- 5 jan 2012
Israel warns Egypt over border patrol
EL-ARISH, Egypt (Ma'an) -- Israeli authorities have warned Egyptian officials to improve monitoring along their shared border, Egyptian security sources said Thursday.
Security officers told Ma'an the warning was issued after 17 migrants crossed illegally into Israel on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Egyptian security officials said soldiers had seen African migrants working for Israeli authorities to build a wall along the border.
Since August, Israel has sped up construction of a giant fence it is building along its frontier with Egypt's Sinai peninsula.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=450351
Egypt charges telecom workers over Israel calls
CAIRO (Reuters) -- Egyptian prosecutors sent four telecom company employees to court on Thursday after charging them with passing phone calls that served the interests of Israel, an official at the prosecutor's office said.
"The state security prosecutor referred four employees of Mobinil telecom company to the state security court on the charge of passing calls to the benefit of the state of Israel," he said.
The official did not give further details or explain the exact nature of the charges but said a statement would be released later on Thursday.
Egypt in 1979 became the first Arab country to forge a peace treaty with its neighbor Israel, but relations remain cool.
Over the years, Egypt has arrested a number of people accused of spying for Israel.
Mobinil is a mobile phone venture of Orascom Telecom and France Telecom.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=450299
4 mar 2012, 21:48 , Respect -
Maria 7 jan 2012
Egyptian officer injured in clashes with smugglers
EL-ARISH, Egypt (Ma'an) -- An Egyptian police officer was seriously injured Saturday in clashes with human traffickers in Sinai near the Israeli border, Egyptian security sources said.
Masked gunmen on a microbus carrying African migrants approached the border fence and opened fire on an Egyptian police patrol around nine kilometers south of Kerem Shalom crossing, security officials told Ma'an.
They said Egyptian officers returned fire and fierce clashes ensued during which border guard Said Muhammad Mahmoud, 22, was shot in the back.
Mahmoud was taken to hospital in El-Arish and the assailants fled the scene, they added.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=45066
4 mar 2012, 21:48 , Respect -
Maria 13 jan 2012
Egypt grants citizenship to children of Palestinian fathers
CAIRO (Ma'an) -- The Egyptian Ministry of Interior has granted citizenship to 651 children with non-Egyptian fathers, local media reported.
Minister of Interior Muhammad Ibrahim said the decision would affect 603 children with Palestinian fathers and Egyptian mothers, Al-Ahram newspaper reported.
Prior to 2004, the children of Egyptian women married to foreigners were denied Egyptian citizenship.
Palestinians in Egypt were left out of amendments to the law amid claims that granting them citizenship would contradict the Arab League’s position to protect the Palestinian right of return.
Two years later, the Arab League said there was no connection between the right of return and the right to Egyptian citizenship.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=452250
Egyptians consider Palestine visit to aid reconciliation
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) -- The Palestinian Authority ambassador to Cairo said Friday that Egyptian officials were considering a visit to the Palestinian territories in order to boost reconciliation talks.
Yasser Othman told Ma'an that Egypt was pushing forward efforts to implement unity between Hamas and Fatah and closely following the work of the Palestinian reconciliation committee.
The ambassador said obstacles to political reconciliation were to be expected given the years of division, but Egypt would continue to support the work of the reconciliation committee.
A date is yet to be confirmed by Egyptian officials, who have played an active role in the reconciliation.
Reconciliation committee head Rabah Mhannah said Wednesday that the group had finalized all administrative preparations and would begin work immediately.
The cross-party committee is tasked with hammering out a number of tenets of the unity deal signed in May, including the release of political prisoners, the reopening of closed institutions, travel bans and freedom of political expression.
The West Bank and Gaza Strip have been ruled under rival administrations since 2007 when Hamas took control of Gaza after winning elections a year earlier. The reconciliation agreement signed in May has yet to produce a unity government.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=452236
4 mar 2012, 21:48 , Respect -
Maria 21 jan 2012
Egypt 'thwarts attack' on Sinai gas lines
EL-ARISH, Egypt (Ma'an) -- Egyptian security forces in the northern Sinai say they have thwarted an attempt to bomb a natural gas line in the northern Sinai leading to Israel.
A group of unknown armed men targeted the line in Rommana village near Beir al-Abed, placing explosive devices underneath the pipes, security officials told Ma'an on Saturday.
Security forces opened fire toward the suspects who fled the scene. Army and police forces searched the area for other bombs and used search dogs to track the suspects.
