Al-Ahram newspaper online reports:
Amid rumors that Egypt is planning to send home the Israeli ambassador to Cairo, Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohamed Amr issued a statement Wednesday evening, condemning the Israeli air strikes in Gaza and demanding the strikes to end immediately, according to Al Ahram. This has been the first official Egyptian response to the assassination of […]
The Egyptian army has slowed down its all-out attack on terrorist enclaves in the Sinai, several weeks after its initial, aggressive spurt on August 5. The terrorist culprits who murdered 15 Egyptian Border Guards remain at large, and the lack of progress appears rooted in political uncertainty back in Cairo. Here's one unexpected aspect of what was touted as a jihad against the murderers: the Egyptian government is going through unofficial channels, employing negotiators to talk to the Sinai terrorists. This has enraged the secular law and order types at home.
Early Wednesday morning, Egyptian security forces launched an attack in the Sinai, killing more than 20 Islamic terrorists. The forces, comprised of army and police units, clashed with masked gunmen in different areas in the peninsula. The attack came in response to three armed gunmen who opened fire at roadblocks earlier in the night.
As U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's armored car motorcade was riding through the Egyptian port city of Alexandria where she had given a speech on democratic rights, a tomato hit an accompanying Egyptian official in the face, and shoes and a water bottle were thrown at Hillary's car. Clinton herself was not hit, but she may have been able to hear the taunts of "Monica, Monica" which the protesters were chanting. Protesters in Cairo and Alexandria accused Clinton of cutting a deal with the Muslim Brotherhood, at the expense of Egyptian liberals and non-Islamists.
According to Al Ahram, Egyptian journalist Adel Al-Gogari, 56, died on Wednesday night while discussing the crisis in Syria during a live televised broadcast on Iraqi Al-Hadath private channel in Media Production City, Cairo. Al-Gogari, a Nasserist, also accused the Free Syrian Army of being funded by Israel during the show.
Ahmed Mohamed Shafik Zaki, who came second in Egypt's presidential runoff election last week, is reported to have boarded a flight to Abu Dhabi fleeing several corruption complaints.
By Tibbi Singer
This is too funny not to be true. Egypt's national soccer team is "forced" to break the Arab Youth and Sports Ministers’ decision to boycott Adidas, after the sportswear company sponsored the Jerusalem marathon… because the national team do not have an alternative kit to wear. "We have no choice but to wear Adidas in the UAE camp as we don’t have any other outfits," said the team's Executive Director.