EL-ARISH: Egypt boosted troop security along the volatile border with Gaza on Friday, a security official said, following an alleged threat by Hamas that the group would stage kidnappings of Egyptian troops if its members arrested in the Sinai were not released. The remarks came amid stepped-up rhetoric by Egypt against Gaza s Hamas rulers, …

WASHINGTON: President George W. Bush’s nominee for ambassador to Egypt, brushing aside allegations of interference, vowed on Wednesday to do all in her power to push the most populous Arab country to advance civil and political liberties and to free a top opposition leader. Assured of prompt Senate approval by Sen. John F. Kerry, a …

GAZA CITY: An Irish woman and her daughter who snuck into Gaza across a breached border said Wednesday they were unable to cross back into Egypt. The pair had distributed $11,270 among needy Gazans and wanted to return to Egypt late Tuesday, but they were stopped by Egyptian border guards. Treasa Ni Cheannabhain, 56, said …

CAIRO: Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said that no further violations of its borders would be tolerated in the wake of a 12-day breach on its frontier with Gaza and said anyone daring to cross would have their legs broken, the state news agency reported. The uncharacteristically assertive remarks by Aboul Gheit came during a …

CAIRO: As border tensions remained high between Egypt and the Hamas-controlled Gaza, Egypt’s top diplomat on Tuesday sharply rebuked the Palestinian group, saying the militants were driving the people in the coastal strip to clash with the Egyptians. Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit also said that Hamas should give up control of Gaza’s border crossings, …

JERUSALEM: Israel decided on Wednesday to start building a reinforced barrier along parts of its porous border with Egypt in a bid to prevent infiltration attempts by Palestinian militants, an official told AFP. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his defense and foreign ministers decided on the move after a three-hour meeting at the premier’s office, …

ANKARA: Turkish legislators opened debate Wednesday on one of their secular but predominantly Muslim country s most fiery issues: whether to allow female students to enter university campuses wearing Islamic head scarves. Parliament was to hold a first round of debate and voting on the Islamic-rooted government s proposed amendments to the secular constitution, which …

CAIRO: The Higher Judicial Council has rejected a request from the vice president of the Cairo Appeals Court, Hisham Al-Bastawisy, to travel to Belgium to observe a trial and a European Commission conference to which he was invited. His proposed trip would have involved attending the international trial of several Israeli soldiers accused of committing …

CAIRO: A Palestinian girl, believed to be 12 years old, was killed in clashes with Egyptian forces as a final attempt was made to return the Palestinians back across the border, sources in the area told Daily News Egypt. Clashes led to the death of one girl and the injury of six other Palestinians as …

CAIRO: The head of the UN nuclear watchdog agency said Sunday that he was not concerned about Arab countries using nuclear energy for power development, despite international controversy over Iran s atomic program. Many countries in the Middle East have expressed interest in developing peaceful atomic energy programs in response to rising domestic energy consumption …

GAZA CITY: The two suicide bombers who attacked the Israeli town of Dimona on Monday entered Israel from Egypt after Gaza insurgents blew up the Gaza-Egypt border wall, a Palestinian insurgent said. Abu Fouad, a spokesman for the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, said the operation had been planned for a month, but was made possible …

CAIRO: The White House has nominated to Congress former ambassador to Syria Margaret Scobey to replace Francis J. Ricciardone as the new US ambassador to Egypt in May. The appointment comes at a critical point in bilateral relations. Despite being staunch allies, the two countries have seen a cooling in their relationship recently due to …

GAZA CITY: Gaza’s 1.5 million Palestinians were trapped behind closed borders again Monday, ending 12 days of freedom, after Egyptian forces sealed the last of the breaks in the Gaza-Egypt barrier broken down by Hamas. With metal spikes and barbed wire put in place Sunday, attention turned to how the border crossing would be run, …

CAIRO: Arab League Chief Amr Moussa held an emergency meeting on Sunday Jan.27 in Cairo with Arab foreign ministers to urgently push for progress in resolving Lebanon’s current political vacuum. For the thirteenth time, presidential elections were postponed to Feb.11 as the Arab League urged Lebanon to commit to the given date. The meeting continued …

PARIS: French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Saturday married Italian former supermodel Carla Bruni after a whirlwind romance and less than four months after divorcing his second wife. The 53-year-old president and Bruni, 40, held a low key wedding at the Elysee Palace attended by about 20 relatives and close friends, according to the local mayor …

