Tag Archive for Egypt

| May 15, 2012
No comments

Copts to shun Islamists in Egypt presidential vote

Egypt’s Coptic Christians complained of discrimination under Mubarak but fear it may get worse if an Islamist takes power.

 

CAIRO – Egypt’s Coptic Christians complained of discrimination under former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak but fear it may get worse if an Islamist takes his place in next week’s presidential election.

Long-suppressed Islamists already dominate parliament. Islamist contenders for the presidency say Christians, who form about a tenth of Egypt’s 82 million mostly Muslim people, will not be sidelined, but mistrustful Copts will not vote for them.

The single biggest Coptic grievance and the source of most sectarian violence in Egypt is legislation that makes it easy to build a mosque but hard to construct or even repair a church. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| May 14, 2012
No comments

Egypt Cracking Down on Hamas’ Black Market Fuel

Egyptian security forces in northern Sinai are seizing black market fuel shipments headed for Gaza after deal to sell fuel to PA

Egyptian security forces seized four vehicles transporting unlicensed fuel in the northern Sinai over the weekend.

Security officials said the vehicles were carrying 1,640 liters of fuel in 82 tanks for sale on the black market. A driver was detained for investigation, they added.

Last week, security forces confiscated a truck in the Sinai carrying 10 thousand liters of fuel headed to tunnels under the border with Gaza Strip.

Egypt moved in February to shut down fuel deliveries to Gaza via the tunnel smuggling network developed by Hamas – sparking a fuel shortage that caused widespread blackouts. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| May 11, 2012
No comments

Egypt presidential rivals pledge to review Israel peace treaty in historic TV debate

In the Arab World’s first ever TV presidential debate, Amr Moussa says Israel is an adversary, Abdel Moneim Abol Fotouh calls Israel an enemy.

 

Egyptian presidential hopefuls Amr Moussa and Abdel Moneim Abol Fotouh said in a televised debate on Thursday that Israel is an adversary and enemy, and pledged to review Egypt’s peace treaty with the country.

The two election front-runners, a former foreign minister and a moderate Islamist, squared off in the Arab world’s first ever presidential debate, watched by millions across the Arab world. The two sought to trip each other up on questions ranging from their perspective on Islamic sharia law to their views on Israel during the four hour debate, which was broadcast on two privately owned television channels.

Continue Reading »
Category: Mid-East News | Tags:
| May 10, 2012
No comments

US c’tee moves to control Egypt, PA money

Palestinians would see funding withheld if they made any agreement with Hamas, didn’t actively work to end incitement.

WASHINGTON – A congressional subcommittee approved a foreign aid budget tightening control over money to Egypt and the Palestinians Wednesday following some members’ concern over developments in the region.

The House foreign operations appropriations subcommittee passed by voice vote the $40.1 billion foreign operations budget for 2013, which includes fully funding the $3.1b. US commitment to Israeli military assistance as part of the 10-year Memorandum of Understanding between the two countries.

US Congress - Photo by REUTERS
US Congress – Photo by REUTERS
However, the legislation cut funding for UNESCO, after the UN body voted to recognize Palestine as a member state.
Continue Reading »
Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| May 9, 2012
No comments

Essay By Caroline Glick: War with Egypt approaches (with video)

War with Egypt approaches

One of the achievements of his government that Prime Minister Netanyahu took pride in during a recent speech was the tall fence we’re building along the 220KM border with Egypt. Only problem is that from the video below, it is pretty clear that we might want to have a clear path to the Sinai so that we can preempt the millions of Egyptians that are planning on marching to Jerusalem.
Caroline Glick, Blog Photo

I have said for years that our defensive strategy has got to stop being based on defensive military systems.

Our enemies are on the march. We must embrace the only military doctrine that has ever really worked — preempt them by initiating the war on their territory.

Continue Reading »
Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| May 8, 2012
No comments

‘Egypt launches op to purge Sinai of terrorists’

Security forces in Sinai arrest Egyptians and Palestinians linked to Hamas’s armed wing, according to “Al Shorouk.”

