CAIRO: Members of the Lawyers’ Syndicate Freedoms Committee organized a protest outside the Supreme Court on Wednesday against what it regards as the public prosecutor s failure to hold policemen accused of torture and other human rights violations accountable for their actions. Over 30 lawyers and human rights activists stood on the court’s steps bearing …

TEHRAN: Deputy Foreign Minister Hussein Dirar on Wednesday met Iranian officials during a first official Egyptian visit to Tehran since diplomatic relations were broken off 27 years ago. Dirar, who arrived in Iran late on Tuesday, brought a message from Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit for his Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki. The two sides discussed …

CAIRO: New York-based watchdog Human Rights Watch (HRW) released yesterday a new report accusing the Egyptian authorities of fabricating a high-profile terrorism case in 2006 by using torture and coerced confessions. The 74-page report entitled “Anatomy of a State Security Case: The ‘Victorious Sect’ Arrests said that the authorities had “little or no evidence for …

CAIRO: The tap dance that is Egyptian-Iranian relations will apparently continue as a Foreign Ministry envoy heads to Iran to discuss bilateral relations. Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit told reporters Monday, “This [visit] will happen over the next two days, adding that Deputy Foreign Minister for Asian Affairs Hussein Dirar will be the one traveling …

CAIRO: Real estate tax employees continue to stand firm eight days after they began their strike, demanding to be returned under the Finance Ministry’s authority as opposed to the local municipalities. Employees remain resolute following the Minister of Finance Youssef Boutros Ghali’s contradictory statements concerning the strike. “These vague dates Ghali proposed do not give …

CAIRO: The status of human rights in Egypt has taken a hard hit throughout the war on terror mainly because of the vague definition of terrorism charges in the country’s legal system, one judge argues. Last week, Judge Alaa El Shimy from the Justice Minister’s Bureau for Human Rights Affairs talked to legal scholars at …

CAIRO: In spite of his concerns of possible censorship, journalist Mohamed Al-Baz said the independent press will not be monitored by the Central Audit Bureau (CAB) unless they commit financial violations. Al-Baz told Daily News Egypt that the State Council’s new decree issued last week giving CAB the authority to monitor and audit the financial, …

PARIS: Libyan leader Col. Moammar Qaddafi takes a giant stride toward international respectability Monday, making a visit to France likely to conclude with deals worth millions, but drawing protests including from a government minister. Qaddafi s capricious habits complicated the official choreography of the visit. First planned as a three-day stay, the Libyan leader doubled …

CAIRO: Egypt has declared its “shock over recent Israeli plans to build more settlements in East Jerusalem, saying that this is in direct contravention of the agreement drawn up between the Palestinians and Israelis in Annapolis late last month. Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit has claimed that Israel has already contradicted the commitments made in …

CAIRO: Muslim Brotherhood financier Mohamed Khayrat El-Shater was summoned for interrogation Monday on account of a translation error in an edition of the Quran published by a printing house he owns. According to MB lawyer Abdel Moneim Abdel Maqsoud, El-Shater was called into questioning over the Quranic edition because there was one verse whose interpretation …

CAIRO: Statements made by President Hosni Mubarak and those made by the Cabinet over the new subsidies program do not conflict, Cabinet spokesman Magdi Radi told Daily News Egypt. Last week, the Associated Press reported that Mubarak opposed Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif’s statement that Egypt plans to do away with its antiquated subsidies program, suggesting …

BERLIN: Several employees at the German embassies in Cairo and Moscow have been fired after authorities discovered that possibly hundreds of visas were issued to people based on forged documents, the Foreign Ministry said Saturday. The ministry discovered the cases during a regular inspection of embassy operations, a spokesman said on condition of anonymity, confirming …

LISBON: EU and African leaders pledged Sunday to create a new partnership of equals at a summit marked by rows over trade and Darfur and a vitriolic attack by Zimbabwe s Robert Mugabe on European arrogance. After two days of what hosts Portugal described as no-holds barred debate, leaders of the two continents put their …

CAIRO: President of the Journalists’ Syndicate Makram Mohammed Ahmed played down concerns over the decision of the Central Audit Bureau (CAB) to monitor the independent press in Egypt. The State Council issued a decree last Tuesday which gave the CAB authority to monitor and audit the financial, administrative and legal aspects of any independent or …

CAIRO: Egypt plans to do away with its antiquated subsidies program, the prime minister said Thursday, but the country s president of 26 years opposed the move, suggesting it would require grassroots discussions first. The opposition has also criticized such a measure in a nation where a fifth of the population lives under poverty line. …

