Small world
Former US ambassador to Egypt (and current US ambassador to Israel) Daniel Kurtzer's cousin died in last week's suicide bombing in Jerusalem, reports AP.

Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman's son, his American lawyer, and his advisor are all embroiled in a complex court case, the current status of which is outlined by this New York Times article.

Expanding horizons?
Egypt's desire for a Free Trade Agreement with the United States gets a big boost from pro-trade Democrats.

Which way is it blowing?
AFP picked up Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher's remarks to Al-Ahram regarding the gains (of the intifada) need [ing] to be preserved so that they are not transformed into losses." Maher was talking about ending the armed intifada, a pledge Abu Mazen made to Bush and Sharon at Aqaba. Reporters, of course, asked whether Egypt would soon be sending an ambassador back to Tel Aviv. 
Meanwhile, in this Reuters account of a Maher interview with a Saudi daily, the Foreign Minister places much of the blame for the failure on the peace process on Israel. Even after the Aqaba summit, facts on the ground reveal continuing brutal policies against the Palestinians, he said. 
Taking on another peace process angle, the Christian Science Monitor reports that the controversial Arab-Israeli peace movement that began in Copenhagen in the 90s is reviving its activities in the midst of current attention on the region's peace making.  A number of Egyptians are involved in the effort, which this article describes in detail. It also provides an interesting story about the Israeli ambassador and a downtown art gallery.

More Sharm
BBC Monitoring gathers reactions of Arab newspapers to the Sharm El-Sheikh summit. Some of the most interesting include Qatar's Al-Watan, which said "We should not forget that another Arab country attended the Sharm el-Sheikh summit without any formal notice. This country is Iraq, whose president is considered to be the US president, if only for an interim period."

Jordan's Al-Dustur, meanwhile, said, "President Bush's statement in Sharm el-Sheikh, in which he said that the US and himself are committed to achieving a Palestinian state, does not mean anything."

Meanwhile, the New York Times looks at the economics of Sharm El-Sheikh.

Summit notes
Click here for the full text of Mubarak and Bush's remarks at Sharm El-Sheikh after the meeting between the US president and Arab leaders in the Red Sea resort on Tuesday.
At the beginning of his remarks, Bush does good PR for Sharm El-Sheikh, calling it a "spectacular location".
Bush's style: "Pointing directly at Abbas, Bush said, "You, sir, have got a responsibility, and you've assumed it. I want to work with you and so do the other leaders here."
The Iranian News Agency alleges that "The summit opened two hours later than planned, which could be the result of differences between its participants."
AFP explains it off as a case of Bush and the leaders getting to know each other in private, or, as the White House termed it, a case of  "old fashioned statecraft."
Fox News takes pleasure in Bush's golf cart ride.
A Washington Post analysis of the American President's mood as he negotiates in Sharm El-Sheikh  and Aqaba reveals Bush to be a man who -- when it comes to Middle East peace -- "isn't in the weeds looking at every issue"... This insider account about how Bush really feels about the Middle East also includes such gems as Bush saying to Sharon: "I said you were a man of peace. I want you to know I took immense crap for that." The article claims that Bush admires Saudi Arabia's Abdullah for being blunt with him about the way Israel was treating the Palestinians.
Meanwhile, David Ignatious claims that Syria is asking, "Where is our road map?"
This story about Sharm El-Sheikh claims the EU's Javier Solana is preparing just such a map.
Fareed Zakaria's take: It's all Arafat's fault

Bush arrives
US President George W Bush is in Sharm El-Sheikh for talks with Arab leaders about terrorism and peace. Here's the Yahoo page with lots of photos of Mubarak greeting Bush at the Sharm El-Sheikh airport.
The International Herald Tribune is skeptical of the meeting's possible benefits, mirroring the attitudes of the Arab pundits it interviews. Al-Ahram's Abdel-Moneim Said is quoted as saying, "The United States is now the 26th Middle East state"," along with 22 Arab nations, Turkey, Iran and Israel.
AP does a roundup of previous Sharm El-Sheikh peace meetings.
Powell meets Arab ministers first.

"Security is everywhere."
AFP does a story about security precautions being taken in Sharm El-Sheikh and describes the villa Bush is staying at: "He will stay in a moorish-style villa with three bedrooms, a swimming pool, and a private beach, all landscaped with flowers and palm trees and offering a view of rocks plunging into the sea.A  hotel employee said the villa normally costs 8,000 dollars a night."

Meanwhile...
Trying to somehow get into the Sharm El-Sheikh headlines, an Israeli official claims Sharon didn't accept the idea of an Egyptian summit because of a jailed Israeli spy.

