CAIRO: A state-owned Cairo daily confirmed on Thursday that Egypt is building an underground barrier with Gaza and said it was a sovereign right that would increase pressure on the enclave s Hamas rulers. The barrier… is the same barrier that currently exists but with the addition of underground foundations, Al-Gomhuria said in a front-page …

ANKARA: Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul held talks in Ankara Tuesday on the impasse in the Middle East peace process and the rift between Palestinians factions. The two leaders discussed the threats posed to the peace process… by the Israeli government s practices in the West Bank and the ongoing …

GAZA CITY: Three Palestinians died when a smuggling tunnel beneath the Gaza Strip s border with Egypt collapsed, medics said Tuesday. Muawiya Hassanein, the head of Gaza emergency services, said the tunnel in the border town of Rafah caved in on Monday night. The impoverished territory of 1.5 million people has largely relied on a …

JERUSALEM: A comprehensive peace deal can be reached between Israel and the Palestinians within six months if Israel completely freezes its settlement construction, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said in an interview published Wednesday. Abbas told the Israeli daily Haaretz that he proposed the six-month freeze to Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak in a pair of …

CAIRO: Trucks filled with contraband trundle along on a road leading to Egypt s frontier with the besieged Gaza Strip. Their cargo will be sorted into bags and then slipped into Gaza through the tunnels. That one has concrete, said Abu Khaled, as he parked his mud-camouflaged pick-up by the side of the road. The …

PARIS: France-Africa summit will be held in France instead of Egypt after Paris made clear it did not want Sudanese President and indicted war criminal Omar Al-Beshir to attend, a minister said Tuesday. The summit aimed at celebrating France s ties with its former African colonies was scheduled for January in the Egyptian Red Sea …

GAZA CITY: Tens of thousands of Hamas supporters waving green banners gathered in Gaza City on Monday to mark the 22nd anniversary of the founding of the Islamist group that rules the coastal strip. Black-clad Hamas police had earlier sealed off roads leading to the rally, as thousands of supporters were bused in from around …

DUBAI: Al-Qaeda s second-in-command, Ayman Al-Zawahri slammed US President Barack Obama s Middle East policy, saying it is designed to humiliate Muslims, in an Internet audio message posted on Monday. Obama s policy is nothing but a new stage in the Crusader and Zionist campaign that is aimed at subjucating and humiliating us, occupying our …

COPENHAGEN: Developing nations at the UN climate conference rejected as “insignificant on Friday an EU pledge of ?7.2 billion ($10.6 billion) to help them tackle global warming. As Saturday protests in Copenhagen drew tens of thousands of demonstrators, EU leaders agreed the funding – to be paid out over three years – at a summit …

CAIRO: Reports about Egypt s building of an iron wall beneath the border with Gaza in an effort to curb smuggling have abounded, with witnesses at the border town of Rafah confirming that there has been digging along the border. Eyewitnesses told Daily News Egypt that there are no signs of a wall being built …

CAIRO: Former UN atomic watchdog head Mohamed ElBaradei has been in the firing line of Egypt s official press since announcing he might run for president and analysts say he may yet become a top dissident. The Nobel laureate conditioned his candidacy for the 2011 presidential election in a statement last week on what analysts …

CAIRO: The defense and national security committee at the People’s Assembly convened Wednesday evening and criticized the government for its policy towards Sinai. Committee members chastised the government for what it perceived to be neglect of the governorate regarding the area’s development and MPs raised questions over the possible reasons for this neglect. Al-Shorouk newspaper …

OSLO: President Barack Obama evoked the cause of a just war on Thursday, accepting his Nobel Peace Prize just nine days after sending 30,000 more US troops to battle in Afghanistan but promising to use the prestigious prize to reach for the world that ought to be. Obama became the first sitting US president in …

CAIRO: A total of 146 investigation requests were submitted against the government by MPs in a special session of the People’s Assembly (PA) Tuesday evening to set a schedule for the requests. Of these, 128 requests were accepted, but tensions ensued between opposition and independent MPs and members of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), …

