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 …

CAIRO: Bloggers and activists from belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood and the political opposition joined forces at a rally and conference on the defense of electronic press freedom in Egypt at the Press Syndicate in Downtown Cairo on Wednesday night. Armed with banners, megaphones, and Egyptian flags chanting slogans like “we are forbidden to speak …

Sudanese government to meet with rebels in autumn CAIRO: China has responded to Western criticism of its role in the Darfur crisis, attributing media criticism to jealousy, according to its Special Representative to the Darfur Issue Liu Guijin. Ambassador Guijin held a press conference at the Chinese embassy in Cairo Thursday where he talked about …

The Quartet meeting scheduled to take place in Cairo on June 26-27 has been cancelled for a later date, yet to be determined, the press office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced in a communiqué released on June 19. The statement by the official spokesperson of the Ministry reported that although Egypt has not …

EU restores full ties with Palestinian authority CAIRO: Egypt moved its embassy from Gaza to Ramallah in the West Bank Tuesday in a clear sign of its support for Palestinian President and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas and his newly formed emergency government. Arab allies of the United States, led by Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan …

Bush and Olmert meet to discuss recent events CAIRO: Hundreds of Gazans, attempting to flee into Israel through the Erez crossing after the Strip was taken over by Hamas, have been blocked at the border. Six hundred people were held in the tunnel that leads into Israel Tuesday, 100 of them members of Fatah security …

CAIRO/STOCKHOLM: Mohammed Alzery, an Egyptian citizen and former asylum seeker who in December 2001 was extradited to Egypt from Sweden along with fellow Egyptian Ahmed Agiza by the CIA on terrorism suspicions, is demanding the equivalent of nearly LE 23 million from Sweden in compensation for his suffering. The 30 million Swedish Crowns, Alzery is …

Associated Press BEIRUT: Three Lebanese soldiers were killed Monday in renewed fighting with militants in a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon, a senior military official said. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to make official statements, said an undetermined number of soldiers was also wounded in Monday s …

CAIRO: Early Monday polling stations around Egypt opened again for the Shoura Council run-off elections. The second round had 32 candidates contesting the remaining 16 seats in Al-Beheira, Assuit, Cairo, Qena, South Sinai, Aswan, Kafr El-Sheikh, Sohag, Minya and Monufia. Allegations of fighting and clashes between supporters of two contending candidates in Qena governorate were …

MILAN: A court in Milan on Monday adjourned until October 24 the trial of 25 CIA agents and a US air force colonel accused of kidnapping an Egyptian terrorism suspect, judicial officials said. In the case dubbed CIA-gate in the Italian press, Osama Mustafa Hassan, an imam in Milan better known as Abu Omar, was …

CAIRO: There are three possible outcomes to the recent events in Palestine, says Waleed Kazziha, professor of political science at the American University in Cairo. The unity government between Fatah and Hamas has been dissolved and an interim government was sworn in by Fatah President Mahmoud Abbas. Fighting, which saw over a 100 people killed …

CAIRO: Egyptian blogger Amr Sharqawi was jailed and treated brutally for taking pictures of the Shoura election board, during the alleged vote-rigging. The harsh treatment has sent a chill through the already edgy Egyptian blogging community. Amr Sharqawi is a thin, gentle man with spectacles and a soft voice, hardly the picture of a fiery …

Haniyeh vows to continue role from Gaza CAIRO: Egypt has expressed full support for the newly sworn in emergency government in Palestine led by Sallam Fayyad, said a statement by Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit. Aboul Gheit said he “wished Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and members of his cabinet success in the tremendous responsibility they …

US supported Fatah-Hamas fighting says UN envoy The US “clearly pushed for a confrontation between Fatah and Hamas up until the formation of a National Unity Government in the Palestinian territories, according to a secret document penned by UN Middle East envoy Alvaro de Soto and published by The Guardian newspaper. In the End of …

CAIRO: The Egyptian ambassador in Washington said the last three weeks had not been pleasant because of disagreements between Egypt and the United States over elections, human rights and other issues. It doesn t mean there is a crisis in Egyptian-American relations but we cannot deny that the last three weeks have not been pleasant …

