Egypt

By : Agencies | Cairo 02 Jun 2012

An Egyptian judge convicted former president Hosni Mubarak of complicity in the killings of protesters during the uprising that ended his 30-year rule and sentenced him on Saturday to life in prison.

It was the first time a deposed Arab leader had faced an ordinary court in person since a wave of uprisings shook the Arab world last year, sweeping away four entrenched rulers.

By Esam Al-Amin | Counterpunch | 30 May 2012

The Egyptian people are still in shock ever since the announcement of the results of the presidential elections late last week. They refuse to accept an outcome that sees Gen. Ahmad Shafiq, the last Prime Minister of deposed dictator Hosni Mubarak, having received more than 5.5 million votes, or about 24 percent of the votes cast, less than one percent behind the frontrunner and Muslim Brotherhood candidate, Dr. Muhammad Mursi.

By : Tom Perry and Ahmed Tolba | Reuters | Cairo | 29 May 2012

Demonstrators furious that Hosni Mubarak’s last prime minister made it into the run-off for Egypt’s presidential election set ablaze his campaign headquarters on Monday, witnesses said, underscoring the divisive outcome of the country’s historic vote.

Former air force commander Ahmed Shafiq, who has described Mubarak as a role model, will face the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohamed Mursi in the run-off. It is a contest between the two most polarizing and controversial figures in the race.

By Aya Batrawy | AP | Cairo | 28 May 2012

Three top candidates in Egypt's presidential race have filed appeals to the election commission, alleging violations in the first round vote that they say could change the outcome.

The appeals, alleging fraud, were filed ahead of a Sunday deadline. They are likely to enflame an already explosive race, with two of the most polarizing candidates finishing first.

Source : Reuters | Cairo | 25 May 2012

Egyptians, choosing their leader freely for the first time in their history, voted for a second day yesterday in what appears to be a fraught contest between Islamists and former officials of ousted President Hosni Mubarak.

After six decades under authoritarian, military-backed rule, Egypt’s 50 million voters may decide to entrust the most populous Arab nation to an Islamist president for the next four years, as well as the Islamist-led assembly they chose earlier.

Source : Agencies | Cairo | 23 May 2012

Egyptians began voting freely on Wednesday for the first time to pick their president in a wide open election that pits Islamists against men who served under deposed leader Hosni Mubarak.

The contest is a novelty for a nation where elections during the 30-year rule of a man some called "Pharaoh" were thinly attended rigmaroles in which the result was a foregone conclusion.

By : Sharif Abdel Kouddous | The Nation | 17 May 2012

By Nidal Al-Mughrabi | Reuters | Gaza | 14 May 2012

Egypt has brokered a deal aimed at ending a hunger strike by 1,600 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, a Palestinian source close to the negotiations said on Monday.

One in three of the 4,800 Palestinians serving time in Israeli jails began refusing food on April 17 in protest against detention without trial and to demand better conditions like an increase in family visits and ending solitary confinement.

By Tamim Elyan | Reuters | Alexandria | 09 May 2012

At Al-Taqwa mosque in Egypt’s second biggest city, a preacher defends his ultra-orthodox Salafi group’s decision to endorse Abdel Moneim Abol Fotouh, an Islamist who casts himself as a moderate, in this month’s presidential election.

“Don’t consider his media statements only. He has various writings that confirm his comprehensive understanding of Islam and his desire to achieve it,” Yasser Burhamy, a founder of the Salafi movement in Egypt, tells his Alexandria audience, his message recorded and posted on the group’s website.

By Agencies | Cairo | 03 May 2012

Egypt's military chief of staff said yesterday the army may transfer power to an elected president on May 24 if the vote is decided in the first round, state television reported.

The announcement came after four presidential candidates suspended their campaigns as the death toll mounted in bloody clashes between anti-military supporters of a banned Islamist candidate and unidentified men in plainclothes.