- 14 mei 2011
Hussein: Palestine cause is a priority for Egypt
GAZA, (PIC)-- Secretary General of the Egyptian Labor party Majdi Hussein said that his country has embraced the Palestine cause anew as one of its priorities.
Hussein, also a presidential hopeful, told the first session of the Palestinian Ahrar movement's general conference, that the Egyptian people pay special attention to the Palestinian question and to the siege on Gaza.
He affirmed that his country would not allow the return of suffering to the Gaza Strip.
Hussein, who is currently visiting Gaza, called for ignoring rumors about the Egyptian revolution, which he described as a political Tsunami.
http://fwd4.me/01T1
4 mar 2012, 20:30 , Respect -
Maria 16 mei 2011
Security forces fire on Cairo 'Nakba' rally
(1:18) Egypt police fire tear gas at 'Nakba rally'
At least 353 people were injured, one of them critically, when Egyptian security forces attacked a pro-Palestine demonstration outside the Israeli embassy in Cairo on Sunday night, according to witnesses and the Health Ministry.
Activists told Al Jazeera that army and internal security troops used tear gas, rubber-coated bullets and live ammunition to disperse thousands of protesters who had gathered to mark the 63rd anniversary of the "Nakba" or "catastrophe" - the day in 1948 that Israel declared its independence and thousands of Palestinians fled or were expelled form their homes.
At least two protesters were shot by live ammunition, while others were hospitalised after inhaling tear gas or being hit by rubber-coated steel bullets, some of which penetrated the skin, witnesses said.
One protester, Atef Yehia, was shot in the head, while another, Ali Khalaf, was shot in the abdomen. Both survived, though Yehia was being kept on a ventilator and would likely suffer brain damage, his friend said on Monday afternoon.
The crackdown on the protest also marked a setback for activists campaigning to limit the military's judicial power in post-revolutionary Egypt. A senior police officer told Al Jazeera that 137 protesters had been arrested and would be questioned by a military prosecutor. As they awaited questioning, the protesters was being held in Hikestep military prison on the outskirts of Cairo, according to activists and a human-rights lawyer.
Surge toward building prompts shooting
The violence began at around 11pm after a group of protesters surged toward the front of the multi-story office building that contains the Israeli embassy and managed to push aside some of the barriers that had been erected in front of the ground-floor entrance, witnesses said.
The crowd had called for Egypt to break off its diplomatic ties with Israel and for the Israeli flag to be taken down from the building.
Members of the Central Security Forces responded with a heavy volley of tear gas, driving the protesters back with support from military troops on the scene. Witnesses said the army forces - a mix of regular soldiers and military police - first fired in the air to disperse the protesters but then aimed at the crowd.
Protesters responded by burning tires in the street and throwing stones.
"The army was running after us, shooting rubber bullets," said Sanaa Seif, an activist who attended the protest. "I kept on hearing gunfire from everywhere, and someone told me that there was gunfire from the Central Security Forces ... I wasn't sure if it was rubber or live, people were saying rubber."
In the chaos, a friend of Seif's, Youssef Bagato, was shot by a rubber-coated bullet that lodged in his back and had to be taken to a hospital.
Another protester had fainted nearby, and Seif and her friends helped him into the entrance of a building to recover. They found Khalaf suffering from a bullet wound below his stomach.
The group moved Khalaf inside a nearby shop to hide him from security forces but were forced to leave by the owner, who feared they would be found. They moved to a main street and put Khalaf into a cab with his friends to be taken to a hospital.
Yehia, who also had been hit during the initial retreat from the security forces, was taken first to the nearby Om el-Misreyeen Hospital and then to the more advanced Kasr el-Aini Hospital in central Cairo.
He had been struck by a single bullet above his right eye and was awaiting surgery on Monday afternoon, his friend, Sabry Khaled, told Al Jazeera. Doctors said he would likely suffer brain damage.
Yehia, who is in his early twenties, owns an Internet cafe and uses the income to support his three sisters and mother, Khaled said. His father died several years ago.
