WASHINGTON: Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said Thursday that President Barack Obama’s administration understands Israeli settlement activity has to end in order to broker peace with the Palestinians. Aboul Gheit, the first Arab foreign minister to meet Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, also said Clinton would attend an upcoming international conference in Egypt to …

CAIRO: Why has the prevalence of democratic rule staggered – if not failed – in the Arab world? It’s a question that continues to puzzle many analysts, some of whom attribute that kind of failure to the reluctance of successive regimes that had taken control of the region over the years to lay the true …

AL-ARISH: Egyptian police on Thursday seized 2,200 tons of food and medical aid destined for the Gaza Strip and arrested two members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood responsible for the goods. Hossam Al-Shurbagi and Kamel Al-Shaarawi, members of the Doctors Syndicate’s committee for aid to Gaza and responsible for three warehouses that were raided in …

CAIRO: A senior Hamas delegation led by the movement s deputy head Moussa Abu Marzuk arrived in Cairo on Wednesday, the eve of another round of talks on a truce in the Gaza Strip. Senior Hamas official Mohammed Nasr, a member of the delegation, said they will meet Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman on Thursday …

ISTANBUL: Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Wednesday called for a greater role for moderate Palestinian factions led by President Mahmoud Abbas following talks with Turkish officials who are keen on engaging Hamas. “I have stressed the importance for the PLO to maintain its historic position, Mubarak told reporters through an interpreter, following a meeting with …

CAIRO: As the final tally for the Israeli elections becomes known, the close results highlight the ambiguity over who will form the coalition government. The centrist Kadima party was the victor with 28 seats narrowly edging out the right-wing Likud with 27. A poor showing was had by the Labor party, led by Ehud Barak, …

CAIRO: Arabs on Wednesday saw little hope for peace from whatever government emerges from Israel s inconclusive elections, and they expressed fears over the rising power of Israel s far right. With the prospect of a hard-line Israeli government, some in the region said any progress in Arab-Israeli negotiations will now rely even more on …

CAIRO: Muslim Brotherhood MP Ashraf Badr was suspended from the current parliamentary session, which ends in the summer, after threatening another MP representing the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) by hurling a shoe in the air. The decision was made by the PA’s ethics committee. A few weeks ago, Badr raised his shoe – an …

CAIRO: A bill calling for an end to US military aid to Egypt because it has not complied with the Camp David Accords was recently introduced to the US Congress by Democrat Anthony Weiner. Named the Egyptian Counterterrorism and Reform Bill Act, the bill proposes sending the annual amount earmarked for military aid to Egypt …

CAIRO: Hamas is awaiting the outcome of Tuesday s Israeli election to know whether a long-term truce deal in Gaza can be reached, senior Hamas member Osama Hamdan told AFP. Egypt has been mediating between Israel and the Gaza Strip s rulers since mutual ceasefires ended the 22-day-war on the territory on January 18, but …

GAZA CITY: “It doesn’t matter who wins in Israel, they are all the same to Gaza. Such was the sentiment of Said Sharafa, 26, a Gazan employee of DHL Express, with regard to upcoming Knesset elections in Israel. Sharafa’s statement points to a general sense of foreboding that overshadows an already dark horizon for Gazans, …

PARIS: French President Nicolas Sarkozy hosted Egypt s President Hosni Mubarak on Monday amid preparations for an aid conference for the Gaza Strip and diplomatic efforts for a more durable truce in the Palestinian territory. The two leaders helped push Israel toward ending a devastating three-week offensive in Gaza last month meant to halt years …

RAFAH: In the dunes of rubble along the Gaza border work crews are excavating scores of bombed tunnels, but smugglers say Egyptian forces on the other side are gradually choking off their trade. “The Egyptians have deployed everywhere on the other side and they have set up cameras. We haven’t been able to bring anything …

PARIS: President Hosni Mubarak will hold talks on Middle East peace initiatives Monday lunchtime with French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy, the Elysee palace said Saturday in a statement. The meeting comes on the eve of Sarkozy s latest diplomatic tour to the region, with talks scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday with the leaders of Oman, Bahrain …