CAIRO: Without a personal computer and through Internet cafés, 22-year-old Al-Azhar University student Abdel Kareem Nabil Soliman, known as Kareem Amer, created a blog under the name “Kareem Amer. The blog focused on criticizing Islam, Al-Azhar education and the President. During sectarian strife in Alexandria he supported the Copts. But being unconventionally outspoken in a …

CAIRO: Arab officials have rejected a UN proposal to set up a regional environmental training center in the Middle East because it would include Israel, a Saudi official said Wednesday. Prince Turki bin Nasser, Saudi official in charge of environmental affairs said the United Nations should establish an Arab-only environment training center instead. “Arabs do …

CAIRO: The trial of Al-Dostour editor Ibrahim Eissa was adjourned Wednesday until Jan. 2, 2008. Eissa is accused of publishing articles in August questioning the health of President Hosni Mubarak which, the prosecution claims, damaged the Egyptian economy by compromising foreign investor confidence. During the previous hearing, held on Nov. 15, defense witnesses had unanimously …

CAIRO: Riot police cordoned off dozens of supporters of Egypt’s most famous jailed dissident as they held a candlelight vigil marking two years since a judge ordered Ayman Nour be imprisoned. No violence was reported at the protest at the downtown Cairo headquarters of Nour’s Al-Ghad party. Some 10 police trucks stood parked by Talaat …

CAIRO: Aid convoy members denied police statements accusing them of clashing with security forces near the Egypt-Gaza border. Police said that members of the convoy rammed a bus into a police checkpoint in Al-Midan, 25 km from Al-Arish near the border with Gaza, and overturned a police car when they were prohibited form passing through …

SHARM EL-SHEIKH: Officials meeting here Wednesday to prepare for the upcoming EU-Africa summit this weekend expressed high hopes, lauding that envoys from both the European Union and the African Union will convene again after seven years. The first gathering of the EU and AU was held in Cairo in 2000. The Dec. 8-9 EU-Africa summit …

CAIRO: Local government-affiliated authorities from Sudan are critical of what they perceive to be foreign meddling, which is prolonging the Darfur crisis indefinitely as international bodies attempt to mediate between the Sudanese government, the rebel groups and neighboring countries. Darfur has entered another cycle of conflict because the main rebel factions have broken up into …

CAIRO: Minister of Justice Mamdouh Marie should be removed from office for his “violent and aggressive policies towards the country’s judges, wrote prominent lawyer Farid Al-Dib in an article published in Al-Masry Al-Youm. Al-Dib described the day that Marie was appointed minister as a “black day. He said the minister had “mistreated some judges and …

CAIRO: Thirteen members of the Muslim Brotherhood were detained Monday, a security source said, in a continued clampdown which the group says is aimed at preventing members from running in municipal elections. “Security forces have arrested 13 members of the group including teachers, accountants and students while they were holding a meeting in Sohag, the …

ATHENS: The Middle East summit in Annapolis could lead to ”comprehensive peace” in the region, including Syria and Lebanon, President Hosni Mubarak said Monday. Mubarak said last week’s US-hosted conference ”will lead to the creation of an independent Palestinian state and will open the way to comprehensive peace on the other two axes – Syria …

CAIRO: Fifty-five Palestinian students from Gaza given prior permission to enter Egypt were detained at Al-Oja crossing by Israeli security forces, according to North Sinai Tagammu Party Secretary Alaa Al-Kashef. The students were part of a 254-strong contingent finally granted permission to enter Egypt and embark on their studies, whether within the country or abroad. …

TAMPA: An Egyptian student at the University of South Florida, who is charged with trying to aid terrorists, says the supposed explosives found in his possession were just cheap fireworks that could only travel a few feet, according to a court filing.Ahmed Mohamed said he made the fireworks, called “sugar rockets, because it was cheaper …

EL-MADFOUNA, Egypt: Bedouin protesters in the Sinai desert exchanged fire with Egyptian border guards on Friday, seriously wounding a 13-year-old demonstrator when an anti-government protest spiraled out of control, witnesses and security officials said.Scores of armed Bedouins from El-Madfouna village on the Egypt-Israel border were demonstrating against what they describe as government mistreatment and neglect …

CAIRO: More than 250 Palestinian students from the isolated Gaza Strip were allowed into Egypt Sunday after having been prohibited from leaving the territories for months. Palestinian officials told AFP that 254 students were allowed to depart Gaza into Israel through the Erez crossing and were then taken by bus to Al-Oja crossing to enter …

CAIRO: British authorities have asked to further postpone sending the case of businessman Ashraf Marwan to court while they continue to pursue their investigations. Marwan died in suspicious circumstances on June 27, falling from the balcony of his London apartment. The death was initially deemed “non-suspicious by British police, but an overwhelming level of interest …