Pure condemnation
Jailed Egyptian Gamaa Islamiya leaders recently released a  statement urging Muslim youth "to refrain from any participation in the haphazard operations undertaken by al-Qaida".
The jailed leaders said that "that terror attacks like those in Saudi Arabia and Morocco "put the whole (Islamic) community in a state of enmity with the rest of the world," reported AP. They also said these kinds of acts are based on "based on obvious religious mistakes."
Why hasn't this condemnation -- from a group that itself espoused violence once, and are in jail now as a result -- gotten as much press coverage as the latest Ayman El-Zawahiri tape?
Probably because it's not as exciting when Muslims -- even the angry looking bearded types -- don't quite fit the maniacal cartoon bomber cliche...

More Arab condemnations of terrorism:
"Terrorism is an enemy for all of us, an enemy for our societies, an enemy for our religion and an enemy for our culture," Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa  said on Wednesday...

Far flung
An Australian national arrested in Egypt for possible links to al-Qaeda

Looking at Iran
Are Egypt and Iran heading for normal diplomatic relations? There have been hints of such for years now, but on the Egyptian ministerial level, at least, a cool detachment from the actual possibility. Now, suddenly, in the wake of an Organization of the Islamic Conference meeting in Tehran, Foreign Minister Maher is being quoted all over the place as having said that, "Constant contacts are currently underway between the two states to resume normal relations and Iran-Egypt communications are already launched to the effect,"
But then, in Sunday's Al-Wafd, it was revealed that Maher had actually placed some serious preconditions on restoring the diplomatic track, amongst which was Iran's handing over of some wanted terrorists.
This sort of one step forward, one step back probably sounds familiar to those who have been watching the progress (or lack of it) in Egypt-Iran relations over the past few years. 
Back in August 2001, I covered the evergreen story of an Iran-Egypt diplomatic rapprochement for Al-Ahram Weekly -- the geopolitics of the day were certainly different, but the mood seems to be the same -- summarized quite well by Maher's quote to me at the time: "We've seen trends from Iran to improve relations, and we've seen the opposite of that. It's an Iranian-Iranian problem, more than an Egyptian-Iranian problem... There should be clear positions on their side, not ones that change every day. If we see that coming from their side, we are willing to sit down and talk."
My prediction is -- don't hold your breath.

Rolling with it...
Egypt's leverage, as well as its relations with the Palestinians, Israelis, Americans and all the other players in the upcoming Mid East transition phase, is being heavily highlighted in the press at present. 
An article in the Philadelphia Inquirer posits that the US still depends on Egypt to pave the way for peace (one professor calls Egypt a "junior mediator", while a government spokesman says Egypt is the region's "political barometer"), with detailed descriptions of Egyptian efforts to broker ceasefires amongst Palestinians factions, both military and political. 
The crux in the end seems to always be -- however -- that whatever Egypt's role, and however influential, everything comes back to how seriously the United States will pressure Israel into accepting terms that the other side in the conflict -- the Palestinians -- have already accepted.
The Washington Post, meanwhile, broke on Sunday with an analytical piece arguing that Egyptian-US relations are at an all time "uncomfortable" low. The article -- which includes an interview with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher -- seems to be attempting to weigh whether or not Egypt's support of and practical efforts towards the peace process allow it to sidestep -- or at least delay -- Washington's wide-ranging calls for more democratic reform in the Middle East.
Maher says, "The United States knows the importance of the role of Egypt... We are not in competition with any other country. We are in a different league." President Mubarak's  advisor, Osama El-Baz, meanwhile, suggests that, ""Top-notch intellectuals should be told every now and then that they cannot re-create or reshape the world with the image they have in mind... They don't have the experience. They don't know the limitations."
Note... How it's rapidly becoming a sort of beauty contest -- with Jordan, Egypt, and lately, Turkey, offering to host the upcoming peace summit, with each country shyly saying they hadn't been asked yet. Israel, has, in a strange move, supposedly said Sharon won't go to a summit in Sharm because Egypt has been hostile towards Israel. This just a few weeks after it was reported that Sharon had accepted an invitation to visit Mubarak.

Meanwhile...
A 1  billion dollar loan from the World Bank is in the works.

Instant judgment
US Congressman Darrel Issa, an Arab-American, meets with Mubarak and tells reporters afterwards that Egypt can help build Iraq's new justice system.

All the steps are in place
Sharon has accepted the Road Map (although, according to the Washington Post, it will still face steep resistance in the cabinet, and Sharon is only accepting it because he's gotten assurances that it will be changed to his liking.)...
Meanwhile... Bush has indicated that he wants to do a tour of the region after the G8 summit and a visit to Aushwitz. 
Once in the Middle East, Bush says he might meet with Sharon and Abu Mazen to help bring forth a Palestinian state. Egypt has been suggested as a venue, and in fact, Egypt says it wouldn't mind hosting such a peace conference, with officials being quoted as saying they accept the idea with open minds, hearts and arms -- but that, at the same time, no official request has yet been made.
Observers have suggested that the proposed Bush Mideast peace summit may take place in Sharm El-Sheikh, where, all the news reports mention, Clinton met world leaders for peace in 2000. The question is implicit, but remains unasked for now -- Is Bush going down Clinton's well-worn failed peace road?
Meanwhile, the Arab League's Amr Moussa also welcomed the tour, but only if the US leader sought a comprehensive dialogue. If the situation in Iraq and Palestine remain as they are, or get worse, Moussa predicted a flood of terror.

