CAIRO: Egypt s Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit met officials from Darfur rebel groups on Saturday to push for peace talks between them and the Sudanese government, the state news agency MENA reported. The meeting, in which United Resistance Front leader Baher Idris Abu Garda and heads of Sudan Liberation Army factions took part, came …

CAIRO: As Sweden assumed the rotating European Union presidency from July 1, Daily News Egypt sat with Swedish Ambassador to Egypt Malin Kärre to discuss EU policy regarding Egypt, the region and others in the international community. Daily News Egypt: You stressed that the EU does not interfere in Egyptian politics, but the volume of …

RAMALLAH: Egyptian mediators on Thursday held their first West Bank talks with Hamas representatives since before the Islamist movement seized the Gaza Strip in June 2007. For the first time in three years, we are delighted to meet our Egyptian friends here and are optimistic that the negotiations will bear fruit, Hamas representative Omar Abdel …

CAIRO: The Reform and Development Party (RDP), yet to be officially recognized, called for an open dialogue between the Muslim Brotherhood and the regime without interference from the Ministry of Interior. In an official statement, the party’s deputy founder independent MP Anwar Esmat Al-Sadat said the call was prompted by the recent government crackdown on …

L AQUILA: Egypt s President Hosni Mubarak on Friday urged the leaders of the world s richest countries to freeze repayments due on loans to Africa in order to help the poorest through the economic crisis. He said African borrowers should enjoy preferential terms and urged the West to reject protectionism in trade and to …

CAIRO: Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak accused Israel of scuttling a deal that was on the verge of ending the three-year captivity in Gaza of soldier Gilad Shalit, in an interview published in Israel s top-selling daily on Friday. Mubarak, whose government has led efforts to broker the release of the young conscript seized by Palestinian …

UNITED NATIONS: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will attend the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Egypt next week, a spokesman said. Ban will participate on Wednesday in the summit, scheduled to take place July 11-16 at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh, said spokesman Farhan Haq. At the summit, Egypt will replace Cuba at …

GAZA CITY: Egypt s president didn t know what he was talking about when he said an Israeli soldier held by Palestinian militants was alive and well, a top Hamas official announced Wednesday, in rare public criticism of the Egyptian leader. Egypt has been mediating attempts to trade hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel …

BERLIN: Chancellor Angela Merkel has expressed her condolences to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak over the brutal stabbing of a young Egyptian mother in a Dresden courtroom last week. Merkel s spokesman Thomas Steg said Friday the chancellor had brought up the slaying of 32-year-old Marwa Al-Sherbini during her meeting with Mubarak at the Group of …

CAIRO: The Egyptian Ambassador to Poland has been detained in Cairo in connection with corruption allegations made against him involving a land deal in Warsaw, Polish media reported. According to Polskie Radio, Dorota Tietz, spokesperson for the Warsaw police, said that two Polish lawerys have been detained on fraud charges in a real estate sale …

CAIRO: Hot on the heels of Israeli President Shimon Peres’ meeting with President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo earlier this week, the Israeli press has latched onto the succession scenario that has dominated local media debates in recent weeks. The Egyptian media has buzzed with rumors in recent weeks regarding plans to orchestrate a transition of …

CAIRO: Members of the European Union (EU) Troika said Wednesday that their partnership with Egypt was along the lines of cooperation and not interference. The EU Troika comprises the European Commission (EC), the current president of the Union and the coming president. They were represented at a press conference at the Swedish Embassy Wednesday by …

L AQUILA, Italy: The Group of Eight rich nations and emerging economic powers vowed Thursday to resist protectionism and give a new push to wrap up long-struggling WTO talks next year, according to a draft declaration. We will cooperate to ensure that the global economy resumes growth along a balanced, equitable and sustainable path for …

CAIRO: Egyptian security forces have arrested 26 suspected Al-Qaeda loyalists on charges of plotting attacks on foreign ships passing through the Suez Canal, the interior ministry said on Thursday. The suspects, 25 Egyptians and a Palestinian, were in contact with the Al-Qaeda-linked Islamic Army of Palestine, the ministry said in a statement. It alleged that …

CAIRO: Egypt s Interior Minister Habib El-Adly has called for states to close down websites hosting material connected with terrorist activity. The call was made during the 20th INTERPOL African regional conference, hosted in Cairo from July 7-9. “The initiative to fight terrorists use of the internet came out of an early awareness created by …