"He's just like any other Egyptian who loves his country" and wanted to express his anger with Israel in a peaceful way, Khaled said.
Unclear fate for detainees
Street clashes continued for several hours after security forces dispersed the crowd, and at around 4am, Central Security Force and army troops closed in on the remaining protesters and arrested dozens.
Mohamed Effat, a freelance journalist, chronicled the arrests on Twitter. http://fwd4.me/01fN
"They pointed their guns at us, forced us to lie on our stomachs, fired heavily into air, cussing at and hitting us. An officer told me whoever looked up would be smacked on the neck," he wrote. "Last thing was that they took our phones and IDs, queuing us to put in [Central Security] cars while yelling 'Have fun in military prison rev[olutionary] youth'."
Effat was released, but among those still detained were Tarek Shalaby http://fwd4.me/01fO and Mosaab Elshamy http://fwd4.me/01fR , two activists who had been prominent during the revolution.
Shalaby had activated the mobile phone livestreaming service Bambuser shortly before his arrest, leaving some video and audio of the incident posted online. http://fwd4.me/01fS
He had returned to Cairo at around 3am on Monday morning after an unsuccessful attempt to join a "Nakba Day" protest at the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip. The army shut down that demonstration, erecting several checkpoints along the road toward Rafah and preventing bus companies from ferrying protesters from Cairo.
In the wake of the revolution that unseated President Hosni Mubarak and replaced him with the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, the army has exercised nearly complete power, and thousands of Egyptians - including at least hundreds of demonstrators - have been forced into military trials that many describe as lacking due process.
Mona Seif, an activist working against such trials, said that the arrests on Sunday night and Monday morning indicated that the armed forces were still exercising their sweeping law enforcement powers.
"I thought we had started to make some progress on this, as in they started to refer people to civil trials and not military trials, but apparently this is not true," said Seif, who is also Sanaa Seif's sister. "A spokesman for the Suprme Council of the Armed Forces said a couple of days ago that anything that happens within the presence of the army is the army's responsibility ... and since they are basically everywhere, this is them telling us that whatever happens in this country, it will be referred to a military prosecutor."
Human rights lawyer Ragia Omran and relatives of the detained protesters traveled to Hikestep to visit the detainess and gather more information about them. As of Monday afternoon, it was unclear whether interrogations had begun or what charges might be filed.
"We had an idea before that the army and police aren't very good," Khaled said. "But what happened last night and what happened to my friend made this idea concrete."
http://fwd4.me/01fE also http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/05/16/149302.html
Egypt FM named new Arab League chief
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvXkrxjetPg
After a last minute change of candidates, Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil el-Aaraby was elected the new secretary-general of the Arab League.
He will succeed Amr Moussa whose term ends on May 15.
Egypt had initially nominated former parliamentarian Mustafa el-Fiqi, but withdrew the nomination after facing strong opposition from Arab countries.
Usually the secretary general is agreed upon in advance, but this year Egypt and Qatar both nominated candidates. In response to Egypt's last change, Qatar withdrew its candidate; Abdel Rahman al-Atiya, the incumbent foreign minister.
The meeting was moderated by the foreign minister of Oman and in the absence of his Syrian counterpart.
El-Araby said he didn't expect to be nominated or elected. But he thanked Qatar for withdrawing its candidate and Amr Moussa for his services.
The body's secretary general has customarily been an Egyptian, except when the organisation's headquarters moved to Tunis, headed by Tunisian Chedli Klibi.
http://fwd4.me/01YJ
4 mar 2012, 20:30 , Respect -
Maria 18 mei 2011
Egypt: 22 detained en route to Israel
AL-ARISH, Egypt (Ma’an) -- Egyptian security said officers detained 22, all suspected migrants from African nations, who attempted to illegally enter Israel on Tuesday via its border with Egypt.
Egyptian security sources said border guards spotted a group of 21men ten kilometers to the northeast of the Taba border crossing.