CAIRO: An urgent interrogation request filed by two MPs to the People s Assembly (PA) against Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif accused PA members affiliated with the National Democratic Party (NDP) of corruption. The request was filed by independent MP Gamal Zahran and Hamdy Hassan, an MP affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, and accuses the NDP …

CAIRO: Muslim Brotherhood leaders say they are still unaware of the whereabouts of 56 of the group’s members arrested during a Cairo protest in support of Gaza Palestinians Friday. According to Mahmoud Ezzat, secretary general of the Muslim Brotherhood, the group has not received word that those arrested have been presented to the prosecutor’s office …

CAIRO: Egypt is hopeful that a Gaza truce accord between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas can be reached in the next few days, foreign ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki told AFP on Sunday. There are positive signs that in the next few days we will reach an understanding on a truce and a partial …

CAIRO: The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas is expected to give Egypt its response to proposals to reach a truce with Israel Saturday, Egypt s state-run Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported Thursday. Talks between Egyptian intelligence officials and a Hamas delegation ended Wednesday without a deal. Hamas said Israeli proposals for an agreement, carried through …

CAIRO: A Jordanian medic who was detained at the Rafah border crossing Thursday was moved later that night, but his current whereabouts remain unknown. Salman Mesaid was taken from in front of the Egyptian gate of the crossing at noon Thursday in a car and driven beyond the gate where he remained detained until 9 …

CAIRO: A delegation from the Palestinian group Hamas left Cairo Thursday without an agreement over a long-term truce with Israel, but with loads of money. An Egyptian security official said some members of the delegation were later stopped at the border with Gaza with millions in cash. Israel and Hamas do not talk directly so …

CAIRO: Egyptian security forces at the Rafah border crossing detained a Jordanian medic Thursday after he handed medicine to a Palestinian patient returning to the Gaza Strip. Salman Mesaid was taken from in front of the Egyptian gate of the crossing at noon in a car and taken beyond the gate where he remained detained …

WASHINGTON: The special US envoy for Middle East peace, George Mitchell, has asked to open his own office in the region to deal with day-to-day developments between Israel, the Palestinians and neighboring states, signaling a desire for greater American hands-on involvement in negotiations. Mitchell, who just returned from the region on Monday and plans to …

ABU DHABI: The foreign ministers of eight Arab states meeting in the United Arab Emirates called on Tuesday for an end to non-Arab interference in regional affairs, their host said. We are working to get beyond a difficult phase and create an Arab consensus on stopping unwelcome and unconstructive interference in our affairs by non-Arab …

CAIRO: Israeli air strikes continued to bomb tunnels running underneath the Egypt-Gaza border late on Tuesday and early on Wednesday, sources in the area told Daily News Egypt. Israeli strikes on the Palestinian side of the border town of Rafah continued for the third day running, with the aim of destroying the tunnels used for …

CAIRO: Hamas remained defiant on Tuesday in its demands of Israel for a long-term truce in Gaza as renewed violence around the Palestinian territory overshadowed fresh talks with Egyptian mediators. Representatives of Hamas, which has controlled Gaza since seizing it 18 months ago. met Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman – Cairo s pointman on Palestinian …

CAIRO: The Egyptian government intends to close the Rafah border crossing starting Thursday, an unnamed official told the state-run Al-Ahram newspaper. The crossing was opened in the wake of the Israeli offensive on Gaza Dec. 27 to allow humanitarian aid to go through and to receive wounded Palestinians that were treated in Egypt. The decision …

JERUSALEM: Turkey s role in mediating the Israeli-Arab conflict has been compromised by its leader s repeated censure of Israel s recent war in the Gaza Strip, an Israeli government official said Monday. Turkey, a secular country ruled by an Islamic-oriented party, had long been Israel s best friend in the Muslim world. The two …

CAIRO: One of the biggest misconceptions portrayed by the media during the War on Gaza is showing Hamas as the oppressor of Palestinians, according to Egyptian doctors who recently visited the area. “There is no Hamas versus the people. They were all united, all the differences dissolved once the war started and the only thing …

CAIRO: Israel conducted an air strike in the early hours of Monday against purported tunnels running beneath the border on the Palestinian side of the town of Rafah through which the border permeates. The flare-up came as President Hosni Mubarak held talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas amid efforts by Cairo to broker a lasting …