Latest in Politics Highlight
Latest in Politics
U.S. settles with Sept. 11 detainees for $300,000, lawyer says
NEW YORK: The U.S. government has agreed to pay $300,000 to an Egyptian man who was detained for nearly a year following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks but was never linked to terrorism, his lawyer said. Attorney Haeyoung Yoon, who represents Ehab El Maghraby, said she believed it was the first settlement involving the claims …
Islamist sees Mubarak's son seeking presidency
CAIRO: A top leader of Egypt s largest opposition group said on Sunday he expected President Hosni Mubarak s son, Gamal, to seek the presidency within two years, citing as evidence the postponement of local elections. Muslim Brotherhood deputy leader Mohamed Habib also told Reuters in an interview that he expected a crackdown on freedoms …
Calyon Egypt 2005 net profit rises 63 percent
CAIRO: Calyon Bank Egypt, which is 75 percent owned by French investment bank Calyon, made a net profit of LE 60.5 million ($10.6 million) in 2005, 63 percent up on 2004, the stock exchange said on Tuesday. Calyon is a subsidiary of Credit Agricole. Calyon Egypt s net profit in 2004 was LE 37.1 million. …
Egypt median o/n interbank rate falls to 8.5 percent
CAIRO: The median overnight interbank rate on the Egyptian pound fell to 8.5 percent at a start on Tuesday of a new two-week period for calculating reserves, from 8.842 percent on Monday. Bankers said most dealers had their eyes on an auction of 7-day central bank notes worth LE 4 billion ($670 million), to see …
Influencing art
CAIRO: I splashed some colors from a tumbler. Smeared the drab world with emotion. I charted on a dish of jelly the jutting cheekbones of the ocean. “In the beginning of my life, I have read these versus, written by an unknown English poet, when the impact of war influenced the English artists, says Hassan …
Alex Iron and Steel helps Egypt stock market up
CAIRO: Alexandria Iron and Steel helped the Egyptian stock exchange up on Tuesday on continuing interest in Ezz Steel Rebar s plan to increase its stake in the company, brokers said. Alexandria Iron and Steel shares rose LE 175.29 ($30.59) or 11.7 percent to last trade at an all-time high of 1,670. Ezz said earlier …
Kuwait's Global eyes Egypt, plans $1 billion fund
DUBAI: Kuwait s Global Investment House will increase its investment and advisory work in Egypt, which had one of the world s best performing stock markets last year, a senior company official said. Shailesh Dash, senior vice president and head of strategic investment at Global, told Reuters the firm was looking to open an office …
MIBank arranges $254.5 million loan for MOPCO
CAIRO: Misr International Bank (MIBank) has arranged a syndicated loan worth $254.5 million for Misr Oil Processing Company (MOPCO) to build a new fertilizer plant, MIBank officials said on Tuesday. The export-only plant is to be based in Damietta on Egypt s Mediterranean coast, and will have the capacity to produce 635,000 tons of urea …
Hundreds of poultry breeders, sellers protest alleged plans to import frozen fowl
CAIRO: Hundreds of poultry breeders and owners of stores selling live fowl protested Sunday against alleged government plans to allow more imports of frozen fowl, and to keep culling Egyptian birds following an outbreak of deadly bird flu. Carrying banners reading no to frozen chicken, more than 500 demonstrators gathered at noon near the state …
All too familiar
CAIRO: The depth of reformers disappointment over Egypt s would-be democratic Spring might be best seen in judge Hesham El-Bastawisi. When the president announced a year ago his drive for greater democracy, the deputy head of the country s top appeals court felt hope. Now he faces possible interrogation by the police for trying to …
Egypt median o/n interbank rate rises to 8.65 pct
CAIRO: The median overnight interbank rate on the Egyptian pound rose slightly to 8.65 percent on Monday from Sunday s 8.64 percent in active trade on the final day of the central bank reserve period, bankers said. The central bank measures banks reserves over a two-week period ending on Monday. A new period begins on …
Ancient sun temple with statues of Ramses II uncovered beneath Cairo marketplace
CAIRO: Archaeologists discovered a pharaonic sun temple with large statues believed to be of King Ramses II under an outdoor marketplace in Cairo, Egypt s antiquities chief said Sunday. The partially uncovered site is the largest sun temple ever found in the capital s Ain Shams and Matariya districts. This is where the ancient city …
Egypt to release three British Islamists from jail
CAIRO: Egypt has agreed to release three Britons sentenced to five years in jail in March 2004 for promoting the aims of the Hizbut Tahrir Al-Islami (Islamic Liberation Party), an Interior Ministry official said on Monday. The Britons; Reza Pankhurst, Maajid Nawaz and Ian Nisbett, were among a group of 26 men jailed for between …
Living in moderation
CAIRO: Being an Islamist is an already assuming task, even in a country that has turned toward Islam in recent years. However, for some, there is a middle road between modernist and Islamist. That path is the chosen route of Walid Ramadan, a Cairo businessman, who expressed his desire to see Egypt become a moderate …
Imprisoned journalist hopes for a pardon
CAIRO: Local press and human rights organizations are still fuming over the one-year prison sentence handed to an Al-Masry Al-Youm journalist. Opposition and independent newspapers are vowing to relentlessly support their associate, calling on President Hosni Mubarak to immediately intervene. “The verdict is unjust, Abdel-Nasser Al-Zoheiry, the sentenced journalist, tells the The Daily Star Egypt. …
Sharm El-Sheikh to host World Economic Forum
