CAIRO: Egypt supports international efforts aimed at preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said on Wednesday. But he also warned against taking military action against the Islamic republic, which is accused by the West of wanting to develop the bomb. Iran insists that its nuclear program is peaceful. Egypt supports …

CAIRO: The Shoura Council approved the new civil universities law despite a request filed by the People’s Assembly’s education committee to review it, Aly Laban, committee member, said. The new law entails the establishment of 17 new non-profit universities, while stipulating that the Ministry of Higher Education be in charge of appointing half of their …

BRUSSELS: NATO and Israel agreed Tuesday to boost cooperation in the fight against terrorism and to increase military ties, an alliance official said. We have updated, to reinforce it, the individual program of cooperation signed by NATO and Israel in October 2006, the official told AFP. He said that the fight against terrorism and the …

CAIRO: The controversial race for Lawyers Syndicate chairman heated up Tuesday with the nomination of Judge Mortada Mansour. Mansour, who filed his application Dec. 2, said his goals are to restore the prestige and dignity of Egyptian lawyers, who have been repeatedly assaulted by police, reported independent daily Al-Masry Al-Youm. He added that Sameh Ashour, …

CAIRO: Mustafa El-Fiqi, who heads Parliament’s foreign relations committee, has lashed out at Hamas, saying the Palestinian group won’t be allowed to set up an “Islamic emirate in the Gaza Strip which it controls. El-Fiqi said Egypt wouldn’t tolerate an Islamic state on its eastern border. Egypt is increasingly displeased with Hamas – especially after …

CAIRO: Egypt is prepared to participate in any UN-sponsored mission to guard ships from piracy off Somalia’s coast but it is opposed to unilateral action, cabinet spokesman Magdy Rady said on Wednesday. The UN Security Council said on Tuesday it supported a European Union naval mission off Somalia’s coast that will begin on Dec. 8. …

GAZA CITY: Hamas officials, a crowd of porters, a fleet of flatbed trucks and a flag-waving scout troupe assembled at Gaza City s port Monday to welcome a unique arrival: a Libyan freighter flouting an Israeli blockade to bring 3,000 tons of aid to this impoverished seaside strip. But the ship never arrived. It was …

CAIRO: Egypt s leading cleric Mohamed Tantawy has condemned the blocking of Muslim pilgrims as an abominable crime after Hamas prevented the faithful leaving the Gaza Strip over the past four days. Whoever prevents [a Muslim from pilgrimage] is committing an abominable crime, state news agency MENA quoted him as saying on Tuesday. Egypt s …

AL-ARISH: Egyptian police have found a cache of explosives in Sinai that were probably destined for the Gaza Strip, a security official said on Sunday. Police seized about 150 kg of TNT, and dozens of mortar rounds and anti-tank grenades on Saturday after a tip-off from local residents near the Gaza border, the official said. …

PITTSBURGH: An Egyptian scientist who claimed his rights were violated when the Department of Energy revoked his security clearance has left the country after 28 years and returned to his native Egypt after losing his federal lawsuit. Moniem El-Ganayni, 57, worked at the Bettis Laboratory, which makes parts for nuclear warships, in suburban Pennsylvania for …

GAZA CITY: Israeli warships on Monday prevented a Libyan cargo vessel from reaching the Gaza Strip, the impoverished Palestinian territory under a crippling Israeli blockade. The ship, laden with 3,000 tons of goods, was stopped several kilometers off Gaza s shores and ordered to return to the Egyptian port of Al-Arish, said Palestinian MP Jamal …

CAIRO: Palestinian pilgrims to Mecca were prevented from entering Egypt through Rafah for the second day running by Hamas because of a dispute over who was allowed entry. Hamas set a checkpoint some 100 meters from the Rafah gate, preventing pilgrims from passing. There were sporadic clashes and 13 people were injured Saturday as they …

CAIRO: Special powers given to a government to handle a specific emergency situation must always come with a time limit, said the chairperson of the European Parliament (EP) Delegation for relations with Mashreq countries Beatrice Patrie Wednesday. The delegation is in Egypt for the ninth EP-Egypt Interparliamentary Meeting. Asked by Daily News Egypt whether she …