When they were approached, a report from police said, the men surrendered without incident and were taken for questioning.
The group was found to be composed of 14 Eritreans and seven Ethiopians, and all were taken to Suez city for interrogation, police said, where investigators learned they had each paid smugglers $1,000 to secure them passage across the border.
A second incident saw an Eritrean man detained as he walked toward the Israeli border two kilometers to the south of Kerem Shalom crossing between Egypt and Gaza.
During his detention a police report said the man sustained serious bruises and cuts when he attempted escape.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=388781
4 mar 2012, 20:30 , Respect -
Maria 21 mei 2011
Egypt border guards shoot migrant at Israel border
EL-ARISH, Egypt (Ma'an) -- Egyptian border guards shot and injured an Eritrean woman Saturday as she tried to cross into Israel without a permit, Egyptian security sources and medics said.
Security officials told Ma'an that the woman attempted to cross the border two kilometers south of Kerem Shalom crossing.
The undocumented migrant ignored border guard's warnings to stop, and forces shot her twice in the knee, officials said.
The woman was taken to an Egyptian hospital for treatment. She told officers that she wanted to enter Israeli for work and that she had paid smugglers to assist her to cross the border without a visa, security sources added.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=389573
4 mar 2012, 20:31 , Respect -
Maria 25 mei 2011
Palestinian embassy brokers Egypt medical support
CAIRO (Ma’an) -- The Palestinian embassy in Egypt said Wednesday that it had provided treatment for Palestinian refugees suffering from cancer, and provide medicines needed by the Palestinian health ministry.
A statement from the office of the medical attache in Cairo said Palestinian ambassador Barakat Al-Farrah had instructed the office to help refugee cancer patients.
Nabil Ali Muhammad, who suffers from brain cancer, and Omran Abdul Fattah Naser, who suffers from lung cancer, received the necessary treatment after fund raising by the office, the statement said.
The embassy also sent 1,000 ampoules of adrenaline to the Palestinian health ministry, it said.
The Cairo embassy's medical advisor, Hussam Tukan, said they were informed of a shortage of adrenaline in Palestinian hospitals by the health ministry, and coordinated with the Relief Committee in the Egyptian Medical Syndicate to obtain the drugs, which will be sent to the ministry immediately.
Tukan added that the Palestinian health minister, Fathi Abu Mughli, had requested around 152 types of medicine and 160 types of medical equipment from Egypt for Gaza’s health system.
Tukan said that communications were ongoing between the embassy and the Egyptian health ministry, in order to provide the medicines as soon as possible.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=390950
Egyptian FM trying to amend Camp David accords
CAIRO, (PIC)-- Egyptian foreign minister Nabil al-Arabi is studying an idea to amend several items and activate other items that have been neglected on the Camp David accords which the country signed with Israel, high-level Egyptian diplomats have told the PIC.
Arabi has been overseeing a board of legal experts and diplomats for the past two months to study the Camp David accords and determine how Egypt and the Arabs can benefit from several items that have thus far been neglected.
The sources said that Arabi is confident that the committee will succeed, even though the treaty was signed over thirty years back.
They added that Arabi wishes to properly apply the treaty and not to terminate it.
One of the treaty's items states that the parties had agreed to set up a committee for mutual financial settlements. Arabi holds that the stipulation provides Egypt the right to receive the rate differentials in gas prices that were supplied to Israel during the former toppled regime.
The foreign minister accused Israel of using word-play to manipulate its interests in the treaty. For example, Israel agreed to maintain peace with nations interested in it, but it has yet to make peace with the Palestinians although they had already agreed to it.
http://fwd4.me/02Kj
4 mar 2012, 20:31 , Respect -
Maria 28 mei 2011
Egypt opens Gaza border permanently
Egypt has reopened its Rafah border with the Israeli-blockaded Gaza Strip, allowing people to cross freely for the first time in four years following the downfall of ex-President Hosni Mubarak.
Egypt opened the border crossing where many Palestinians gathered on Saturday in eager anticipation of the move to head southward. Cairo says the Rafah crossing will be open from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. local time every day except Fridays and holidays.
