CAIRO: President Hosni Mubarak said he had advised the United States against attacking Iran, predicting that Tehran would react through its influence over Shi ite Muslim communities in Arab countries in the Gulf. In remarks to Egyptian newspaper editors published on Wednesday, Mubarak also said an Israeli attack on Iran was most unlikely because Tehran …

CAIRO: Egypt s government is cracking down on pro-reform activists, calculating that Washington s drive to democratize the Middle East has flagged after Islamist successes in Egyptian and Palestinian elections, analysts say. The prospect of civil war in Iraq has also distracted the United States and dampened its enthusiasm for rapid change in countries ruled …

CAIRO: Three Britons left an Egyptian jail on Tuesday after serving almost four years of their five-year sentences for spreading propaganda for an Islamist group, the mother of one of Britons said. Officials said they would be deported to Britain within 24 hours. The Britons Reza Pankhurst, Maajid Nawaz and Ian Nisbett, were among a …

NEW YORK: The U.S. government has agreed to pay $300,000 to an Egyptian man who was detained for nearly a year following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks but was never linked to terrorism, his lawyer said. Attorney Haeyoung Yoon, who represents Ehab El Maghraby, said she believed it was the first settlement involving the claims …

CAIRO: A top leader of Egypt s largest opposition group said on Sunday he expected President Hosni Mubarak s son, Gamal, to seek the presidency within two years, citing as evidence the postponement of local elections. Muslim Brotherhood deputy leader Mohamed Habib also told Reuters in an interview that he expected a crackdown on freedoms …

CAIRO: The depth of reformers disappointment over Egypt s would-be democratic Spring might be best seen in judge Hesham El-Bastawisi. When the president announced a year ago his drive for greater democracy, the deputy head of the country s top appeals court felt hope. Now he faces possible interrogation by the police for trying to …

CAIRO: Egypt has agreed to release three Britons sentenced to five years in jail in March 2004 for promoting the aims of the Hizbut Tahrir Al-Islami (Islamic Liberation Party), an Interior Ministry official said on Monday. The Britons; Reza Pankhurst, Maajid Nawaz and Ian Nisbett, were among a group of 26 men jailed for between …

CAIRO: The head of Al-Azhar University, Sunni Islam s highest seat of learning, said Saturday he was ready to travel to Baghdad to help quell the wave of communal violence convulsing Iraq. Sheikh Mohammed Sayyed Tantawi told a press conference he was willing to meet his Sunni and Shiite Iraqi brothers to help them reconcile. …

COPENHAGEN: Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller denied Friday a claim by his Egyptian counterpart that Copenhagen had ignored offers from Egypt to help it avoid the crisis over cartoons of Prophet Mohammed first published in a Danish newspaper. In an interview published Thursday in the Politiken daily, Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit described discussions with …

EL-ARISH, Egypt:: A suspected militant has confessed to a role in planning deadly bombings in three tourist resorts in the Sinai Peninsula, prosecutors said Saturday. Osama Abdel-Ghani El-Nakhlawi, who was arrested in September, told interrogators that he participated in planning and making preparations for October 2004 bombings at the resorts of Taba and Ras Shitan …

CAIRO: The top U.S. diplomat for international counterterrorism coordination paid a surprise visit Saturday to the Sinai Peninsula apparently to view security efforts in a region that saw large bomb attacks on tourist resorts in past years. Henry A. Crumpton arrived Saturday in north Sinai, where Egyptian security forces have launched massive sweeps in recent …

CAIRO: Opposition figure Ayman Nour, sentenced in December to five years in prison for falsifying official documents, was questioned on Thursday for allegedly beating a member of the ruling party. Nour appeared before a court in southern Cairo to respond to charges of hitting and wounding a member of the National Democratic Party (NDP) with …

CAIRO: Bird flu has spread to birds in provinces in the south and west of Egypt, which has launched a campaign that will include mosque sermons to raise awareness about the virus, the government said on Thursday. The government said cases of the deadly virus had now been found in birds in Beheira, on the …

BASRA, Iraq: Eleven suspected foreign fighters from Egypt and Saudi Arabia were seized by gunmen from a prison in Iraq s largely Shiite second city of Basra Wednesday and all but one of them lynched, police said. A total of 20 gunmen forced their way into the city s Mina prison and disarmed the guards …

