of Turkey’s Calik Holding, ATV television and newspaper Sabah, which are being evaluated separately, two sources close to the sale process told Reuters. Abraaj declined comment. Calik Holding, which has interests in energy and finance, hired Goldman Sachs for the sale …
LONDON: UBS downgraded Mobinil to "neutral" from "buy" citing fears of a potential delay in a deal by France Telecom to buy Egyptian tycoon Naguib Sawiris’ stake in the country’s largest mobile phone operator. On Feb. 13, France Telecom said it had reached a preliminary accord to buy out most of Sawiris’ stake in Mobinil …
AMMAN: Jordanian Prime Minister Awn Khasawneh said Tuesday he plans to visit Iraq "very soon" to look for alternatives for Egypt’s gas after repeated cut-offs in supplies to the energy-poor kingdom. "I will visit Iraq very soon to discuss the issue. We are still trying with the Qataris as well as the Saudis," Khasawneh told …
CAIRO: Egyptian mobile firm Mobinil said on Monday it posted a net loss in the fourth quarter of 2011 of LE 177 million ($29.32 million). The firm had posted a net income of LE 342 million in the same quarter of 2010, it said in a statement. Mobinil said revenue in the fourth quarter of …
CAIRO: GB Auto, Egypt’s biggest listed automobile assembler, said on Tuesday it had agreed to assemble passenger cars provided by Hong Kong-based Geely Automobile Holding Ltd and begin distributing Geely cars in North Africa. The two companies signed a cooperation agreement under which GB Auto would assemble cars in Egypt using kits supplied by Geely, …
CAIRO: The Muslim Brotherhood on Monday voiced its strongest criticism yet of Egypt’s army-appointed government, saying it was failing to deal with crises in security and the economy, and reiterating a call for a new national unity cabinet. The Freedom and Justice Party, the Brotherhood’s political wing and the biggest group in the newly elected …
CAIRO: Egypt plans to offer US-dollar certificates of deposit (CD) to Egyptians living abroad at the beginning of March to help it raise foreign currency, Al-Borsa newspaper on Tuesday quoted Finance Minister Mumtaz Al-Saeed as saying. Egypt has said it is looking to sell CDs as well as Islamic sukuk instruments and land sales to …
CAIRO: Egypt’s central bank said it sold more one-year US-dollar-denominated treasury bills on Tuesday than it had sought and that the average yield had fallen to its lowest since the instrument was introduced in November. "Due to increased appetite by both local and offshore financial institutions, the Ministry of Finance accepted $0.75 billion, which is …
CAIRO: Egypt’s central bank accepted LE 14 billion ($2.32 billion) in seven-day repurchase agreements in the money market on Tuesday, the same amount it had offered. The repos carry a fixed rate of 9.75 percent. The central bank introduced its weekly repo offerings last March to manage short-term interest rates after the political and economic …
CAIRO: Egypt’s "Facebook Revolution" that toppled Hosni Mubarak last February may have been boosted by Internet social networking, but his downfall was inevitable anyway, a communications expert said on Sunday. "It was a people’s revolution, accelerated, facilitated by the internet," said Rasha Abdulla, associate professor of journalism and mass communication at the American University in …
CAIRO: Archaeologists on Monday began restoration on a 4,500-year-old wooden boat found next to the pyramids, one of Egypt’s main tourist attractions. The boat is one of two that were buried next to the Pharaoh Khufu, spokesmen for a joint Egyptian-Japanese team of archeologists said. The boats are believed to have been intended to carry …
LOS CABOS: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday voiced hope that the United States would soon resolve a row with Egypt over its plans to try American and other foreign NGO workers. Speaking after a Group of 20 conference in Mexico, Clinton declined to describe US discussions with Egypt’s military rulers but repeated that …
CAIRO: A policeman has been suspended for allowing his beard to grow in violation of regulations, a security official said on Monday. Mohamed El-Sayed will also face questioning over his beard, the sign of a religious Muslim. Islamists have come to the fore in Egypt since veteran president Hosni Mubarak, who suppressed Islamism, was toppled …
CAIRO: A lawyer acting for the families of those killed in Egypt’s uprising against Hosni Mubarak on Monday told the court trying him that there had been a "conspiracy of silence" by those seeking to shield the former president. The prosecution and lawyers for the plaintiffs were speaking ahead the final hearing of the case …
CAIRO: Tossing aside recent allegations that the United States is meddling in Egypt’s internal affairs, US Senator John McCain stressed he is “optimistic” that the row over American non-governmental organizations in Egypt will be resolved soon, after meeting with Egypt’s ruling military council on Monday. “As we follow the debate here in Egypt, we hear …
CAIRO: Attorney General Moustafa Suleiman said that slander and fabrication, either intentionally or unintentionally, by the defendants’ lawyers in Mubarak’s trial over the last month is against the law and requires legal action. The Cairo Criminal Court listened Monday to the prosecution’s final case and the civil rights plaintiffs on the arguments raised by the …
CAIRO: “Liman Tora Prison Hospital is prepared to receive patients, including those in critical and serious conditions," said a report issued by the parliemant’s health committee on Monday, following an investigation to see if ousted president Hosni Mubarak could be moved there. The report pointed out that only a ventilator and a device for measuring …
CAIRO: Absence of justice and retribution was the main motive behind forming an association specifically for the families of the martyrs and those injured in the Mohamed Mahmoud and Cabinet clashes, but some were wary of the division in labels. “There is anger due to the absence of justice and retribution from those who committed …
ALEXANDRIA: Alexandria Criminal Court on Sunday adjourned to March 17 the trial of five police officers accused of torturing a man to death to force him to falsely confess to his involvement in the bombing outside the Al-Qeddesine Church in the first minutes of 2011. Sayed Belal was arrested in January 2011 following the bombing …
CAIRO: "One container holding radioactive material was stolen from the nuclear power plant [in Dabaa, Marsa Matrouh]," Minister of Electricity and Energy, Hassan Younis told MPs during a parliamentary session on Monday. Another container was found broken and the radioactive material inside was scattered. Younis stressed that the radioactive material had a low level of …
CAIRO: Six dissident journalists and crew members calling for media freedoms within state-run TV were referred to investigation Sunday upon orders by the minister of information, who also filed complaints to the prosecutor. In addition to the internal investigation, Information Minister Ahmed Anis accused the six of vandalism, endangering national security, and disrupting the work …
CAIRO: The People’s Assembly (PA) committee for Arab affairs called Monday for freezing Egypt’s relations with Syria in condemnation of the Syrian regime’s "barbaric crimes" against protesters. Egypt had recalled its ambassador to Syria on Sunday, who is to stay in Cairo until further notice. In response, Syria withdrew its ambassador to Egypt. Some MPs …