CAIRO: Al-Qaeda s No. 2 leader appeared in a new video Friday calling on Americans to embrace Islam to overcome the financial meltdown, which he described as a consequence of the Sept. 11 attacks. Ayman Al-Zawahri, whose 80-minute recording touched on a multitude of subjects, also lashed out at Afghanistan s government and said any …

CAIRO: Arab foreign ministers on Wednesday called on Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas to stay on in his post until his ruling Fatah party reaches a deal with Hamas, and also resolved to send aid to Gaza. Abbas “should continue his responsibility as president of the Palestinian Authority until the rival groups reconcile, the ministers said …

CAIRO: Egypt and the Arab League on Thursday denounced the “terrorist attacks which left at least 100 people dead in India’s financial hub Mumbai. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak condemned the attacks and said his country “stands by the side of New Delhi in countering terrorism, state news agency MENA reported. Amr Moussa, who heads the …

CAIRO: Independent, Muslim Brotherhood and opposition MPs filed 76 investigation requests to the People s Assembly (PA), which will be discussed in next Saturday’s parliamentary session. The large number of requests, however, does not pose a threat to the government, Mohamed Khalil Kwaitah, MP affiliated with the National Democratic Party (NDP), told Daily News Egypt. …

CAIRO: Baton-wielding riot police clashed with hundreds of students at Cairo University who were protesting on Wednesday against the blockade of the Gaza Strip. About 600 police clashed with 300 students at the downtown campus, an AFP photographer said. At least one demonstrator needed treatment for head wounds. Police entered the campus, the photographer said, …

CAIRO: Arab foreign ministers met in Cairo Wednesday to work out how to deal with Hamas after the group rejected reconciliation talks aimed at ending the division between the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The meeting comes three days after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose Fatah movement controls the West Bank, threatened to call elections …

CAIRO: The current situation in North Sinai constitutes a threat to national security along the border with Israel, warned the defense and national security committee of the People s Assembly. At the end of a three-day visit to the area, the committee said that tunnel smuggling across the border and widespread possession of weapons in …

JERUSALEM: Israeli security forces on Monday killed a presumed drug trafficker who sought to sneak into the country from Egypt s Sinai peninsula, a military spokeswoman said. During a routine operation by the army and the police along the border with Egypt, a unit identified a certain number of suspects trying to sneak into Israeli …

CAIRO: Arab countries should form a naval force to fight rampant piracy off Somalia s coast, the head of the Arab League told reporters on Monday. This force could work with other powers in the region to protect security, said Amr Moussa, referring to US and NATO ships that have been patrolling the increasingly dangerous …

CAIRO: Cairo airport authorities prevented two leading members of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood from traveling to Syria to attend a pro-Palestinian conference, the group said on Monday. Essam El-Erian and Gamal Hishmat were traveling with a delegation of opposition members and activists to attend a meeting in Damascus on the return of Palestinian refugees to …

CAIRO: Hundreds of Palestinians in Gaza continued Tuesday to amass near the Rafah border crossing for the second day running calling for it to be opened so they could pass through. The protestors were not visible from the Egyptian side of Rafah due to the border wall and all seemed calm, according to sources in …

CAIRO: After the capture of the Saudi supertanker by Somali pirates, countries and corporations around the world, especially those benefiting from the Red Sea-Suez Canal maritime route, are scrambling to find solutions. Egypt, of course, is on top of that list. The Suez Canal could see its traffic dwindle as vessels seek alternative routes. Its …

RAMALLAH: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas hit out at US-backed Middle East peace talks on Sunday on the eve of a White House meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and President George W. Bush, saying that not one issue has been resolved. He also pledged to call snap presidential and parliamentary elections in the New …

CAIRO: Bedouin tribes in Sinai have issued a death fatwa on famed television presenter Amr Adib for comments he made about them after recent clashes in Sinai between them and security forces. The decision was reached at a meeting of the popular campaign for citizen rights in North Sinai last Wednesday, where a council of …

CAIRO: Al-Qaeda number two Ayman Al-Zawahri is a plagiarist who worked for Sudanese intelligence before his handlers grew tired of his jokes, his former spiritual mentor has claimed in a newspaper article. The accusations are the latest in an increasingly bitter war of words between Al-Zawahri and Sayed Imam, the former spiritual guide of the …