A first?
Samir Ragab gets mentioned in the Washington Post

Any closer to democracy?
Some may think so, but it's no sure thing
Cosmetic or real?
New human rights council is a step in the right direction, but might not be enough

Beefed up security
Embassies, tourists sites, districts popular with foreigners more protected, after recent regional bombings... "We suffered enough," official says.
Egypt appears secure from militant threat
Security sources tell Middle East online that al-Jihad has been dismantled.
We told you so
Reuters reports Egypt's foreign minister as saying -- on Monday -- that the U.S-led war on Iraq has triggered a resurgence in terrorism, just as Egypt had predicted.

The right side of history?
Does democracy have a chance? Saadeddin Ibrahim continues to court controversy in this quasi editorial in the Washington Post.

"We'll continue to deal with him"
Egyptians -Americans disagree on Arafat

"Accept is not a dirty word"
Maher and Powell don't quite agree on Israel's intransigence regarding the road map.

"Rather insignificant"
Israeli goodwill gestures meaningless, Egypt says

Arab League wants bigger role in Sudan
The organization wants to be involved in the country's peace, rebuilding

Britain's ambassador to Egypt special envoy for Iraq
John Sawers will help the United States set up an interim Iraqi government.

Re-initiating contacts
Egypt still trying to get Palestinian factions to agree

Egypt-Libya-Sudan union?
Kaddafi makes the proposal

Don't give Israel the chance to respond
El-Baz tells Palestinians to stop suicide bombings

Egyptian inspector speaks up
IAEA chief ElBaradei calls for reform of UN Security Council 

Now that PM is set
Mubarak Urges Swift Implementation of 'Road Map'

"No one has the right to give lessons to the other"
Egypt criticizes EU on rights resolution

Increasingly political
The war has brought changes in Egypt

Quick U.S. Exit
Mubarak Says U.N. Should Take Central Role in Postwar Iraq

Khaled Mohieddin talks
Egyptian revolutionary talks to Reuters, warns of Iraq revolt, fears US has not learned lessons of the past

Arab tour
Mubarak discusses post war Iraq with Bashar

Third mobile network to launch
Mubarak steps in to end delay, speculation about Mobinil/Vodafone offer

Doing well
Central Bank governor again insists pound in UNDER valued

Fillerup
 New UAE-Egypt gas station chain on the way

5.90 - 6.20
Central Bank governor dismisses difference in bank and black market rate, says it's just numbers

Vivendi Universal sells Vodafone Egypt interest
7 per cent for $48 million

Tourism woes...
38 per cent drop

Mubarak turns 75...
At a critical time in the Middle East

Egyptians joke about the war
"Have you heard the one about Saddam and Sahaf on the banks of the Tigris? A man on the other side raises two fingers in a victory sign. “What happened,” says Saddam, “did we win the war?” “Don’t be stupid,” Sahaf says. “He means there’s just two of us left.”

Cairo's theories on Saddam
Tales accompanied by the bubbling of a water pipe
CAIROLIVE'S TAKE

Neighbor's declarations
Egypt amongst nations that condemned U.S. threats against Syria and urged coalition forces to quickly stabilize Iraq and withdraw their troops.

Doing Israel's bidding
Egypt's interpretation of US threats against Damascus

Withdrawal of forces
Egypt and Jordan want Iraqis to rule themselves

Grave concern
Arab League has harsh words for US's Syria threats

Iraqis should elect themselves
Baz says polls in max 2 years

Mubarak speaks to Assad
Conversation came after latest finger-pointing by US

Universal angst
In criticism of war, little difference between Egyptians exposed or not exposed to US culture

Disbelief reigns
New York Times does a survey of war opinions at a tea shop in Cairo.

The view from Cairo
With Baghdad on its knees, the “scenarios” are already blooming.

The worst yet to come?
Mubarak worried about civil war

In a phone call with Annan
Mubarak urges UN intervention to stop chaos in Iraq

A poet and a protestor
Interesting article about Tamim Barghouthi, who was deported for participating in an anti-war rally

Sayeda Aisha: the demo that wasn't
Protests marked by heavy police presence, arrests, reports Reuters . Prominent activist Ashraf Bayoumi arrested, reports AP

Trying to tell it like it is
A news feature calls "War coverage a tough balancing act for Egypt TV"

Wishful thinking?
Arab League hangs in balance after Iraq war, Reuters suggests.