COPENHAGEN: The Danish government ignored several offers from Egypt to help it avoid a full-blown crisis over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed first published in Denmark, media here quoted Egypt s foreign minister as saying on Thursday. “I said that we were approaching something that was very dangerous. The contents of this case risked causing …

CAIRO: A media watchdog on Thursday urged President Hosni Mubarak to fulfill a two-year-old pledge to amend a law which lays down jail terms for journalists convicted in libel cases. “The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) urges you to fulfill the commitment you made two years ago today to initiate legislation to eliminate prison sentences …

CAIRO: U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with democracy activists Wednesday as she continued a Mideast trip complicated by disagreements over the militant group Hamas. For the first time, Rice also planned to meet with an adviser to the sheik of Al-Azhar mosque, in an apparent attempt to bridge gaps exposed by the controversy …

CAIRO: Imprisoned opposition leader Ayman Nour asked U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Wednesday to look into whether Egypt can benefit from a U.S. offer to help developing countries develop nuclear energy. Nour, President Hosni Mubarak s main rival in presidential elections last year, is serving a five-year sentence for forgery but says the …

CAIRO: Shortly before she arrived in Cairo for talks with President Hosni Mubarak on key Middle East issues including regional political reform, Egyptian newspapers blasted the United States for meddling in the country s internal affairs. In two days of diplomatic shuttling in the region, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was expected to ask …

CAIRO: U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice holds a second day of talks with Egyptian dignitaries today as part of her tour urging Middle East allies to stand strong against Hamas and Iran. Rice is scheduled to meet with President Hosni Mubarak as well as a number of Egyptian intellectuals this morning, before departing for …

CAIRO: Egypt’s press is currently concentrating on the recently announced bird flu outbreak, with national newspapers reporting cases of the bird flu strain H5N1 in several places around Egypt, including Cairo and the national zoo. However, reportedly no human cases have been found yet. “A comprehensive national plan to fight the outbreak is in motion, …

CAIRO: Three members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood were ordered Saturday to stand trial before the Emergency State Security Court on charges of possessing weapons and provoking violence during parliamentary elections late last year, court officials said. The three were arrested during the violent election season during which at least 10 people were killed in …

WASHINGTON: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressed new concern Friday over democracy in Egypt and said the timing was not right to pursue free-trade talks with this key Middle East ally. Rice, who was due to fly to Egypt today at the start of a Middle East swing, expressed Washington s dismay that the government …

CAIRO: A local human rights group on Saturday called on President Hosni Mubarak to reverse a decision to strip four judges of their immunity ahead of interrogation by state security prosecutors. The four face questioning after another judge filed a complaint over their allegations that fellow jurists were involved in rigging last year s parliamentary …

CAIRO: Islamic scholars at a conference on the continuing furor over caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed said it is time to stop protests and boycotts and instead enter a dialogue with the West in order to explain the prophet s importance to Muslims. At a Friday conference, about 40 Muslim scholars from across the Islamic …

CAIRO: The lawyer for imprisoned opposition leader Ayman Nour submitted his challenge on Saturday to Nour s December conviction on forgery charges, for which the young liberal is serving a five-year prison term. Lawyer Amir Salem, who defended Nour throughout the six-month trial, delivered his detailed response to the verdict to the Cairo court which …

CAIRO: Democracy activists are accusing the United States government of being too yielding in their response to the People’s Assembly vote to delay Egypt’s municipal elections for two years. In a statement this week from the U.S. State Department, spokesman Sean McCormack expressed America’s displeasure with the postponement of any election, adding that Secretary of …

CAIRO: Four prominent liberal judges, who accused fellow jurists of vote rigging in last year s legislative elections, have been stripped of immunity and will be interrogated by a State Security prosecutor, one of judges said. Judge Hesham El-Bastawisy, deputy head of Egypt s Court of Cassation, the country s highest appellate court, was among …

CAIRO: European Union Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana said in his last press conference in while in Egypt late Tuesday that his visit to Cairo had cleared up many misunderstandings, and his talks with Al-Azhar High Council and the Arab League secretary general were “very good, and productive. During his visit, Solana met with Al-Azhar …

CAIRO: The Egyptian parliament has approved a two-year postponement of municipal polls despite fierce objections from opposition Islamists and the United States, lawmakers said Wednesday. The postponement of the municipal polls, in which the local councils exercise supervisory powers over provincial governors and officials working in local council units, are already having repercussions. President Hosni …