CAIRO: President Hosni Mubarak said the Arab world is currently in the best of states and that its problems will end in time. Speaking to reporters after a tour of factories in Sixth of October city Wednesday, Mubarak said cooperation between Arab nations is continuous and ongoing. “All our efforts are aimed at bringing together …

RAFAH: An Egyptian security official says border guards shot and killed two African migrants trying to cross the border into Israel near the town of Rafah. Many Africans seeking political asylum and jobs try to cross into Israel with the help of Bedouin traffickers. Egypt has killed dozens of migrants at the border in the …

CAIRO: The Muslim Brotherhood will avoid confrontation over attempts to install President Hosni Mubarak’s son as president because it fears a crackdown by the authorities could destroy the Islamic group. But the group, Egypt’s most powerful opposition force, will stay within ever-narrowing margins of freedom the state allows it, contesting elections and seeking to widen …

VIENNA: Japanese candidate Yukiya Amano said Thursday he was very pleased after he won the race to head the International Atomic Energy Agency. This afternoon I have received the support from 23 countries which is the necessary number of votes to be selected as the next director general of the IAEA, Amano told journalists. I …

CAIRO: Speaker of the People’s Assembly (PA) Fathi Sorour said Wednesday he did know whether parliament will be dissolved early as speculation continues to mount that the decision will come soon. Sorour said, in an interview with state-run Al-Musawer magazine, that he was unaware of any decision to dissolve the PA and that conditions may …

CAIRO: The Arab Center for the Independence of the Judiciary and the Legal Profession (ACIJLP) presented a report detailing the government’s “eight-year oppression of the judiciary. The report which covers the period from 2000 to 2008 describes “the executive authority’s attempts to control the judiciary, judges as well as the serious violations of judicial independence, …

JERUSALEM: The Israeli navy on Tuesday boarded and seized a ship carrying pro-Palestinian activists that was heading to the Gaza Strip in defiance of Israel’s blockade, a military spokesman said. “In the last hour an Israeli navy force intercepted, boarded and took control of the cargo boat ‘Arion’ … as it was illegally attempting to …

CAIRO: President Hosni Mubarak and Saudi King Abdullah have met in the Red Sea resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh. Tuesday’s meeting was the second in three days between the leaders. Mubarak held talks with Abdullah on Sunday in Saudi Arabia that the official Saudi news agency said were mainly focused on “the Palestinian issue. The …

BAGHDAD: Iraqi security forces paraded in tanks and armored vehicles across Baghdad on Tuesday as they take control of towns and cities nationwide from departing US troops six years after the invasion. Iraq was celebrating a national holiday to mark the June 30 pullback, a milestone in the recovery of a country battered by war, …

CAIRO: Moving from humanitarian assistance to development in Darfur will be impossible in areas where the conflict is still blazing, said David Phillips, visiting scholar and director of the Darfur Early Recovery and Development Initiative at Columbia University in New York. More than the political situation, security issues are an important determinant. There are islands …

CAIRO: The Higher State Security Prosecution office released Muslim Brotherhood leader Fathi Lasheen, former consultant at the Ministry of Justice, on health grounds. Lasheen was one of 13 Brotherhood leaders arrested earlier this week in a crackdown on the group. Other prominent detainees still in custody include Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, secretary general of the …

BAGHDAD: The imminent US pullout from Iraqi cities, under a bilateral security accord signed last year, will be completed today, which has been declared a national holiday. Iraqis on Monday prepared for a massive party in Baghdad to celebrate the withdrawal of troops from cities, towns and villages, as the conflict-torn nation takes sole charge …

TEHRAN: Iran began recounting some of the votes cast in its disputed presidential election Monday in an apparent attempt to placate opposition protesters. Tehran also dismissed the idea of downgrading relations with Britain despite accusing that country of stirring up unrest. The regime’s standoff with the West over its crackdown on demonstrators sharply escalated Sunday. …

