Latest in Tag: Investment Highlight
Latest in Tag: Investment
50 Brotherhood students arrested on North Coast beach
CAIRO: Security forces arrested 50 students from Ain Shams University belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) Saturday. The students were spending the day on the beach in the North Coast city of Agamy during a trip organized by the university. Mohamed Habib, the Brotherhood’s deputy leader, confirmed the news, adding that it is no surprise …
Olmert should forget about Saudi meeting, says Mubarak
CAIRO: Egypt s President Hosni Mubarak has said that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who called in April for a regional conference with Arab leaders, should forget about holding talks with Saudi Arabia s King Abdullah. In an interview with Israeli television, a transcript of which was published by Egypt s Al-Ahram newspaper, Mubarak said …
Pulitzer winner Lawrence Wright: "Islam is a religion that exists in civilizations all over the world"
Lawrence Wright arrived in Egypt in 1969 to study linguistics and Arabic and teach English at the American University in Cairo. A conscientious objector to the Vietnam War, Wright lived in Cairo for two years as part of a foreign service commitment in lieu of military service. On returning to the United States, he pursued …
Sarkozy to direct attention to mideast
CAIRO: Nicolas Sarkozy’s spokesman announced Thursday that the new French president may turn his hand to the Mideast, just one day after ally British ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair was appointed as the Quartet’s new envoy to the region. Sarkozy is to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Jordan s …
Adel Hammouda: Ashraf Marwan was most likely murdered
LONDON: It is hard to conclude right now whether Ashraf Marwan s was murdered or died of natural causes, yet the most likely scenario is that he was murdered and that nobody will discover the truth behind his death, Adel Hammouda, editor in chief of El Fagr newspaper and author of several books on espionage, …
Mystery shrouds identity of alleged foreign spies
CAIRO: After being sentenced, in absentia, to life imprisonment by the Egyptian state security court, the identities of the Irish and Japanese nationals charged with spying for Israel remains a mystery. Aside from the testimony of Mohammed Sayed Saber Ali, the Egyptian nuclear technician also sentenced to life imprisonment, no details of the background or …
Israel president to quit in plea bargain to drop rape charge
Associated Press JERUSALEM: Israeli President Moshe Katsav agreed to resign Thursday in a plea bargain that drops rape allegations and the threat of jail time in return for pleading guilty to lesser charges. The deal was a dramatic reversal by Attorney General Meni Mazuz, who had announced in January that he planned to take Katsav …
Nine killed in Israel raids on Gaza
GAZA CITY: Nine Palestinians were killed on Wednesday as Israel launched twin offensives in the Gaza Strip, triggering the deadliest violence since Hamas fighters overran the territory 12 days ago. The violence comes amid a renewed push for peace and mounting speculation that outgoing British Prime minister Tony Blair will be named special envoy by …
Brown will be more careful in the mideast, says expert
CAIRO: With a legacy of criticism over former British PM Tony Blair’s Middle East policies to contend with, incoming Gordon Brown will be more careful, says Nabil Abdel Fatah, deputy head of the political studies department at Al Ahram Center for Political & Strategic Studies. Gordon Brown became Britain’s new prime minister yesterday, succeeding Blair, …
Death in Khan Younis
Saudi-Egypt meeting ends without incident
CAIRO: Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah urged rival Palestinian factions to settle their differences or face serious repercussions following a Tuesday meeting with President Hosni Mubarak. Ahead of a two-day meeting in Jordan with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, he told Jordan s Al-Rai daily, I appeal to the brothers in Palestine, who pledged to God in …
CIA "kidnap" victim eyes political career in Egypt
CAIRO: An Egyptian cleric who says he was kidnapped by the CIA in Italy and flown to Egypt for interrogation is considering a political career in his home country thanks to the fame the case has brought him. Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, announced his political intentions in a wide-ranging interview …
'Unite against Zionist enemy,' Egypt's Bar Association tells Palestinians
CAIRO: Under the slogan Resistance versus Surrender the Egyptian Bar Association hosted a public seminar Wednesday to address the latest escalations in Palestine. The goal of the conference, as Lawyers’ Syndicate member Gamal Tag said is to call upon the Palestinians to unite against the Zionist enemy and stop inner clashes that only serve to …
Fatah and Hamas fight it out on the virtual battleground
CAIRO: Away the streets of Gaza, the infighting between Hamas and Fatah has moved to a new battleground – that of the internet. Aside from the conventional electronic warfare on each group s website, on YouTube, the popular video uploading site owned by Google, supporters of each faction engage in yet another type of armed …
Nasser son-in-law and intelligence agent dead in London
Reuters CAIRO: The son-in-law of former Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser, named by Israeli officials as a source for the Israeli intelligence service Mossad, died in London on Wednesday and the Egyptian state news agency quoted reports he had fallen from the balcony of his home. Ashraf Marwan, 62, who was married to Abdel Nasser …