Jubilant Palestinians also expect Cairo to allow the importation of services and goods including construction materials into the impoverished coastal sliver, a Press TV correspondent reported.
Women, children as well as men aged over 40 will be allowed to enter Egypt freely, but men aged between 18 and 40 will still require a permit.
Gaza Strip's sole gateway to the outside world will remain closed for trade. However, the opening of the border crossing is expected to provide a major boost to the enclave's economy.
The former Egyptian regime was under pressure from the public and some Arab countries for refusing to open the crossing even during the Israeli deadly offensive into Gaza in 2008, in which nearly 1,400 people lost their lives, mostly women and children.
The 22-day Israeli offensive deteriorated the already dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza as many civilian infrastructures were knocked out during the invasion.
Gazans have ever since been facing harsh conditions with minimal supply of food, water, fuel, and electricity.
Egypt kept the crossing largely closed after Israel imposed a blockade on the coastal strip in 2007. The siege has left nearly one and a half million Palestinians in dire need of basic supplies.
Enforcing the Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip, the regime of the ousted, US-backed ruler of Egypt, Hosni Mubarak, had refused to open the Rafah crossing since June 2007.
The reopening of Rafah is likely to rattle the Israeli regime, which earlier said it was "worried" by Egypt's plans to reopen the crossing.
The UN has called the siege illegal and repeatedly demanded that it be lifted.
The new Egyptian government has been keen to review its policy on Gaza since Mubarak was overthrown in February.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/182089.html
4 mar 2012, 20:31 , Respect -
Maria 30 mei 2011
El Arabi says Israel should be prosecuted for abuse of Palestinian prisoners
Egypt's foreign minister, Dr Nabil El Arabi, has affirmed that the detention of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and the torture and killing of some, "represents a flagrant violation of the Fourth Geneva Convection and the principles of human rights and international humanitarian laws". He added, "These violations require urgent investigation and the prosecution of those responsible for inhumane practices before an international tribunal."
Dr El Arabi, who co-chaired a special meeting for Palestinian prisoners on Saturday, May 28, with the Indonesian minister of foreign affairs at the Sixth Ministerial Conference for the Non-Aligned Movement, also asserted that the Israeli occupation "bears responsibility for the continuing suffering of thousands of Palestinian prisoners, including hundreds of women and children". The Egyptian foreign minister stressed that the Non-Aligned Movement "condemns in the strongest terms the inhuman treatment and systematic torture of Palestinian prisoners, which resulted in the death of at least 200 prisoners until now".
The meeting - which concluded with the adoption of a special declaration for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails - also witnessed the participation of the Chairman of the UN's Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People and representatives of the Organization of Islamic Conference and the League of Arab States.
http://fwd4.me/02eC
4 mar 2012, 20:31 , Respect -
Maria 3 juni 2011
Israel wishes liberals in the next Egyptian elections 'good luck'
By Khalid Amayreh
Officially, Israeli officials say they don’t want to appear as interfering in the next Egyptian elections, slated to take place in September.
However, privately, these officials make no secret of their "burning wish" to see the anti-Islamic forces, e.g. the liberals and remnants of the previous regime's supporter's triumph over the Muslim Brotherhood, widely thought to be the most organized political group on the Egyptian arena.
According to reliable sources in Washington and Cairo, Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu last month privately asked President Obama to press the Egyptian government to "restrict the chances of the fundamentalists reaching power or achieving real influence."
Netanyahu reportedly pressed the Obama administration to threaten economic and other sanctions against Egypt if the next Egyptian government displayed more anti-Israeli attitudes, including more support for the Palestinians.
Obama tactfully rejected the Israeli request, arguing that the Egyptians were in no mood to tolerate foreign interference in their internal affairs, adding that any such interference would be taken advantage of by the Islamists to make even more gains.
However, it is unlikely that this will spell the end of Israeli attempts and efforts to influence the post-Mubarak political scene in the largest and most important Arab country.