Also Saturday, Egyptian authorities announced the arrests of six suspected leaders of the Jihadeen who were allegedly involved in previous bombings as well as establishing a "terrorist" cell.
Separately, the Egyptian army arrested three Palestinians attempting to enter the Sinai peninsula via tunnels. Security sources said the men confessed to entering Egypt illegally.
Two Palestinians, meanwhile, were moderately injured Saturday when a tunnel collapsed along the border between Gaza and Egypt, medical official Adham Abu Salmiya said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=454198
Egypt detains 3 Palestinians using tunnels to enter Sinai
EL-ARISH, Egypt (Ma’an) -- Egyptian Army forces arrested three Palestinians attempting to enter the Sinai peninsula via underground tunnels.
Security sources in Egypt said the suspects confessed to trying to enter the peninsula via tunnels underneath Rafah.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=454203
Lawyer: Mubarak had no role in Israel gas deal
CAIRO (Reuters) -- Egypt's deposed leader Hosni Mubarak played no part in drawing up a deal to export Egyptian gas to Israel that prosecutors say helped line the pockets of one of his associates, Mubarak's lawyer said Saturday.
Mubarak, ousted last February in a street revolt, is on trial over the killing of protesters during the uprising as well as corruption and abuse of power during his three-decade tenure.
He is charged with approving the gas agreement with Israel. Prosecutors say it was a bad deal for Egypt and allowed businessman Hussein Salem to make illegal profits.
Salem was a major shareholder in East Mediterranean Gas, which carried out the exports. Egyptian opposition groups long complained that EMG sold gas at preferential prices to Israel and other countries, costing Egypt billions of dollars in lost revenue.
A court that handed Salem a seven-year prison sentence in absentia in October said he and his family laundered more than $2 billion from the sales.
Mubarak's lawyer Farid el-Deeb said the deal was engineered by Egypt's intelligence service under its former chief Omar Suleiman and the price was approved by the cabinet of Mubarak's Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif.
"The prosecution has dragged Mubarak into this case but without giving any evidence against the defendant," Deeb told the court. "Egyptian intelligence carried through the agreement to export natural gas to Israel."
The former petroleum minister Sameh Fahmy was referred to court over the gas exports and former spy chief Suleiman - a powerful figure under Mubarak - has already asserted that Mubarak was not involved, Deeb said.
Egyptians who rose up against Mubarak in anger at a gaping rich-poor divide are demanding he answer for corruption during his rule, but some are starting to express concern that the prosecution's case is not as strong as they had hoped.
Terms of Egyptian gas sales to Israel and Jordan have been reviewed since Mubarak's overthrow but supplies have faced repeated disruption from attacks on the pipeline running through the Sinai border region. No group has claimed responsibility.
Egyptian authorities foiled a fresh attempt to blow up the pipeline on Saturday, security sources said, four days after the authorities announced the link was being reopened on a trial basis.
As with previous attacks, security officials blamed the attack on "an anonymous militant group".
At least eight saboteurs tried to place a bomb underneath the pipeline but residents spotted them and alerted the armed forces, who arrived quickly, said one security source. He said the militants escaped after an exchange of gunfire.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=454230
Gaza govt bars import of Egypt vehicles
GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- The government in Gaza has stopped allowing the import of vehicles from Egypt, officials said Saturday as authorities tried to crack down on stolen cars in the Sinai.
Officials said they are trying to coordinate with the Egyptian side how to prevent the importation of cars which have been purchased through fraudulent means and brought through tunnels on the border.
The decision follows complaints from Egyptians whose cars were stolen.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=454207
4 mar 2012, 21:54 , Respect -
Maria 26 jan 2012
Egyptian speaker rejects invitation to visit Israel
CAIRO, (PIC)-- Speaker of the Egyptian parliament Mohamed Al-Katatni said he refused to receive a letter sent by Knesset speaker Reuven Rivlin inviting him to visit Israel and address the Knesset.
This came in remarks posted on Katatni's twitter page as Israeli fears keep rising regarding its relations with Egypt, which have started to go downhill publically since the Islamic parties achieved a landslide victory in the parliamentary election.
The speaker of the Turkish parliament Cemil Çiçek had rejected on Wednesday a similar invitation from the Knesset speaker and said he could not visit Israel under the strained relations between the two sides.
Rivlin expressed hope that the new Egyptian speaker of the parliament could visit Israel and at the same time he hoped to visit Cairo soon.
He told the Hebrew radio that the peace between Israel and Egypt stemmed from the common interest of the two peoples and the mutual relations would keep bearing fruit for both parties.
He also expressed Israel's fears of losing its allies because of the Islamic awakening in Arab countries.
