Latest in Tag: Investment Highlight
Latest in Tag: Investment
Photographers protest Sorour's People's Assembly restrictions
CAIRO: Egyptian photographers demonstrated Saturday in front of the Journalists Syndicate to protest a decree restricting their presence in parliament to five minutes at the beginning of each session. Parliament Speaker Fathi Sorour asked photographers to the leave the assembly hall when an unflattering snapshot of Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif eating watermelon seeds appeared in …
The US should pay Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan
There is a refugee crisis in the Middle East that is unprecedented and far supersedes the Palestinian Diaspora of 1948. Millions of Iraqis – some educated and as well off as one would expect of a peoples fleeing genocide, others impoverished and forced to live off the kindness of strangers – have streamed across their …
Egypt asks Interpol to arrest three Israelis charged with espionage
Associated Press CAIRO: Egypt asked the international police organization to arrest three Israelis it accuses of being part of a spy ring, a judicial official said Monday. Egypt s state security prosecutor on Saturday charged a 26-year-old Egyptian and three Israelis with spying for Israel and harming national interests. Authorities arrested Mohammed al-Attar, a former …
Article 2 of constitution triggers heated debate in parliament
CAIRO: A war of words broke out between MP Mostafa El Fiqi, head of the foreign affairs committee at a lecture, and Refaat Fikry, Patriarch of the Anglican Church in Shubra, over Article 2 of the constitution. The contested Article says the Sharia is the main source of legislation. El Fiqi did not believe that …
Palestinians trade fire at Egypt border.
GAZA CITY: Hamas and Fatah security officials traded fire at Gaza s border with Egypt on Tuesday as Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh passed through on his way to reconciliation talks between his Hamas movement and the rival Fatah group in Saudi Arabia, witnesses said. Haniyeh, who was in a VIP hall and not in the …
Egyptian 'spy' was low-level operative, say officials
CAIRO: Egyptian intelligence had been monitoring the activities of alleged spy Mohammed Essam Ghoneim El-Attar while he lived in Canada, experts have said. “He was discovered and tracked in Canada by Egyptian intelligence due to his irrational behavior with Egyptian expatriates there, Nabil Farouk, a researcher in intelligence and espionage affairs told The Daily Star …
Palestinians prepare for Mecca crisis talks
GAZA CITY: Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas supremo Khaled Meshaal will Tuesday hold crunch talks in a bid to broker an elusive national unity deal and end fighting that has killed 63 people. On the eve of the talks, a shaky ceasefire between Abbas s Fatah faction and the warring Hamas was taking a …
Iraqi refugee crisis hits Cairo
CAIRO: As violence continues in Iraq, the oil-rich country’s neighbors are beginning deal with a widening refugee crisis. According to a November United Nations report, two million Iraqis were estimated to have already fled to Jordan, Syria, Turkey and Lebanon while 2,000 more leave Iraq everyday. Some 150,000 Iraqi refugees have found haven in Cairo …
Egypt should not pursue nuclear energy: EU diplomat
Alternative renewable energy should be developed instead CAIRO: Contradicting US policy, the European Union (EU) will not fully support Egypt’s ambitions to create a nuclear program for peaceful energy purposes, a top EU diplomat said yesterday. Rather than pursuing nuclear power to solve the country’s energy needs, Egypt should instead work towards energy diversification and …
Government's rights watchdog report highlights prisoner, detainee abuse
CAIRO: The National Council of Human Rights (NCHR) called Sunday for amending the penal code and improving the treatment of detainees in its third annual report on the country s human rights situation. The report s focus on the treatment of prisoners and abuses by security services came even as Egypt s bloggers and human …
The strange case files of Egypt-Israel espionage
CAIRO: Long normalized but still tense relations between Egypt and Israel hit a potential snag with the announcement on Saturday that an Egyptian had been arrested inside Egypt, charged with spying for Israel. Three Israeli intelligence officers were also charged and warrants issued for their arrest, though they remain outside of Egypt. While the reports …
Germany's Merkel presses Israeli-Palestinian peace drive
CAIRO: German Chancellor Angela Merkel Sunday pressed on with a tour of the Middle East focused on efforts to lay the ground for a resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Merkel, who held talks with President Hosni Mubarak soon after her arrival in Cairo on Saturday, had a busy schedule of meetings Sunday including with Prime …
Another arms cache unearthed near Gaza border
RAFAH: Two arms caches in northern Sinai near the Rafah border were discovered by security forces on Saturday, officials have said. The arms find comes a week after a suicide bomber killed three Israeli civilians in Eilat and infighting between Palestinian factions intensified. There had been speculation that the bomber had tunneled his way near …
WORD ON THE STREET: Opinions on alleged Egyptian spy
“I think it’s stupid of the government to arrest him and investigate. I think he’s a normal person. But maybe the government has some reason. Mohmmed Qawasme, cameraman “If he’s Egyptian he should not be spying on his own people, especially for an issue as sensitive as Israel. I personally am against it. We all …
Egyptian intelligence services arrest man on charges of spying for Israel
CAIRO: An Egyptian who holds Canadian citizenship was arrested on charges of spying for Israel, the authorities have said. Three Israelis were also charged with spying for Israel, a state prosecutor said on Saturday. High State Security Prosecutor Hisham Badawi said the Egyptian, Mohamed Essam Ghoneim El-Attar, 31, had been arrested and charged. The rest …
