Middle East Aggregator

Egypt's Parliament on Saturday outlawed female genital mutilation (FGM) except in cases of "medical necessity," a condition which could undermine the ban, parliamentary sources said. FGM, which dates back to pharaonic times in Egypt, will now be punishable by a jail term of between three months and two years or a fine of 1,000-5,000 Egyptian pounds ($190-$940), they said. The new legislation is part of a bill on children's rights which has been the subject of fierce debate for several weeks. Those who supported the practice argued it was appropriate when female genitals "protruded too much," adding that it was needed to preserve the woman's virtue. The Health Ministry tried in 1997 to ban the tradition, which affects both Muslim and Christian women in Egypt, and introduced curbs which allowed only doctors to carry out the operation and solely in "exceptional circumstances." The restrictions were further strengthened in June 2007 when Health Minister Hatem al-Gabali issued a decree - rather than law - banning all doctors and members of the medical profession from performing the procedure. The new law, which takes immediate effect, toughens penalties for anyone who is convicted of flouting the ban. Female circumcision can cause death through hemorrhaging and later complications during childbirth. It also carries risks of infection, urinary tract problems and mental trauma. (AFP)

Labels: Egypt, Womens Rights

Egypt deployed hundreds of riot police along the border with the Gaza Strip on Friday, fearing hundreds of Palestinian protestors may try to storm the Rafah crossing, security officials said.

One official said 500 policemen as well as scores of border guards were deployed at Rafah border crossing and along a concrete wall separating Sinai and the coastal strip.

"Hundreds of Palestinians are starting to gather in front of the main gate of the crossing on the Palestinian side demanding it to be opened," the official told Reuters on a customary condition of anonymity.

Another security official put the number of policemen at around 1,000, along with 500 border guards.

The Rafah crossing is the Gazans' main point of contact with the outside world because few of them are allowed through the passenger terminal at the Erez crossing with Israel.

All of Gaza's crossings have largely been shut since the Islamist group Hamas seized control of the coastal strip last June when its fighters routed the forces of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement. (Reuters)

Labels: Egypt, Palestine

A deal brokered by Qatar last month succeeded in ending the longstanding political standoff in Lebanon -- at least for the time being. Some local analysts see Qatar's success as Cairo's failure, saying Egyptian diplomacy has been hamstrung by the ruling regime's closeness to Washington.
"Ever since Egypt moved into the American orbit, its diplomatic role in the region has eroded," Hamadeen Sabahi, opposition MP and publisher of opposition weekly al-Karama told IPS. "In the case of Lebanon, tiny Qatar succeeded where Egypt -- the most populous Arab country -- failed."
On May 21, representatives of Lebanon's two rival factions signed a power-sharing agreement ending two years of political deadlock and governmental paralysis. Signed in Doha, Qatar and brokered by the Qatari leadership, the deal staved off fears -- temporarily, at least -- of looming civil war between the U.S.-backed government and the political opposition led by resistance group Hezbollah.
The accord stipulates the formation of a national unity government in which the opposition enjoys veto power over decision-making -- which will allow Hezbollah and its allies to pre-empt legislation aimed at the resistance group's disarmament. The accord further stipulates the adoption of a new electoral law in advance of upcoming parliamentary elections.
On May 25, consensus candidate Michel Suleiman, a former army chief, was elected to the presidency after the post had lain vacant during six months of political wrangling. (IPS)

Labels: Egypt, Lebanon, Qatar, U.S.

After another round of Egypt-brokered talks between Israel and Palestinian resistance factions, a cessation of hostilities remains elusive as ever. According to statements by both sides, failure to achieve a degree of calm in the short term could lead instead to open confrontation.
"Both sides appear to be heading not to a ceasefire but towards military escalation," Abdelaziz Shadi, political science professor and coordinator of the Israeli studies programme at Cairo University, told IPS.
Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman made a quick trip last month to Tel Aviv where he tried to persuade Israeli leaders to back an Egyptian proposal for a calming of hostilities, or "tahdia", between the Hebrew state and Palestinian resistance factions.
In April, Suleiman convinced resistance group Hamas, along with a dozen smaller resistance factions, to sign on to the plan.
The initiative calls for a halt to Israeli military assaults on targets in the Gaza Strip in return for an end to the firing of Palestinian rockets on Israeli towns. In addition to a cessation of hostilities, the Egyptian proposal also calls for the reopening of border crossings -- including Egypt's Rafah terminal.
Since Hamas wrested control of the territory almost a year ago (after winning an election in 2006), virtually all routes in and out of the Gaza Strip have been hermetically sealed by the Israeli authorities.
Under the terms of the proposal, the ceasefire would initially apply only to the Gaza Strip. In the event that the truce holds, it would be extended to the West Bank, governed by the western-backed Fatah Party of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
But the offer met with a tepid response by Israeli officials, who insisted on attaching several of their own conditions. (IPS)

