LONDON: British prosecutors on Wednesday dropped charges against a civil servant accused of leaking secrets about government anti-terrorist policy to journalists. Foreign Office worker Derek Pasquill, 48, was charged last year with breaching the Official Secrets Act by passing confidential documents to the New Statesman magazine and The Observer newspaper. The documents formed the basis …

GENEVA/BAGHDAD: A joint new study conducted by the Iraqi government and the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 151,000 Iraqis died from violence in their country between March 2003 and June 2006. This makes violence the leading cause of death for adult Iraqi men. The findings are part of a larger survey conducted on general …

CAIRO: A dispute between two Bedouin tribes, in which security forces intervened, led to retaliation by one of the tribes that attacked Al-Oja border crossing with Israel Tuesday, leaving two people injured. Bedouin spokesman and member of one of the tribes involved – the Tarabeen – Sheikh Mussa Al-Dilh told Daily News Egypt that the …

CAIRO: Under pressure from the US and Israel, Egypt has significantly improved its efforts at detecting and destroying tunnels used for smuggling weapons across its border into the Gaza Strip, a US congressman said Monday. US Rep. Steve Israel, a New York Democrat, said Egypt’s agreement to work with US trainers and spend $23 million …

AL-ARISH: The bodies of 30 Egyptian soldiers believed killed in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War were found in a mass grave in the Sinai desert close to the Israeli border on Wednesday, a security source said. The uniformed bodies were exhumed near Sheikh Zuayed between the Mediterranean coastal city of Al-Arish and the Egypt-Gaza border town …

CAIRO: Al-Qaeda s American spokesman urged fighters to meet President Bush with bombs when he visits the Middle East, according to a new video posted on the Internet Sunday. US-born Adam Gadahn also tore up his US passport as part of a symbolic protest against the US in the nearly hour-long rhetoric-dominated tape – Al-Qaeda …

CAIRO: US President George W. Bush has the responsibility to move the peace process forward after he held the November Annapolis talks, the Arab League chief said Sunday, ahead of the president s visit. Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa said that while he shared the misgivings of many in the Arab World about the …

CAIRO: Judge Ismail Al-Bassiouny, president of the Qena Court of Appeals, was elected president of the Judges’ Club in Alexandria on Friday, defeating Mahmoud Al-Khodeiry, vice president of the Cairo Court of Appeals, by 103 votes. More than 1,000 judges voted for the new president and 14 members of the Club’s board, the seats of …

CAIRO: Egypt continues to reject any conditions attached to the annual US aid package and insists on non-interference in internal affairs. Last month, the US Congress decided to freeze $100 million in aid to Egypt until US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice could ascertain that Egypt was doing enough to prevent the smuggling of arms …

CAIRO: Al- Qaeda announced Thursday that it would soon release a new video message from American-born member Adam Gadahn that would be the first message from the terror group in 2008. Coming soon by the will of God, an invitation to reflection and repentance, read a banner produced by Al-Qaeda’s media wing, Al-Sahab, and displayed …

AMMAN: US President George W. Bush discussed with Jordan’s King Abdullah II developments in the Middle East and efforts to push forward the peace process ahead of his upcoming visit to the region, a Royal Palace statement said Friday. In a telephone call to Abdullah, Bush briefed the monarch on the objectives of his trip …

RAFAH: An Egyptian lawmaker called for calm Friday as at least a thousand angry Bedouin attended the funeral of a man killed near the desert border with Israel. On Thursday, 40-year-old Hamdan Suleiman Attaya was shot dead outside his home in El-Dahniya village just 300 meters from the Israeli border. “We cannot risk creating an …

GAZA CITY: Israeli troops on a night mission in the Gaza Strip killed two Hamas gunmen early Friday as Israel launched strikes against Palestinian fighters that left 11 dead in 24 hours. The simmering conflict between Israel and Gaza’s armed groups has escalated less than a week before US President George W. Bush’s visit to …

AL-ARISH: Nine Africans were arrested early Friday trying to cross illegally into Israel, a security official said. The nine, from Ivory Coast, Eritrea and Mali, were caught some six kilometers south of the Rafah border crossing point, said the official. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the …