CAIRO: The 2006 World Economic Forum (WEF) will be hosted this year by Egypt from May 20-22 in Sharm El-Sheikh, the country’s red sea tourist attraction. According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the WEF decision to come to Egypt “reflects the forum s recognition of Egypt s long-standing commitment …
Beyond the alphabet
CAIRO: New in the country? Troubled by the fact that you still can’t put together an Arabic sentence? Don’t be too frustrated; most Egyptians can’t do it either. “There is no more than one percent of Egyptians who can put together a correct Arabic sentence, says Mohamed El Sawy, founder of the Zamalek-based El Sawy …
Press Round-up
CAIRO: As Egypt’s national press is continuously focused on covering President Hosni Mubarak’s diplomatic visit to the Gulf, with updates of his tour dominating headlines, opposition and independent newspapers are offering more stories related to bird flu, as well as freedom of expression, on their front pages. According to national newspapers, the talks being held …
Egypt says containing spread of bird flu
CAIRO: Egypt said on Friday it was containing the spread of avian flu in the North African country, saying some new cases in birds had been identified but they were all in previously infected areas. The authorities have also been testing people who have been in close contact with infected birds but no human cases …
Egypt to import more frozen meat, replaces chicken
CAIRO: Egypt will make it easier to import frozen meat to combat rising prices after shoppers spurned chicken following cases of bird flu in the North African country, the Trade and Industry Ministry said on Saturday. Many Egyptians have reacted with anger over the surge in meat prices, which some say have risen as much …
Egyptian man gets three years for stabbing nun
CAIRO: A criminal court in Alexandria sentenced a young man to three years in jail on Sunday for stabbing a nun, the official MENA news agency reported. The court also found Mohammed Al-Said Ahmed, 19, guilty of wounding a lawyer after he tried to help the nun, carrying a knife illegally and resisting the authorities, …
Denmark denies Egypt offered help to avoid cartoon crisis
COPENHAGEN: Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller denied Friday a claim by his Egyptian counterpart that Copenhagen had ignored offers from Egypt to help it avoid the crisis over cartoons of Prophet Mohammed first published in a Danish newspaper. In an interview published Thursday in the Politiken daily, Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit described discussions with …
Suspected militant confesses to role in Sharm, Taba bombings, prosecutors say
EL-ARISH, Egypt:: A suspected militant has confessed to a role in planning deadly bombings in three tourist resorts in the Sinai Peninsula, prosecutors said Saturday. Osama Abdel-Ghani El-Nakhlawi, who was arrested in September, told interrogators that he participated in planning and making preparations for October 2004 bombings at the resorts of Taba and Ras Shitan …
Contemporary art seeks to step out of Pharaohs' shadow
CAIRO: Egyptian art is often reduced to ancient statues, sarcophagi and the wondrous riches that fill the Cairo museum. Some 24 centuries after the decline of the Pharaohs, contemporary works may finally have found new legitimacy via the web. To break the shackles of their country s artistic heritage and circumvent a state system which …
Sandstorm wreaks havoc on transportation
CAIRO: Egyptian authorities diverted some flights and delayed the takeoff of others Sunday as a sand storm blanketed the capital, airport officials said.Bad weather and low visibility were also blamed for numerous accidents that left seven people dead and 17 injured. At Cairo airport, at least six flights were diverted to smaller airports in Egypt, …
Top U.S. counterterrorism coordinator visits Sinai to view Egyptian efforts
CAIRO: The top U.S. diplomat for international counterterrorism coordination paid a surprise visit Saturday to the Sinai Peninsula apparently to view security efforts in a region that saw large bomb attacks on tourist resorts in past years. Henry A. Crumpton arrived Saturday in north Sinai, where Egyptian security forces have launched massive sweeps in recent …
Filming gone too far?
CAIRO: Israeli filmmaker and journalist Nimrod Kamer put together a nine minute video documenting what he calls “a new cultural phenomenon of the girls at the Cairo International Stadium, during one of the matches in the African Cup of Nations a couple of weeks ago. The film takes place during Egypt’s 4-2 victory over Congo …
Egyptian Sunni leader offers to help end violence in Iraq
CAIRO: The head of Al-Azhar University, Sunni Islam s highest seat of learning, said Saturday he was ready to travel to Baghdad to help quell the wave of communal violence convulsing Iraq. Sheikh Mohammed Sayyed Tantawi told a press conference he was willing to meet his Sunni and Shiite Iraqi brothers to help them reconcile. …
Heineken takes over management of Al-Ahram Beverages Co.
CAIRO: Al-Ahram Beverages Co. (ABC), which changed hands twice in the past decade, is now firmly in Heineken s hands. The company was nationalized in 1963 then privatized in 1997. For five years thereafter, it was headed by Ahmed El-Zayat, who turned around the company, bought out competitors and introduced several new brands including I.D. …
Al-Hadary the hero
CAIRO: Goalkeeper Essam Al-Hadary was once again the hero of Egypt as Al-Ahly lifted the African Super Cup with a penalty shootout triumph over FAR Rabat Friday. Neither club could score in the 120 minutes of regulation, and extra time, before Ahly converted four consecutive kicks while Al-Hadary saved two Moroccan kicks at a well-populated …