CAIRO: One year after President Hosni Mubarak was reelected president in Egypt s first multi-candidate elections, jailed politician Ayman Nour sent a letter from prison thanking those who elected me and those who imprisoned me. One year has passed since that day on September 7, 2005 when millions of Egyptians looked for their votes in …

GAZA CITY: Diplomatic efforts were underway Sunday, with strong hints that a deal may soon be announced to secure the release of prisoners from both sides. The Palestinian prime minister said Saturday there is lots of movement in negotiations over the release of an Israeli soldier held by Hamas-allied militants. Prime Minister Ismail Haniya, of …

Egyptian Brotherhood leader cites misunderstanding of Islam VATICAN CITY: Pope Benedict XVI did not intend to offend Muslim sensibilities with remarks about holy war, the Vatican said Thursday night, scrambling to defend the pontiff as anger built in the Islamic world over some of his remarks during his pilgrimage in Germany. It certainly wasn t …

Egyptian FM defends Iran’s right to peaceful nuclear technology HAVANA: Iran is ready to resume unconditional negotiations on the standoff over its nuclear program, its Foreign Minister Manoucher Mottaki told diplomats in Havana, Non-Aligned Movement delegates said Wednesday. In response to the call by the NAM, the Islamic Republic of Iran has also expressed its …

CAIRO: Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Seniora said Thursday that no contact was possible between Lebanon and Israel, which have had no relations since the creation of the Jewish state in 1948. There is no contact and no possibility at all for contact with Israel, he said after meeting with President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo, a …

CAIRO: Egypt is to present the UN Security Council with a plan to reverse the timetable of the moribund roadmap for Middle East peace by fixing the borders of a Palestinian state before resuming talks. The roadmap, drafted in 2003 by the quartet of Middle East diplomatic players – United States, United Nations, European Union …

CAIRO: U.S. President George Bush’s praise for a group of top National Democratic Party (NDP) members close to the president’s son and high-profile NDP figure Gamal Mubarak has sparked angry remarks from principal political forces. Bush’s eager statements were taken to imply support, or at least accommodation, for the much-criticized ruling party. If this is …

RAFAH: Egyptian security forces on Tuesday discovered a cache of weapons on the Gaza border destined to be smuggled into the Palestinian territories, security sources said. Thirty-two automatic rifles, around 28 pistols and a large amount of ammunition was found in the Ahrash area on the border of Egypt and Gaza, the source told AFP. …

CAIRO: U.S. President George W. Bush has praised a group of young reformers close to an influential son of the Egyptian president, including the trade and industry minister who local press have mooted as the next prime minister. Bush also said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal published on Monday that President Hosni …

CAIRO: On August 1, Amgad Mukhtar Hussein was en route to vacation in Quesseir on a Gouna-bound bus with his wife Shereen Hussein and friend Dr. Mostafa Mahmoud Aboul Fotouh. Following a routine police inspection, Hussein was verbally and physically abused by one police officer and five constables. While Minister of Interior Habib Al-Adly personally …

Spanish Foreign Minister calls for return to peace talks following meeting with Mubarak JERUSALEM: Israel on Monday dismissed an Egyptian call to fix a border for a Palestinian state before resolving other issues, saying the sides should first take confidence-building measures under a U.S.-backed plan. There are no magical quick fixes, Mark Regev, a Foreign …

Protests demand that government get serious in demands for Hamas officials release CAIRO: Sunday’s parliament session saw heavy protests as a large number of opposition MPs decided to bring the issue of captured Palestinian government officials to the top of the assembly’s agenda. The protests, however, went largely uncovered by national newspapers. Opposition, independent and …

Associated Press CAIRO: They were different men going in different directions – one a visiting Egyptian student on scholarship, the other an ex-cop in a dead-end job as a hotel security guard. But an aviation radio left in a high-rise hotel brought Abdullah Higazy and Ronald Ferry together as an unfortunate footnote to the Sept. …

PRAGUE: About 30 Egyptian asylum-seekers have escaped from a holding center near the Czech capital Prague, sparking tight security measures, the interior ministry said Sunday. Their escape late Saturday from the centre at Velke Prilepy was probably organized by a group smuggling illegal immigrants, ministry spokeswoman Marie Masarikova said. The escapees are seeking to enter …

AMMAN: President Hosni Mubarak and Jordan s King Abdullah on Sunday urged the international community to work for a speedy resumption of Middle East peace talks, officials said. They said both leaders agreed at a brief summit talks in Amman that an end to the Arab-Israeli conflict could only come about by a comprehensive settlement …