Changes at AUC
"Riot police, once stationed outside the campus to protect students from street protesters, are now there to keep students from breaking out of the campus to join street protests."

Confusion over Iraqi diplomat
AP reports that he's been kicked out; Islam online says no

Will Moussa resign?
Hints of a new Arab security plan excluding those nations that provided launching pads for the US attack on Iraq emerge as well

Rich find religion too
Post reporter looks for secular spiritual boost

Mubarak meets Beshir, Garang
Sudanese factions now want Egypt's help in peace process

Azhar sheikh blames Saddam
But he also says "Whoever wants to go to support the Iraqi people, I welcome that, I welcome that, I welcome that."

Tough end to unauthorized demonstrations
Dozens arrested, lawmaker questioned, and a strict ban on the same kinds of protests that broke out last week in Cairo when the war started.

Between Iraq and a hard place
"These are strange times, that is true," said Fathey Ahmed, who delivers McDonald's Happy Meals on a motorcycle around Cairo. "Years ago, I wouldn't have thought it was strange to work for an American business. Now I don't know what to think."

Showing solidarity
Thousands of protestors took over Tahrir Square on Thursday to protest the US invasion of Iraq.

Mubarak meets Beshir, Garang
Sudanese factions now want Egypt's help in peace process

Post war messages
Saadeddin Ibrahim back in the States, lectures in Chicago

Will they disappear?
The changing fortunes of Bedouins

"Job Wednesday"
Bathe in sea for wishes to come true?

More details on anthrax boat story
Taking precautions
Egyptian ship involved in Canadian anthrax scare

Literary pickings
A California class lends prominence to Arab and Egyptian writers

3-1
Ahly-Zamalek match makes Sports Illustrated

In the lead up to the match
Egypt-France friendly scheduled for April 30th

Twins money situation okay
Dallas mosque raises funds to help pay for surgery

Just in time
New Iraqi antiquities display at Cairo's Islamic Antiquities museum

Did Said just want to play the Ahly-Zamalek match?
Doubts emerge over international soccer player's sick mother story

Three Egyptian wins in African Cups
Zamalek, Ismaily and Baladiya al Mahalla do well

Bio-touch
Strange pyramid healing process makes news in Arizona

Going home
Star Egyptian soccer player in UK is heading back to take care of his ill mother

Still unclear...
...how war will affect soccer league play

French-Egypt friendly later this month
Zeidan will probably not be captain.

UK to help reform Egyptian educators
Teacher training in "leadership and management development, information and communications technology, equity and diversity, study skills and the development of English language skills" amongst other subjects

Crusade on both sides?
An Azhar research institute says an attack on Iraq would be an attack on Islam, and calls on Muslims to defend themselves via jihad.

War sinks wheat deal
Barter with Russia suspended for the time being

$2.3 billion for Egypt
Bush may present the bill to Congress as early as Friday

According to Al-Alam Al-Youm
Egypt is asking the U.S. for $4.4 billion dollars to cope with the expected economic fallout from the war on Iraq

Improving telecom
60 million dollar deal with Nortel

The crowd says no
Government-sponsored rally brings in half a million anti-war protestors

Relief on the way
Egypt will receive U.S.$1 billion within days as a quick disbursement loan from the World Bank

How to be a bridge
A longtime American resident in Cairo talks about her positive experiences on the US's National Public Radio (audio)

Postponements for Egyptian soccer
Ahly Zamalek match to be played April 19th, other tourney matches as is.

1-0 win over Mauritius
Match was watched by just 800 fans because of security concerns

Egypt says Iraqi diplomats will stay
Yemen and Lebanon are amongst the other Arab states that said no to the US request. Jordan said yes.

Passing messages?
US continues to prosecute lawyer who allegedly aided Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman.

50,000 expected back
Emergency plan to deal with Egyptians returning from Iraq

El-Barbari talks
Egyptian who rammed US soldiers in Kuwait was influenced by Arab satellite TV coverage.

Trying to help Iraq
Practical matters stall volunteer fighter departures

Moussa warns of Iraq war spilling over
"The situation is already serious with a war in Iraq just imagine how dangerous it would be if its spills into other places. The region is already engulfed in extreme anger and agitation because of what's going on in Iraq and Palestine".

64 anti-war protestors released
Includes 2 parliamentarians

"The motive is unknown"
An Egyptian electrician is the main suspect in an incident in which a truck slammed into a group of U.S. soldiers in Kuwait on Sunday, injuring 15, the Kuwaiti interior ministry said on Monday.