CAIRO: Egypt has announced its intention to host a conference for the reconstruction and development of Darfur within the first three months of 2010. Director of the Sudan Affairs department at the Foreign Ministry Mohamed Qassem told the Arab Affairs Committee at the People’s Assembly Tuesday that it had received a request from the unity …

RAFAH: Egyptian engineers were carrying out major excavation work at the Gaza border on Wednesday as an Israeli daily reported that an anti-smuggling barrier was under construction, an AFP reporter said. Workers were placing 20-meter long pipes every four meters or so along the border with the Palestinian territory which Israel has long complained has …

CAIRO: Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu is mulling the construction of a security fence along the border with Egypt to halt smuggling and attempts by African migrants to enter Israel. The Israeli newspaper Maariv reported Tuesday that Netanyahu had approved the construction of the security fence after discussions with cabinet members over the increased numbers …

BAGHDAD: Five massive vehicle-borne bombs rocked Baghdad on Tuesday, killing 127 people, including women and students, and wounding hundreds in the third co-ordinated massacre to devastate the city since August. The attacks shattered a month of calm in the Iraqi capital and came hours before an official said the country s general election, the second …

CAIRO: Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit accused Israel on Sunday of stalling on a prisoner swap with Hamas for a captured Israeli soldier by refusing to free certain Palestinian prisoners. Israel is still placing obstacles toward releasing all those demanded by the Palestinians, said Aboul Gheit, according to a statement released by the foreign ministry. …

CAIRO: Egypt will return its ambassador to Algeria who was recalled last month over a bitter football row only if it receives compensation for vandalized Egyptian property, a newspaper reported Monday. Algeria and Egypt engaged in a diplomatic row after Algerian fans attacked the buses of Egyptians fans in a World Cup qualifier hosted by …

CAIRO: Egyptian authorities have detained 10 senior members of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood, the group s secretary general told AFP on Sunday. The officials were arrested in the Nile Delta province of Kafr El-Sheikh on Saturday during a meeting, Mahmoud Ezzat said, adding authorities provided no reason for the arrests. Detentions in Egypt are like …

WASHINGTON: Strong majorities around the world back action to fight climate change, with enthusiasm especially strong in developing nations, a World Bank survey said Thursday. The 15-nation survey, released four days before a high-stakes climate summit opens in Copenhagen, found widespread worries that global warming will eventually harm people, although also some cynicism about the …

CAIRO: Israeli objections to releasing certain prisoners are blocking a swap deal in which an Israeli soldier captured three years would be freed, an official of the Palestinian movement Hamas said on Friday. The deal is supposed to see the exchange of hundreds of Palestinians, including 450 chosen by Hamas, for soldier Gilad Shalit. But …

CAIRO: Egypt s top diplomat said on Thursday that a Swiss vote to ban the construction of minarets was a grave mistake and Europe could no longer lecture his country on human rights. The Swiss people will some day come to realize what a grave mistake they have made, Ahmed Aboul Gheit told Egyptian television …

CAIRO: Outgoing IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei has set a number of conditions for his mooted presidential candidacy, including international monitoring of elections as well as amendments to Egypt’s constitution. In a statement obtained by local newspapers, ElBaradei said that he would consider running for the 2011 presidential elections but there had to be guarantees regarding …

CAIRO: The coalition of opposition parties put forth seven demands to guarantee free and fair parliamentary elections in 2010. The coalition includes Al Tagammu, Al Wafd, the Nasserist and the Democratic Front Parties. While they are waiting for their demands to be met, coalition members have not yet indicated whether or not they will participate …

AMSTERDAM: The newly elected chemical weapons chief says he will pursue the last seven holdouts – including Israel, Egypt and Syria – to get them to sign a disarmament treaty and submit weapons stockpiles for inspection. Ahmet Uzumcu says he expects one nation, Angola, to sign the Chemical Weapons Convention soon. The Mideast countries, however, …

CAIRO: Hamas on Thursday denied regional reports that captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit had already been released into the care of Egypt. Newspaper reports had stated that Shalit was in Egyptian custody, and would remain so until a deal was finalized between Hamas and Israel over the release of Palestinian prisoners. The Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Jarida …