 

Egyptian security forces launched an operation to combat the rising violence in Sinai, with raids resulting in the arrest of Egyptians and Palestinians linked to Hamas’s armed wing, Al Shorouk reported today.

The operations, which included military and Interior Ministry forces, were in response to recent attacks on Egyptian security patrols in the strategic peninsula, the independent newspaper reported today, citing an unidentified security official. It was unclear how long the operations would continue.

 

Image illustrative
Photo: Reuters

Separately, an official with the Islamic Jihad group warned that Egypt could see a period of renewed bloodshed if the president elected in a May 23 vote isn’t a candidate supported by those who adhere to the idea of jihad, or holy war, or doesn’t back the imposition of Islamic law in the country, the independent Al Masry Al Youm reported.Nabil
Continue Reading »
Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| May 3, 2012
No comments

IDF Calls Up 6 Battalions to Guard Egyptian, Syrian Fronts

The IDF has issued call up orders for six battalions to guard the Egyptian and Syrian borders, with authorization for 16 more.

The IDF has issued call up orders for six battalions to guard the Egyptian and Syrian borders, with authorization for more if needed. The orders were approved by the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee as part of a request to call up as many as 22 battalions.

Egyptian Soldiers Lost Control of Sinai

Egyptian Soldiers Lost Control of Sinai - Photo by Reuters

The call up came following intelligent assessments calling for increased deployment of more troops, an IDF spokesperson said.

Former deputy IDF chief of staff Dan Harel said Wednesday night the call-up meant the IDF views the Egyptian and Syrian borders as a “potential source of greater threat than in the past.”  Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| May 1, 2012
No comments

Reports: Iran plot to kill Saudi envoy in Cairo foiled

Saudi embassy official Egypt security services arrested Iranians planning to assassinate the ambassador. Tehran: Absolutely incorrect

Egyptian security services foiled an Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to Cairo several months ago, the legal advisor of the kingdom’s embassy said in local dailies on Tuesday.

Iran's Ahmadinejad Photo: AFP

Iran's Ahmadinejad - Photo: AFP

Egypt “arrested three Iranians planning to assassinate the ambassador, Ahmed Qattan,” Al-Hayat quoted Sami Jamal as saying.

“Egyptian authorities informed concerned parties at the Saudi foreign ministry of the details of the plot, but the Saudi side opted to keep silent on the matter,” Jamal said. The arrests were made three months ago. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| April 29, 2012
No comments

Egyptian Protesters Call Saudis ‘Israeli’

Mob that stormed Saudi embassy in Cairo drew Star of David, wrote “Israel” on walls.

Screenshot from YouTube protest

Screenshot from YouTube protest

Video of the Egyptian mob that stormed the Saudi embassy in Cairo in the last few days shows that the way the crowd expressed its disgust with Saudi Arabia was to call it “Israel.”

The video shows the demonstrators scrawling “Israel” and spray-painting Stars of David on the walls of the compound.

Blogger Elder of Zion commented: “They didn’t call them kufrs, or women, or infidels. No, they used the worst insult imaginable. They called them Israelis.”

Saudi Arabia closed its Cairo embassy following the huge protests that followed the arrest of an Egyptian civil rights lawyer who allegedly insulted King Abdullah. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| April 29, 2012
No comments

Israeli, Egyptian officials in secret talks on gas deal crisis

Behind the scenes, a senior official from the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem was dispatched to Cairo to discuss the disputed gas contract, and reportedly returned several hours later.

 

Officially, the Israeli government has tried to minimize the diplomatic importance of last Sunday’s announcement by Egypt’s state-owned natural gas company that it was canceling its contract to Israel. Behind the scenes, however, the reality was somewhat different, belying the government’s stance that the matter was simply a commercial dispute.

A day after last week’s unilateral announcement by EGAS, a senior official from the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem was dispatched to Cairo.

