Associated Press CAIRO: The wife of jailed dissident blasted the Bush administration on Sunday for failing to pressure Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak into making democratic reforms. Gamila Ismail, the wife of Ayman Nour, who is serving a five-year prison sentence after being convicted of fraud, also claimed Washington has turned a blind eye to her …

CAIRO: In Albania in the late 90s the deteriorating security situation for Abu Omar and his wife, who was pregnant at the time, made him rethink the future. He decided to give Egypt a second chance and bought plane tickets for him and his wife back to Cairo. However, they soon realized that the trip …

BRUSSELS: The European Union s German presidency said Monday that the revived Arab League peace initiative for the Middle East must be given a chance to succeed. EU foreign ministers were to meet Arab League counterparts in Brussels on Monday amid a fresh attempt to push forward the Middle East peace moves, with separate Palestinian …

CAIRO: American Vice President Dick Cheney made a brief visit to Egypt Sunday as part of his Middle East tour to persuade major Sunni countries in the region to help bring Iraqi Sunnis to the negotiating table. Having already visited Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, Cheney met with President Mubarak and Defense …

Reuters GAZA: The Palestinian interior minister resigned on Monday, rocking a two-month-old unity government, after the biggest surge in factional fighting in months revived fears of civil war. Despite an Egyptian-brokered truce, two Palestinian gunmen and a vegetable seller caught in crossfire were killed in Gaza in clashes between the Hamas and Fatah groups. Eight …

CAIRO: Thinkers claim that the double standard in obtaining licenses to build churches and mosques, the deterioration of both Muslim and Christian preachers, and the lack of liberal religious teaching in schools are the reasons behind the sectarian clashes that took place last Friday in Al Ayyat. The press reported that more than 60 Muslim …

RAMALLAH, WEST BANK: King Abdullah II of Jordan is to visit the West Bank town of Ramallah on Sunday for talks with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, a Palestinian official said. It will be an important visit to discuss political developments in the region, Arab efforts to relaunch the peace process and the Arab peace initiative, …

Ki-moon talks of deteriorating humanitarian conditions for Palestinians Ki-moon talks of deteriorating humanitarian conditions for Palestinians UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged both Palestinians and Israelis to work together for a lasting two state solution to their conflict yesterday in a UN African meeting on the question of Palestine in Pretoria. In a message delivered …

CAIRO: Faced with what they call “inhumane prison conditions, including psychological torture, 24 Muslim Brotherhood detainees began a hunger strike on Tuesday, May 8. Among the strikers is blogger and television journalist Abdel Moneim Mahmoud, 27. The detainees say they will continue their strike until they are released from prison and all charges against them …

Sudanese government using international pressure to prolong crisis CAIRO: After a week of meetings between Sudan’s neighbors separately and with representatives of the Sudanese government, it seems clear that the country’s Arab neighbors are backing the government in resisting international calls for a peace keeping force in Darfur. After a meeting between President Hosni Mubarak …

CAIRO: At least two opposition parties announced Tuesday they will either boycott, or refrain from participating in, next month s Shoura Council (Upper House of Parliament) by-elections, in protest of what party officials say was the expected large scale vote rigging. Secretary general of the Al Wafd Party, Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour, told The Daily …

Reuters CAMP PENDLETON, California: Angered that a beloved member of his squad had been killed in an explosion, a US Marine urinated on one of the 24 dead Iraqi civilians killed by his unit in Haditha, the Marine testified on Wednesday. Sgt. Sanick Dela Cruz, who has immunity from prosecution after murder charges against him …

ALEXANDRIA: The term extraordinary rendition, the extrajudicial transfer of terrorist suspects from one state to another for interrogation, has become one of the most heated topics among the international community since the start of the US-led war on terror. Following the attacks of Sept.11, 2001, critics and rights groups argued that hundreds of people suspected …

CAIRO: Authorities filed an objection Wednesday to a court verdict that ruled it unlawful for the Egyptian president to transfer civilians to military tribunals, thus acquitting 40 high-ranking members of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) on Monday. According to members of the MB, the acquitted MB leaders will be kept in detainment until May 19 when …