Egypt denounces Iraqi attack on shopping mall
"Both the Kuwaiti and Iraqi people are dear to Cairo," Maher says

A peaceful demo
15,000 walk the streets after Friday prayer

No assistance of any kind
Mubarak reiterates that Egypt is not helping the war

Reality check?
Some Egyptians want to go fight for Iraq, this Washington Post article says

Common cause?
Syria-Egypt rift appears

Will the UN demand an end to war?
Emergency Security Council meeting called in response to Arab request formulated at the Cairo meeting. "If a resolution is vetoed in the Security Council, the Arab Group has been instructed by the Arab ministers to seek an emergency meeting of the 191-member General Assembly," reports AP.

Resolution in Cairo
Arab League lines up behind Iraq

Qatar minister pulls out
"What matters is ending the crisis, not publishing useless communiques," he also told reporters.

Mubarak fears long war
"All of this has repercussions for the region," the Egyptian president told reporters on Sunday.

Mubarak in a televised address
"My hope is that the Iraqi government will realize the seriousness of the situation in which it put itself in - and us in..."

Ibrahim Nafie critical of Arab leaders
"We are spectators to our own pain.."

No go
Moussa won't head for Iraq... "Arabs are not included and not influential in the international political game," lamented Mohamed el-Sayed Said, an analyst at Cairo's independent Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies

Discussing the war
AP covers the Blair-Nafie debate in Al-Ahram

War generates worries
An in-depth look at the Egyptian political scene in the lead up to the war on Iraq

Ibrahim on war
"Bad as they are, they break empires, they break dictators, they leave the ground clear for new systems to be created... They create havoc, they create disorder. But they also create opportunity."

An alternate embassy
Malaysian students in Cairo controlled by conservatives

Not an easy time
Complex summit features differing opinions, a spat, and a communiqué against war

Nowhere to vent the anger
A Cairo-centric analysis of current politics in the Arab world

The landlord and the dictator
Somewhat comic article about Saddam's student days in Cairo

Mubarak warns of war's consequences
A war against Iraq will ignite "a gigantic fire" of revenge attacks by terrorists, but to avert conflict, Saddam Hussein must cooperate "100 percent" with weapons inspectors, Egypt's leader said in an interview published Thursday.
PLUS
"War against Iraq would trigger a huge frenzy of terrorism"

Bringing top soccer to the continent
It looks like it's between Egypt and South Africa to see who will be the first African nation to host a World Cup final. The 2010 games are at stake, and both Egypt and South Africa have already submitted intentions to bid. It was thought, this article says, that Nigeria would be running too, but now it doesn't seem so.

Barcelona may be a loss for Amsterdam
Mido -- in disputes with his Ajax coach, says he will probably head for one of the other top European clubs that are actively seeking him out

Egypt requests aid as currency slides
Ebeid to meet World Bank and ask for $1.5 billion loan

Arab delegation visit to Baghdad in doubt
"A high-level Arab peace mission aimed at preventing war in Iraq was in doubt Thursday," reports AP, "after Egypt's news agency reported that its visit to Baghdad had been postponed."

Fire breaks out at the new Bibliotheca Alexandrina... 
A fire that broke out on Sunday, in an administrative department on the 4th floor of the library, was quickly contained, but 29 people were sent to the hospital for smoke inhalation. No damages to books reported. The cause was said to be a short circuit.

First online report of fire on cairolive.com.

First news agency report appears from Reuters.

New details on the number of fire engines on BBC.

First Arabic link on zahma.com

Evacuation photo

AP finally weighs in

Pharmacist accused of stealing $400000 in medicine ...
Did he send them back to Egypt?

Float pays off for Egypt currency
One week after Egypt's startling break from years of a government-controlled foreign exchange regime, the Egyptian pound appears to be stable.

Arab American held on secret evidence released
26 of 27 charges dropped against Atriss, who admitted selling fake IDs to Sept. 11 hijackers.

Can Cairo's pollution problems be solved?
Egyptian researchers travel to the US to find out

Bush doesn't understand
Al-Ahram's Abdel-Moneim Said makes the New York Times op-ed page

"I was not a good Muslim"
Hook handed London sheikh used to be a partier

Spring of worry
Financial Times says war fears inspired pound free float

Sharon gets an invitation
Did a phone conversation between President Hosni Mubarak and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon result in the possibility of a meeting between the two? CNN says Israel says it did.

"The strike is coming"
AP reports that "Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak warned Iraq to cooperate with U.N. inspectors or expect war, but he said he's not sure Saddam Hussein understands the advice being offered him."

Tolerance or decoration?
USA Today tries to analyze recent socio-political trends

"We have to be realistic"
AP reports on a controversial new on-line petition

Running for cover
Achille Lauro mastermind gets embroiled in extradition questions while attending an Egyptian-organized meeting of Palestinian factions

The first Cairo-to-Cape
The race began Saturday with some 60 cyclists peddling away from the Great Pyramid at the start of a 10,000- kilometer (6,000-mile) odyssey down the African continent. Called the Tour d'Afrique, the new race follows a route that zigzags through Egypt, Sudan and eight countries in eastern and southern Africa.