Labels: Egypt, Israel, Palestine

Three men detained over recent deadly protests at Egypt's biggest textile plant over price hikes and pay demands have been released after weeks of "torture," one of the workers said on Monday. "We were subjected to electric shocks, to beatings and there was no food and or drink for the first few days," blogger Karim al-Beheiri told AFP a day after his release. "We went through weeks of torture and humiliation." Beheiri, Tarek Amin and Kamal al-Fayoumy were arrested on April 6 at the Misr Spinning and Weaving company in the Nile Delta industrial city of Mahalla after riots which left three people dead and hundreds detained. They were accused of "inciting unrest, damage to property and demonstrating," a security official told AFP. The three were fired from their jobs after their arrest, said Beheiri, whose detention was condemned by international rights groups. "Many of us had never seen the inside of a prison before," Beheiri said, describing his first weeks at Borg al-Arab prison near the Mediterranean city of Alexandria sharing a small cell with 25 people as "terrifying." "We had bread thrown at us. They would dip their hands in our food before throwing it at us," said Beheiri who, with the others, staged two hunger strikes while in detention. On April 16, the prosecution ordered the release of several detainees including Beheiri, Fayoumy and Amin, but the three remained behind bars until Sunday. Beheiri said that during interrogations at state security offices in various Egyptian cities, questioning focused mainly on his blog and on his connections to other bloggers. "It's the new fashion," he said of a large-scale crackdown against Egypt's cyber-dissidents. In recent months Egypt has seen a number of strikes and protests against low salaries and price rises that have been one of the most serious challenges to the regime of veteran President Hosni Mubarak.(AFP)

Labels: Egypt, Free Speech, Torture

A parliamentary majority approved a two-year extension of Egypt's longstanding emergency law last week. While opposition figures and human rights groups blasted the decision, government officials justified the move by pointing to the ostensible threat of terrorism.
"The storm of terrorism blows strong around us and our enemies lie in wait," Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif told the assembly in advance of the vote. "Ordinary laws will not be enough to stop them."
Early Monday (May 26), President Hosni Mubarak abruptly issued a decree requesting an official extension of the state of national emergency until Jun. 1, 2010. Hours later, with virtually no time for debate, the assembly -- dominated by Mubarak's ruling National Democratic Party -- granted the request.
The emergency law, in place since the assassination of former president Anwar Sadat in 1981, grants the government sweeping powers of arrest without charge. It also gives the state free reign to censor media, ban popular demonstrations and conduct extensive surveillance on citizens suspected of representing a "danger to national security."
The law was last extended in May of 2006, only days after a spate of bomb attacks in the Red Sea resort town of Dahab. At the time, opposition parliamentarians wore conspicuous black sashes bearing the slogan "No to Emergency".
In the absence of official figures, local rights activists say tens of thousands of people currently remain in detention -- some for more than a decade -- under the emergency law. (IPS)

Labels: Egypt, Human Rights

Egyptian police seized a cache of weapons including anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles in the Sinai desert near the Gaza border on Saturday, security sources said.

Police found at least five boxes of weapons hidden in mountains about 77 km (48 miles) south of the border town of Rafah, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The cache included about 30 anti-aircraft missiles, 3,000 bullets as well as rifles, they said.

Police cordoned off the area but made no arrests, the sources said.

Israel has accused Egypt of not doing enough to stop arms reaching Palestinian factions through the Sinai desert and Egyptian authorities publicize their activities to stop smuggling and illegal crossings.

A halt to the smuggling is among Israeli conditions for considering an Egyptian-proposed ceasefire with Islamist militant group Hamas in Gaza.

The area where the cache was found was also used by militant groups accused of bombings in 2004 and 2005 in the Egyptian resorts of Taba and Sharm el-Sheikh, the sources said. (Reuters)

Labels: Egypt, Palestine

Fifteen years after police took away her husband, Zeinab Ahmed says she has lost hope he will return to help raise their daughter, born while he was in jail.

Mohamed el-Leithi stood trial in a military court with dozens of Islamists charged with belonging to the radical group Vanguards of Conquest. He was acquitted but remains in jail under an emergency law that allows police to hold suspects for long periods without charge.

"Where is justice?" said Ahmed, wearing a black veil that only showed eyes welling with tears. "Drug dealers get out of jail. Murderers get out of jail. What has he done?"

About 18,000 Egyptians are detained without charge under the emergency law, in force since Islamist militants assassinated President Anwar Sadat in 1981, Amnesty International says.

The prospect for their early release diminished this week when parliament extended the law for two years. Local and international human rights groups accuse the ruling establishment of using it to crush dissent. (Reuters)

Labels: Egypt, Human Rights

About 18,000 people are being held in Egyptian jails without charge or trial, Amnesty International said on Wednesday, two days after emergency laws allowing their continued detention were renewed. "Some 18,000 people continue to be detained without charge or trial on the orders of the Interior Ministry under the emergency law," the London-based right group said in its annual report. Most are held in conditions amounting to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, with hundreds reportedly sick with ailments including tuberculosis and skin diseases, it said. Amnesty said that many detainees were still being held despite their acquittal by courts and repeated orders for their release. Egypt on Monday extended for another two years the 27-year-old state of emergency that allows detainees to be held without charge or trial, in a move slammed by rights groups as anti-constitutional. The state of emergency was first imposed in 1981 after the assassination by Islamists of President Anwar Sadat and has been repeatedly renewed since then despite protests from rights groups and regime opponents. Last year, Judicial and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mufid Shehab said the state of emergency would end in 2008, even if a new anti-terror law meant to replace it was not ready. An Egyptian inmate told AFP on Sunday that 280 prisoners at Borg al-Arab jail, near the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, had started a hunger strike over their continued detention despite repeated court orders for their release. (AFP)

Labels: Amnesty International, Egypt, Human Rights, Judiciary

Egypt has extended a controversial decades-old state of emergency by two years from June 1, despite pledges it would be replaced by new legislation.

