CAIRO: The Supreme Administrative Court ruled on Saturday in favor of exporting gas to Israel saying that the decision is the “sovereign decision of the state and a matter of national security. This ruling overturns a former one by a lower administrative court in November 2008 to halt exports to Israel, a ruling that was …

CAIRO: The former head of the UN nuclear watchdog agency who has emerged as an opposition leader in Egypt appealed to the government Saturday to heed calls for change before frustration over a stale political system ruled by one man for nearly 30 years spirals out of control. Mohamed ElBaradei, a Nobel laureate who has …

CAIRO: Four of Egypt’s opposition parties will hold a conference next month to discuss the country’s political future, specifically how to amend the constitution to free up political participation. The three-day conference will begin March 13, according to Al-Wafd party’s Secretary General Mounir Fakhry Abdel-Nour, reported Al-Masry Al-Youm. Three of the four parties involved in …

CAIRO: In cooperation with the majority of Egypt’s opposition, political hopeful and former IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei formed the National Association for Change, the vehicle through which they will attempt to agitate for political change in the country. Meeting at his home Tuesday evening, practically all opposition groups and movements were represented with the exception …

OSLO: Israel s nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu has requested that his name be removed from the list of candidates to the Nobel Peace Prize, the head of the Norwegian Nobel Institute said Wednesday. We have received two letters from Vanunu, both this year and last, in which he writes that he does not want to …

CAIRO: India sets an example all Arab states need to follow in order to progress, Mostafa El Feki, chairman of foreign affairs committee of the People’s Assembly, said. At a lecture titled “India -Egypt Relations: Challenges and Opportunities, El Feki explained that India follows the “theory of necessity, where its citizens acknowledge the fact that …

CAIRO: The Supreme State Security Emergency Court has set April 28 as the date when the final verdict on the Hezbollah cell case will be issued, marking the fate of 26 people accused of operating a terrorist cell in Egypt under orders from the Lebanese Shia group. “We are hoping for the innocence of the …

CAIRO: Egypt on Monday condemned an Israeli plan to include two hotly contested West Bank holy places in its list of national heritage sites, saying it undermined peace efforts. “The decision is illegal, foreign ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki said in a statement. “This new Israeli position will only feed extremism, confrontations and violence, and it …

CAIRO: “People have to understand that their livelihoods are related to politics, former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Mohamed ElBaradei said on Dream TV’s daily magazine show “Al-Ashera Masa’an Sunday. This was ElBaradei’s first live interview since his arrival to Cairo on Friday amid a huge popular welcome at Terminal 3. “Ninety-nine …

CAIRO: Yemen appealed to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to call for international aid to fund the severely undeveloped areas and help the people who are affected by the conflict between the government and the Houthi rebels. “[Yemen] is calling on international communities to provide aid. [Due to the] situation there, [the aid] will …

CAIRO: Egypt will open the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip from Monday till Wednesday, the MENA news agency reported. The crossing will be opened in both directions for humanitarian cases – those seeking or returning from treatment in Egypt – as well as Palestinian students studying abroad and holders of other nationalities. It …

CAIRO: The defense team representing detainees in the Hezbollah cell case argued that the defendants were carrying out armed resistance in the spirit of former Egyptian President Gamal Abdel-Nasser. The trial of what has become known as the “Hezbollah terrorism cell case is being heard in the Supreme State Security Emergency Court. During the Saturday …

BRUSSELS: The European Union condemned on Monday the use of fraudulent EU passports and credit cards by assassins who killed a Palestinian militant in Dubai, but did not directly link Israel to the killing. In a short statement, which EU diplomats said was intended to increase pressure on Israel after last month’s killing, EU foreign …

CAIRO: “ElBaradei is a hypothetical candidate . I’m the real one, former head of the opposition Al-Ghad party Ayman Nour told reporters at his Zamalek home Saturday. Commenting on the potential presidential candidacy of the former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency Mohamed ElBaradei, who arrived in Cairo Friday amid much fanfare, Nour described …

TEHRAN: Iran’s all-powerful leader said Friday the Islamic republic is not seeking atomic weapons despite global condemnation after a UN report expressed concern it is trying to develop a nuclear warhead. Supreme leader and commander-in-chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Iran’s religious beliefs meant it was against the use of nuclear weapons. “Recently some Western and …