Foreign trade minister dismisses devaluation calls
Youssef Boutros also has harsh words about "40 years of “a policy of no policy”.

Egypt now on US INS list
Visitors now have to register, or face harsh measures.

The end is near.
Somewhat cynical interview with Baradie the Egyptian lead inspector on nukes... who says its unlikely that Iraq has nukes, and also just as unlikely that the US will not attack Iraq nonetheless.

A threatened livelihood?
Short but sweet look at Cairo's car parkers

Complications from the war on terror
Egyptian-American  fake ID guy still in jail on secret evidence

The exception
As part of his recent email allegedly sent to lawyer Montasser el Zayat, Ayman El-Zawahari is said to have expressed support for "the halt to operations in Egypt."

"You learn something every day"
A story about a competitor in the upcoming Paris-Dakar motor race that ends its grueling cross-continental course in Sharm El Sheikh on January 18. Lots of details about the race, which will feature some 183 motorcycles, 202 cars and 123 trucks from more than 30 countries.

Cairo says war threat to Iraqi oil fields may be exaggerated
Egyptian intelligence officials tell an oil industry publication that the threats about Saddam Hussein burning his oil fields are exaggerated. He would use biological weapons on US troops , however, they say.

United against war
In Cairo 70 delegates from Cuba, Germany, Russia, the United States, Britain and many Arab countries gathered at a conference titled: "Together Against U.S. Globalization and War in Iraq."

Kalabsha rebirth
After 40 years, temples saved from flooding behind the Aswan Dam have opened to visitors.

Egypt Streets Quiet Despite Anger at U.S.
The US media seems to be trying to reassure the US that Egyptians won't be doing much to protest the upcoming US attack on Iraq. This ABC news story suggests that "it is unlikely anger at any war on Iraq will result in violence against Americans in Egypt." "Egyptians don't hate Americans, they are angry with American foreign policy, but that anger was never translated into targeting Americans, even by militants," said political analyst Reda Helal.

Not yet ready
Bush called Mubarak to tell him the Mideast roadmap was on hold.

Tone down the rhetoric on Sharon?
The head of Nile News says reports not true.

Tahrir museum celebrates centenial
The basement gets a facelift and a display featuring 250 previously hidden artifacts -- just one of the many things going on for the Egyptian Museum's 100th birthday.
NEW!
Great pictures from the event from BBC

Sobhi makes it to the UN
Israel takes its complaint against the airing of Horseman without a Horse to the UN

MORE ON SAAD

Rights groups hail Saad's release
Several are quoted in this article.

Will he seek treatment abroad?
AP reports that the Egyptian rights activist considers applying for leave before retrial.

Time to bring Islamic activists into political mainstream?
Just out of jail, Saad urges Arab governments to bring Islamic activists into the political mainstream.

THIS STORY IS ABOUT TO GET A LOT MORE PRESS...
Sociologist is set free
Interesting turn for Saad saga, with a retrial set for 7 January.

Barbara Ibrahim speaks
Procedural irregularities, not US pressure, led to overturning of verdict.

Picture of Saad leaving Tora prison

Banned, banned, banned
A Lebanese magazine is banned because of an article about censorship, while a Dream TV interview with the new Muslim Brotherhood leader Hodeibi is also banned.

"A big responsibility"
Maamoun El-Hodeibi will take over as the Muslim Brotherhood's new leader now that Moustafa Mashhour has passed away

Premier portrait artist dies at 89
Hussein Bicar, Egypt's renowned portrait artist and painter, died at the age of 89 on Saturday morning and was buried the same day in Cairo. He had been bedridden for the past five months and died of old age.

Tut's real look?
A computer-generated bust that bears little resemblance to the face shown in the famous golden mask of Tutankhamun has gone on display at a British museum
PLUS: See the transformation from mask to man

"You can learn a lot from a hand"
An ancient mummified hand could have been bought from Egypt in the 1920s for less than 10 cents, according to this article about American Egyptologist Bob Brier.

Workers' pipes targeted
Shisha smoking has been banned in Qena in order to stop employees from skipping work.

U.S. may fingerprint Egypt tourists
Find out what you should be expecting if you're planning to go to the US soon -- Egyptians as well as other Arabs may be fingerprinted, photographed and questioned on arrival.

Fourteenth century BC house market
A look at the politics of rich and poor in Pharaonic Egypt

MEANWHILE: Quseir yields 15th century ostrich egg inscribed with Arabic poetry 

Mohamed Sobhi doesn't care
Get the latest links to the ongoing Horseman without a horse controversy here...