Parliament passed the law on Monday after a debate following a decision by Hosni Mubarak, Egypt's president, a parliamentary official said.

The state of emergency was imposed in 1981, following the assassination by Islamists of Anwar Sadat, Egypt's former president.

It has been repeatedly renewed despite protests from rights groups and regime opponents.

Last year Mufid Shehab, the judicial and parliamentary affairs minister, said the state of emergency would end in 2008, even if the new anti-terror law meant to replace it was not ready.

"The state of emergency has for decades been one of the main causes of human rights violations in Egypt," Hafez Abu Sada, the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights, told the AFP news agency. (Al Jazeera)

Labels: Egypt, Human Rights

The Israeli Embassy in Cairo said on Sunday that a delegation of elderly Egyptian-born Jews was forced to cancel a visit to Egypt because they were unable to find accommodation following a local media storm over their trip.
Israeli press attache Shani Cooper-Zubida says that the group had just come to visit Jewish sites in Egypt and hear a lecture by the Israeli ambassador.
"Unfortunately they had to cancel the visit two days ago because they had a lot of difficulties arranging their stay here," she told The Associated Press Sunday. "After the negative publicity in the Egyptian media, they just couldn't."

The visit was described in the Egyptian press as a conference with an agenda that included demanding the return of properties once owned by Jews in Egypt, a charge denied by the delegation.
Dr. Gabriel Rosenbaum, director of the Israeli Academic Center in Cairo who was scheduled to give a lecture to the delegation, said the whole event was grossly mispresented in the Egyptian media as a conference rather than just a visit.
"The average age of these people was between 70 and 80, not all of them in good health condition," he said. "Before they die, they just wanted to come see Egypt, to see the synagogues, to see maybe the tombs of their fathers and then go away."

He said that plenty of tourists, students and other delegations from Israel have visited Egypt and his center in the past without any incident. (Haaretz)

Labels: Egypt, Israel

Egyptian authorities have arrested 13 members of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood, a security official told AFP on Sunday. Nine members of the banned group were arrested on Sunday in the Nile Delta town of Abu Hammad in Sharqiya Province "for trying to organize a speech at a mosque after prayers," the official said. Two others were detained in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria on Saturday and another two in the Nile Delta city of Menufiya on the same day, all accused of "belonging to an illegal organization." The Muslim Brotherhood is officially banned, although its members are openly politically active. The group controls one fifth of seats in Parliament where its members sit as "independents" because of their banned status. (AFP)

Labels: Egypt

A top Israeli official met Egyptian mediators in Cairo on Sunday in the latest bid to find a truce with Hamas in the Gaza Strip but Israel's internal security chief cast doubt on the chances of success.

Amos Gilad, a senior aide to Defence Minister Ehud Barak, met Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman who has been mediating between Israel and Palestinian militant factions, including the Islamist movement Hamas which has ruled Gaza for almost a year

Israel refuses to talk directly to the Islamist group, which it considers a terrorist organisation.

Hamas has demanded the lifting of the crippling blockade of Gaza, which Israel says it imposed in a bid to force militants to stop attacking it with rockets and mortar rounds.

The violence in and around Gaza has cast a shadow over peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians which were revived in November but have made only faltering progress.

Yuval Diskin, the head of Israel's internal security service Shin Beth, was quoted by a senior government official as casting doubt on the success of the Gaza truce efforts. (AFP)

Labels: Egypt, Hamas, Israel, Palestine

The Egyptian government plans a one-year extension to an emergency law that grants police sweeping powers of arrest, an official said on Sunday.

Hours earlier security forces detained 18 members of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood.

The official, who asked not to be named, said the government would shortly present to parliament a bill to extend the emergency law, which expires at the end of the month, after failing to prepare in time an anti-terrorism law that would encapsulate similar powers.

The emergency law, which has been in force since 1981, allows the police to hold people without charge for long periods and enables the authorities to refer civilians to military courts, where defendants have fewer rights.

Human rights groups say some detainees have been in custody more than 10 years without trial or charge. Along with the opposition, they accuse the government of abusing the emergency law to target political dissidents and predict it will continue the same practices when the anti-terrorism law is passed. The government denies these charges.

