GAZA CITY: A member of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas s presidential guard was thrown off the roof of an 18-storey building on Sunday by Hamas members in central Gaza, medical and security sources said. Mohammed Suwerki was kidnapped near the seafront in Gaza moments before he was flung to his death from the roof of …

CAIRO: On Monday night, the 32,683 ballot stations across Egypt closed their doors at 7 pm, announcing the end of the Shoura Council mid-term elections. Sorting the votes began directly after the collection of the ballot boxes and the results had not been announced at the time of going to press. The voting saw heated …

Associated Press CAIRO: A witness testifying in the trial of an Egyptian nuclear engineer charged with spying for Israel said Sunday that the accused obtained documents which were potentially harmful to Egypt illegally and passed them on to Israeli intelligence. Ali Islam, head of Egypt s atomic agency, said the engineer stole confidential reports from …

CAIRO: As Egyptians prepare to vote in elections for parliament s upper house on Monday, the opposition Muslim Brotherhood – the regime s main challenger in elections – has seen hundreds of members detained. The outcome of the elections for the Shoura Council, which has a purely consultative role, will hardly be a nail-biting event, …

CAIRO: King Abdullah II of Jordan was in Cairo Tuesday to hold talks with senior Egyptian officials concerning the latest developments in the Palestinian territories. The Jordanian monarch met with President Hosni Mubarak and Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit in an attempt to put a stop to the recent spate of clashes between Fatah and …

CAIRO: The People s Assembly (PA) denied any intention to request the presence of Habib El-Adly, minister of interior, to question him over the assaulting of Yasser Hamoud, the PA member affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood. Hamoud was forced to pull his car over Saturday for no reason and was assaulted by several police officers. …

CAIRO: Chadian President Idriss Deby Itno met his Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarak in Cairo on Monday and discussed a proposal for humanitarian corridors between Chad and Sudan s troubled Darfur region. Mubarak and Deby examined certain proposals concerning the deployment of an international force on the Sudanese-Chadian border, as well as the creation of humanitarian …

CAIRO/NEW YORK/LONDON: In a joint press release on Tuesday, two reputable international human rights organizations that were denied entry to the Muslim Brotherhood military tribunal on Sunday denounced prohibiting their monitors from attending the court session. It was on Sunday morning that a delegation of rights monitors from Human Rights Watch (HRW), Amnesty International (AI), …

CAIRO: Egyptian authorities on Thursday arrested 45 members of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood, bringing to 124 the number of Islamists detained since the start of the week, a security source said. The Brothers were arrested around the country for using religious slogans as part of their campaign ahead of this month s elections for parliament …

CAIRO: The Foreign Affairs committee at the People s Assembly (PA) released a statement condemning US President George W. Bush’s criticism of jailing members of the opposition during his speech Tuesday in the Czech Republic, Mohamed Khalil Kwaitah, PA member affiliated with the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) told The Daily Star Egypt. The speech …

MILAN: Hours before President George W. Bush visited Italy, 26 US citizens went on trial in absentia in Milan on Friday accused of carrying out one of Washington s most controversial policies in its war on terrorism. The US citizens, almost all believed to be CIA agents, have been charged with kidnapping a Muslim known …

CAIRO: Egypt will host the Quartet for Middle East peace – US, EU, UN and Russia – in Sharm El-Sheikh later this month which will be attended by the Israelis and Palestinians, the Foreign Ministry stated Wednesday. Additionally, Egypt is calling for another meeting the following day between the Quartet and representatives of the Arab …

CAIRO: The public prosecutor’s office declared during a press conference on Monday that Hani Sorour, chairman of Hidelina company which manufactured the defective blood bags, was guilty. Also implicated were several company employees, Sorour’s sister and partner Nivan Sorour, and two officials at the Ministry of Health. The firm was accused of producing 200,000 contaminated …

CAIRO: East Jerusalem is the future capital of Palestine said Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, speaking on the 40th anniversary of the 1967 Six-Day War to the Arab Affairs Committee at the Peoples’ Assembly. Teary-eyed Aboul Gheit added that there will be no giving up on East Jerusalem and that the Arab- Israeli conflict will …

JERUSALEM: A grandson of Israel s legendary right-wing Prime Minister Menachem Begin is a regular protester against the country s controversial West Bank separation barrier, media reported on Thursday. The tabloid-style Maariv newspaper published a photograph of 32-year-old Avinadav Begin and a young Palestinian facing off with Israeli soldiers in riot gear during a weekly …