Italian judges say Egyptian Madrid bombing mastermind is member of Al-Qaeda
ROME: An Egyptian man accused of being one of the masterminds of the Madrid 2004 train bombings is an influential member of Al-Qaeda , two Italian judges said Thursday. The judges made their assessment in a written statement outlining their reasons for having sentenced Rabei Ousmane Sayed Ahmed, known as Mohamed the Egyptian, to 10 …
Irish Foreign Minister meets officials in Cairo, Mideast
CAIRO: A delegation headed by the Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern made a brief trip to Cairo Thursday as part of his Middle East tour Ahern s trip comes on the heels of President Hosni Mubarak s historic visit to Ireland in December, and incorporates Israel, Palestine and Lebanon. Egypt s Minister for …
Report warns Egypt against ignoring troubled Sinai
CAIRO: Continued discriminatory policies against the population of Egypt s Sinai risk giving rise to further terrorist activity in the peninsula, warned a report published recently. In a 37-page report entitled Egypt s Sinai Question , the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG) looked at the socio-economic roots of the deadly terrorist attacks that have rocked …
Cyprus says Turkey is behaving like pirates
Associated Press NICOSIA: Cyprus accused Turkey on Friday of behaving like a pirate over an oil exploration dispute that has threatened to revive tension on the divided island.Turkey earlier this week warned Lebanon and Egypt not to press ahead with oil-and-gas exploration deals signed with Cyprus. But government spokesman Christodoulos Pashiardis said Cyprus had the …
Muslim Brotherhood economist questions NDP's recent claims of economic development
CAIRO: Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated members of parliament queried a recent government statement at the PA indicating economic progress, asserting that the Egyptian economy was moving from bad to worse. Abd El-Hamid El Ghazaly, consultant to the Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) group and professor of political science at Cairo University, told The Daily Star …
Iranian involvement in envoy's murder cannot be ruled out, analysts say
Iraqi government whitewashed the investigation CAIRO: Iranian involvement in the disappearance of Egyptian ambassador to Iraq Ihab Al-Sharif in 2005 cannot be proven conclusively, yet some things point in that direction an analyst has told The Daily Star Egypt. “In any assassination, if no group has claimed responsibility then it is very hard to find …
European MP barred from seeing Ayman Nour in prison
Reuters CAIRO: A senior member of the European Parliament said on Wednesday Egyptian authorities had barred him from visiting imprisoned opposition leader Ayman Nour and he urged the European Union to take a muscular stand in the case. Britain s Edward McMillan-Scott, a vice president of the parliament and its rapporteur on democracy and human …
Tunisian becomes first Arab nominated for Holocaust honor
Associated Press JERUSALEM: At the height of the Second World War, Khaled Abdelwahhab hid a group of Jews on his farm in a small Tunisian town, saving them from the Nazi troops occupying the north African nation. More than six decades later, Abdelwahhab has become the first Arab nominated for recognition as Righteous Among the …
Right groups fear crackdown
CAIRO: Surrounded by more than 100 state security police, a crowd of 50 human rights activists gathered on the steps of the Press Syndicate to mark last week’s National Police Day with a protest against torture. For the demonstrators, the holiday – a rarely celebrated commemoration of the police’s role in ending British rule – …
Chaos at student blogger trial, judge adjourns session
CAIRO: The trial of blogger Kareem Amer, a former Al-Azhar University student who is currently standing trial for his controversial writings on Islam and President Hosni Mubarak, was adjourned for the second time on Thursday due to a verbal tussle between the prosecution and the defense. The trial has been postponed until Feb. 22 when …
Aboul Gheit says envoy's murder shrouded in mystery
CAIRO: Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said Thursday that it cannot yet be verified who was behind the disappearance and murder of former Egyptian ambassador to Iraq Ihab Al-Sherif. Aboul Gheit was talking to members of the press after receiving the Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern who is on a four-day trip …
Moussa: Arab League to persist in Iraq
CAIRO: The Arab League will continue its support for Iraq and is seeking a replacement for its chief diplomat in Baghdad who quit last week, the organization said Wednesday. Secretary General Amr Moussa said that he is looking at a number of suggested names to head the league s delegation in Baghdad, confirming that the …
No easy opinions in America on Bush, future direction
NEW YORK: The week following US President George W. Bush s State of the Union saw a large anti-war demonstration in Washington DC and the publishing of a condemning magazine poll after a speech that was supposed to inflate the President’s shrinking popularity. Two days after thousands of protesters circled the Capitol Building in opposition …
German Chancellor pledges to kick start Middle East peace plan
Merkel visit also aims to strengthen business ties CAIRO: Underlining her country’s commitment to the Middle East peace process, German chancellor Angela Merkel arrives in Egypt for talks with President Mubarak later this week – the fifth visit in less than twelve months between the two leaders. “It’s one of the most important points of …
Egypt court orders release of Islamist students
CAIRO: The Cairo criminal court ordered on Wednesday the release of 42 students affiliated with the opposition Muslim Brotherhood held since December, a security source said. The court ruled that the justification for the provisional detention had ended, opening the way for students to be freed. Despite a similar court order for the release of …