"Comparing the emergency law and the anti-terrorism law is like comparing the devil and the deep blue sea," Mohamed Habib, the Muslim Brotherhood deputy leader, told Reuters. (Reuters)

Labels: Egypt, Human Rights

On his trip to the region this week, U.S. President George W. Bush dismayed even his staunchest Arab allies by expressing unprecedented levels of U.S. support for Israel. In a rare sign of Egyptian displeasure with Washington, President Hosni Mubarak left a major economic summit before Bush had a chance to deliver a scheduled address.
"The incident revealed serious tensions between Cairo and Washington," Emad Gad, expert on Israeli affairs at the semi-official al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, told IPS.
Bush's tour, which ran from May 13 to 18, brought him to Israel, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. The visit follows an earlier trip to the region in January, when Bush met regional leaders with the stated aim of kick-starting Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
According to Bush aides quoted in the press, the trip was scheduled to allow the U.S. President to attend celebrations in Israel commemorating the 60th anniversary of the country's establishment and to "reaffirm his personal commitment to peace between Israelis and Palestinians."
In a speech before the Knesset (Israeli parliament) on May 15, Israel's official anniversary, Bush went further than any previous U.S. president in expressing both praise and support for the Hebrew state.
Referring to the Israelis as a "chosen people", Bush promised unwavering U.S. backing against Israel's enemies, such as resistance factions Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran. In statements heavy on "Judeo-Christian" religious references, Bush went on to describe Washington's alliance with Israel as "unbreakable."
Amid standing ovations, Bush told the audience: "America will always stand with you." (IPS)

Labels: Egypt, U.S.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) on Monday called on the Egyptian authorities to release a blogger arrested while covering a strike at a textile plant. Kareem al-Beheiri was arrested on April 6 at the Misr Spinning and Weaving company, where he worked, in the industrial city of Mahalla after riots left three people dead and hundreds detained. "We are worried about Beheiri's health as he is being mistreated and has gone on hunger strike," RSF said a statement. According to RSF, Beheiri was fired from his job at the plant after his arrest - on the grounds that he was absent from work. Last week, Human Rights Watch (HRW) condemned the treatment by Egyptian police of an activist who was stripped, beaten and threatened with rape after using Facebook to back calls for a general strike. Ahmed Maher Ibrahim, a 27-year-old civil engineer from Cairo, was arrested on May 7 after using the social networking site on the Internet to support calls for a general strike on May 4, according to a statement by HRW. An Egyptian security official who requested anonymity denied the allegation. A month earlier, Esraa Abdel Fattah, 27, who created the Facebook group calling for the April 6 strike, was arrested and jailed for three weeks for "inciting unrest." (AFP)

Labels: Egypt, Free Speech

Leaders from the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas arrived in Egypt on Monday to hear Israel's response to a six-month truce offer between Palestinians in Gaza and the Jewish state.

An Egyptian security official said Mahmoud al-Zahar, a senior Hamas leader, headed the 13-member delegation which he said would hold talks with Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman on Tuesday. Another delegation of Hamas leaders who are based in Syria will also join the talks.

Egypt has been trying to broker a truce between Israel and Hamas to avoid an escalation that could derail U.S.-backed peace negotiations between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Hamas has offered a six-month halt to hostilities in the Gaza Strip if Israel were to lift an embargo on the territory and reopen border crossings, an offer Suleiman presented to Israeli officials last week. (Reuters)

Labels: Egypt, Hamas, Israel, Palestine

Head of Egyptian Intelligence General Omar Suleiman has warned Hamas that the failure to include kidnapped Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit in a prisoner exchange with Israel will lead to a wide-spread IDF operation in the Gaza Strip, according to a report in the Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar.
"Israel will use a heavy hand against Hamas in the Gaza Strip if an agreement is not reached that secures the release of the kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit" Suleiman told the second-in-command of the militant group's political bureau Moussa Abu Marzook, according to Al-Akhbar.
Senior Palestinian officials reportedly told Al-Akhbar that even though Hamas is ready to include Shalit in a future deal, they are not willing to accept the list of prisoners Israel has offered to release in exchange for the soldier, held by the militant group since he was kidnapped and wounded by Gaza militants in a cross border raid in June 2006.

Israel has asked Egypt to incorporate a deal to free Shalit into Hamas truce talks being mediated by Cairo. The cease-fire talks will resume next week, Haaretz has learned.
A Hamas official said that the group does not oppose including Shalit in the truce deal but would agree to such a move on its own terms, Israel Radio reported on Friday.
If Egypt agrees, it would mark its return to trying to negotiate Shalit's release, after a year's hiatus. (Haaretz)

Labels: Egypt, Israel, Palestine

An Egyptian man has been sentenced to 1,000 years in prison for defrauding hundreds of people out of about $52m.

Abdullah Kamel Mohammed tricked people into giving him money which he promised to invest and split the profits with them. Mohammed would then disappear.

He is believes to have tricked about 500 people out of their savings, starting in the early 1980s.

Members of his family have appeared on TV blaming the victims for being naive enough to hand him their money.

As an unemployed man, his family argue, Mohammed was merely trying to make a living.

