CAIRO: Egypt has modified the visa policy for Iraqi refugees seeking to enter the country, the Foreign Ministry said, citing security concerns. The local Middle East News Agency quoted foreign ministry official Mahmoud Aouf as telling parliament Wednesday that “this decision is due to the nature of the security circumstances accompanying the entry of Iraqis …

CAIRO: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad yesterday handed over 15 British sailors and marines to the British embassy in Iran. The captives were held for 12 days for sailing in disputed waters in the northern Persian Gulf. They are scheduled to fly home today. Ahmadinejad said the soldiers were being released as a “gift to the …

CAIRO: Worshippers in six Naga Hammady churches protested against six priests who have filed a complaint against Archbishop Kyrollos, who is currently facing a church trial. A church committee comprising of bishops and headed by Archbishop Bishoy- secretary of the Holy Synod- finished its investigation on Wednesday into the complaint filed by these priests accusing …

CAIRO: Arab, African, European and US diplomats began talks in the Egyptian capital Tuesday in a bid to see how they can help Somalia s transitional government restore law and order in the Horn of Africa nation. The talks, which are expected to last one day, are being held in the Arab League s headquarters …

CAIRO: Claims by Israeli intelligence that Iran, Syria and Hezbollah are preparing for the possibility of a US attack on Iran in the summer, is an attempt to cast confusion on the recent Arab peace initiative, an expert told The Daily Star Egypt. “When intelligence is leaked to the press, it is leaked for a …

Call it a master stroke. Israel Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s surprise announcement on Sunday calling for a regional peace conference is bound to shame the purportedly successful Riyadh Summit. Last week, Arab leaders – with pomp and circumstance – reiterated their peace initiative first expressed at the Beirut Summit in May 2002. Ironically, the Arab …

CAIRO: Iran s former president Mohammed Khatami called on Friday for Sunnis and Shias to lay aside their differences, in a speech to students at Egypt s Al-Azhar university, the leading institution for Sunni learning in the Islamic world. Khatami insisted on the importance of a rapprochement between the currents, religions and civilizations … to …

CAIRO: Former ghost detainee Abu Omar paid a surprise visit on Friday to a conference organized by the 3rd Cairo Social Forum where he recounted his personal experiences of torture and abuse during his imprisonment. “I was kidnapped on an open street in Milan and forced into a van. They covered my face with black …

CAIRO: The Palestinian government s advisor for national security arrived in Cairo on Thursday in the wake of a US official s announcement that Israelis and Palestinians would meet there for security talks. Egypt s official Mena news agency said Mohammed Dahlan had arrived in the Egyptian capital for talks with officials in Egypt about …

CAIRO: President Hosni Mubarak has proposed a law that would set up an appeals court for suspects tried before military tribunals, known for their tough and swift verdicts, a cabinet statement said on Wednesday. Mubarak has sent the draft bill to both houses of parliament, dominated by his ruling National Democratic Party. Under the present …

CAIRO: The Administrative Court in Cairo decided Tuesday to move hearings into lawsuit calling for the banning of 21 blogs to the Sixth District Court. Head Judge of the Alexandria Court of Appeals, Abdel Fattah Mourad, had filed a lawsuit early March calling for the banning of 21 blogs and websites charging that they “tarnish …

Associated Press CAIRO: The defense lawyer for an Egyptian-Canadian man on trial on charges of spying for Israel asked the Cairo court on Wednesday to drop the charges against his client, saying his confession was made under duress while being interrogated. Such an investigation was illegal and not based on material evidence, attorney Ibrahim El-Basyuni …

WASHINGTON: The Arab world is extremely critical of the US role in Iraq but certain countries are also critical of Iran s influence there as the country teeters on the brink of civil war, according to a US poll published Wednesday. The Zogby International/Arab American Institute (AAI) poll was conducted between Feb. 6 and March …

Associated Press BRUSSELS: A pair of former UN peacekeepers who witnessed the 1967 Arab-Israeli War have cast doubt on claims that Israel executed Egyptian prisoners of war in the area where they were stationed, an issue that has sparked a diplomatic row between Israel and Egypt. Capt. Milovan Zorc and Miobor Stosic, a military liaison …