ISMAILIA: Egypt s state security court sentenced three people to death during a court hearing on Thursday over involvement in a series of blasts targeting Red Sea holiday resorts. The three were convicted of seven charges, including illegal possession of weapons, manufacturing explosives and plotting to kill Egyptians and foreigners. The prosecutors said Younis Gurair, …

TEL AVIV: Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D Alema hinted Friday that the European Union could be forced to withdraw its monitors deployed along the Egypt-Gaza border should the crossing remain closed. The Rafah crossing must be opened … This is the concern of the EU, the foreign minister told a news conference with his Israeli …

CAIRO: Egypt s main opposition group the Muslim Brotherhood on Thursday criticized the United States for pushing a UN resolution on sending peacekeepers to the troubled Sudanese region of Darfur. The United States and Western countries which are allied to it are aiming, through the resolution … at igniting the situation in the Darfur region …

CAIRO: The family of jailed opposition leader Ayman Nour on Thursday called for his release on the one-year anniversary of the country s first multi-candidate presidential elections. In a statement, Nour s family urged President Hosni Mubarak to use the exclusive authority vested in him by the constitution in suspending the penalty. It appealed to …

CAIRO: Dozens of detainees caught up in a search for militants have gone on hunger strike to protest their imprisonment for more than a year despite having release orders from courts, an Egyptian rights group said Thursday. The 70 detainees have been held since 2004 following an explosion in a packed Cairo market that killed …

DUBAI: In Egypt, the government has again cracked down on members of political opposition party the Muslim Brotherhood. On Aug. 26, state security raided four Brotherhood members’ homes in the Upper Egyptian governorate of Beni Suef, 200 km south of Cairo, and detained them without any charges, according to a report on the Brotherhood s …

Opposition slams transportation minister in wake of train crashes CAIRO: News of train crashes dominated this week s national, independent and opposition newspapers. Demands for the transportation minister s resignation rang throughout independent and opposition newspapers, with opposition papers insisting that the minister be held responsible for the accidents. As the independent Al-Masry Al-Youm reported …

CAIRO: Security forces have arrested more than 90 Egyptians in the north of the country suspected of links to radical Islamist groups, a lawyer representing them said Thursday. A group of 70 people was arrested in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, while another group was detained in the Nile Delta town of Damanhour, the lawyer, …

CAIRO: Egypt said Thursday its efforts to secure the release of an Israeli soldier captured by Palestinian militants had not yet achieved results and denied reports that the conscript was inside Egypt. There is an Egyptian effort to reach an agreement for the release of the soldier in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians … but …

CAIRO: The technical committee formed by the Ministry of Transportation to write a technical report on the deadly train accident that took place in Qalyoub on Aug. 21 announced its findings yesterday. The committee released a statement asserting that it consisted of experts and professors not affiliated with the railway body in anyway. Dr. Booles …

Standoff between the judiciary and the government continues CAIRO: With rumors spreading of more proposed constitutional amendments – specifically to Article 88, which deals with judicial supervision over elections – the ongoing standoff between the government and the judiciary is again heating up. This issue is still occupying the minds of politicians, intellectuals and the …

CAIRO: Egyptian security forces have arrested close to 95 people suspected of links to Islamic militancy in sweeps north of the capital, security sources said on Tuesday. The sources said 25 Egyptians were detained on Sunday in the Nile Delta city of Damanhour and about 70 others were arrested in the port city of Alexandria …

Associated Press CAIRO: Arab foreign ministers met Wednesday to promote a plan to revive the deadlocked Middle East peace process amid wide Arab fears the recent war inLebanon helped boost the influence of Iran and the militants it supports. Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa said the 22-nation body will discuss a plan to request …

Agence France-Presse ALEXANDRIA: Israel should lift its blockade of Lebanon within 48 hours, UN chief Kofi Annan said Tuesday in Egypt as he stepped up efforts to release Israeli prisoners and shore up a fragile truce in Lebanon. Annan s announcement of an imminent end to the crippling nearly eight-week air and sea blockade was …

CAIRO: In a meeting at the Arab League headquarters, the World Food Program (WFP) asked its member states to expand their contributions to the program’s operations in the region and elsewhere. “WFP has no secured funding base; we rely entirely on voluntary donations. For that reason, we are always on the lookout for new partners, …