Newsreel

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Darfur summit

AGAINST a backdrop of UN Security Council consultations on the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, Egypt is planning a limited African summit to address the issue. Expected to take place towards the end of the first week of March, the summit will bring President Hosni Mubarak together with the heads of state of Libya, Chad, Nigeria and Kenya.

The summit aims to provide a plan to assist the Sudanese government in its efforts to cope with the deteriorating situation in Darfur. It should also send the international community a clear message about Africa's commitment to resolving the crisis in an inter-continental context, with a goal towards sparing the regime in Khartoum from economic sanctions threatened by the vast majority of UN Security Council members.

Ambassador returns

ON MONDAY, Egypt named Mohamed Assem as its new ambassador to Israel, reports Magda El-Ghitany. Assem, whose credentials were accepted this week by the Israeli government, is the first Egyptian ambassador to Israel in four years, ever since Egypt and Jordan recalled their ambassadors in protest against excessive Israeli aggression against the Palestinians.

Although Egypt declined to comment on the ambassador's return, Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said his country considered this step a "part of a process of conciliation" with the Arab world. Calling the ambassador's return a "jest of goodwill", Shalom said he felt that Israel could have relations with ten Arab countries that he did not identify.

Described by Shalom as "a first class diplomat", Assem is expected to start his mission soon. He has previously been the Egyptian ambassador to Ethiopia, Kenya and Sudan.

Getting serious

AFTER BEING interrogated with for six hours by state security prosecutors, Al-Ghad party chairman Ayman Nour, fell ill, and was taken to prison hospital on Tuesday. Gamila Ismail, Nour's wife, told Mona El-Nahhas that his own doctor was allowed to check him and said he suffered a heart attack. The doctor insisted that Nour be taken to a nearby hospital, but the request was refused.

In a statement issued on Monday, Al-Ghad (Tomorrow) opposition party rejected the idea of foreign intervention in their party's affairs, brushing aside recent US criticism of the Egyptian government for detaining Al-Ghad Chairman Ayman Nour.

Nour, a popular MP, was arrested on 29 January on charges of forging 1433 of the new party's membership applications, and was remanded in custody for 45 days pending further investigations. Although Egyptian officials have repeatedly said the case is criminal in nature, Nour's supporters are insisting that it is "politically motivated", the result of his continuous calls for political and constitutional reforms.

During a press conference in Washington last week with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the US was deeply concerned about Nour's detention. Rice said she hoped to find a quick solution to the Nour case, which she described as being important to the US public, Congress and administration.

The Al-Ghad statement said that such support was not "sought by the party". The statement was clearly issued with the aim of combating rumours of a party connection with the US and alleged hidden sources behind the party's financing.

Party Deputy Chairman Moussa Mustafa Moussa said the party had "never received a penny" from any foreign body. "Our sources of finance are well known," he said, mostly derived from wealthy members.

Nour also denied seeking out foreign support; he said, however, that he could neither "blame anyone who supports or defends my rights, [nor could he] thank those who robbed me off my freedom either", in a letter delivered to his wife, TV presenter Gamila Ismail, who visited him in jail on Saturday.

The Indian vocation

FOREIGN Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit met Chinmoy R Gharekhan, India's West Asia and Middle East peace process special envoy, on Tuesday. After the meeting, Gharekhan told reporters that the Middle East is an "extremely important region", that has had strong historical ties with India for centuries. India decided to play a more active role in the Middle East's peace process, Gharekhan said, following the Sharm El-Sheikh summit. The summit, he noted, "could mark the beginning of a new chapter", that may help in implementing the roadmap. His task includes "talks with the Israeli side, to make sure that all parties are heading towards peace".

With regards to Iraq, Gharekhan said his country preferred to "wait and see" where the Iraqi elections would go before deciding how to help there as well.

Attempt aborted

A POLICEMAN was injured in a shootout on the border between the southern Gaza strip and Egypt on Sunday, after security forces reportedly clashed with Palestinian arm smugglers. According to an Interior Ministry statement, the shooting took place when border guards opened fire on a number of Palestinians attempting to smuggle arms into Egypt. While fleeing back to Gaza, the smugglers shot back at the Egyptian forces, injuring soldier Akram Abdel- Gawwad Mohamed, who is currently being treatment for hand injuries at Al-Arish Hospital.

Other eyewitness reports claimed that Israeli fire hit Mohamed by mistake.

One of the suspects was identified as Hamed Abbas, who, according to doctors at Gaza's Rafah Hospital, is in critical condition after being shot in the head and back. The second suspect was shot in the hand. Israeli military sources, meanwhile, said its troops opened fire on Sunday on a group of Palestinian militants in a closed military zone on the Rafah border where weapons are smuggled in from Egypt.

Compiled by Jailan Halawi