CAIRO: Parliament members affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood attacked the National Democratic Party (NDP) while responding to accusations directed at them by Chairman of the People’s Assembly (PA) Fathi Sorour. In an interview with the state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper last week, Sorour accused Brotherhood and independent parliament members of being “unorganized ticking bombs, saying they belong …

URUMQI, China: China flooded the capital of western Xinjiang province with security forces Wednesday after ethnic riots left at least 156 dead. The city s Communist Party boss promised those behind the killings would be executed. Ethnic clashes have paralyzed Urumqi over the past several days – with minority Uighur and Han Chinese mobs roaming …

CAIRO: Sinai is not a demilitarized zone and has more than 20,000 soldiers, said head of the Shoura Council’s foreign affairs committee and former ambassador to Israel Mohamed Bassiouny. Giving a lecture at a youth center in Abu Qir in Alexandria last Saturday, Bassiouny said that Sinai was split into zones and in one of …

URUMQI: Scattered mobs of Chinese Muslim Uighurs and Han Chinese roamed the streets and beat passers-by Tuesday as the capital of China’s Xinjiang region degenerated into communal violence, prompting the government to impose a curfew in the aftermath of a riot that killed at least 156 people. Members of the Muslim Uighur ethnic group attacked …

CAIRO: The Middle East peace process cannot handle another failure, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak warned on Tuesday, telling his Israeli counterpart his country would have to make difficult decisions. There is an increased need now for a political will from the Israeli side, a political will which has the courage to take difficult decisions, Mubarak …

CAIRO: The inheritance of political power from President Hosni Mubarak to his son Gamal is being paved by the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) and the People s Assembly (PA) will be used to rubber stamp the succession, head of the opposition Karama Party Saad Aboud told Daily News Egypt Monday. Aboud, who is a …

CAIRO: Egypt’s State Security Prosecutor accused a leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood group of receiving LE 18 million from the international Brotherhood organization to finance the illegal group. The accused include Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, secretary general of the Arab Doctors’ Union, along with eight other detained Brotherhood leaders. The prosecution said that investigations …

JERUSALEM: Israel is deporting a former US congresswoman, a Nobel peace prize laureate and other activists who were arrested trying to break the naval blockade of the Gaza Strip, a government spokeswoman said Monday. The Israeli navy commandeered the boat last week as it tried to sail from Cyprus to Gaza. It was the latest …

JERUSALEM: Israeli President Shimon Peres will head to Cairo on Tuesday for talks with Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarak, his office said on Sunday. The two presidents will discuss the latest developments in the Middle East peace process and the issue of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who was seized by Gaza Strip insurgents three years ago, …

JERUSALEM: An Israeli submarine has sailed through the Suez Canal into the Red Sea in a trip that Israeli media are interpreting as a warning signal to Iran. An Israeli defense official said Saturday the Dolphin-class submarine made the passage last month from a Mediterranean navel base to take part in maneuvers off the Israeli …

CAIRO: Twenty suspected French Islamists have been expelled from Egypt over the past month after being detained in the wake of the Al-Hussein bombing last February, AFP reported Saturday. A locally-made bomb exploded under a bench near Al-Hussein mosque Feb. 22 injuring 23 and causing the death of a 17-year-old French student. Another canister was …

JERUSALEM: Israel’s Defense Ministry has recommended a partial lifting of the embargo on Gaza as a goodwill gesture toward the Palestinians to spur along talks to free a long-held captive soldier, an Israeli news site reported Friday. Israel has been linking the opening of Gaza’s borders to the release of Sgt. Gilad Shalit, an Israeli …

SIRTE: African leaders at a summit Thursday struggled to overcome divisions on a proposed African government , as Libyan leader Moamer Qaddafi pressed for a powerful new continental authority. The leaders agreed earlier in February to create an AU Authority that would centralize the executive powers of the 53-member bloc, but Qaddafi is pushing to …

CAIRO: The Higher State Security Prosecution office sentenced Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, secretary general of the Arab Doctors’ Union and the Muslim Brotherhood’s deputy leader to 15 days in jail as investigations continue. Eight other Brotherhood members were also sentenced along with Aboul Fotouh including Gamal Abdel Salam, chairman of the emergency committee in the …