Nuclear spy sentenced to life in prison
Al-Qaeda's Zawahiri voices support for Hamas
DUBAI: Osama bin Laden s right-hand man Ayman Al-Zawahiri voiced backing for Hamas and warned against any offensive to wrest control of Gaza from the Islamist movement, in an Internet tape on Monday. In the audio message, Al-Qaeda s number two charged that Egypt and Saudi Arabia were planning to join an offensive against Hamas, …
Nour case adjourned pending forensic report
CAIRO: The State Council ruled on June 26 that the trial of opposition leader Ayman Nour be adjourned to July 3 pending forensic reports on his medical condition from the Forensic Medicine Authority. The decision was met with frustration by Nour’s family members and supporters, who voiced their disagreement vocally inside the courtroom and through …
Mubarak stresses need for Palestinian unity in Sharm summit
Olmert makes goodwill pledges SHARM EL-SHEIKH: The Israeli prime minister announced Monday a package of pledges as a sign of good will to bolster the rule of the Palestinian president in the West Bank after Hamas take over of the Gaza Strip. At the Egypt-hosted four-party peace summit, Ehud Olmert promised to release around 250 …
Egypt Qaeda branch calls for attacks on "Crusaders"
DUBAI: A man described as a leader of Al Qaeda s wing in Egypt called for attacks on Israeli and Western targets in the Arab world s most populous country in support of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas. O heroes, strike … all the Zionist-Crusader targets in the land of Egypt without shedding the blood …
Arab and Chinese activists campaign to release 'cyber dissidents'
CAIRO: Arab and Chinese youth activists will be joining forces in a new Internet campaign calling for the release of imprisoned Chinese bloggers and demanding greater freedom of expression in China. The campaign “New Youth 4 received its name after the case of the four young Chinese activists Jin Haike, Xu Wei, Yang Zili and …
Egypt urges Israel on peace process ahead of summit
CAIRO: Egypt has pressed Israel to pave the way for peace talks with Palestinians by meeting longstanding Palestinian demands on Jewish settlements and the barrier in the West Bank, the Foreign Ministry said on Sunday. In advance of a meeting between Israeli, Palestinian, Egyptian and Jordanian leaders in Egypt, Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said …
MP files complaint against democracy advocate Saad Eddin Ibrahim
CAIRO: Shoura Council member Nabil Louqa Bibawi recently filed a complaint to the public prosecutor under penal code 77-D against democracy advocate Saad Eddin Ibrahim, Ibrahim told The Daily Star Egypt. Ibrahim has not been yet been officially charged by the state prosecutor with “harming Egypt’s economic interests and “espionage for a foreign state or …
Blair's efficacy as mideast envoy widely doubted
CAIRO: Press reports claimed that exiting British PM Tony Blair will be formally confirmed as the Middle East Envoy for the Quartet – composed of the European Union, UN, US, and Russia – today in Jerusalem, though at time of press Blair had not confirmed the rumors. In an article for Belfast Times entitled “How …
No breakthrough in Sharm summit, say observers
SHARM EL-SHEIKH: In the Red Sea Resort of Sharm El-Sheikh, the Egyptian, Jordanian, Palestinian and Israeli leaders convened Monday in a show of solidarity with President Mahmoud Abbas as the sole legitimate Palestinian leader. The summit also launched a new phase of Israeli-Palestinian talks following the Hamas takeover of Gaza. The Sharm El-Sheikh talks come …
Arab League chief meets Beirut leaders on tough mission
BEIRUT: Arab League chief Amr Moussa was on Wednesday holding a second day of talks with Lebanese leaders on a tough mission aimed at bridging the chasm that has paralyzed political life for the past seven months. There are difficulties, but they are not insurmountable, League Secretary General Amr Moussa told reporters after a meeting …
New twists in case against 51 websites
CAIRO: Cairo-based rights group the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (HRInfo) reported Wednesday on new twists in the complex case of Alexandria Head Judge Abdel Fattah Mourad. Mourad is demanding the shutdown of 51 Egyptian websites belonging to human rights groups and outspoken bloggers on the basis that they “tarnish Egypt’s reputation. Since its …
A conversation with Stop the Wall coordinator Jamal Juma'
CAIRO/RAMALLAH: The fragmentation of Palestinian politics following near civil war in Gaza last week is not only unrepresentative of the work of Palestinian civil society but undermines popular unity against the Israeli occupation, the coordinator of the broad grassroots Palestinian coalition Stop the Wall told The Daily Star Egypt. “If you go to the people …
NDP victorious in Shoura run-offs
CAIRO: The results of the Shoura council elections run-offs, announced late Tuesday by the head of the High Elections Commission (HEC) Adel Andraus, showed a sweeping victory for the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) which grabbed 14 of the 16 contested seats. The results of the second round came as no surprise since the first …
Stakes also high for Egypt at mideast summit, analysts say
CAIRO: Egypt expects Israel to make generous gestures to bolster Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas at Monday s summit in Sharm El-Sheikh in order to further isolate the Islamist Hamas, analysts said. Israel, Jordan and the Palestinians have agreed to attend the four-way summit at the Red Sea resort after Hamas took power in the Gaza …