The Israeli ministry of foreign affairs also issued a few days ago a statement offering its cooperation with the new Egyptian leaders, but the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt responded by stating that it rejects any kind of collaboration or dialog with the Israeli occupation.
The Muslim Brotherhood made it clear that it can never change or negotiate its position against Israel as an occupation force.
http://fwd4.me/0kqS
4 mar 2012, 21:54 , Respect -
Maria 4 febr 2012
Egyptian support for Palestinians isolates Israel
Egyptian support for the Palestinian cause isolate Israel in the Middle East
The Party of Justice and Freedom, a political body of the Muslim Brotherhood (IM) in Egypt, reaffirmed support for the Palestinian people's struggle for the restoration of their rights and the establishment of a sovereign state.
The winner of the recent Egyptian elections - the first after the population overthrew the dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak after 30 years - the party gained 46% of the seats in the new Parliament. For an organization that participated in Egyptian politics for decades, it is a remarkable fact - but not surprising.
With a network of social welfare in Muslim-majority countries, and internationally recognized work, the IM has great influence on political life in these countries.
With governments sponsored by nations like the United States, as was the case of Mubarak of Egypt, the Brotherhood was usually put out of politics, fearful of a transformation that has the approval of the population, especially the most needy, in votes. The Egyptian elections have proved that the hypothesis was correct.
The statement of support for the Palestinian cause was made by the party president, Mohamed Morse, during a visit by Khaled Meshaal, head of Hamas' political bureau, to Cairo. Meshaal greeted the election results for the party, emphasizing the role of the Egyptian population in support of the struggle of the Palestinian people since the beginning of the Israeli occupation. He thanked the Egyptian government for its efforts to end the division between the Palestinian parties and the blockade of Gaza.
Morse reiterated that the Palestinian cause "was, is and will always be in the heart of the Egyptian people and the Party for Freedom and Justice". He also noted that support for the Palestinians was one of the key points of the Egyptian revolution, saying the country's population has always rejected the attitudes of the Mubarak government in relation to Palestine, especially the lack of support for the resistance against the Zionist occupation. Morse added unequivocal support the establishment of a Palestinian state "in the occupied territories, with Jerusalem as its capital. We will also work for the right of return for Palestinian refugees," he said.
Badi'a Mohammed, leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, also expressed support for Palestine. "You have to complete the reconciliation of Palestinian parties quickly, based on principles that satisfy all parties and connects them with full force in order to confront the Israeli colonialist project," said Badi'a.
For the Zionist government, these declarations mean the end of the expectation of maintaining the peace agreement signed with Mubarak after the Six Day War (1967), and the return of the Sinai region of Egypt to the north that was occupied by Israeli military forces during the conflict. Both the government of Israel and the United States had been striving for the preservation of the agreement, signaling to the current Egyptian leaders that, as with Mubarak, it is linked with more financial and military aid.
The MI, however, already have warned that they would bring the peace agreement between Egypt and Israel to a popular referendum. Now, with the election results, and the official statements of support for Palestine and the rejection by the Egyptian population of Israel, the end of the agreement is almost certain. The Zionist country will be even more officially isolated in the Middle East, leaving their only peace pact with Jordan.
Turkey, a former partner, cut ties with Israel as a result of Israeli naval forces attacking the ship Mavi Marmara and murdering in cold blood of nine Turkish peace activists who were on the vessel (in 2010, the ship participated in the Freedom Flotilla, carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza and was violently prevented from traveling in international waters). The Turkish government has closed its diplomatic relations with Israel as the Zionist leaders refused to apologize for the attack and the murders.
Also isolated internationally, receiving criticism even from the UN Security Council and partner countries, EU leaders, the Zionists increase repression of the Palestinians through military attacks, the aggression by settlers, ultra-Orthodox nationalists and laws which enhance the apartheid regime - the most recent prohibits Palestinians married to those born in Israel to receive Israeli citizenship, which will cause the separation of hundreds of families.
For political analysts such as Qumsieh Mazin, assistant professor at the University of Bethlehem, this is a typical sign of one who knows he is losing the game. For him, the Zionist "colonialist adventure" walks quickly to its end.
A closer reading of the statements of the Egyptian leaders also indicates this. Note that Morse, Justice and Freedom Party, spoke of "all occupied territories, with Jerusalem as its capital," not in the territories occupied in 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital, which points to a struggle against the occupation of all of historic Palestine, consolidated with the creation of Israel in 1948.
