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Truce in the pipeline

EGYPTIAN mediation to conclude a truce between Israel and Hamas is slowly progressing, say Egyptian officials. "The recent round of talks we had earlier this week with representatives of Hamas and Jihad and the talks we had earlier with the Israeli envoy indicate that the truce is really in the pipeline," said an Egyptian negotiator who asked that his name be withheld.

According to the official, Hamas has given up on its demand that the deal should be written with guarantees attached and that Israel for its part has decided to offer Cairo sufficient "assurances" that it would not carry out "aggressive military retaliation to any rockets that might be fired by an unruly Hamas militant."

The most difficult problem to resolve now, the same source said, is whether Israel and Hamas will include the West Bank in the truce or it would be limited to Gaza. Unlike Israel, Hamas wants to include Gaza. "But it will not block the truce over this matter," the negotiator said. He added, "it is getting clearer that both sides want to finalise this deal but each side wants to extract the best deal."

The Hamas-Jihad delegation and the Israeli envoy should get back to the Egyptian mediators "within the coming days", the source said. "If we have credible signs that a truce can be declared, [General Intelligence Chief] Omar Suleiman would go to Israel, then Washington to finalise the deal."

Once a truce is finalised, Egypt hopes to reach an agreement with Israel over the reopening of the Rafah crossing point and a prisoner swap deal.

MB trial postponed

A MILITARY tribunal, which was expected to issue a ruling on the year-long Muslim Brotherhood trial, on Tuesday adjourned for the second time, until next month. A day earlier, speculation was rife that the court would determine the fate of the 40 Brotherhood affiliates, in detention since December. Six of the men are being tried in absentia in a trial that includes key figures and financiers.

When on 26 February the military tribunal postponed its findings in the case, political analysts described the incident as a strategic move, predicting that a ruling would only be issued after municipal elections, to be held in early April, are, as one source said, "peacefully" over.

The 40 detainees were the first outlawed Brotherhood members to stand trial in a military court since 2001 after being referred to the tribunal last month on charges of terrorism and money laundering, though these were later reduced to belonging to an outlawed group.

Over a year ago, President Hosni Mubarak ordered 40 Brotherhood leaders, including the group's third in command, businessman Khairat El-Shater, to stand trial before a military court on charges of money laundering and terrorism.

The Brotherhood was founded in 1928 and has been officially outlawed since 1954. It is Egypt's largest opposition group and its lawmakers, although they run as independents, managed in the 2005 elections to capture more than a fifth of the 454-member parliament.

US ship kills Egyptian

THE US Embassy in Cairo has said a US navy-chartered boat killed an Egyptian when it fired warning shots at a small boat near the Suez Canal on Monday evening.

"The Global Patriot... fired warning shots at a small boat approaching the ship as it was preparing to transit the Suez Canal. It appears that an Egyptian in the boat was killed by one of the warning shots," said a statement.

The man, Mohamed Fouad, a 27-year-old father of two, was buried Tuesday in the canal city of Suez.

After the funeral, dozens of friends and family members converged on the two-storey house where Fouad's family and his brothers and sisters lived.

Women in black wailed and cried while men buried their heads in their hands in disbelief.

The victim worked on the small boats selling cigarettes and other products to ships crossing the canal.

Egyptian security officials at the canal said three other men were wounded in the incident.

Protests in Sohag

VILLAGERS in Sohag on Monday staged a protest after a police vehicle ran over and killed a man who clung to the car as he tried to stop it from whisking away with his brother. The circumstances surrounding the man's death remain controversial. According to police sources, the death was accidental after the car struck the man while trying to drive around him, the driver not realising the victim was being dragged under its wheels. But the victim's family has a different version. On Monday night, they said police forces had visited Eid Ahmed Ibrahim's house, arresting him without being told why. His brother Ibrahim intervened, standing in front of the police vehicle in an attempt to stop it from leaving but was run over. The family added that the police vehicle drove for several hundred metres before coming to a stop with Ibrahim under its wheels.

Over 2,000 villagers demonstrated, accusing the police of killing Ibrahim.

Until the paper went to print, the Ministry of Interior had issued no statement on the incident.