Such cases come to light regularly in Egypt, where working middle class people seem ready to hand their life savings to a person they hardly know in return of a promise of 20% profit to be returned on monthly basis. (BBC)

Labels: Egypt

In an effort to offset soaring inflation, President Hosni Mubarak last month announced generous salary increases for all public sector employees. The gesture lost its lustre days later, however, when the government drastically raised prices of subsidised fuel.
"The regime played a little trick," Abdel-Halim Kandil, political commentator and former editor-in-chief of independent weekly al-Karama told IPS. "It announced salary raises among much fanfare and then jacked up gasoline and diesel prices the following week."
In a pre-Labour Day speech Apr. 30, Mubarak announced 30 percent salary increases -- double the usual 15 percent -- for all employees of the state. According to official estimates, public sector employees account for roughly 28 percent of the total Egyptian workforce.
Urging the private sector to follow suit, Mubarak said the step was aimed at offsetting rising costs of living for limited income civil servants.
The President went on to note that the government had been instructed to adopt a number of further measures aimed at shielding the public from soaring inflation. These measures include an expansion of social security and subsidy services as well as a general overhaul of the entire subsidy system.
Ever since a major currency devaluation in 2003, Egypt has seen prices of most basic commodities -- particularly food -- skyrocket. Rising international food prices have further exacerbated the situation in recent months, with the official annual inflation rate hitting 14.4 percent in March. (IPS)

Labels: Egypt

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi can be called to testify in a trial of U.S. and Italian spies who are accused of kidnapping a terrorism suspect in Milan and flying him to Egypt, a Milan judge ruled on Wednesday.

Berlusconi is not accused of any crime and would appear as a witness to speak on the tricky issue of state secrets in the case. Italy's former spy chief says classified documents prove his innocence.

The 71-year-old Italian prime minister could become the first head of government in the world to testify in criminal proceedings over secret U.S. transfers of terrorism suspects, known as renditions.

Judge Oscar Magi ruled that former prime minister Romano Prodi, who handed over to Berlusconi last week, can also be called to testify on the same issue.

Twenty-six Americans, nearly all of them believed to be CIA agents, are being tried in absentia on charges of kidnapping a an Egyptian-born imam in 2003.

Prosecutors say a CIA-led team kidnapped Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr off the streets of Milan and secretly flew him to Egypt. There, Nasr says he was tortured under questioning and held for years without charge before being released in 2007. (Reuters)

Labels: Egypt, Italy, Torture, U.S.

Hamas has said that the release of Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier captured in 2006, will not form part of any truce agreement with Israel.

Israel has said a ceasefire deal must include the release of the soldier.

Cpl Shalit was seized in a cross-border raid two years ago by Palestinian militants, including members of Hamas.

Egyptian intelligence chief was in Jerusalem on Monday talking to Israeli officials about a ceasefire offer by the Gaza Strip's militant groups.

Omar Suleiman has for months been involved in talks with all the militant groups in Gaza - finally producing a joint truce proposal at the end of April.

Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert discussed the subject in a meeting with Mr Suleiman on Monday.

Mr Olmert's spokesman, Mark Regev, said: "Hamas continues to hold hostage the young Israeli serviceman - he must be released."

"Hamas cannot expect Israel to ignore the fact that they are holding one of our young servicemen", he added.

.......................

Hamas leader Mahmud Zahar responded in a speech.... "The issue of a prisoner exchange is completely separate from the period of calm."

Hamas has demanded the release of 450 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the return of Cpl Shalit. (BBC)

Labels: Egypt, Hamas, Israel, Palestine

An Egyptian government-owned Internet service provider has blocked the website of a leading opposition movement, a rights group said Monday, in the latest crackdown on the country's cyber dissidents. "The website for the Egyptian Movement for Change - Kefaya has been blocked in Egypt [for] users who have access to the Internet through TE-Data ... since May 4," the Arab Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) said in a statement. TE-Data, a branch of Telecom Egypt, is controlled by the Egyptian government. The censorship came as Egypt seeks to promote its information and communication technology industry by hosting the International Telecommunication Union conference, which President Hosni Mubarak opened on Monday. "The website is performing normally with other ISPs, but the technical supervisor of the Web site informed us that the TE-Data Co. blocked Kefaya website through the IP address," Kefaya site editor Samir Gad told ANHRI. (AFP)

Labels: Egypt, Free Speech

Israel will not agree to an Egyptian proposal for a truce with the Gaza Strip unless it includes the issue of arms smuggling and the release of abducted IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Monday.
Olmert told visiting Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman during their meeting in Jerusalem that the proposal could not be adopted in its current form.
He said that the issue of arms smuggling in particular would distinguish between a temporary truce and sustainable calm. The prime minister asked Suleiman to pass along this message to Hamas officials.

Suleiman arrived in the region early Monday to present Cairo's proposal for the cease-fire. He met first with Barak in Tel Aviv and then later with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni in Jerusalem.
After their meeting, Barak said that Israel would not be able to avoid a wide military operation in the Gaza Strip, unless Palestinian militants cease firing rockets and carrying out terror attack on Israelis.
"Israel will have to take broader action in the Gaza Strip if the firing of Qassam rockets and mortar bombs does not stop," he told Suleiman, according to a statement from the defense bureau. (Haaretz)