Egypt withdraws Gaza mission after Hamas rout CAIRO: Ninety-nine Fatah loyalists crossed the border into Egypt Friday after the latest Palestinian infighting saw Hamas take over the majority of the Gaza Strip. Last Wednesday, 40 Abbas loyalists fled across the border into Egypt as fighting intensified between the Fatah and Hamas factions. Those 40 however …

CAIRO: Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit on Thursday hit back at the United States for tying millions of dollars in military aid to Egypt s human rights record. Egypt cannot accept to abandon its sovereign rights, (or accept) any encroachment on the right of the Egyptian people to freedom of choice and independence, Aboul …

NABLUS, West Bank: Fatah-linked arsonists on Thursday set fire to an office used by Hamas MPs in the occupied West Bank, where factional fighting is beginning to spread from the Gaza Strip, witnesses said. Fatah activists stormed the office in an apartment block in the northern city of Nablus, vandalizing and then flinging furniture and …

CAIRO: Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit claimed Tuesday that hidden hands are behind deadly Palestinian infighting and called on all factions to be mature in their responses. The minister was speaking at a joint news conference with his Jordanian counterpart Abdel Ilah Al-Khatib, after a meeting between Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordan s …

UN brands sex allegations as “false CAIRO: After years of intense diplomacy, the Sudanese government finally agreed Tuesday to allow UN forces to enter Sudan jointly with African Union (AU) troops as a hybrid force to attempt to quell the violence in Darfur. On Wednesday Egypt welcomed Sudan s acceptance of the joint AU-UN force, …

CAIRO: Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has told U.S. President George W. Bush he considers himself too old to carry out political reforms, an Egyptian dissident who met Bush said in an interview published on Wednesday. President Bush told me that President Mubarak claims that age has caught up with him and he is incapable of …

CAIRO: The National Democratic Party (NDP) won 69 out of 71 contested seats in the Shoura Council’s mid-term elections that took place last Monday, according to the foreign press reports. According to the official web site of Egypt State Information Service, spokesman for the government-appointed High Elections Commission (HEC), judge Sameh El-Kashef, announced that the …

Israel takes “rejectionist approach to peace, End of Mission report also claims CAIRO: A secret UN report penned by the highest UN official directly involved in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict places the onus of failure of the Middle East Quartet on the United States. The “End of Mission Report, obtained by the British newspaper The Guardian …

CAIRO: One week after US President Bush called for the release of opposition leader Ayman Nour, the US House of Representatives on Tuesday advanced legislation aimed at pressuring Egypt to improve its human rights record by withholding some military aid. If passed, the US would withhold $200 million in military aid next year until Egypt …

CAIRO: An Egyptian court said on Tuesday it will decide in two weeks whether to release jailed opposition leader Ayman Nour on medical grounds, an announcement that raised hope among his supporters. Mohammed Al-Husseini, judge of Cairo s administrative tribunal, said he would give his verdict on June 26, with or without a report from …

MENSHEYAT EL-QANATER, Giza: Shoura elections started with a bang, literally. A man was shot dead in a fight between supporters of rival candidates in Sharqia, State Information Service (SIS) announced yesterday morning. The attacker was identified as Mohamed Attia Moawen and “was detained by the police, said General Tarek Attia, representative of the Interior Ministry. …

CAIRO: An Interior Ministry representative was set to meet with independent MPs and Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated MP Yasser Hamoud to offer a formal apology for the unfortunate events of last Saturday. Hamoud was forced to pull hi car over for no reason and was assaulted by several police officers. Members of Hamoud s constituency in Monoufia …

CAIRO: The Arab League has weighed in on the US Congress resolution congratulating Israel on the 40th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem, denouncing it as a violation of UN accords. Commemorating the fortieth anniversary of the 1967 war which saw Israel annex the old city of Jerusalem (an annexation not recognized by the international …

CAIRO/MILAN: Despite alleged travel bans and trouble with state security, cleric Abu Omar s family arrived in Milan on Tuesday to attend the trial of 26 US CIA agents tried in absentia accused of kidnapping him. “We have had issues with state security lately. But they finally let my wife and son leave Egypt on …

CAIRO: A US Congress resolution congratulating Israel on 40 years of the “reunification of Jerusalem was met with harsh criticism from Egypt. In accordance with the 40th anniversary of the 1967 war which saw Israel annex the old city of Jerusalem (an annexation not recognized by the international community), the American Congress passed a resolution …