CAIRO: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Wednesday that US President George W. Bush must speak out against Israeli settlements during his visit to the region next week, because they were making peace talks impossible. “When he arrives in the region President Bush must speak clearly about eliminating all obstacles which are hindering negotiations and settlement …

CAIRO: Israeli troops at the Kerem Shalom crossing, 3.5 km south of Gaza, opened fire Thursday on Egyptian houses killing Hmeidan Suweilam, a Sinai Bedouin whose house lies on the border. Suweilam’s house was one of 150 houses subject to Israeli gunfire, AFP reported. Suweilam died after being taken to a hospital to treat bullet …

CAIRO: Paris-based press freedom group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) released on Thursday its annual summary on press freedom around the world, citing an astounding 244 percent increase in journalist deaths over the past five years. According to the organization, 86 journalists were killed in the line of duty in 2007 – more than half of …

CAIRO: At the end of a rare visit to Egypt, a senior Iranian envoy said Tuesday the two regional Muslim heavyweights are making progress in normalizing diplomatic relations, cut nearly three decades ago over regional policy disagreements. There is no major problem and everything is moving forward, Ali Larijani, from Iran s powerful National Security …

CAIRO: Egypt’s foreign minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit warned that his country would ”retaliate” diplomatically against Israel if it hurts US-Egyptian ties with its complaints over smuggling into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. Tensions between Egypt and Israel have increased over the smuggling issue, with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni last month saying Egypt’s failure to shut …

RAFAH: Hundreds of Palestinians began pouring into the Gaza Strip from Egypt through the Rafah terminal on Wednesday despite Israeli objections, ending a five-day standoff that left them stranded in Egypt after returning from an Islamic pilgrimage. Estimates originally put the number of pilgrims at 3,000, but Egyptian security officials said Wednesday that 2,152 were …

CAIRO: Security forces in North Sinai arrested around 15 Bedouins on Tuesday night after a protest which saw a government official and his driver injured. Five people were also arrested on Wednesday after government forces stormed their houses. Some of those detained were teenagers, who were taken into custody with their fathers, according to North …

CAIRO: President Hosni Mubarak inspected hundreds of Egyptian troops on Wednesday ahead of their deployment in the war-torn Darfur region of neighboring Sudan to join a UN-African peacekeeping force. Mubarak, accompanied by Libyan leader Moammar Qaddafi, urged the 1,200 Egyptian soldiers to remain impartial as they operate in Darfur, where more than 200,000 people have …

CAIRO: French President Nicolas Sarkozy has expressed his country’s willingness to assist Egypt’s nuclear program, a pro-government newspaper said Saturday.Sarkozy, who was vacationing in Egypt with his girlfriend, made his remarks ahead of an official meeting with President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo on Sunday.”I find it natural for any country to seek nuclear energy, Sarkozy …

CAIRO: Palestinians returning from the hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca) destroyed windows and set fire to mattresses in Al-Arish Monday to protest having to return to Gaza through Israeli-controlled checkpoints.A 67-year-old woman, Khadra Mahmoud Mohammed Massoud, died of a heart attack during the demonstration. Other elderly pilgrims were taken to Al-Arish hospital to be treated for …

CAIRO: Rights groups on Saturday slammed the absurd exoneration of Egyptian police in the killing of 27 Sudanese refugees in Cairo, calling on the second anniversary of the deaths for a new investigation. The five groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW), said in a joint statement there had been a concerted effort …

SHARM EL-SHEIKH: An AFP photographer had his elbow broken by a plainclothes Egyptian policeman on Saturday while trying to take pictures of French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner out jogging.Photographer Thomas Coex and other journalists had spotted the pair out running along one of the main streets of the Red Sea resort …

The tone of Egypt’s foreign policy was scathing in many respects this year, and through it Egypt’s position on most issues were made pertinently clear.January saw Egypt declare its intention to pursue the use of nuclear power for peaceful purposes. The move was seen as a riposte to the then assumed Iranian program as well …

Palestinians capped a topsy-turvy year even by their standards with a schism that threatens to tear them apart and a promise from the international community that they will have their own state by the end of 2008.The year 2007 kicked off with rival factions Fatah and Hamas at loggerheads. Hamas had won the elections the …