Israel is very likely to further press Congress, often described as an Israeli-occupied territory because of overwhelming Jewish-Zionist influence over the bicameral American legislature, to exert every possible pressure on the evolving Egyptian regime to observe "Israeli sensitivities."
Meanwhile, Israeli and Zionist circles continued to incite against anything Islamic in Egypt, with a clear monomaniac fixation on the Muslim Brothers.
On 31 May, the right-wing Israeli newspaper, the Jerusalem Post, published an article accusing the Muslim Brothers of using mosques as party branches. The article quoted former Mossad Chief Shabtai Shavit as saying that "every mosque is a party branch headquarters. Every cleric at the mosque is the party branch chairman. A contribution to the mosque is a contribution to the party."
Shabtai, who recently chaired a conference at Tel Aviv University organized by a right-wing think-tank, the Workshop for Science, Technology and Security, claimed that the Muslim Brothers were seeking to create a Sharia'-based state.
Like other Jewish supremacists, who are indoctrinated in Jewish exceptionalism and superiority, Shabtai ignored the fact that Jewish religious parties, who exude a clear-cut fascist discourse, are granted full freedom to participate and influence the political process in Israel without any Israeli intellectual or commentator batting an eyelash.
Indeed, the religious mentor of one major coalition partner in the current Israeli government was quoted recently as telling a Sabbath-eve synagogue gathering in West Jerusalem that non-Jews were very much like donkeys and other beasts of burden, which the Almighty created solely to serve the chosen people.
Statements resembling in letter and spirit the most venomous Nazi propaganda are routinely made by Israeli religious and political leaders. However, such statements don't raise many eyebrows in a society where brash racism and fascism have become the norm rather than the exception.
One Israeli cabinet minister remarked a few months ago that "we have already become a fascist state."
Another speaker at the conference was Haim Asa who recognized that the Arab-Muslim youths were undergoing a real transformation and going through an empowerment process.
"They stand in Tahrir square and in Deraa, they are injured and killed, and they continue to stand. This is an unstoppable process. I don't know what will come next, but it seems the old style of dictators will be no more.
Asa warned that what he called the "new phenomenon of mobs" which he described as "a civil atomic bomb" would pose a greater danger to Israel than an Iranian nuclear bomb."
There is no doubt that the Muslim brothers and other anti-Israeli forces in Egypt stand to gain in terms of popularity from the manifestly-brazen anti-Ikhwan Israeli propaganda. After all, one of the main reasons the repressive Mubarak regime was kept in power by the United States all these years was to placate Israel and protect its interests.
Anti-Israeli forces, especially the Muslim Brothers, were systematically persecuted by the former regime. Hundreds of Muslim Brothers, including the group's leading political activists, spent prolonged periods of time in the regime's slimy prisons and dungeons.
Besides, there is no doubt that any words of praise coming from Israel in favor of any political group in Egypt would seriously harm the image of that group to say the least given the immense dislike most Egyptians harbor for Israel.
One Egyptian journalist told this writer that any perceived backing or support by Israel of an Egyptian candidate would be sufficient to kill that candidate's chances for election or even for public respect.
"Any association with Israel would mean an instantaneous public relations disaster. If you want to destroy a political candidate or a political party, try to link it to Israel.
"Israel is still widely perceived as the enemy. Israel is likely to remain the Egyptian people's main enemy as long the conflict with the Palestinians remains unresolved."
I asked my interlocutor if he thought the next elections in September could produce a government that is significantly more anti-Israel than the current government.
His answer was clear. "Governments anywhere have their own calculations. But, we the peopl, have our own convictions as well. And if the next government in Egypt is to be faithful to democracy and answerable to the masses, it will have to take the people's convictions vis-à-vis Israel into account."
http://fwd4.me/036Q
4 mar 2012, 20:31 , Respect -
Maria 4 juni 2011
Egypt cleric urges unity against Israel
Senior Egyptian cleric Jamaluddin Qutb
A senior Egyptian cleric has hailed the steps taken in re-establishing ties between Iran and Egypt and called on all Muslims to form a united front against Israel.