The statement by Ba'dia, leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, on the right of return of Palestinian refugees and the union of parties, "to counter the Israeli colonialist project" can be analyzed in the same light. The Arab Intifada, that the west named with the misnomer "Spring" (read spring cleaning) increasingly puts the Zionists against a wall they themselves built.
Translated from the Portuguese version by:
Lisa Karpova
Pravda.Ru
http://english.pravda.ru//history/03-02-2012/120404-Egyptian_support_for_Palestinians_isolates_Israel-0/ (That long URL has been blacklisted)
4 mar 2012, 21:55 , Respect -
Maria 5 febr 2012
Jihad group says Sinai blast response to leader's death
EL-ARISH (Ma'an) -- Militant group Ansar al-Jihad on Sunday claimed responsibility for a blast on a gas pipeline running from Egypt to Israel hours earlier, citing retaliation for the death in Egyptian custody of the group's leader the day before.
Muhammad Eid Musleh Hamad, also known as Muhammad Tihi, died on Saturday in his prison cell in Cairo. He was captured by Egyptian security on Nov. 13, and accused of masterminding a series of bombings which have rocked gas pipelines in the Sinai peninsula.
Ansar al-Jihad said it carried out the explosion in the Massaeed area west of the Mediterranean coastal town of el-Arish early Sunday. Gas pumping was stopped after the explosion on the pipeline, which supplies Israel and Jordan.
Residents reported a large explosion and seeing flames from the area of the blast.
The group also attacked Nakhl police station in central Sinai, a Ma'an correspondent said. The same station was hit by rocket propelled grenades last Thursday.
Sinai's gas lines have come under attack at least 12 times since Egyptian resident Hosni Mubarak was toppled in 2011. Security in Sinai loosened after Mubarak's fall as the police presence thinned out across Egypt.
Egypt's 20-year gas deal with Israel, signed in the Mubarak era, is unpopular with some Egyptians, with critics accusing Israel of not paying enough for the gas.
Previous explosions have sometimes led to weeks-long shutdowns along the pipeline, run by Egypt's gas transport company Gasco, a subsidiary of the national gas company EGAS.
Egypt said in November it would tighten security measures along the pipeline by installing alarm devices and recruiting security patrols from Bedouin tribesmen in the area.
Sinai has long been a restive area, where Bedouins complain of government neglect. It hosts several Red Sea resorts with five-star hotels, but Bedouins say they do not see the benefits.
Egypt doubled the gas price for Jordan in October. Jordan said on Monday it would raise electricity prices as of February to cover the rising burden of imported fuel costs after loss of regular Egyptian gas supplies.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=457878
Blast hits Egypt's gas pipeline to Israel
CAIRO (Reuters) -- An explosion hit a gas pipeline running from Egypt to Israel on Sunday, witnesses and state television reported.
The pipeline, which also supplies gas to Jordan, has come under attack at least 12 times since Egyptian resident Hosni Mubarak was toppled in 2011.
The latest blast took place in the Massaeed area west of the Mediterranean coastal town of al-Arish. Gas pumping was stopped after the explosion.
Residents in el-Arish told Reuters they could see flames from their town. Security forces and fire trucks raced to the scene, witnesses said.
Security in Sinai loosened after Mubarak's fall as the police presence thinned out across Egypt.
Egypt's 20-year gas deal with Israel, signed in the Mubarak era, is unpopular with some Egyptians, with critics accusing Israel of not paying enough for the gas.
Previous explosions have sometimes led to weeks-long shutdowns along the pipeline, run by Egypt's gas transport company Gasco, a subsidiary of the national gas company EGAS.
Egypt said in November it would tighten security measures along the pipeline by installing alarm devices and recruiting security patrols from Bedouin tribesmen in the area.
Sinai has long been a restive area, where Bedouins complain of government neglect. It hosts several Red Sea resorts with five-star hotels, but Bedouins say they do not see the benefits.
Egypt doubled the gas price for Jordan in October. Jordan said on Monday it would raise electricity prices as of February to cover the rising burden of imported fuel costs after loss of regular Egyptian gas supplies.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=457870
4 mar 2012, 21:55 , Respect -
Maria 11 febr 2012
Egypt army says anti-aircraft missiles seized in Sinai
El-ARISH, Egypt (Ma'an) -- Egyptian security forces seized a stash of bombs Saturday in the Sinai peninsula, officials said.
Among the weapons were a number of anti-aircraft missiles, security sources said. Sappers headed to the site in northern Sinai and began dismantling the missiles and several tons of TNT.
The weapons were suspected of being prepared for shipment to Gaza.
