Latest Cairo Stories
By Louis Charbonneau BERLIN (Reuters) - Several thousand people in Berlin protested against Israel's bombing campaign in Lebanon on Friday, joining angry protests across the Middle East this week. "Israel drinks the blood of our children," said one of the posters carried by a demonstrator draped in a Lebanese flag in the German capital. "Stop Israel's war!" said another, referring to the 10-day bombing campaign in Lebanon which has destroyed much of the country's infrastructure. Many...
CAIRO (Reuters) - Fights broke out at the gate of al-Azhar mosque in Cairo on Friday when plainclothes security men stopped demonstrators taking to the streets with a protest against Israeli attacks on Lebanese and Palestinians. Many thousands of people rallied inside the courtyard of the 10th century mosque after prayers, waving Lebanese and Palestinian flags and chanting in support of the guerrilla group Hizbollah, Israel's main target in south Lebanon. But when some tried to break...
By Nidal al-Mughrabi GAZA (Reuters) - Rival Palestinian factions said on Saturday they were close to hammering out an agreement that might avoid a referendum showdown between President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement and governing Hamas Islamists. Abbas had said earlier during a Cairo visit that an agreement on a political platform by the groups, caught in a violent power struggle, would mean there would be no need for a July 26 ballot on a proposal that implicitly recognizes Israel....
By Nidal al-Mughrabi GAZA (Reuters) - Rival Palestinian factions tried on Saturday to hammer out an agreement that might avoid a referendum showdown between President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement and governing Hamas Islamists. A deal between the groups, caught in an increasingly violent power struggle, could prompt Abbas to abandon plans for a July 26 ballot on a statehood proposal that implicitly recognizes Israel. Hamas, whose charter calls for Israel's destruction, brands the...
By Nidal al-Mughrabi GAZA (Reuters) - Rival Palestinian factions tried on Saturday to hammer out an agreement that might avoid a referendum showdown between President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement and governing Hamas Islamists. A deal between the groups, caught in an increasingly violent power struggle, could prompt Abbas to abandon plans for a July 26 ballot on a statehood proposal that implicitly recognizes Israel. Hamas, whose charter calls for Israel's destruction, brands the...
By Tom Perry CAIRO (Reuters) - Iran on Sunday gave its most negative assessment of proposals offered by six world powers aimed at persuading Tehran to give up sensitive nuclear work that the West fears is being used to make bombs. Chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani said the package offered to Iran last week, which includes both incentives and penalties, contained "problems." In previous comments, he had only referred to "ambiguities" that needed removing. Details of the package have...
CAIRO (Reuters) - A Darfur rebel faction which faces a May 31 deadline to sign a deal to end fighting in western Sudan said on Monday it would not join the agreement without major changes. The African Union (AU) has threatened sanctions against the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and a faction of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) unless they sign the deal agreed on May 5 between the main SLA faction and the Sudanese government. JEM President Khalil Ibrahim said he would travel for...
By Vicki Allen WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top Democratic lawmaker vowed to slash some of the $1.7 billion in aid to Egypt approved by a House panel on Friday as part of a foreign aid bill as Congress voiced growing irritation over Cairo's democratic setbacks. The $20.7 billion foreign aid bill approved by a House of Representative Appropriations subcommittee contained the full amount the Bush administration sought for Egypt. But subcommittee acted a day after the United States condemned...
By Vicki Allen WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top Democratic lawmaker vowed to slash some of the $1.7 billion in aid to Egypt approved by a House panel on Friday as part of a foreign aid bill as Congress voiced growing irritation over Cairo's democratic setbacks. The $20.7 billion foreign aid bill approved by a House of Representative Appropriations subcommittee contained the full amount the Bush administration sought for Egypt. But subcommittee acted a day after the United States condemned...
CAIRO (Reuters) - The Egyptian authorities are holding 314 members of the Muslim Brotherhood for taking part in protests in support of judicial independence, the opposition Islamist group said on Friday. Brotherhood deputy leader Mohammed Habib said the 314 had been referred to the public prosecutor on charges including gathering and taking part in illegal demonstrations on Thursday. Most of the activists who tried to protest in support of the judges were from the Brotherhood, which...