Jamaluddin Qutb, Cairo's Friday Prayers leader and a scholar at Egypt's prestigious al-Azhar University, regretted Muslims' inability in confronting the Israeli atrocities against Palestinians despite the enormity of the Muslim community, IRNA reported.
“While Muslims live in 54 countries, they lack power, and Zionists (Israel) despite their small population have been able to bully 1.5 billion Muslims,” Qutb said at a ceremony marking the anniversary of the passing of the late founder of Iran's Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ruhollah Khomeini, on Friday.
Citing advice from the Holy Qur'an, the cleric urged solidarity among Muslims so that they could improve in different fields, including economy, politics and military.
“If we can strengthen ourselves in all aspects, then we will be able to make global Zionism bite the dust,” he stated.
Qutb further highlighted the timing of the revolutions in Egypt and Iran and praised close ties between the Islamic Republic and the post-revolution Egypt.
“The Iranian nation on February 11, 1979 and the Egyptian nation on February 11, 2011 gained victory over tyrants and we take this coincidence as a good omen,” said the Muslim scholar.
There is no greater happiness than seeing the Egyptian and Iranian nations stand side by side after their relief from their tyrannical rulers to realize unity among Muslims and glory for Islam, he said.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/183062.html
4 mar 2012, 20:31 , Respect -
Maria 12 juni 2011
Subaih calls for swift international intervention to curb Israeli violations
CAIRO, (PIC)-- Mohammed Subaih, the assistant Arab League secretary general for Palestine affairs, has said that the world community is morally obliged to swiftly intervene and put an end to Israeli violations and settlers’ provocations.
He said in a statement on Friday that the world should intervene to enable the Palestinian people to have their own fully sovereign, independent state with Jerusalem as its capital.
Ambassador Subaih expressed absolute dismay at the escalating Israeli aggression on the Palestinian people, their holy shrines, and representatives at the legislative council.
He denounced, in this respect, the Jewish settlers’ burning of a mosque in the West Bank, describing the act as a serious, racist behavior. He said it would not be the last mosque to be attacked, warning that such behavior could not be met with silence.
Subaih also condemned the Jewish settlers’ rampage over the past four days during which many Palestinian cultivated lands were put on fire and vineyards sprayed with chemicals.
http://fwd4.me/03j9
4 mar 2012, 20:32 , Respect -
Maria 16 juni 2011
Report: Egypt's al-Karama party wants to cancel peace treaty with Israel
Two countries signed peace agreement in 1979; party says peace with Israel is not in national interest, according to Egyptian newspaper.
The Egyptian al-Karama party, whose leader plans to run in the upcoming presidential elections, has said the cancellation of the Camp David Accords is its top priority, according to a report by the Egyptian newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm on Thursday.
Al-Karama party representative Amin Iskander said the party wishes to cancel the agreement "immediately because it’s not in Egypt’s interest.”
Iskander continued, saying “we befriend those who want to befriend us, and become enemies of those who want to turn us into an enemy,” the report said.
The al-Karama party plans to field its leader Hamdin Sabbahy in Egypt's next presidential elections.
A recent poll by the U.S.-based Pew Research Center indicated that more than half of all Egyptians would like to see the 1979 peace treaty with Israel annulled, while only 36 percent of Egyptians are in favor of maintaining the treaty.
http://fwd4.me/04HK
4 mar 2012, 20:32 , Respect -
Maria 20 juni 2011
Egyptian security forces find weapons cache in Sinai
EL-ARISH, Egypt (Ma'an) -- Egyptian police have uncovered a weapons cache in the Sinai peninsula set for transport to the Gaza Strip, Egyptian security sources told Ma’an on Sunday.
The cache was discovered in a desert area near the police station of Al-Hasana in the central Sinai, officials said.