The Sinai has suffered a breakdown in security in recent weeks, as armed men kidnapped foreign tourists and attacked Egyptian security forces across the peninsula.
Three Korean tourists and their Egyptian guide were seized in St. Catherine on Friday; three Americans were kidnapped earlier to negotiate the release of Bedouins imprisoned for weapons and drugs violations.
On Thursday, members of a Bedouin tribe captured 17 border guards of the Central Security Forces along the Israeli-Egyptian border, security officials said.
Sinai has long been a restive area, where Bedouins complain of government neglect. It hosts several Red Sea resorts with five-star hotels, but Bedouins say they do not see the benefits.
Sinai's gas lines have come under attack at least 12 times since Egyptian resident Hosni Mubarak was toppled in 2011. Security in Sinai loosened after Mubarak's fall as the police presence thinned out across Egypt.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=459519
4 mar 2012, 21:55 , Respect -
Maria 13 febr 2012
Gazan student protests '50 days in Egypt jail'
GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- A Palestinian student imprisoned for 50 days in Egypt appealed to Palestinian leaders on Monday to resolve his case.
Rami Nimnim, 32, from Gaza City, wrote to the leadership via relatives saying he was being held in a section of al-Qanatir prison in Cairo for foreigners residing illegally in the country.
Nimnim insists he has the right residency papers, and wants to complete his masters thesis in Cairo.
He said the Palestinian embassy in Egypt had pledged to raise his case with the country's authorities, but accused envoys of neglecting him.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=459995
4 mar 2012, 21:55 , Respect -
Maria 16 febr 2012
Freedom and justice threatens to reconsider peace treaty with Israel
CAIRO, (PIC)-- Egypt's freedom and justice party warned Washington that its threat to halt its financial aid to Cairo would terminate the Camp David agreement.
Head of the party Mohamed Mursi stated in a press release that the US aid is part of the Camp David agreement between Egypt and Israel, and the American threat to stop it would make Egypt reconsider this peace treaty.
"There is no way to talk about the aid apart from this treaty," Mursi emphasized.
The relationship between Washington and Cairo got strained after the Egyptian authorities prosecuted 44 people including 19 Americans and other foreigners for illegally financing NGOs active in Egypt.
http://fwd4.me/0ugU
4 mar 2012, 21:55 , Respect -
Maria 17 febr 2012
Moussa: The peace treaty with Israel should be reconsidered
CAIRO, (PIC)-- Amr Moussa, a likely candidate for the presidential elections in Egypt, said on Thursday that his country should reconsider some sides of its peace treaty with Israel.
Moussa, the former secretary-general of the Arab League, told the US magazine Foreign Policy that the peace agreement of 1979 almost expired and was not implemented as it should have been.
He added Egypt would be committed to its peace treaty with Israel as long as the latter was also committed to it.
The Egyptian leader stressed the need for reconsidering the treaty with Israel especially with regard to the security issue in the Sinai, noting that this treaty with its current form led to Egypt's failure to impose its sovereignty over the Sinai and to fully secure its borders.
http://fwd4.me/0uj5
4 mar 2012, 21:55 , Respect -
Maria 27 febr 2012
First post-Mubarak Israeli envoy to Egypt takes office
Israeli authorities erect a wall around the Israeli embassy in Cairo
JERUSALEM (Reuters) -- The first Israeli ambassador named to Egypt since Hosni Mubarak was toppled a year ago officially took office in Cairo on Monday, an Israeli official said, in a step suggesting continued normal ties between the two neighbouring countries.
The envoy, Yaacov Amitai, was named last year to replace Yitzhak Levanon, who left the Egyptian capital in September when rioters stormed the Israeli embassy in protest of a deadly border shooting incident.
Israel's Foreign Ministry said the Israeli national anthem was played at a Cairo ceremony at which Amitai met Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, head of the military council ruling Egypt since a popular revolt toppled Mubarak in February 2011.
Egyptian news agency MENA said Amitai was among 14 ambassadors recognised at the ceremony.
Many in Israel had worried that ties with Egypt, the first of two Arab states to forge a peace treaty with Israel, could be jeopardized after Mubarak's fall.
The Muslim Brotherhood, a party once critical of the 1979 treaty and which emerged as the largest faction after Egypt's parliamentary poll, threatened last week to review the accord with Israel, if Washington made good on a threat to withhold aid over Cairo's arrest of 19 American activists.
But the Egyptian military council, which was expected to remain in charge until an election scheduled in June, has pledged to honour the treaty with Israel alongside Egypt's other international obligations.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=463704