Labels: Egypt, Israel, Palestine

Palestinian resistance factions signed on to an Egyptian ceasefire proposal last month aimed at bringing a measure of calm to the hapless Gaza Strip. In a bid to secure Tel Aviv's endorsement of the plan, intelligence chief Omar Suleiman is expected to travel to Israel later this month.
"The head of intelligence will travel there after upcoming holiday celebrations in Israel," Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said last week, without providing a specific date. During this week and next, Israel will celebrate the 60th anniversary of its establishment.
Ever since Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip last June, the territory has been subject to a series of devastating Israeli military operations, ostensibly launched in retaliation for Palestinian rocket attacks on Israeli border towns. Despite having won a majority in 2006 Palestinian legislative elections, Hamas is described by both Washington and Tel Aviv as a "terrorist organisation."
In April, Egyptian mediators persuaded Palestinian resistance factions to accept a proposal for 'tahdia', or "calming" of hostilities, with Israel.
The initiative calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities by both sides. It further calls for the reopening of border crossings into and out of the Gaza Strip, which has been hermetically sealed by a year-long, Israel-enforced embargo.
According to official sources, this would include the contentious Rafah terminal, the sole transit point along Egypt's 14 km border with the besieged territory. (IPS)

Labels: Egypt, Israel, Palestine

Israel will host an Egyptian mediator on Monday to hear a proposal for a truce with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, though the Jewish state would still shun direct negotiations with the Islamist faction, Israeli officials said.

Following talks with Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman in Cairo last month, Hamas offered a six-month halt to hostilities in Gaza if Israel were also to lift a crippling embargo on the coastal Palestinian territory.

A spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert rebuffed the initiative when it was broached, but Israeli Deputy Defence Minister Matan Vilnai signaled possible flexibility on Sunday.

"Omar Suleiman will come, we will listen to him, we will confer, we will see what he is offering, and on that basis we will make decisions," he told Israel Radio.

"As of now, there is nothing on the table for discussion... We have no dialogue with an organization that flies the flag of our destruction," Vilnai said in reference to Hamas's refusal to forswear violence and recognize Israel.

Another Israeli official said Suleiman would come on Monday. (Reuters)

Labels: Egypt, Israel, Palestine

President Shimon Peres played down Israeli concerns at Hezbollah's move to expand its control, but said he hoped the Lebanese people would step back from the brink of civil war.
Peres called the latest round of violence a "tragedy," but classified it as an "internal split" having nothing to do with Israel.
"It's not a total surprise. We knew that Hezbollah is going to divide the country and lead it to the verge of a civil war," Peres told reporters.

"It has nothing to do with Israel. It's an internal split," Peres said. "It's a tragedy for them. It's a tragedy for all of us. And I hope that at the last moment they will save themselves from a bloody civil war."
Meanwhile, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas urged the some 400,000 Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon to stay out of the current conflict between the Western-backed government and the Iranian and Syrian-backed opposition.
Abbas also warned against attempts to drag the Palestinians into the ongoing fighting between Hezbollah and forces loyal to the government.

...... Syrian and Qatari leaders said Friday that the current crisis in Lebanon is an "internal affair," while Egypt and Saudi Arabia called for an emergency Arab foreign ministers' meeting to discuss the situation, media reports said. (DPA)

Labels: Egypt, Hezbollah, Israel, Lebanon, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria

The main border crossing between the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and Egypt will be opened for three days starting on Saturday under a deal between the Islamist group and Cairo, a Hamas official said on Thursday.

The crossing at Rafah has been largely closed since early February when Egypt resealed the border after Hamas gunmen blasted it open in defiance of an Israeli-led blockade of the coastal enclave.

With U.S. backing, Egypt has been trying to broker an unofficial truce between Israel and Hamas to stop violence that threatens to derail peace talks. That proposed deal calls for reopening Rafah under the control of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert launched U.S.-sponsored peace talks in November with the aim of reaching a deal on Palestinian statehood before U.S. President George W. Bush leaves office in January.

Hamas official Ayman Taha said sick Gazans would be allowed to cross into Egypt on Saturday. Palestinians holding Egyptian and other foreign passports will be allowed to leave the coastal territory on Sunday and Monday, Taha added. (Reuters)

Labels: Egypt, Palestine

Calls for a nationwide protest against the rising cost of living ended in anticlimax on Sunday (May 4), with most Egyptians going to work as usual. Although protest leaders had urged the public to register its disaffection en masse by staying home, the streets of the capital were busy.
"Public participation was considerably less than expected," Hamadeen Sabahi, independent MP and protest leader, told IPS.
"The May 4 strike certainly lacked the popular effect of the Apr. 6 action," agreed MP Sabahi, who also heads the Karama Party. He went on to attribute the strike's poor showing to a government announcement Apr. 30 that all public and private sector salaries would be raised by a total of 30 percent, effective as of next month.
"This announcement -- made one week before the strike -- was the main reason for the low level of participation," said Sabahi.
The appeal to strike on May 4 came on the heels of a larger -- and considerably more dramatic -- general protest organised early last month.
On Apr. 6, a labour strike at a state-owned textiles company turned into a nationwide call for economic relief and political change. The initiative, which was soon picked up by politically minded Facebook members, was also led by the frozen Labour Party and Kefaya.
In contrast to May 4, the streets of the capital -- usually gridlocked with traffic -- were eerily silent on Apr. 6. The textile workers' strike became the scene of violent confrontations between security forces and demonstrators.

In the days that followed, hundreds of people, including labour organisers and activists, were detained by authorities. Although more than 200 have since been released, an estimated 450 remain in detention on charges of instigating strikes and riots. (IPS)

Labels: Egypt, Free Speech

An Egyptian television agency boss was charged by a Cairo court on Monday over helping to broadcast images of protesters tearing down portraits of President Hosni Mubarak during deadly food riots in April. Nader Gohar, who owns the Cairo News Co., was charged with not having a license to provide satellite feed facilities to foreign channels following a complaint by the Egyptian Radio and Television Union, a judicial official told AFP.

