PARIS: French presidential candidate Nicolas Sarkozy met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Tuesday and pledged to ensure continuity in France s Middle East policy if elected. There will be continuity in this policy, which is a balanced policy, Sarkozy, the candidate of the governing party, said following the 40-minute meeting in Paris. I told …

CAIRO: Egypt has beefed up security, especially in tourist areas, after Algeria and Morocco were rocked by a string of suicide bomb attacks, a security source said Sunday. The source said that Interior Minister Habib Al-Adly had instructed his top aides on Saturday to accurately carry out security plans and to secure tourist areas. Intense …

AMMAN: US Defense Secretary Robert Gates arrived in Jordan on Monday at the start of a three-nation Middle East tour officials said was aimed at confronting Iran s influence in the region and pledging support for the government of Iraq. Jordan has always been an ally of the United States, Gates told reporters on the …

CAIRO: The Muslim Brotherhood, an illegal but tolerated group, announced its intention to nominate 20 of its members to run for the coming Shoura elections that are to take place next June, under its motto Islam is the solution . Abdel Moniem Abdel Maqsoud, Muslim Brotherhood’s lawyer, confirmed this to The Daily Star Egypt and …

CAIRO: Neo-Nazis attacked an Egyptian diplomat in the Ukrainian capital Kiev and the Ukrainian government has said it deeply regrets the incident, the Egyptian state news agency Mena said on Saturday. A group of 12 people assaulted the diplomat, counselor Khaled Nader, in the city centre as part of a series of attacks on foreigners …

HEAD: The Egyptian Foreign Ministry Friday announced that Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari has officially apologized to Egypt for breaking into the Egyptian consulate in Baghdad, the official news agency Mena reported last week. Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alaa El-Hadidi was quoted as saying that Zebari blamed the incident on irresponsible people and the Iraqi …

CAIRO: Armenian President Robert Kocharian and President Hosni Mubarak discussed Iran s controversial nuclear program in Cairo on Saturday, the presidential spokesman said. Their talks covered the Iranian nuclear issue, developments in the region and the Gulf. Armenia is particularly interested in the nuclear file since it shares its southern frontier with Iran, Suleiman Awad …

CAIRO/ALEXANDRIA: State security officials raided both the family home and personal residence of prominent Muslim Brotherhood (MB) blogger Abdel Moneim Mahmoud early Friday morning and subsequently detained the activist late on Saturday night, said Egyptian human rights activists. Mahmoud was not present during the raids because he was allegedly in hiding from the authorities during …

CAIRO: The Arab League strongly condemned the deadly suicide attack inside Iraq s parliament building on Thursday and urged the Iraqi people to work together against violence. Secretary General Amr Moussa strongly condemns the terrorist explosion which took place today in the Iraqi parliament, ending the lives of a number of deputies and innocent employees …

Associated Press CAIRO: Egypt rejected a report by human rights group Amnesty International that accused the country of systematic abuse against prisoners, calling it inaccurate and unfair. Amnesty s report Wednesday said 18,000 people were in Egyptian jails without trial, some for more than a decade. It said torture was pervasive in police stations and …

CAIRO: Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak goes to Paris on Sunday to bid farewell to his long-time friend, outgoing President Jacques Chirac, and sound out potential successors on the future of France s Arab policy. The last-minute visit represents, from Cairo s view, a chance for Mubarak to salute a fellow statesman with whom he has …

CAIRO: Egypt s upper house of parliament discussed Wednesday an official proposal to set up for the first time an appeals process for military tribunals used to try terrorism suspects. Egypt s military tribunals, which try civilian suspects in addition to military ones, have been harshly criticized by international human rights organizations for their swift …

CAIRO: Following assurances over a period of a week, the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs in Ottawa has failed to comment on the reported assistance Canadian diplomats are currently providing Mohammed Essam Ghoneim Al-Attar, the Egyptian-Canadian citizen charged with spying for Israel. Al-Attar, who had been resettled in Canada by the United Nations after leaving …

Reuters CAIRO: Short of cash, out of parliament and shadowed by a rival party with the same name and logo, the liberal Ghad Party of imprisoned Egyptian opposition politician Ayman Nour is struggling through a rough patch. Ihab El-Khouli, the lawyer elected last month to lead the party in Nour s absence, said the party …