CAIRO: The North Giza Prosecutor on Thursday ordered the release of coordinators of the April 6 Youth Movement Ahmed Maher and Omar Ali on LE 200 bail each. Prosecutors had charged the activists with plotting to overthrow the regime, the distribution of politically inflammatory pamphlets as well as attempting to change the constitution through coercive …

JERUSALEM: Israel’s government has launched a campaign aiming to boost the country’s image abroad even as it finds itself in the middle of an international uproar over the suspected role of Israeli spies in the assassination of a Hamas operative. Through a new website, TV commercials and pamphlets handed to passengers boarding planes, the campaign …

CAIRO: Egypt’s State Security Prosecution has uncovered what it claims to be a special women’s unit within the banned Muslim Brotherhood movement. The prosecution says this group is led by the Brotherhood’s deputy chairman Mahmoud Ezzat, who was arrested with 15 other Muslim Brotherhood members on Feb. 8. According to the charge sheet, the Brotherhood …

CAIRO: Amid the fanfare accompanying Mohamed ElBaradei’s return to the homeland, many Egyptians have been infused with a renewed faith that the much-anticipated change to Egypt’s stagnant political scene is coming closer. The former secretary general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has been making headlines since unofficial opposition groups began nominating him as …

DARFUR/CAIRO: With peace negotiations moving along, the Sudanese government is claiming that stability has returned to Darfur, but whether that holds true for all its people remains to be seen. On a trip accompanying the Arab League to the war-torn region on Feb. 13, Egyptian and foreign press were exposed to a carefully stage-managed presentation …

CAIRO: Parliament Speaker Ahmed Fathi Sorour on Wednesday announced the expulsion of National Democratic Party MP Hani Sorour’s from the People’s Assembly, following a majority no-confidence vote. Hani Sorour was sentenced in absentia last November to three years in prison by the Cairo Criminal Court for the manufacture and distribution of defective blood bags he …

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates: Dubai police directly accused Israel s Mossad spy agency of orchestrating the hit squad slaying of a Hamas commander as the number of suspects rose Thursday to 18. Lt. Gen. Dahi Khalfan Tamim was quoted as saying he was 99 percent, if not 100 percent certain that Mossad was behind last …

CAIRO: Egyptians plan to give the former UN nuclear chief Mohamed ElBaradei a hero’s welcome when he returns home for a visit Friday, expressing high hopes he might challenge the longtime president for power and usher in an era of democratic reform in the country. A local opposition newspaper printed flight details for the arrival …

CAIRO: Israel’s new nominee for ambassador to Egypt arrived in Cairo Monday to replace Israel’s former ambassador, who resigned at his term’s end last week. Yitzhak Levanon, whose appointment has not yet been confirmed, previously served as Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations and also directed the Israeli Foreign Ministry’s Arab Media Division. Levanon, who …

CAIRO: Egyptian police at dawn on Wednesday arrested two leaders of the April 6 Youth Movement as they sprayed political graffiti in Agouza. General Coordinator Ahmed Maher and outreach coordinator Amr Ali were caught writing political slogans in support of the presidential candidacy in 2011 of the former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency …

DAMASCUS: US State Department official William Burns met Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad on Wednesday a day after Washington named its first ambassador to Damascus in five years in a bid to engage a former foe. Burns, the US under secretary for political affairs, met the Syrian leader against a barrage of domestic opposition to the …

DUBAI: Dubai police said Tuesday it is questioning two Palestinians suspected of involvement in the murder of a top Hamas militant, after having named an 11-member hit team traveling on European passports. The two men, both residents of the United Arab Emirates, had “fled to Jordan after Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh was found dead in a Dubai …

WASHINGTON: US Vice President Joe Biden will tour the Middle East in early March with stops in Israel, the Palestinian territories, Egypt and Jordan, the White House said Monday. Biden will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas, Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordanian King Abdullah, …

RIYADH: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton held talks in Saudi Arabia on Monday looking to rally support for tough new UN sanctions against Iran, which she warned is turning into a military dictatorship bent on building a nuclear weapon. The US chief diplomat flew in on her first visit to the oil-rich kingdom after …

ROME: The stabbing death of an Egyptian youth in Milan sparked fresh anti-immigration calls Sunday that were immediately slammed by the left-wing opposition ahead of regional elections in Italy. Roberto Calderoli, a minister of the anti-immigration Northern League, said the incident confirmed that we are paying for a mistaken ideology of the past… the policy …