According to police, heavily armed security forces entered the area escorted by armored vehicles and explosives experts. Upon searching, officials said officers found a two-meter deep ditch covered with palm branches and leaves.
Twenty seven detonators were said to have been seized in addition to five packs of artillery shells.
The seizure came as Egyptian police in El-Arish said they carried out two additional operations against suspected fugitives and arms dealers.
Egyptian sources confirmed that 11 were detained in the raids, including two Palestinians who Egyptian sources named as Midhat Ibrahim Abdullah, and Ahmad Abdul-Aziz. Both were said to be fugitives.
Police say the number of fugitives detained in El-Arish since the revolution in Egypt has risen to 64, including three Palestinian arms dealers.
There is increasing concern about the security situation in the Sinai, as under resourced Egyptian forces grapple with criminal gangs and arms dealers.
The cities of Rafah and Sheikh Zweid are of particular concern, as Egyptian security forces have not yet developed a clear strategy to deal with criminal activity.
Bedouin communities vying for power in the area have also challenged state security, and lead to several clashes in the area since the January revolution set in motion the ouster of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=398154
4 mar 2012, 20:32 , Respect -
Maria 23 juni 2011
US presses Egypt to release Israeli spy
The United States has increased pressure on Egypt to release a suspected espionage agent of dual American-Israeli nationality.
Gary Ackerman from the US House Foreign Affairs Committee has entered talks with Egyptian authorities over Ilan Chaim Grapel's release, the Associated Press reported on Thursday.
He claimed accusations against the 27-year-old Grapel were false.
“I would describe this as an understandable mistake that should be quickly remedied,” the official said.
The suspect had reportedly emigrated from the US to Israel and worked for the Israeli spy agency of Mossad. He was arrested in Cairo on June 12.
He is accused of collecting information about the developments in Egypt during the country's popular revolution, which toppled the pro-Israeli regime of Hosni Mubarak.
Grapel is also suspected of trying to recruit young people to commit treason against Egypt during the popular demonstrations in the capital of Cairo's protest hub of Liberation Square.
Upon his arrest, an Egyptian judiciary source said, “He was there on a daily basis inciting youths towards sectarian strife. He was distributing money to some of them,” adding that he tried to provoke the potential recruits to fight the Egyptian armed forces.
Egyptian judicial sources have referred to Grapel as an intelligence officer. He has a history of enlistment with Israel's military and fought against Lebanon during the 33-Day War in 2006.
Ackerman, however, claimed Grapel was a US law student and served as his intern in 2002.
“He is not a spy. He is a kid in college, acting like a kid in college,” the official said.
“He is a momentary distraction from what their situation and problems are.”
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/185943.html
4 mar 2012, 20:32 , Respect -
Maria 24 juni 2011
AOHR in the UK calls on Egypt to disclose information on six Palestinian prisoners
LONDON, (PIC)-- The Arab Organisation for Human Rights in the UK (AOHRUK) condemned the “excesses” of the Egyptian authorities regarding six Palestinian prisoners who disappeared several years ago and no one knows anything about them calling on the Supreme Military Council to disclose information about them and held it responsible for any negligence in investigating their fate.
AOHRUK said in a statement on Thursday that after the success of the Egyptian revolution it was hoped that justice would be done, especially to those who have been arbitrarily detained and tortured because of their political affiliation, or as in the case of the detainees from Gaza for trying to earn a living and their determination to break the siege imposed by the Israeli occupation on Gaza.
The organisation said that there were six Palestinians who were detained in Egypt and no one knows what happened to them and that based on a complaint by the families of the detainees the Egyptian authorities were contacted to find out any information about them, but no convincing answers were given.
The organisation added that Palestinians who were freed from Egyptian jails after the revolution were asked about them, but said they never met them in any of the Egyptian jails or know anything about them.
AOHRUK further said that since the very beginning of their arrest, those detainees disappeared and they were not allowed to be seen by their families or lawyers.
The organisation urged the Egyptian authorities to look into the cases of those who were detained by the previous regime so that justice may be served.