Gohar, who is currently in Paris, faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

Three civilians were killed by police during two days of rioting in the Nile Delta city of Mahalla on April 6-7. Demonstrations against rising food prices turned violent when police used rubber-coated bullets and tear-gas on protesters. Footage of the posters being torn down - a crime against under Egyptian law - and the subsequent violence was seen on many TV stations and on the Internet.

The court, which ordered Gohar's arrest ahead of the next hearing on May 26, has already ordered the agency's offices searched and impounded five satellite dishes and a vehicle. (AFP)

Labels: Egypt, Free Media

Steep rises in taxes on cigarettes and vehicle licences and a reduction in fuel subsidies have been passed by the Egyptian parliament.

The changes will be used to cover the cost of a 30 per cent pay rise for public-sector workers announced by the president last week.

Various forms of petrol will now go up in price by between 40 and 50 per cent.

Diesel, used by most public transport, will rise by 46 per cent. Gas used for cooking will also rise.

Economists argue that the move will increase inflation and offset the benefits of the wage increase.

There have been protests in the country over the cost of living, with 50 per cent of Egyptians living below the poverty line. (Al Jazeera)

Labels: Egypt, Food

There is heightened security in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, following a call by activists for a strike in protest against rising food prices.

Extra police were also deployed in the Nile Delta town of Mahalla el-Kobra, which saw clashes last month between striking textile workers and police.

A BBC correspondent in Cairo, however, says there is little sign that people are observing the strike.

It was called to coincide with the 80th birthday of President Hosni Mubarak.

The BBC's Heba Saleh in Cairo says that apart from the large numbers of police deployed in major squares and intersections, life in the city appears normal, with heavy traffic and people going about their business.

"It's normal right now, I don't see any change from an average day," a Cairo shopkeeper told AP news agency.

"It seems most people ignored the call," he added.

The government had warned that dissent would not be tolerated.  (BBC)

Labels: Egypt, Food

The appearance of long breadlines outside state-run distribution centres in recent weeks has raised fears of possible bread shortages. Although the government has taken measures aimed at easing the crisis, experts point to soaring international wheat prices that have made the commodity more costly for households worldwide.
"Wheat prices jumped 20 percent on the local market last year," Hamdi Abdel Azim, former professor of economics at Cairo's Sadat Academy told IPS. "But during the same period, global prices rose by a whopping 120 percent."
According to official statements, Egypt's economy is growing at a rate of roughly 7 percent a year, and is set to grow further. But despite this rosy outlook, the vast majority of Egypt's teeming population of 80 million has yet to feel the benefits of stated macro-economic growth.
In fact, most Egyptians complain that times have never been harder. With inflation soaring across the board, local prices of basic foodstuffs -- including such staples as bread, rice and pasta -- have tripled in recent months.
Per capita income, meanwhile, has failed to keep pace with rising prices. The past year has seen an unprecedented number of labour strikes and demonstrations, with workers angrily insisting on higher wages to meet soaring costs of living.  (IPS)

Labels: Egypt, Food

Egyptian opposition members of parliament demanded the government cease exporting natural gas to Israel, and plan to convene a special session Sunday to discuss the matter.
"This is a disaster that must be stopped," said Husan Ibrahim, an MP who represents the Muslim Brotherhood's Islamic opposition movement.
Ibrahim dismissed government claims that private companies, and not the state, are providing natural gas to Israel.

Last Thursday, the Egyptian natural gas consortium EMG began exporting to Israel Electric power stations in Ashdod and Tel Aviv.
The agreement, signed in 2005, calls for EMG to supply Israel Electric with 1.7 billion cubic meters annually over a period of 15 years, with an option to increase the amount by 25 percent and to extend the length of the contract an additional five years. The deal is said to be worth $2.5 billion. (Haaretz)

Labels: Egypt, Israel, Muslim Brotherhood

Egypt has suspended three tourist firms pending the outcome of a probe into a coach crash that left eight foreign tourists dead and 29 people hurt, the official Middle East News Agency said on Friday. Six Russians, a Ukrainian and a Romanian died early Thursday morning when the coach, carrying 40 people, left the road, hit a concrete barrier, rolled over and burst into flames about 70 kilometers south of Suez. A ninth fatality was the Egyptian back-up driver, while the actual driver survived. Sixteen Russian tourists, along with two Romanians, two Italians, two Britons, two Canadians and a Ukrainian were injured. In addition, two Egyptian policeman and a tourist guide were also hurt. The bus, which belonged to Azure Travel, was traveling from the Sinai resort of Sharm El-Sheikh to Cairo. Clients of the Nasr Travel and Infinity Transport agencies were also on board. Spokeswoman Hala al-Khatib said Tourism Minister Zuhair Garana had decided that "these agencies will be banned until the end of the investigation to determine responsibility for the accident." The initial investigation showed that the driver was traveling too fast as he tried to negotiate a sharp curve. (AFP)

Labels: Egypt

At least nine people were killed and 29 injured when a coach carrying Europeans and North Americans overturned and caught fire in Egypt's Sinai peninsula on Thursday, a security official said.

