CAIRO: Head of Al-Ghad party and former presidential candidate Ayman Nour was banned from traveling to the United States Wednesday upon the decree of Prosecutor General Abdel Meguid Mahmoud. Mahmoud said that Nour, who was released from prison on health grounds in February, is not allowed to travel. In a press conference held at his …

CAIRO: Middle East peace talks must include the disputed city of Jerusalem, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday after meeting Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. “There is no doubt that moving toward a state that reflects the aspirations and the rights of the Palestinian people must include all of the issues that have …

UNITED NATIONS: Amid strong Israeli opposition, the UN General Assembly prepared Wednesday to ask Israel and the Palestinians to launch credible, independent probes of alleged war crimes committed during the Gaza war nearly a year ago. The 192-member body was to vote on a non-binding text pushed by Arab states that endorses a UN report …

UNITED NATIONS: The head of the UN nuclear agency urged Iran on Monday to clarify its response amid mixed signals over a US-backed proposal that would have Tehran ship most of its nuclear material abroad for processing. Iran s foreign minister said that option still exists while a senior diplomat suggested the opposite. The proposal …

CAIRO: Arab League Chief Amr Moussa on Monday accused Israel of sabotaging US efforts to restart Middle East peace talks and backed the Palestinian refusal to negotiate until Israel halts settlement activity. Moussa told AFP he feared Washington s diplomatic push had been brought back to the starting point because of Israel s refusal to …

CAIRO: President Hosni Mubarak congratulated the performance of his National Democratic Party (NDP) in carrying out its reform agenda during his closing speech at the party’s annual convention Monday night. “The conference with its discussions has given the National Democratic Party a new push forward, he said, adding that “we are passing a critical phase …

CAIRO: The Egyptian foreign minister says the decision to put off a conference this month of Mediterranean nations was not Egypt s alone but a collective move by the Arab League. Ahmed Aboul Gheit says Arab states decided not to go ahead with the Nov. 27 gathering because Israel s Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman was …

CAIRO: Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit on Sunday said Cairo understood the Palestinian refusal to resume talks with Israel before a freeze of Jewish settlements on occupied land. Aboul Gheit made the remarks at a joint news conference with Jordanian counterpart Nasser Judeh after a surprise visit to Cairo by Jordan s King Abdullah …

CAIRO: Head of the ruling National Democratic Party’s policies committee Gamal Mubarak criticized Egyptian opposition groups for promoting a negative view of the party during his speech at its annual conference. The party’s sixth annual conference wrapped up Monday evening, but the day before Mubarak commented on the opposition’s criticism of the NDP during his …

MILAN: An Italian court is to reach a verdict this week in the landmark trial of 26 US secret agents in the 2003 abduction of a terror suspect from a Milan street. The trial, which opened in June 2007, is the highest profile case involving the CIA’s covert “extraordinary rendition program in which scores of …

BEIJING: China will set the future direction of its burgeoning ties with Africa at a multinational forum in Egypt this month, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi was quoted as saying on Sunday. Premier Wen Jiabao plans to attend the Nov. 8-9 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in the resort of Sharm El-Sheikh, Yang said in an interview …

CAIRO: During his speech at the National Democratic Party’s sixth annual conference, President Hosni Mubarak highlighted the important role of the party’s younger members. “The party’s young members … have a clear vision for the nation’s future, and propose new ideas to deal with the reality [in Egypt], Mubarak said. “I will not tolerate negligence …

TAIPEI: Taiwan s former vice-president has accused China of blocking her visit to Egypt for an international forum, a report here said Sunday. Annette Lu, of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), now in opposition, was scheduled to speak at the Liberal International congress in Cairo over the weekend, the Apple Daily said. But Lu, …

CAIRO: Defense lawyers for a trial in Egypt of two dozen people charged with spying for Lebanon’s Hezbollah quit Wednesday after claiming the court was not impartial, judicial officials and the lawyers said. The 26 suspects, including Egyptians, Palestinians and Lebanese, face charges of spying for a foreign group, planning attacks against tourists and shipping …

UNITED NATIONS: A UN human rights investigator warned the United States Tuesday that its use of unmanned warplanes to carry out targeted executions may violate international law. Philip Alston said that unless the Obama administration explains the legal basis for targeting particular individuals and the measures it is taking to comply with international humanitarian law …

UNITED NATIONS: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called on Israel Wednesday to back the reconstruction of Gaza, deploring conditions there nearly a year after a devastating Israeli military offensive. Ten months after hostilities ended in Gaza, we see no progress on reconstruction or the re-opening of borders, he said at a news conference. Ban said …

CAIRO: A Lebanese Hezbollah operative on trial in Egypt for allegedly plotting attacks in the country on Wednesday accused his interrogators of brutal torture that had left him deaf in one ear. Mohamed Mansour, who is on trial with 25 other defendants, told AFP during a break in a Cairo court session that he and …

CAIRO: Founders of the Egyptian Campaign Against Inheritance of Power refused to include foreign-based activists to avoid “suspicion, they said during a panel discussion Tuesday. While their statement claimed that the movement comprises all of Egypt’s political powers, public figures and civil society institutions, it excluded activists whose foreign relations might attract criticism and “defame …

LUXEMBOURG: France s flagship Mediterranean Union has stalled again amid a dispute between Egypt and Israel, just as it appeared to be showing new signs of life, Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Tuesday. Egypt has raised objections. We ve given up because the Egyptian foreign minister refuses to meet his Israeli counterpart, Kouchner told reporters …

BEIJING: Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao will visit Egypt next month to attend a China-Africa meeting, the foreign ministry said Tuesday, as energy-hungry Beijing boosts ties with the resource-rich continent. During his Nov. 6-8 visit, ending with the forum in Sharm El-Sheikh, Wen will hold talks with Egyptian leaders and the heads of some African nations, …

WASHINGTON: The United States on Monday came out strongly against efforts by Muslim nations to bar the defamation of religions, saying the moves would restrict free speech. Some claim that the best way to protect the freedom of religion is to implement so-called anti-defamation policies that would restrict freedom of expression and the freedom of …

TUNIS: Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali won plaudits from his peers Monday after being re-elected with 89.6 percent of the vote for a fifth term after two decades in power. The results from all of the north African country’s 26 constituencies, released by the interior ministry, showed Ben Ali’s score ranging from 84.1 …

CAIRO: The Cairo Administrative Court adjourned to Jan. 12 the appeal hearing of 13 Muslim Brotherhood members who were tried in a military court in 2007. The session took place under strict security measures and media was not allowed inside the court room. The 13 members are part of a group of 25 leading Brotherhood …

CAIRO: Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif on Sunday urged south Sudan to vote for unity in a 2011 referendum that will decide whether it becomes independent from Khartoum, a cabinet spokesman said. Nazif reiterated Egypt s support for the Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 2005 that ended two decades of war between north and south Sudan, …

DRESDEN: A man accused of killing a pregnant Egyptian woman in court in a frenzied Islamophobic attack went on trial in Germany Monday in a case that inflamed tempers throughout the Muslim world. Prosecutors say the defendant, Alex Wiens, then 28, stabbed the veiled Marwa El-Sherbini at least 16 times in three minutes on July …