CAIRO: The two main rival Palestinian factions began a new round of talks in Cairo on Sunday, facing a 10-day deadline for a reconciliation agreement, Egypt’s official MENA news agency reported. “The two delegations, who had a working dinner on Saturday evening, met [on Sunday] for a sixth round of talks, MENA reported. Cairo has …

CAIRO: The political future of Egypt will be dominated by one or two main parties, said head of the Shoura Council and Secretary General of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) Safwat El-Sherif. Speaking on Egyptian television Sunday night, El-Sherif said that he expects the political arena in Egypt to eventually be dominated by two …

CAIRO: The Muslim Brotherhood’s (MB) Supreme Guide Mohamed Mahdy Akef accused the Egyptian government of “madness after the recent detainment of 13 members from the group. In a telephone interview with Al-Jazeera news channel Sunday, Akef expressed his anger at the recent arrests that included four prominent Brotherhood leaders, Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, secretary general …

CAIRO: Officials arrested 13 Muslim Brotherhood deputy leaders on Saturday and Sunday in its latest crackdown on the group in Cairo, Gharbeya and Sharqeya. The most prominent of the detainees are Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, secretary general of the Arab Doctors’ Union, Fathi Lasheen, former financial consultant at the Ministry of Justice, and Gamal Abdel …

CAIRO: The Rafah crossing will remain open today for the end of a three-day stint in which some 5,000 Palestinians overall will be expected to pass through in both directions, most of them students and patients being treated in Egypt. On Saturday 2,482 Palestinians passed through the crossing throughout the day, 456 coming in from …

RAFAH: An Egyptian security official says border guards shot and killed an African migrant and injured two others who were trying to cross the border into Israel near the town of Rafah. The official says the migrants refused to surrender to border guards after they fired in the air early Sunday. The identity of the …

DAMASCUS: Exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal on Thursday welcomed what he said was a change of US policy towards his Islamist movement which controls the Gaza Strip and said he looked forward to renewed Palestinian unity talks later this week. We hail the new line from Barack Obama towards Hamas. It is the first step …

CAIRO: Rumors have resurfaced that the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) will dissolve the Peoples’ Assembly (PA) within days, the opposition Al-Dostour reported Friday. The newspaper claimed on its front page that a presidential decree would be issued “in a matter of days due to pressure from the policies committee of the NDP which is …

CAIRO: Arab foreign ministers vowed on Wednesday to support US President Barack Obama s Middle East peace efforts but said that normalization with Israel depends on a halt to its settlement activity. Arab countries are prepared to deal positively with the proposals of President Obama to solve the Arab-Israeli conflict, they said in a statement …

CAIRO: Arab states will rejoin the Mediterranean Union which has been frozen since the Gaza war in December-January, an Arab League official said Wednesday, despite reservations about sitting down with Israel. The whole Arab group will participate in the next meetings. We will not be the ones to block the process, Mohammed Al-Nasseri, who heads …

CAIRO: The policy at the Rafah border crossing regarding movement into Gaza discriminates against Palestinians, the International Movement to Open the Rafah Border (IMORB) claimed Thursday. In a statement released to the press, the group claimed that after personally observing the border for almost two weeks, a discriminatory policy including mistreatment of Palestinians seeking entry …

CAIRO: Speculation has mounted over the fate of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who, reports claim, is to be released to Egyptian custody before handing him over to Israel. Israeli officials have, however, repeatedly denied the reports. Palestinian news agency Maan had reported Tuesday that Shalit would be released to Egypt within hours. Another report …

AL-ARISH: Egyptian police shot dead a migrant on Wednesday as he tried to enter Israel illegally, a security official said. The official did not identify the nationality of the dead man, the second migrant to have been killed by Egyptian police this month. Security asked him to stop, and then fired warning shots. He died …

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama is to return a US ambassador to Syria after a four-year absence, in the latest step in the US administration s efforts to engage Damascus, US media reported Wednesday. There is a lot of work to do in the region for which Syria can play a role. For that, it helps …