The coach, carrying 40 people, was travelling from the Sinai resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to Cairo when it left the road, hit a concrete barrier, rolled over and burst into flames about 70 kilometres (45 miles) south of Suez.

Three of the dead were burnt beyond recognition. An AFP photographer at the scene in Abu Zinema said the mangled wreck was lying right side up in the rocky landscape after being completely gutted by a raging fire.

One of the coach's wheels lay a dozen metres (yards) from the wreck, and skid marks were visible where the coach left the road on a tight bend. (AFP)

Labels: Egypt

Gaza is about to reach a "point of explosion" that could lead to another breakout by the desperate Palestinian population, trapped by an Israeli economic blockade, the most senior UN official in the territory has warned.

Thousands of Palestinians surged across the border with Egypt last January after breaching the border fence in order to buy basic supplies which were no long obtainable in the Gaza Strip. John Ging, Gaza head of the UN Relief and Works Agency which supports Palestinian refugees, said yesterday that the breakout last January "was predicted, but the causes were not addressed". Now, he said, "pressure is building again and coming to a point of explosion".

In testimony via videolink to the Commons International Development Committee, Mr Ging said the main problem was access in and out of Gaza.

Describing humanitarian conditions in Gaza as "shocking" and "shameful" because of the lack of basic supplies, he said the closures imposed since last June, when Hamas seized control of the territory, were having a "devastating effect" on the civilian population. Israel only allows minimal amounts of food, medicine and fuel to pass unimpeded through the crossing points, while petrol and diesel deliveries were halted completely last month following an attack by Palestinian militants on a fuel terminal in which two Israeli workers were killed. (Independent)

Labels: Egypt, Israel, Palestine

Egypt's president has proposed a pay rise of close to one-third for public sector employees - to compensate them for recent food price increases.

"It will be about 30%," Hosni Mubarak said in a May Day address.

The pay rise could defuse growing unrest, with a widespread strike threatened for next week.

Wheat prices have more than tripled on international markets since last summer, hitting poor Egyptians - many who live on subsidised bread - hard.

The government had already promised to raise salaries, though the 30% mentioned by Mr Mubarak is double the 15% allowed for in the 2008/09 budget. (BBC)

Labels: Egypt, Food

More than 2,000 demonstrators in the Egyptian Mediterranean resort of Damietta marched on local government offices on Tuesday to demand a halt to the construction of a fertilizer plant. The peaceful crowd carried black banners reading "No to polluting our environment," "No to the factory of death," and calling on President Hosni Mubarak to intervene. Delegates from the crowd met with the local governor in the city 200 kilometers northeast of Cairo, to voice their concerns, an AFP photographer said. Construction of the plant, an $850 million joint Egyptian-Canadian project by a new company called E-Agrium, has already begun on the nearby island of Ras al-Barr, one of Egypt's most popular tourist resorts. Protesters and environmentalists say the plant, planned to produce 1.2 million tons of urea a year, will threaten the local ecology and deter tourists from visiting the area. (AFP)

Labels: Egypt

Egypt's main opposition movement the Muslim Brotherhood on Tuesday threw its weight behind a day of protests over rocketing food prices on May 4, President Hosni Mubarak's 80th birthday. Supreme leader Mohammad Mehdi Akef said the group "encourages any proactive behavior by the people toward their nation's pressing problems," according to the group's Web site.

"The Muslim Brotherhood  [MB] supports peaceful protests that call for the solution of crises and resolving the deteriorating conditions which the Egyptian people suffer," he said.

"The MB declares its endorsement of the call to stay at home next May 4, with the exception of those working in medical and public service institutions, and those who have exams in any educational institution."

A similar day of protest was held on April 6 but participation was sporadic.

Instead, protests focused on the Nile Delta city of Mahalla, where three people were killed by police after clashes erupted when demonstrators pulled down posters of Mubarak.

The group rejected "any attempt to inflict harm or damage to state institutions or public and private properties, and repeats its call on those participating in the strike not to turn peaceful protest into chaos." (Daily Star)

Labels: Egypt, Food, Muslim Brotherhood

Palestinian factions are due to meet in Cairo for talks with Egyptian officials in a bid to draft a common position on a truce with Israel.

The factions are to hold talks with Omar Suleiman, the Egyptian intelligence chief, on Tuesday and Wednesday to further discuss the plan.

"Each faction will meet with Suleiman separately, and then they will have a joint meeting," a security official said.

The Hamas movement which rules the Gaza Strip held similar talks in Egypt last week.

Hamas said it was ready to accept a phased ceasefire that would start in Gaza and extend to the West Bank after six months. (Al Jazeera)

Labels: Egypt, Hamas, Israel, Palestine

Kajbar is a tiny village on the river Nile, selected by Sudan as the site for a $200m (£100m) dam which will flood dozens of surrounding villages.

In theory, hydroelectric power will be the first stage of a drive towards a more industrialised state, and, according to the President, Omar al-Bashir, an important step towards eliminating poverty.

It looks like a worthy aim for a country where the average income is under £1 per day, but it may be coming at a high cost. On 13