MAHALLA AL-KOBRA: An aborted strike planned by workers at the Ghazl El-Mahalla textile factory gave way Sunday afternoon to violent clashes between protesters and security forces, eye-witnesses told the administrator of tadamon.blogspot.com, a website monitoring the April 6 movement. Live ammunition was allegedly used to quell the massive protest, killing a 20-year-old male activist and …

CAIRO: Security officials at London’s Heathrow airport stopped Pope Shenouda III on his way back to Cairo last week requesting he undergo a search, much to the consternation of his traveling party as well as the Egyptian ambassador to Britain who was seeing him off, reported the local press. According to reports in the Egyptian …

CAIRO: Over a thousand social and political activists, as well as unaffiliated citizens, gathered inside the Lawyers’ Syndicate yesterday as part of the April 6 strikes, calling for immediate government intervention to bring down food prices and raise wages. Protests had originally been designated to take place in certain key points around the city, as …

WASHINGTON: The International Monetary Fund s directors approved a major change in its voting mechanism Friday, giving some larger developing countries more of a say in how the 185-nation lending organization operates. The board stopped short of major reforms that critics had demanded. Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who took over as head of the IMF last September …

BEIRUT: Lebanon s army commander warned feuding political factions in remarks published Thursday that he would bow out of the presidential race and leave his post by midsummer, if the two sides continue wrangling and his election as compromise candidate is not secured by then. The threat by Gen. Michel Suleiman to quit as army …

CAIRO: The Muslim Brotherhood (MB) will not participate in the Ghazl Al Mahalla cotton workers’ strike scheduled for April 6, the group’s lawyer told Daily News Egypt. “The Brotherhood will not participate in the April 6 strike, Abdel-Moneim Abdel-Maqsoud said, also denying any knowledge of press reports claiming the group released a statement urging Egyptians …

CAIRO: Egypt hosted a mini-summit of Arab leaders Wednesday to address the issues splitting the region, particularly the ongoing political crisis in Lebanon and the divisions among the Palestinians. President Hosni Mubarak met with his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas and they were joined later by King Abdullah of Jordan. The presidential spokesman told reporters afterwards …

CAIRO: The Egyptian state prosecutor on Wednesday ordered 147 detained members of the Muslim Brotherhood to be investigated following demonstrations in several cities across Egypt s north, a judicial official said. The detainees are being accused of holding unauthorized demonstrations and rioting, added the official on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to …

CAIRO: Al-Qaeda No. 2 Ayman Al-Zawahri has responded to criticism about the organization s notoriously brutal tactics, maintaining that it does not kill innocents, in an hour-and-a half-long audio response to questions submitted to the movement on extremist websites. Al-Zawahri also addressed the issue of Al-Qaeda s founder, Osama bin Laden, assuring supporters that the …

RAFAH: An Egyptian security official says another underground tunnel has been found just a few meters away from the Egypt-Gaza border. The official says the tunnel appears to have been used to smuggle weapons and contraband between Egypt and the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. It was detected early Wednesday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity …

CAIRO: Opposition MPs called for the resignation of the government over its mismanagement of the current bread crisis at the Peoples’ Assembly (PA) session Tuesday night. At the session independent MP Talaat Al-Sadat said, “The government should leave, and asked the Minister for Social Solidarity Ali El Moselhi to “jump off the sinking ship. “There …

CAIRO: Rights group the Human Rights Information Network (HRInfo) today criticized the decision by the government-controlled Nilesat satellite to stop the transmission of the Hewar channel. Nilesat, which broadcasts to the entire Arab region, had stopped yesterday the transmission of the channel, whose content is mostly political with some religious programs. HRInfo linked the decision …

CAIRO: Members of the Shoura Assembly demanded that the government begin the process of extraditing American troops who killed an Egyptian in the Suez Canal so as to be prosecuted in an Egyptian court. In a session that took place Sunday night – chaired by NDP Secretary General and Shoura Council Speaker Safwat El-Sherif – …

CAIRO: State security bodies have begun mobilising outside the Ghazl El-Mahalla textile factory ahead of the strike planned for next Sunday, April 6, calling for better pay and conditions. According to the website egyworkers.blogspot.com eight central security trucks containing police officers, soldiers and groups of the plainclothes police used to intimidate and attack protestors during …

CAIRO: Nine members of the Muslim Brotherhood were arrested on Tuesday as thousands of Islamists held widespread protests against a crackdown by the authorities, security sources said. In Tanta, four were arrested after more than 700 Brotherhood supporters clashed with police, a security official told AFP on condition of anonymity.He said five people were injured …

