Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood says it will never recognise the state of Israel and will put Cairo-Tel Aviv Peace Treaty to the test of public opinion once a new government takes office in the North African country. The group’s second-in-command, Rashad al-Bayoumi, said in an interview with the London-based Al-Hayat Arabic daily that no member of the Muslim Brotherhood will ever negotiate with an Israeli. “This is not possible, no matter what the circumstances are. We do not rec...

Bishop Yuhanna Qultah, Deputy Patriarch of Coptic Catholics in Egypt, welcomed the arrival of Muslim Brotherhood (MB) and the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) members to the first post-revolution parliament, pointing out that they are the men of clear vision, moderate mainstream views, who seek a balanced consensus parliament, and whose main concern is uphold the national interests and dignity of the country.

In an interview, in the programme “Ahl Albalad” ...

The Muslim Brotherhood was edging toward a dominant role in Egypt’s first free Parliament in decades on Jan. 4, but said it would not impose its will over a new constitution and would work with all political rivals on the blueprint. Egyptians went to the polls for a second day in the final stage of the election for the assembly’s lower house, the first free legislative vote since military officers overthrew the monarchy in 1952. The vote is part of the ruling army council’s ...

Prosecutors have called for Hosni Mubarak to be hanged, saying he bears full responsibility for the killing of protesters during the uprising against him, in a courtroom moment unthinkable only a year ago when Egypt’s longtime leader held unquestioned power. The demand for the death penalty at the 83-year-old former president’s trial played to the widespread resentment of Mubarak among Egyptians who hoped that punishment for his oppressive rule would be fruit of the Arab Spring.

A former military chief of Turkey, Gen. Ilker Basbug was jailed on Jan. 6. He was accused of leading a terror organisation and conspiring to bring down the government, his lawyer said. Gen. Basbug is the most senior officer to face trial in a series of investigations into alleged anti-government plots. He was placed in a prison near Istanbul overnight after seven hours of questioning by prosecutors investigating allegations that the military funded dozens of websites aimed at discrediting the...

Iran is planning new military exercises near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, according to a naval commander, after threatening to close the strait and completing another set of manoeuvres. One sixth of the world’s oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran’s threat to close the passage if the West imposes sanctions on its own oil exports unsettled an already nervous world oil market.

The semi-official Fars news agency on Jan. 5 quoted the Iranian Revolu...

Gaza’s Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniya on Jan. 2 hailed the martyrs killed when Israeli commandos stormed a Turkish vessel in 2010 trying to break the blockade of the Palestinian enclave. Haniya, on his first trip abroad since Hamas seized power in Gaza in 2007, toured the Mavi Marmara, part of a flotilla attacked by Israeli troops in international waters in a raid that left nine Turkish activists dead. “Your martyrs are our martyrs, your blood is our blood, your wounds are our...

Jury selection was resumed on Jan. 6 for the trial of the final defendant in the biggest criminal case against US troops to emerge from the Iraq war. Marine Corps spokesman Lt. Col. Joseph Kloppel said that the military court at Camp Pendleton had not finished its interviews of Marines with combat experience to serve on the jury for the trial of Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich. He says opening arguments now could begin as late as on Jan. 9. Wuterich led the Marine squad in 2005 tha...