Agence France-Presse RIYADH: Arab leaders kicked off a two-day summit in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday aiming to revive a dormant plan for peace with Israel and launch a diplomatic offensive to resolve the Middle East conflict. Several world figures, including UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, will attend the …

Human Rights groups highlight referendum violations Egyptian Human Rights groups have already issued their reports on numerous types of violations during the March 26 referendum on constitutional amendments including the requisite half a kilo of meat offered to voters in some constituencies. According to the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights (ECWR), members of the ruling …

CAIRO: Justice Minister Mamdouh Marei announced Tuesday that 75.9 percent of Egyptians who voted in the referendum were in favor of the 34 constitutional amendments which were approved by the People’s Assembly last week. Marei said that 27.1 percent of the 35-million-strong registered voters participated in the referendum. But the opposition has questioned both the …

CAIRO: Egypt has drawn up a proposal for the Wednesday Arab Summit in Riyadh urging Arab countries to cooperate more closely on security and military matters in what some perceive to be a foundation for a military pact between Arab nations. Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal said that topping the agenda at the …

CAIRO: My debut in the Egyptian political process was to participate in the referendum on constitutional amendments. It didn’t go as smoothly as one would have liked but that was expected since I don’t own a voting card. The government had announced that all citizens of age could vote at their local boroughs using their …

CAIRO: Political figures and social commentators largely boycotted yesterday’s referendum on Egypt’s controversial constitutional amendments, passed by the People’s Assembly early last week. “Yes I will sawat [a word meaning both ‘to vote’ and ‘to scream’]; I will sawat out of disgust, renowned writer of “The Yacoubian Building Alaa Al-Aswany told The Daily Star Egypt. …

CAIRO: Head of the National Democratic Party’s (NDP) Policies Committee Gamal Mubarak spoke out in defense of the proposed constitutional amendments Sunday in a press conference held with the foreign press. “Democracy is an evolving process, he said “and we’re moving in the right direction. Maybe it’s not as fast as people like, even as …

Article 1: Amended to strike out reference to the strictly socialist character of the state, and its foundation on the basis of solidarity of the workers of the people. The amendment is seen as likely to impact the state s overgrown public sector, the emerging private sector, the distribution of wealth, the creation of political …

CAIRO: Secular political parties joined voices with the powerful Muslim Brotherhood, the Cairo s Judges Club, and professional unions led by the Journalists and Lawyers syndicates to call for boycotting yesterday s referendum on 34 amended constitutional articles. In a clear signal to the judiciary s rejection of the amendments, the Administrative Court yesterday ruled …

Most unaware of constitutional referendum LUXOR: National Democratic Party (NDP) supporters scrambled Sunday to put up signs and posters around the city on Sunday praising President Hosni Mubarak and the referendum, leaving locals asking one common question: “What referendum? The city of about 500,000, which until Sunday had largely remained free of referendum talk, seemed …

CAIRO: Human rights and pro-democracy activists from the political opposition staged a day of protests in Downtown Cairo to coincide with the national referendum on amending the constitution. Forty demonstrators from the Kefaya National Movement for Change were held on the steps of the press syndicate since beginning their protest last night at 6 pm. …

CAIRO: President Mubarak promoted the recent constitutional amendments in a televised speech from Saturday against muted US criticism in a move experts believe will not affect relations between the two allies. The proposed amendment to article 179 gives the state sweeping powers to monitor and detain terror suspects without warrants. It also allows the referral …

CAIRO: In a report released March 23, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace outlined contradictions between the democratic appearance and authoritarian reality of the current constitutional amendments and analyzed the Mubarak government’s motives behind reform. It focuses on how the amendments seem to provide opposition parties with reforms they have advocated for years, such as …

CAIRO: President Hosni Mubarak s proposed constitutional amendments have stirred mixed reactions from European Officials. The amendments, which will ban the formation of religious parties, reduce the role of the judiciary in supervising elections and open the way for new anti-terror legislation, have been roundly criticized within Egypt as being anti-democratic. There has of yet …

CAIRO: As the People’s Assembly approved a long list of controversial amendments to the constitution last Monday, activists around the world have been busy organizing protests. Protestors, including an anti-Mubarak group who will demonstrate under the slogan ‘Goodbye Mubarak’ plan to take a stand outside Egyptian embassies in New York, Washington, and London on Monday …