RIYADH: The Organization of the Islamic Conference condemned on Sunday the Israeli police action at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem, warning that it could have a dangerous outcome. According to a report on english.aljazeera.net citing their Jerusalem correspondent, the violence in the Old City erupted after the Israeli police fired tear gas and stun …

JERUSALEM: Clashes erupted on Sunday between police and Palestinians at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in the latest violence to shake Jerusalem’s flashpoint site holy to Muslims and Jews. Police said they entered the compound in the morning after Palestinian demonstrators threw stones at visitors to the holy site, known to Muslims as Al-Haram Al-Sharif (the …

CAIRO: The Hezbollah cell trial, which was in session on Saturday, was adjourned until Oct. 28 to give the defense committee time to examine the evidence presented by the prosecution. Lawyer Abdel Moneim Abdel-Maqsoud, who is representing some of the detainees in the case, told Daily News Egypt, “We are currently studying the evidence; during …

TEHRAN: Iran on Friday didn’t accept a UN-drafted plan that would ship most of the country’s uranium abroad for enrichment, saying instead it would prefer to buy the nuclear fuel it needs for a reactor that makes medical isotopes. The response will come as a disappointment to the US, Russia and France, which endorsed the …

ABUJA: The African Union has invited Sudanese leader Omar Al-Beshir, who faces a global arrest warrant for war crimes, for next week s talks on the Darfur crisis in Abuja, a Nigerian government source said Thursday. Eighteen heads of state are expected for a summit of the peace and security organ of AU slated for …

CAIRO: A drunk Sudanese passenger unsuccessfully tried to hijack an EgyptAir flight from Istanbul to Cairo on Wednesday and divert it to Jerusalem to liberate the city, an Egyptian security official said. About 30 minutes after take-off, the passenger took hold of a knife provided with meals for first-class passengers and threatened an air hostess …

CAIRO: Fouad Allam, the former head of State Security Investigations, launched an attack on the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) in an exclusive interview with local online news portal Masrawy.com published Wednesday. Allam told Masrawy that the Brotherhood’s success in the 2005 parliamentary elections, when the banned group won 88 seats through fielding independent candidates, has made …

BOSTON: A pharmacy college graduate made a defiant appearance in federal court Wednesday, hours after being charged with conspiring with two other men in a terror plot to kill two prominent US politicians and carry out a holy war by attacking shoppers in US malls and American troops in Iraq. Authorities say the men s …

JERUSALEM: Israeli forces conducted air strikes against a weapons factory and two tunnels in the Gaza Strip following rocket attacks from the Palestinian enclave, a military spokeswoman said on Thursday. Our air force last night attacked a weapons factory and two tunnels dug under the border with Egypt and used for weapons smuggling, the spokeswoman …

JERUSALEM: Israel and Iran took part in an international conference on nuclear disarmament last month in Egypt – a gathering that is now prompting media reports the two foes held direct discussions that included an awkward exchange on whether the Jewish state has atomic weapons. An Israeli official confirmed Thursday the two sides attended the …

CAIRO: Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas said Tuesday he will issue a decree later this week for Jan. 24 elections, in a move apparently meant to press the Islamist Hamas into signing a unity deal. I will issue a presidential decree after several days, on Oct. 25, designating Jan. 24 as the date of the elections, …

VIENNA: The UN s atomic watchdog on Wednesday handed Iran and world powers a draft deal for approval by the end of the week that could dramatically ease tensions over the Islamic republic s controversial nuclear program. The agreement was brokered after crunch talks between Iran, Russia, the United States and France, and has been …

CAIRO: Egypt is opposed to hardline Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman attending a meeting of the Mediterranean Union which it co-chairs with France, diplomats said on Wednesday. Foreign ministers of the 43-strong grouping, which brings European Union members together with states from north Africa, the Balkans, Arab countries, Israel and Turkey, are due to gather …

CAIRO: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was in Egypt on Tuesday for talks with President Hosni Mubarak after a reconciliation meeting with the Islamist Hamas movement was put on hold. Fatah completely supported the Egyptian proposal… but then Hamas put down obstacles to achieving a reconciliation, Abbas told reporters in Cairo, in the latest salvo in …