Cairo Peace Society President Dies
Salah Bassiouny, a diplomat and an advocate of improving relations between Israel and Egypt, died Monday, at 71 years of age. Bassiouny was chairman of the Cairo Peace Society, which campaigned to transform Egypt's 1979 peace treaty with Israel into the basis for normal business and cultural relations between the two nations. He served as Egypt's ambassador to Ethiopia and Hungary in the 1970s and to Moscow between 1984 and 1988.

Dichotomous month?
This general interest AP story on Ramadan features an interesting look at the different shades of meaning behind the term "Ramadan Kareem".

Another crash, another riot
Similar story: 2 girls killed on same highway that killed others -- again promises are made to build a pedestrian bridge.

Strange incident involving US ambassador
A mystery pickup meanders between the ambassador's car and his police escort.

A sign of things to come?
A thoughtful look at US-Egyptian politics and how they have affected the man on the street.

Post-fasting sports
5-a-side soccer bursts with popularity during Ramadan

Bad news
Fire at the citadel -- luckily it causes no damage to historic places.

New group campaigning for greater freedoms in Egypt excludes a popular Islamic group
"A new group advocating for greater political freedom in Egypt promised to be a platform for all political voices," reports AP, "but already was facing critical questions about its decision to exclude a conservative Islamic group."

Islamic groups still exist...
More than 20,000 people attended Mustafa Mashhour's funeral, the leader of Egypt's largest and outlawed fundamentalist Islamic group. This gesture served as a reminder of the group's enduring appeal despite years of arrests and harassment. "The Brotherhood is in it for the long term and there's nothing the government can do," said Mohammed Salah, who writes on militant Muslim groups for the London-based Al-Hayat daily.

Israel Spy Trial Scheduled in Egypt
News of an alleged spying ring first broke Tuesday when officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said six people had been ordered detained for 45 days by a Cairo court pending the completion of the investigation. Six accused Israeli spies, including an Egyptian diplomat, will be tried on espionage charges next month

Economy fears compound situation
War worries are not just political -- a strike on Iraq could spell woe for already stumbling conditions.

El-Wakil sentenced 18 years
Mohamed Al-Wakil, the ex-state TV news chief, was sentenced 18 years with hard labor for taking bribes to allow guests to appear on the country's main morning breakfast show, "Good Morning Egypt" and being in possession of narcotics.

It's getting cold, at last!
According to AP, a cold front is expected to hit Egypt on Saturday, with showers expected on Sunday.

On the first day of Ramadan:
29 Die in Highway Accident
A bus crash east of Cairo Wednesday killed 29 people and injured 24, said police. The bus carrying resort workers from Suez collided with a gravel truck and overturned on a desert highway outside Cairo. Police said the truck was trying to complete a U-turn when the crash occurred. The bus was carrying mostly Egyptian workers who were returning to Cairo to join their families for the first day of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

Fruit row wife sets house on fire
A woman set fire to her Cairo apartment after a row with her husband over his refusal to buy dried fruit and nuts (yamish), according to Tuesday's Al-Akhbar. The fire caused an estimated 30,000 Egyptian pounds of damage before firefighters brought it under control. 
FOR PLENTY MORE RAMADAN TIDBIT GO TO CAIROLIVE'S RAMADAN DIGEST

Sudan:
Egypt still has a part to play
The Sudanese foreign minister and the US mediator all seem to be trying to comfort Egypt, which isn't too happy about the new Sudanese peace deal. But will their sentiments last?

Meanwhile...
Sudanese president Omar El-Beshir re-ignites the controversy over the Sudan-Egypt border town of Halayib 

Saad:
"He is surprised and dismayed"
Saadeddin Ibrahim does not approve of the US linking aid to Egypt to his case. He is also critical of the media flurry surrounding his case in this report from AP.

Calling the US's bluff
AP reports that Egypt's activists skeptical about impact of U.S. threat to cut aid money

Iran blasts US "interference"
Iran is not very happy about the US pressure on Egypt regarding aid and Saadeddin Ibrahim

The Saad controversy thickens...
The Washington Post quotes unnamed Bush administration officials as saying that "the administration will oppose any additional foreign aid for Egypt to protest the Egyptian government's prosecution of human rights campaigner Saadeddin Ibrahim and its poor treatment of pro-democracy organizations."

Egypt's response: "Egypt does not accept pressure and will not bow to pressure and everyone knows that."

Saad gets seven years
Sociologist Saadeddin Ibrahim is convicted -- for the second time -- of embezzlement and receiving funds without permission.

US critical of court's decision

Badawi seen as sort of modern Nostradamus
An obituary of recently deceased Egyp[tian philosopher Abdel-Rahman Badawi in the Independent says that "In Greek Heritage, he predicted tragedies – like 11 September – resulting from the unavoidable "clash of civilisations", as "an inevitably irresolvable problem" 57 years before the American sociologist Samuel Huntington did.