The organisation further called on the Arab League and the Red Cross to intervene so that the fate of those prisoners can be cleared.
The prisoners are:
Name............................Charge.......Years in detention.......Place of detention
Ala’ Muhammad al-Mansi----No charge----3.5 years----Not Known
Abdul-Rahman Al-Najjar-----No charge----3.5 years----Not Known
Luai al-Aghbawi---------------No charge-----4 years-----Not Known
Hamdi al-Fsais-----------------No charge-----4 years-----Not Known
Muhammad Hammad---------No charge-----3 years-----Not Known
Hasan Hanif--------------------No charge-----4 years-----Not Known
http://fwd4.me/04l3
Egyptian business man and two Zionists served life sentences for spying
Tariq Abdel-Razzaq Hussain
CAIRO, (PIC)-- The Egyptian State Security Supreme Court in Cairo sentenced an Egyptian businessman and two Zionists to life imprisonment for spying for Israel.
The indictment states that Israel established a company in China for Egyptian businessman, Tariq Abdel-Razzaq Hussain (37 years) as a cover for his spying work.
The court said that the two Zionists who were sentenced in absentia were Edi Moshe and Joseph Demor, both of whom are Mossad officers.
Hussain tried during his work with the Mossad to recruit agents in the Arab world. The Editor-in-Chief of the Lebanese al-Deyar newspaper, Charl Ayoub, said that Hussain asked him if he could give talks in China, Thailand and South Africa about the middle east offering him first class travel and hotel accommodation and all expenses paid through a credit card which Hussain would provide him with as soon as he arrives in China.
http://fwd4.me/04kH
Update: Egyptian sentenced to 25 years for spying for Israel
CAIRO (AFP) -- An Egyptian accused of spying for Israel was sentenced on Thursday to 25 years in jail by a special court.
Cairo's supreme state security court found Tarek Abdel Razek and two Israeli officers guilty of "acts of espionage" on Israel's behalf.
The court sentenced the two officers in absentia to 25 years in jail. According to the Egyptian judiciary both worked for Israel's Mossad intelligence agency.
Razek, who runs an import-export company, was accused of providing the two Israelis, from May 2007 to May 2010, with information on Egyptians, Syrians and Lebanese working in the field of telecommunications and selecting those most likely to cooperate with Mossad.
He reportedly confessed that his two Israeli contacts asked him to travel many times to Syria with a fake name under the pretext of purchasing local products, whereas the real aim of his trip was to give funds to a Syrian security officer working in a "sensitive" area.
Egypt's official press said his confession had led to three espionage cells being dismantled in Lebanon and Syria.
Relations between Israel and Egypt, which became the first Arab state to sign a peace treaty with the country in 1979, have been tense since a popular uprising ousted former president Hosni Mubarak in February.
Egyptian authorities on June 12 arrested an alleged Israeli officer working for the Mossad intelligence agency on charges of spying.
Israeli-American Ilan Grapel, 27, is accused of sowing sectarian strife and chaos, the official MENA news agency had reported.
Israel's foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman denied the allegations.
"I can say categorically that this student, who may have behaved bizarrely and irresponsibly, has no ties with Israeli, American or even lunar intelligence services," Lieberman said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=399288
4 mar 2012, 20:33 , Respect -
Maria 26 juni 2011
Report: Egypt kills 4 migrants on Israel border
EL-ARISH, Egypt (Ma'an) -- Egyptian security officials said border police on Saturday shot dead four undocumented migrants trying to enter Israel, the Israeli news site Ynet reported.
According to the report, Egyptian border guards shot the group after they ignored warnings to stop.
The Sinai desert border has become a major route for African migrants seeking jobs, with thousands fleeing their countries and heading to Israel via Egypt, in search of work.
Israel last November began building a 250-kilometer fence along the border aimed at stopping the influx of migrants.
In October 2010, the New York-based Human Rights Watch urged Egypt to stop shooting migrants, saying its security forces since 2007 had killed at least 85 people trying to enter Israel illegally.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=399832