RAMALLAH: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas s Fatah party lashed out at the Islamist Hamas movement on Monday, blaming it for the failure of an Egypt-proposed Palestinian unity agreement. The vitriol came as Abbas prepared to leave for Egypt later on Monday for talks with President Hosni Mubarak on Tuesday on the reconciliation process. Hamas has …

CAIRO: Egypt s Muslim Brotherhood was swift in its rejection of reports that its leader resigned after a row with conservatives, but the crisis exposed a profound rift among the Islamists, analysts said. The Brotherhood was reacting to front page reports in the Egyptian press on Monday that Supreme Guide Mohammed Mahdi Akef stormed out …

CAIRO: The head of the Arab League indicated in an interview published Tuesday that he may consider running for Egypt’s presidency in elections scheduled for 2011. Amr Moussa’s remarks come amid a heated debate in Egypt about who would replace President Hosni Mubarak who has ruled the Arab world’s most populated nation for 28 years. …

CAIRO: A lawmaker of Egypt s ruling party accused of attacking a police station to free his nephew was arrested on Sunday after his parliamentary immunity was lifted, a security official said. Mohamed Mandhur of the National Democratic Party was accused of storming Deshna police station with a group of supporters, attacking policemen and causing …

CAIRO: The appeal trial of 18 Muslim Brotherhood members will begin on Oct. 27 in a military court, the group’s lawyer Abdel-Moneim Abdel-Maqsoud said. The 18 members are part of a group of 25 who were tried in a military court in 2007 and who received jail sentences ranging from three to 10 years. Abdel …

CAIRO: The Muslim Brotherhood’s Supreme Guide Mohamed Mahdy Akef refuted recent local media reports that he had resigned, in a press statement released Monday. Akef said that the group’s internal affairs are private and urged the media not to interfere. “The media’s role is to monitor and evaluate the Brotherhood’s performance and politics, he said. …

CAIRO: Egypt warned Sunday it would not wait “forever for Palestinian factions to agree a unity deal after the Islamist movement Hamas postponed signing the accord with its Fatah rivals. “Egypt is not prepared to wait forever, foreign ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki told Al-Arabiya television. Cairo has been trying for several months to help end …

WASHINGTON: He has pushed and cajoled in grand statements and closed-door meetings, but President Barack Obama – a newly-minted Nobel Peace Prize winner – is finding Middle East peace remains elusive. He went almost nowhere so far, according to Nathan Brown, a political science professor at George Washington University, who nonetheless hopes Obama will continue …

GAZA CITY: Hamas has delayed sending a delegation to Cairo to give its response to an Egyptian-proposed Palestinian reconciliation deal, a senior official in the Islamist group told AFP on Sunday. The Hamas delegation was to travel to Cairo on Sunday, but Ayman Taha said the trip has been delayed indefinitely. Hamas has postponed sending …

CAIRO: Security forces arrested 20 members of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) group in Al-Mansoura, Al-Dakahalia governorate, according to Abdel-Moneim Abdel-Maqsoud, the group’s lawyer. Abdel-Maqsoud told Daily News Egypt that the arrests took place on Saturday at dawn. Last Thursday security officials arrested 21 other members from the group in Al-Sharkia governorate, Abdel-Maqsoud added. According to …

CAIRO: Egypt has returned most of its Palestinian prisoners to Hamas and still holds only a small number, security officials said days after the brother of a senior Hamas member died in an Alexandria jail. The officials said 51 Palestinians, most of them arrested when thousands breached a border wall dividing Egypt and the Gaza …

ROME: Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said Saturday the entire Muslim world was concerned about Israel s settlement construction in Palestinian territories, ANSA news agency reported. Mubarak, who met with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi during a visit in Rome, also denounced what he described as Israel s attempts to assimilate Jerusalem. Israel s continuation of …

CAIRO: Egyptian mediators have delayed their deadline for Hamas to sign a Palestinian unity deal with Fatah after the Islamist group asked for a delay, an Egyptian official said on Friday. “Egypt (will) postpone the signing of this deal at the current time, the official MENA news agency quoted the official as saying. The announcement …

SHARM EL-SHEIKH: Egypt s security chief predicted Thursday that the country s largest opposition group, the banned Muslim Brotherhood, would not see gains in next year s parliamentary elections. The Brotherhood unexpectedly won 88 seats, or 20 percent of the 454-seat parliament in the 2005 elections. The group was officially banned in 1954 but its …