Magreb

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 …

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.

Press freedom activists have condemned Egypt for jailing a newspaper editor who printed rumours about the health of its 80-year-old president.

DUBAI (Reuters) – Al Qaeda’s north Africa wing said it was behind a deadly suicide bombing in Algeria on Sunday, according to a statement posted on the Internet on Wednesday.

A group of Western tourists, who spent 10 days as hostages in the Sahara Desert, have returned home.

A fire has destroyed the main hall of Egypt’s National Theatre in the centre of the capital, Cairo. More than 20 engines responded to the blaze, which officials said was caused by an electrical fault.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Russia is seeking to forge closer ties with the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and has invited the cartel’s members to a meeting in Moscow next month, Iran’s OPEC Governor said.

A Libyan official has cast doubt on claims a group of European tourists and their Egyptian guides seized in Egypt last week have been taken to Libya.

A group of 11 European tourists and eight Egyptian guides kidnapped in Egypt’s desert have been moved to Libya, a Sudanese official has said.