CAIRO: The Appeals’ Court accepted the law suit asking for eliminating the sentences on Hossam Abou Al-Fotouh, one of the most famous Egyptian businessmen and ex-owner of BMW car dealership. Abou Al-Fotouh has so far spent around four years in jail. The office of Farid El Dib, Abou Al-Fotouh s lawyer, confirmed the news to …

CAIRO: As large crowds of up to 1500 supporters and lawyers gathered amidst ultra strict security at Huckstepp military base outside Cairo on Sunday for the second session of the military tribunal against 33 prominent members of the banned organization the Muslim Brotherhood, the trial was soon announced postponed until July 15. The detainees will …

CAIRO: The international Quartet for Middle East peace is due to meet in Egypt in June with members of the Arab League, Secretary General Amr Moussa said on Tuesday. We expect to have a meeting with the Quartet in the coming two to three weeks to discuss future plans and the future course of action, …

CAIRO: Iraq s Sunni Arab Vice President, Tariq Al-Hashemi, was in Egypt Monday to seek help from the Arab region s most populous country to stabilize his strife-torn country. We are in dire need of help and cooperation to exchange views on how to end the Iraqi bottleneck, Al-Hashemi told reporters after his arrival. Egypt …

Islamic Jihad vows to work toward ending Gaza infighting CAIRO: Egypt is pushing for the formation of a truce monitoring body with the participation of the rival Palestinian factions to shore up a nearly three-week-old truce in Gaza, a top official said on Monday. Egypt has drafted a memorandum listing the principles and the mechanisms …

CAIRO: Egyptian police seized over a ton of explosives in central Sinai on Monday, security officials said, adding that they suspected the material had been destined to be smuggled into the Palestinian territories. One official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that security forces on a routine patrol found the explosives packed in 40 sacks …

CAIRO: Egyptian police arrested a member of the Muslim Brotherhood standing in next week s parliamentary elections, the banned Islamist opposition group and a security official said on Tuesday. Police detained Koleib El-Desouky on Monday night while he was campaigning in the Nile Delta city of Tanta, one security official said, speaking on condition of …

CAIRO: Forty years ago, Israel conducted a preemptive strike against Arab air forces on the ground destroying 400 planes. This was the first strike in what came to be known as the Six-Day War. At the end of these six days, Israel had managed to gobble up Arab lands including Sinai in Egypt, the Golan …

CAIRO: Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, who arrived Monday night in Cairo on a two-day visit, will hold talks with a number of officials in Egypt, embassy sources said. Bildt is to meet Tuesday with Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa, Intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman, and Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit. After the meeting between …

Associated Press CAIRO: A military trial of 40 senior members of Egypt s most powerful opposition group who are charged with terrorism and money laundering resumed Sunday, the group s attorney and a court official said. The trial is part of an ongoing government crackdown against the Muslim Brotherhood, whose members holds almost 20 percent …

CAIRO: Leaders from the radical Palestinian faction Islamic Jihad met with Egyptian officials in Cairo on Sunday amid efforts to get rival factions to cement a Gaza ceasefire, the official MENA agency said. The delegation headed by Ziad Nakhala, the movement s deputy secretary general, arrived in Cairo late on Saturday and is expected to …

Defense says international pressure played major role in decision CAIRO: The general prosecution in Nasr City issued a release order Wednesday for detained Muslim Brotherhood blogger/journalist Abdel Moneim Mahmoud, lawyer Islam Lotfy told The Daily Star Egypt. Mahmoud has been held at Mahkum prison since his arrest on April 14 pending investigation into his membership …

CAIRO: Authorities have detained 52 members of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood, a security source said Saturday, ahead of elections for parliament s upper house in which the Islamist group is fielding candidates. Fifty-two supporters of Muslim Brotherhood candidates in the elections have been arrested between Friday and Saturday in five provinces, the source told AFP …

CAIRO: Cutting funds to the Judges’ Club and ignoring the organization’s recommendations in decisions that directly affect the judiciary, are the two main reasons for the tension between the Judges’ Club and the Minister of Justice, Ahmed Mekki, chairman of the Judges’ Club s branch in Alexandria told The Daily Star Egypt. The club has …

Associated Press CAIRO: The Islamic group Hamas may consider a one-year cease-fire with Israel, the organization s deputy political leader said in an interview published Saturday in an Egyptian newspaper. Khaled Mashaal s political deputy, Moussa Abu Marzouk, was one of several senior Hamas leaders who were in Cairo over the past week for talks …