RAFAH: Egyptian authorities opened Rafah terminal on the Egypt-Gaza border for a single day on Tuesday to let around 350 Egyptians stuck in Gaza Strip for the past two months to return home, a security official said.According to the official, the stranded Egyptians crossed into Gaza when Hamas blew up parts of the border wall …

RAFAH: Palestinians in Gaza demanded Sunday that Egypt release the rest of the Hamas militants they are holding in prison. About 200 Hamas supporters demonstrated peacefully Sunday at the Gaza-Egypt border. They threatened that if necessary, they would take further action to free the men. The demonstrators didn t say what they meant by this, …

CAIRO: Egypt s shameless roundup of Islamists ahead of municipal elections is a bid to fix the vote and casts serious doubt on its legitimacy, Human Rights Watch said on Sunday. Authorities have detained without charge 800 members of the Muslim Brotherhood, including around 150 would-be candidates in the April 8 local election. the New …

CAIRO: Former Muslim Brotherhood member Ali Abdel-Hafeez, who left the group in a storm of controversy last year, has labeled Islamist movements “perversions that lead to divisions rather than solutions. “Islamist movements are perversions that stunt creativity and growth, he told Daily News Egypt. He is now attempting to create a new group called Tayar …

AL-ARISH: Egyptian police stopped almost 200 Egyptians stranded in Gaza who tried to force their way across the Rafah border post on Sunday, Egyptian security sources said. About 70 of them managed to cross before being turned back by policemen equipped with batons, they said. The sources said about 500 Egyptians, mostly women and children, …

AL-ARISH: An Egyptian security official says border guards have arrested 13 Georgian migrants trying to cross illegally into Israel. The official says the seven men and six women were caught in the deserted area of El-Madfouna on the Sinai Peninsula. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to talk to the media. …

CAIRO: The State Council’s Administrative Court reiterated Saturday its January verdict that denounced Mohmoud Abaza as president of Al-Wafd opposition party, calling for its enforcement. The ruling did not indicate that Noeman Gomaa, former president of Al-Wafd, should reclaim his position as the head of the party. However, Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour, secretary general of …

CAIRO: The Arab Summit in Damascus drew to a close Sunday without reaching a resolution on the Lebanese crisis, which was the reason the summit was convened in the first place. The summit was practically boycotted by major Arab nations, and even Lebanon itself was absent. Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan – major US allies …

CAIRO: A number of Coptic citizens have condemned the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) for nominating 15 Copts in the upcoming local council elections slated for April 8. Those who complained believe the nominations are merely a political ploy by the Muslim Brotherhood and do not stem from the group’s commitment to the concept of citizenship. They …

RAFAH: A delegation from Hamas and Islamic Jihad met with Egyptian security officials Thursday to discuss a ceasefire proposal with Israel that was prepared by Egypt in consultation with the Israelis, officials from both sides said. Violence has flared in recent weeks as Israel has retaliated against Palestinians firing rockets from the Gaza Strip. Israel …

CAIRO/MANAMA: The US expressed regret over the shooting of an Egyptian near the Suez Canal by a cargo ship chartered by the US navy. Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said Egypt is upset with the incident on Wednesday. US President George W. Bush called President Hosni Mubarak Thursday to express regret over the Suez killing, …

CAIRO: Ahmed Fathi Sorour, Speaker of the People’s Assembly (PA) made an unusual comment that it was time for the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) to establish a legitimate political party. Sorour’s statement came during a meeting held this week with the defense and national security and the foreign affairs committees to discuss the parliamentary delegation’s recent …

CAIRO: Over 50 MPs delivered angry statements to the government at the People’s Assembly Tuesday, demanding a full and swift investigation into why a US chartered ship opened fire on an Egyptian vessel, killing one man and injuring two others. The throng of statements was led by Abbas Abdel Aziz Abbas, Muslim Brotherhood MP for …

CAIRO: State media says 126 Palestinians who were wounded in recent fighting between Israeli troops and militants in the Gaza Strip were flown to Turkey for treatment. The Middle East News Agency said the Palestinians were flown by a chartered Turkish plane after spending weeks in Egyptian hospitals. Tuesday s flight included some patients who …

CAIRO: Egypt will send only a low-level delegation to this week s Arab League summit in Damascus, state media reported on Wednesday, the latest snub to Syria, which is widely blamed for Lebanon s political crisis. Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit told the official MENA news agency that he would not attend the summit due …