CAIRO: The breaches in the Egypt-Gaza border were finally sealed on Sunday, bringing an end to the two-week influx of Palestinians into Rafah and Al-Arish to shop for goods not available in Gaza. With aid from members of Hamas – who arrested Palestinians throwing stones – Egyptian security forces closed the numerous breaches in the …

CAIRO: Fatah and Hamas representatives were obstinate over their respective roles in controlling the Egypt-Gaza border at talks held in Cairo Wednesday. Separate meetings were held in Cairo with the Fatah and Hamas delegations, who also met with Egyptian officials. President Mubarak met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, but did not meet the Hamas …

CAIRO: Iranian parliament speaker Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel arrived in Cairo on Tuesday for talks with Egyptian officials amid improving ties between the Middle East s two most populous states, state media said. It s a great opportunity for relations between Egypt and Iran, Haddad-Adel said on his arrival. He held talks on Tuesday evening with Sheikh …

AL-ARISH: Egyptian border guards at the boundary with Gaza on Wednesday fatally shot two Africans, a man and a woman as they tried to illegally cross from Egypt into Hamas-controlled coastal strip, officials here said. The guards opened fire at a group of eight Africans at the southern part of the border wall at Rafah, …

MIAMI: Two Egyptian students at a Florida university, accused by prosecutors of promoting terrorist attacks, had fireworks and not explosives in their car when they were detained, the FBI reported. Ahmed Abdellatif Sherif Mohamed, 24, and Yussef Samir Megahed, 21, both engineering students at the University of South Florida in Tampa, were arrested Aug. 4 …

CAIRO: The Cairo Administrative Court yesterday refused to rule on the case of Muslim convert to Christianity Mohamed Hegazy, who is demanding his new religion be recognized by the Egyptian government. The court refused to issue a decision regarding the case, saying that there was no official decree from the Interior Ministry that had banned …

RAFAH: Hamas hauled away metal spikes Egyptian soldiers placed at sections of the Gaza-Egypt border Friday, defying Egyptian attempts to reseal the breached frontier and curb the influx of Gazans. Hamas blew open the border wall on Jan. 23, ending a seven-month blockade of the Gaza Strip that began after the Islamic group violently wrested …

GAZA: Martyrdom: It’s a word that emanates a ring of fear in every Western politician s heart. Once a chime to the bells of sainthood – such as Joan of Arc or Egypt’s own St. Catherine – the word has a drastically different meaning in today’s world. Martyrdom is a deeply misunderstood concept. While affluent …

CAIRO: For the second day of separate meetings in Cairo, it seemed that neither Hamas nor Fatah was willing to budge from its position while Egyptians tried to broker some sort of compromise. Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas met with President Hosni Mubarak on Wednesday and remained in Egypt Thursday for further talks. Officials …

CAIRO: Egypt and Iran continued working on re-establishing diplomatic ties Thursday as President Hosni Mubarak met Ali Akbr Nataq Nuri, senior advisor to Iranian Supreme Leader Sayyed Ali Khamenei, and Hosain Ragby, Iranian Interests Section head Thursday. The previous day, Mubarak hosted Iranian Parliament Speaker Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel on a three-day visit, during which he will …

CAIRO: Apparently still stung by an EU parliament resolution criticizing Egypt’s human rights record, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs struck back at the international community by criticizing the UN Security Council’s failure to adopt a resolution on the current situation in Gaza. A statement released on behalf of the ministry’s spokesman was scathing about what …

CAIRO: Egypt has blamed Israel rather than Hamas for the recent events in Rafah in which thousands of Palestinians broke through the border to fill up on fuel, food and other supplies. In messages sent to both the European Union (EU) and the US, Egypt s Foreign Ministry said that the Israeli blockade which preceded …

CAIRO: Mohamed Omda, an independent Member of Parliament (MP), announced Monday that he is currently working on a law aimed at giving the People’s Assembly (PA) the right to call the president to account for his actions. However, independent members of the PA are not optimistic that the law will ever see the light of …

RAFAH: Ismailia is a grim place in Winter. During the past week the rain has poured relentlessly and the streets, owing to Egypt’s poor drainage systems, are ankle deep in water. Hopping through the puddles, my companions and I managed to hitch a lift to the other side of the main street, where it would …