Associated Press CAIRO: Turnout for a referendum on amendments to Egypt s constitution last month was only five percent, far lower than the 27 percent reported by the government, Egyptian human rights groups said Tuesday. Voting in the referendum was also marred by widespread fraud, including ballot box stuffing and bribing of voters, the six …

CAIRO: Sharm El-Sheikh, long the destination of choice for package tourists and aspiring peace-makers alike, will play host to a high-level ministerial meeting on the future of Iraq from May 3-4. The meeting will bring together Foreign Ministers from the United States, Iraq and its neighbors, Egypt, Bahrain and the five permanent members of the …

Turnout for a referendum on amendments to the nation’s constitution last month was only five percent, far lower than the 27 percent reported by the government, local human rights groups said Tuesday. Voting in the referendum was also allegedly marred by widespread fraud, including ballot box stuffing and voter bribing, the six rights groups added …

Egyptian forces have arrested a Palestinian man trying to enter the country through a tunnel on the Gaza border, security sources said on Monday. A border patrol arrested Palestinian Ahmed Nasser Abu Raba a in a tunnel near the memorial of the unknown soldier in the town of Rafah, said one of the sources, who …

CAIRO: President Hosni Mubarak recently issued a presidential decree to appoint 31 female judges, reported the State Information Service last week. The 31 judges were chosen from among 124 women who applied for the seats. A decision has been taken that the new judges will take an oath before the Supreme Judiciary Council under chairmanship …

CAIRO: President Hosni Mubarak issued a presidential announcement declaring the appointment of 31 female judges. The elected candidates were chosen among some other 174 candidates, according to Abdel Aziz Aidaros, senior associate in Al Shalakany law office. Aidaros told The Daily Star Egypt that the selection was proceeded by examinations and interviews conducted by the …

CAIRO: Reports on top US Congressman’s meeting with the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood’s (MB) parliamentary bloc in Cairo on Thursday raised questions about whether there is a change of US policy in the region. US House Majority leader Steny Hoyer, a Democrat from Maryland who was in Egypt as part of a bi-partisan delegation …

CAIRO: Fathi Sorour, speaker of the People’s Assembly, raised eyebrows this week with comments he made at a counter-terrorism conference which suggested that Egypt’s draft anti-terror law, slated to replace 26-year-old Emergency Law by next year, could be used to prosecute journalists and media outlets. The Muslim Brotherhood was quick to condemn the statements, although …

CAIRO: Reputable rights organization Amnesty International criticized the Egyptian government in a press conference on Wednesday, stressing that the recent controversial amendments to the constitution and the planned new anti-terrorism law severely undermine human rights conditions in the country. “The Egyptian authorities are committing systematic human rights abuses in the name of national security. The …

WASHINGTON: Interrogations of Saddam Hussein and seized documents confirmed the former Iraqi regime had no links with Al-Qaeda, a Pentagon report said Friday, contradicting the US case for the 2003 invasion. A two-page resume of the report was published in February, but on Friday the Pentagon declassified the whole 120-page document. According to the inspector …

Associated Press CAIRO: A top US Democratic congressman met a senior figure of the officially banned Muslim Brotherhood, US officials and spokespersons for the Islamist group said. Visiting US House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, who ranks second in the House of Representatives, met with the head of the Muslim Brotherhood s parliamentary bloc, Mohammed Saad …

CAIRO: For the fourth time in a year, the Muslim Brotherhood’s official English webpage, Ikhwanweb.com, was blocked and inaccessible to Internet users in Egypt last week. The Brotherhood calls it “yet another demonstration of repressive practices against the opposition . “The blocking of our web site by the Egyptian [government] proves that this fascist and …

CAIRO: A coalition of 37 civil society organizations has called on the governor of the Upper Egyptian province of Qena to re-open the offices of a workers rights organization which was closed by the city government of Nagaa Hammadi last week. The local branch office of the Center for Trade Union and Workers Services (CTUWS) …

SHARM EL-SHEIKH: A US Congress delegation met President Hosni Mubarak on Thursday to discuss further Egyptian involvement in efforts to solve the crisis in Sudan s Darfur region. The 25-strong delegation of Democrats and Republicans, headed by House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, met Mubarak in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh. We discussed with …

CAIRO: Human rights lawyer Gamal Eid and popular bloggers Manal Hassan and Alaa Seif spent yesterday in police custody after being accused of defamation by Alexandria Judge Abdel Fattah Mourad. Their detention and the defamation charges are the latest development in a tangled copyright battle between Judge Mourad and Eid’s organization, the Arabic Network for …