Looking for cheaper grain?
Details on Egypt's recent wheat dealings

A change of atmosphere?
UPI goes gaga over Egyptian media's new liberal bent

"Horseman without a Horse" aired in spite of protests
Yesterday Egyptian channels aired the first episode of the series "Horseman without a Horse," totally ignoring the US calls not to telecast it. Egypt's Information Minister Safwat El-Sherif denied that the series contained anti-Semitic material and government spokesman Nabil Osman said the program should not be judged before it's aired. 
(Get all the latest links related to the "Horseman without a Horse controversy on our special links page here)

Egypt Mourns Supreme Guide Mashhour
Tens of thousands of Muslim Brotherhood supporters mourned supreme guide Mustafa Mashhour on Friday while their leadership postponed the election of his replacement.

Amnesty Asks Egypt to Stop Torture
The London-based human rights group Amnesty International said Egypt should "act decisively to end torture by adopting legal and practical measures." The report said that Egyptian authorities haven't properly monitored human rights abuses at jails and prisons, where detainees are sometimes tortured and killed.

Iraqi Position on Resolution 'Positive'
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher said on Sunday that Iraq's position on a tough new U.N. resolution on disarmament was "positive," even though Baghdad had not yet formally accepted the text.

For a complete press review of news relating to the Iraq issue click here.

2 Convicted for Sadat Photo
Saeed Abdel Khaliq, editor of the weekly newspaper Al-Maydan, and reporter Walid Abdel Hamid were convicted by an Egyptian judge of violating the sanctity of the dead and undermining public values. The newspaper had published a photograph of the assassinated President Anwar El-Sadat, naked from the waist up and lying on a white sheet, with red bullet wounds on his chest. The paper said it ran the picture to illustrate a story that contradicted a report that said Sadat had been shot from behind. The late president's family protested the publication of the picture and filed a suit against the weekly newspaper.

U.N. rights committee takes Egypt to task
An 18-member panel made its comments after considering a report by Egyptian authorities on compliance with the UN's international human rights treaty.

TV news director pleads innocent to charges of bribery and hashish
"I wish I was in this cage for other charges. I wish the government has put me here because I gave more freedom to state TV's news sector," Mohammed El-Wakil the former news director of Egypt's state-owned television station said in court. El-Wakil pleaded innocent to bribery charges on Sunday.

Thunderstorm kills two women
As a result of a harsh khamaseen (seasonal sandstorm) two women were killed in the southern province of Sohag while working with their husbands in a corn field.

Egyptians among released prisoners
About 170 Egyptians were among those who were freed recently as part of President Saddam Hussein's amnesty bid. It was not clear on what charges the Egyptians were imprisoned, or when they will be returning home.

Shoddy construction kills again
Two dilapidated houses collapse, one killing eleven, another injuring nine.

Daring novel catalogues today's Egypt through declining fortunes of downtown Cairo
Novelist Alaa Al-Aswani dares to speak about the undesirable changes in Egypt. The streets of downtown aren't what they used to be, while corruption, social injustice, greed and Islamic extremism flourish.

Deeper into the shaft?
Egypt's chief archaeologist plans to explore the surface of the Great Pyramid in search of an exit to a mysterious shaft blocked on the inside.
Flashback to September's live archaeology event which first brought the shaft onto the world's radar screens...

A different blend
Ugandan coffee shops will soon be appearing in Cairo, if the contracts mentioned in this article prove fruitful.

"Everybody who was in it will never forget it."
Thousands of veterans gathered at Al-Alamein over the weekend to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the famous WWII battle that took place there.

Web poem saga continues
"At some time in the future I might even consider delivering myself to the prison guards but only when I choose to do so, and when this is going to serve my strategic interests," says web designer Shohdy Surour, who lost his appeal as a result of a no-show and now faces a year's jail time.

Opera Aida Returns to Egypt's Pyramids
A Reuters report from opening night. 

Amazing photos of Opera Aida 2002 at the Pyramids

World Bank head praises museum plans
World Bank President, James Wolfensohn praised the plans to build a Grand Museum and is planning to visit the proposed site. It will be based near the Giza pyramids plateau and Egyptian officials say they hope it will help attract an additional three million visitors a year to the country.

Coming soon: Secret Door, the sequel?
National Geographic's live archaeology event ended with a dud -- and a bit of controversy. Cairo Live was there.

Passionate support, political stability, huge stadium...
Egypt's bid to host the 2006 African Soccer Cup is looking good.

Cold front on the way
Starting Saturday make sure to have a jacket with you -- because a cold front is moving across Egypt. 

Heavy ticketing
Egypt's diplomats in New York will soon be finding themselves