JERUSALEM/GAZA  - An Egyptian proposal to stabilize post-war Gaza calls for an extended truce between Israel and Hamas, a prisoner exchange and the initial opening of at least two of the enclave’s border crossings, diplomats said.
Ahead of an Israeli election on Tuesday, negotiations in Cairo have grown increasingly intense and complex. Western diplomats briefed on [...]

TEHRAN (FNA)- Egypt officially rejected unloading of an estimated 2,000 tons of medical and food supplies for the crisis-stricken people in Gaza, and said it would not issue the required permit for the Iranian ship to approach the Gaza Strip, a source said on Wednesday.
The secretariat of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) had also [...]

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran is conferring with the Egyptian government on opening Rafah border crossing and paving the way for Iranian aid vessel to dock in Gaza coast, a lawmaker said here on Wednesday.
“A number of Iranian MPs are leaving for Gaza to confer about opening of Rafah crossings and docking of Iranian humanitarian aid vessel [...]

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt has proposed February 22 as the date for the start of a dialogue between Palestinian groups, several of the groups said in reports published Tuesday.
Foreign Minister Ahmed Abou Gheit of Egypt, which has been mediating between the groups, told reporters: “We will invite the Palestinian groups. We hope we will succeed [...]

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt stole the diplomatic limelight for its efforts to end recent fighting in Gaza, but its failure to achieve a negotiated truce leaves a question mark over Cairo’s future as a preferred Arab mediator.
U.S.-ally Egypt, an Arab regional heavyweight with a peace deal with Israel, has long been treated as an indispensable [...]

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel said on Sunday the job of stopping arms smuggling from Egypt to the Gaza Strip should be done by Egyptian forces and rejected the idea of an international force.
European and Israeli diplomats have said an international force is part of a package mediators are trying to put together to end a [...]

TEHRAN (FNA)- OPEC is not considering holding an extraordinary meeting next month, Libya’s envoy to the oil producers’ cartel said Wednesday.
“So far we are not talking about another meeting,” said Libya’s OPEC representative, Shukri Ghanem.
Iranian OPEC delegate Mohammad Ali Khatibi had on Monday said that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries would hold an [...]

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egyptian police detained dozens of people including prominent members of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood movement on Monday to prevent them demonstrating against Israel’s ground attack in the Gaza Strip.
Riot police reached Tahrir Square in central Cairo early in the day to thwart the Brotherhood’s plans for a protest. Other members of the [...]

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egyptian police detained 20 members of the Muslim Brotherhood and deployed in force in the capital on Friday, ahead of demonstrations the Islamist group called to protest Israel’s offensive in Gaza.
Hundreds of riot police and agents were deployed around key mosques in Cairo before the protest, which was due to take place [...]

TRIPOLI (Reuters) – The Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at U.S. President George W. Bush was given a bravery award Monday by a Libyan charity group chaired by leader Muammar Gaddafi’s daughter.
The charity group Wa Attassimou also urged the Iraqi government to release television reporter Muntazer al-Zaidi after he was detained Sunday for hurling [...]

The Egyptian government says it has placed a ban on Egyptian doctors going to work in Saudi Arabia in the wake of two medics being sentenced to jail.

The opposition does not like it. Now all eyes are on Algeria’s people to see what they make of a move that has cleared the way for the country’s veteran president to remain in power.

A controversial move to lift the limits on presidential terms in Algeria has been approved by the country’s parliament.

ALGIERS (Reuters) – Algerian lawmakers are expected to vote on Wednesday to lift presidential term limits, a move seen by the OPEC member’s opposition as a ruse to let President Abdelaziz Bouteflika stay in office for life.

GAZA, Nov. 5 – A new wave of violence in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday may be out of Israel’s intention to undermine an upcoming Egypt-sponsored Palestinian dialogue aimed to patch up rifts among Palestinian fractions, politicians and analysts said.

GAZA, Nov. 4 – Hamas on Tuesday said it will reject the Egyptian plan aimed at reconciling the Islamic movement with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement if Hamas’ reservations were not considered.

GAZA, Nov. 4 – Egypt opened its border with the Gaza Strip on Tuesday to allow stranded patients to leave for medical treatment in its hospitals, said a Hamas spokesman.

RAMALLAH, Nov. 4 – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement on Tuesday denied reports that the Egyptian-hosted Palestinian national dialogue has been delayed.

RAMALLAH, Nov. 1 – Palestinian National Authority (PNA) forces launched a limited crackdown against Islamic Jihad supporters in northern West Bank, arresting its four activists, sources from the movement said.

GAZA, Nov. 1 – A Hamas advisor on Saturday accused rival Fatah movement of not being interested in Egypt’s efforts to broker a national reconciliation between the two movements.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia and Libya are negotiating a deal under which Moscow would build nuclear research reactors for the North African state and supply fuel, officials said on Saturday.

Egypt is planning to host a meeting of the Middle East peace Quartet on November 9, the same day Palestinian groups begin reconciliation talks in Cairo, a foreign ministry spokesman said on Thursday.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, starting his first visit to post-Soviet Russia on Friday, will discuss opening a Russian naval base in Libya to counterbalance U.S. interests in the region, a paper reported.

GAZA, Oct. 29 – Hamas on Wednesday called on Egypt to open its border with Gaza Strip to allow movement of people in and out of Gaza Strip.

JERUSALEM, Oct. 29 – The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip is expected to last until after Israel’s upcoming early general election in mid-February, local news service Ynet reported Wednesday.

Egypt’s outlawed Muslim Brotherhood movement says 32 members have been detained for joining protests aimed at breaking the Gaza Strip blockade.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Libya may agree to buy more than $2 billion worth of Russian weapons during a visit by Muammar Gaddafi to Moscow this month, Interfax news agency reported on Monday, citing an unidentified source in Russia’s arms industry.

TEHRAN (FNA)- The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will on Friday announce it is cutting oil output to help lift crude prices that have dived 55 per cent since striking record highs in July, as a global economic slowdown slashes demand, analysts said.

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egyptian construction magnate Hesham Talaat Moustafa and a former police officer pleaded not guilty to murder and incitement charges Saturday at their trial for the killing of Lebanese singer Suzanne Tamim.

TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Libya will withdraw $7 billion of assets in Swiss banks, cut economic ties with Switzerland and stop supplying it with oil to protest against poor treatment of Libyan diplomats and businessmen, Libyan news agency JANA said.

The people of Switzerland face possible fuel shortages as a result of the ongoing diplomatic row with Libya. The arguments erupted this summer when a son of Libyan leader Muammar Gadaffi was arrested in Geneva, and charged with mistreating two domestic employees. Hannibal Gadaffi was released on bail. Libya threatened to retaliate for poor treatment [...]

Egypt’s occasionally fragile sectarian ties have been shaken by the murder of a Muslim whose wife converted to Islam against her Christian family’s wishes.

New York, Asharq Al-Awsat – Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Aboul Gheit denied reports that the US intends to tie its aid to Egypt to respect for human rights and greater freedoms, saying that “in all the talks we had with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice we have not talked about this issue in any [...]

Police in Egypt have blocked a convoy organised by opposition groups to carry medical supplies to the Gaza Strip. The convoy had been due to leave from the journalists’ syndicate in central Cairo but activists gathering there were surrounded by police.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit made an unannounced visit to Iraq on Sunday and promised to reopen an embassy in Baghdad soon, the latest sign that fellow Arab nations are slowly restoring ties.