Opinions differ on Sharm El-Sheikh conference CAIRO: Analysts have disagreed on the outcome of the International Compact for Iraq held in Sharm El-Sheikh earlier this month, describing it as either a step in the right direction or an exercise in futility. However, analysts agreed that the Compact did not come close to a permanent solution …

CAIRO: A joint committee including members of the People s Assembly (PA) and the Shoura Council (SC, The Upper House of Parliament) met on Wednesday to reach a final decision on some controversial articles in the new political rights law. According to Al Ahram daily newspaper, the meeting was held at the PA headed by …

CAIRO: Eighteen parliament members affiliated with the National Democratic Party (NDP) were among the 111 votes against lifting the parliamentary immunity of Sabry Amer and Ragab Abu Zeid, according to Haidar El Boghdady, a parliament member belonging to the NDP. The two parliament members are affiliated with the illegal Muslim Brotherhood group. However, 181 voted …

CAIRO: Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was in Cairo yesterday to discuss the latest peace initiative between Israel and its neighbors with President Hosni Mubarak, Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit and Jordanian Foreign Minister Abdallah al-Khatib. “The next meeting is not only an important but an historic meeting, Livni told reporters before meeting with Abul …

TEL AVIV: The Arab citizens of Israel are the oft-overlooked victims of the Israeli conflict, according to a non-profit organization. “The international community thinks it’s a black and white situation between the Palestinian communities in the Occupied Territories and between Israel, that’s not the situation, says Rania Laham-Grayed, deputy director of the Mossawa Center. For …

CAIRO: Journalists from five Arab countries are to launch a media watchdog group in reaction to what they call increased restrictions on press workers in the region, its founders said on Tuesday. Twenty reporters from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Morocco and Libya will launch the Cairo-based Free Media Workers Union in June, an initiative supported …

TRIPOLI: President Hosni Mubarak arrived on Tuesday in Tripoli for talks on the situation in Sudan s war-torn western region of Darfur, an AFP correspondent reported. Mubarak, who held talks with Sudanese President Omar Al-Beshir in Cairo on Monday, is expected to meet Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi, officials said. According to Egypt s top government-owned …

WASHINGTON: US President George W. Bush telephoned Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Monday to wish him a happy birthday and congratulate him on his son Gamal s marriage. Serving his fifth 6-year term, Mubarak celebrated his 79th birthday on Saturday, the day of the marriage of his 43-year-old son, who is for all intents and …

TEHRAN: Iran on Tuesday rejected a plan proposed by Switzerland that it said envisages compromise gestures by both Tehran and world powers to bring an end to the nuclear standoff. Top nuclear official Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli said that the so-called Swiss plan proposed that Iran freeze its work on sensitive nuclear activities while world powers …

CAIRO: In a landmark court decision, the Egyptian State Administrative Court ruled on Tuesday in favor of 33 high-ranking members of the Muslim Brotherhood delivering a verdict in which it acquitted the Brotherhood officials of all charges and stated that ‘the referral of civilians to military tribunals is unconstitutional’..The verdict is a victory to the …

CAIRO: Judges feel depressed, frustrated and are in deep sorrow, said Zakaria Abdel Aziz, president of the Judges Club, to The Daily Star Egypt after the People’s Assembly voted in favor of the new judges law that pushed the retirement age up to 70. The law was approved due to the votes of the members …

CAIRO: The International Compact for Iraq ended in Sharm El-Sheikh with a pledge by the attending countries to support the Iraqi government and additional pledges of aid and debt relief to the tune of 30 billion dollars. In the final statement of the conference, participating countries agreed to support the transfer of security matters into …

CAIRO: As French citizens cast their vote 53-47 in favour of presidential candidate Nicolas Sarkozy Sunday, they decided not only their own fate, but quite possibly the fate of millions of Arabs and Muslims, both within and outside France. With a large North African Muslim immigrant population, a history of anti-Americanism, and influence within the …

No Egyptian security intervention in Palestine expected CAIRO: Talk of possible security intervention on the side of Egypt in Palestine is unfounded, according to reports in the local press. According to Al Akhbar, Egypt has denied that it might make a security intervention in Gaza, in light of recent rocket attacks and raids between Israel …