Continue Reading »
Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| April 27, 2012
No comments

Egypt’s women urge MPs not to pass early marriage, sex-after-death laws

Egyptian women object to 2 new laws: legalizing the marriage of girls from the age of 14 & allowing husbands to have sex with dead wife within 6 hours following her death.

 

The parliamentary attacks on women’s rights has drawn great criticism from women’s organizations in Egypt. (File photo)
The parliamentary attacks on women’s rights has drawn great criticism from women’s organizations in Egypt – File photo-Al Arabiya

Egypt’s National Council for Women (NCW) has appealed to the Islamist-dominated parliament not to approve two controversial laws on the minimum age of marriage and allowing a husband to have sex with his dead wife within six hours of her death according to a report in an Egyptian newspaper.

Continue Reading »
Category: Mid-East News | Tags:
| April 24, 2012
No comments

Germany: Egypt must affirm treaty with Israel

Westerwelle, Germany’s foreign minister, says he expects Cairo to avoid elevating gas crisis to political level.

 

In the first international comment on Egypt-Israel gas dustup, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said Tuesday that Egyptian leaders, present and future, must affirm the country’s peace treaty with Israel.
BEDUIN man looks at a gas pipeline in Sinai - Photo: REUTERS
BEDUIN man looks at a gas pipeline in Sinai – Photo: REUTERS

Westerwelle said that he expects the relevant parties in Egypt to take a clear stance on peace and to not let the gas issue reach a political level.

Egypt on Sunday terminated a long-term gas deal with Israel, prompting a diplomatic spate between the two countries.

Continue Reading »
Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| April 23, 2012
No comments

Egypt ends gas deal with Israel, stakeholder says

Egypt’s energy companies inform EMG they have terminated agreement to supply gas to Israel. Source: Deal’s termination will set Egypt 30 years back, ‘both economically and politically’

 

Egypt‘s energy companies have terminated a long-term deal to supply Israel with gas after the cross-border pipeline sustained months of sabotage since a revolt last year, a stakeholder in the deal said on Sunday.

Blast at Egypt gas pipeline (archives) Photo: EPA

Blast at Egypt gas pipeline (archives) - Photo: EPA

Ampal-American Israel Corporation, a partner in the East Mediterranean Gas Company (EMG), which operates the pipeline, said the Egyptian companies involved had notified EMG they were “terminating the gas and purchase agreement.” Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| April 22, 2012
No comments

In Egypt and Jordan, Brotherhood feels the heat

Analysis: Islamist movement finds journey to power may be more difficult than expected.

 

The euphoria with which the West first welcomed the Middle East revolts has long subsided, as Islamists’ electoral victories across the region spark fears that the “Arab Spring” has devolved into an Islamic winter. But developments in Egypt and Jordan last week have forced the region’s oldest and largest Islamist group – the Muslim Brotherhood – to wonder whether the road to political rule may be bumpier than anticipated.
This week, the Egyptian Brotherhood’s presidential ambitions suffered a blow when the country’s electoral committee disqualified its main candidate, Khairat al-Shater, over a prior criminal conviction.
Continue Reading »
Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| April 22, 2012
No comments

Sinai Bedouin factions demand Egypt amend peace accord with Israel

Demands come as Israel Counterterrorism Bureau calls on Israelis to leave Sinai, citing immediate threats.

The heads of Bedouin communities in northern Sinai are demanding the Egyptian parliament amend the Camp David Accords with Israel, claiming they do not guarantee national security and do not provide for the Bedouin population’s participation in security plans for the Peninsula.

Bedouin Sinai - Reuters - 15.3.12

Bedouin squat over a hilly area overlooking Gaza, in Rafah city, north Sinai - Photo by: Reuters

The Bedouins’ demands were made on Thursday, when members of the Egyptian national Security Council visited the coastal town of Al-Arish to inspect the community’s economic situation and assess the security situation. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
« Older Entries   Recent Entries »