Free Republic

“Whatever Israel wants, we in Ghana will go by that, because that is essentially an internal decision” While the Trump administration has been hit with a barrage of warnings that is stands to throw the Middle East into chaos if it recognizes Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, the possible move has garnered support among Israel’s allies in Africa.

A security assessment led to the immediate shutdown of the southern airport. The IDF ordered the immediate shutdown of the airport at Eilat Thursday to all arriving and departing flights, following an unspecified security assessment. The assessment is most likely linked to terrorist activity in the Sinai desert, which borders on the southern port city. Takeoffs of flights headed north were initially allowed to take place but were also stopped later in the evening. The IDF will open the airfield at Uvda as an alternate landing spot for flights diverted from Eilat. The Egyptian military has been conducting a large...

On August 18,Obama called for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to give up power and resign after launching reprisal attacks against his own people. In an coordinated condemnation with European allies and the UN the President “ordered the freezing of all Syrian assets within American jurisdiction,banned imports of Syrian oil and barred American citizens from having any business dealings with the Syrian government.” The daily uprisings against the Syrian government is being backed and influenced by the Muslim Brotherhood. February 2011,Obama called for the Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi to stop oppressing his population and step down. In a coordinated effort with...

I don't know how to start writing this. I have been battling fatigue for not sleeping properly for the past 10 days, moving from one's friend house to another friend's house, almost never spending a night in my home, facing a very well funded and well organized ruthless regime that views me as nothing but an annoying bug that its time to squash will come. The situation here is bleak to say the least. It didn't start out that way. On Tuesday Jan 25 it all started peacefully, and against all odds, we succeeded to gather hundreds of thousands and...

Even Islamists have to eat. It is unclear whether President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt will survive, or whether his nationalist regime will be replaced by an Islamist, democratic, or authoritarian state. What is certain is that it will be a failed state. Amid the speculation about the shape of Arab politics to come, a handful of observers, for example economist Nourel Roubini, have pointed to the obvious: Wheat prices have almost doubled in the past year. Egypt is the world's largest wheat importer, beholden to foreign providers for nearly half its total food consumption. Half of Egyptians live on less...

>> BREAKING SUNDAY NIGHT: EgyptÂ’s Muslim Brotherhood eyes unity govÂ’t without Mubarak In the past several days, the dynamic of the protests in Egypt has changed rapidly, and not for the better. What started out as a genuine and positive pro-freedom movement is being steadily coopted by the Muslim Brotherhood and other violent and extremist forces. There is now a growing risk that the overthrow of the Mubarak regime could lead either to an authoritarian military regime, or a Radical Islamist regime. We must pray neither scenario comes to pass. The people of Egypt would be further oppressed. The U.S.,...

Much has been written about Barack Obama’s Cairo speech to Muslims however most of what I have heard is critique that quite frankly misses the point. In Cairo Obama came out to the world as a Muslim once removed on his father’s side, a boast that just 6 short months ago was anathema for anyone who would dare speak such blasphemy. But now here was Obama in all of his speechifying glory imitating John F. Kennedy’s, “Ich Bin Ein Berliner,” moment in Germany as best he could.

In 'strongly worded' letter addressed to Hamas politburo head Khaled Mashaal, Egypt's Intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman demands that Hamas Gilad Shalit at once, form unity government with President Abbas 09.27.06, 00:56 Egypt has demanded that Hamas immediately release captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit to avoid a worsening crisis in the violence-battered Gaza Strip, Palestinian officials and Arab diplomats said Tuesday. The Egyptian demand came in a "strongly worded letter" From Egypt's powerful intelligence chief Omar Suleiman to the Syrian-based Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal, they said. The letter also demanded Hamas cooperate fully with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in forming a...

Egypt's parliament has approved a constitutional amendment that will allow presidential elections to be contested for the first time. Under the new law, all 15 Egyptian opposition parties may put forward their candidate for the vote. But the law imposes tough conditions on such contenders - they would have to receive the backing of at least 65 members of parliament. The opposition says a non-government candidate would not get this support. The ruling National Democratic Party of President Hosni Mubarak has an overwhelming majority in parliament and an opposition candidate would therefore depend on the ruling party to back his...

CAIRO At least two people have been killed and 19 injured following an explosion in a popular outdoor bazaar in Cairo. Officials say an American man is one of the dead while two Americans are among those injured. Police are investigating the cause of the blast. However, several witnesses say the explosion seemed to have been set off by a man on a motorcycle. The blast took place in a bazaar that's popular with tourists. Investigators say a French woman has also been killed while people from several other countries are among the injured.

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - The only man who has dared to challenge Hosni Mubarak for the presidency was charged Tuesday with forging signatures to win approval for his party - an escalation in the government's confrontation with the most prominent figure in Egypt's fledgling reform movement. Ayman Nour said he relished a court fight he maintained would give him a platform for his campaign and his criticism of Mubarak's regime. "I'm personally the happiest person in Egypt by this decision, because every session of this trial will be a chance to meet our people and supporters," he told The Associated...

ASSOCIATED PRESS CAIRO -- Ayman Nour, the opposition politician released from jail during the weekend, has done the unthinkable in a country where charismatic challengers are kept from rising, mainly by powerful security officials. First, he won a seat in parliament for two terms, then developed a popular base and finally gained approval for a political party, only the third in 25 years, after three rejections and without a court order. Now he is presenting himself as an alternative to President Hosni Mubarak when the nation holds its first multiparty presidential election later this year.

Mubarak's surprise surrender to democratic forces--without a fight no less--got the headlines, but little else. In fact, Mubarak's Friday speech could well be marked by future historians as the equivalent of the first hammers to hit the Berlin Wall in October 1989. Even more astonishingly, it is the lightning fast conclusion to the seemingly impossible journey on which George Bush set out--against the wisdom of his advisors and every Middle East expert (including myself)--in January of 2003. The journey actually began with a PowerPoint presentation at the Pentagon in 2002. That presentation, supposedly given by Richard Perle, is cited as...

The Washington Timeswww.washingtontimes.com Egypt eyes reform for fall electionBy Tanalee SmithASSOCIATED PRESSPublished February 27, 2005 CAIRO -- Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, in a surprise reversal, yesterday took a significant step toward democratic reform in the world's most populous Arab country by ordering that presidential challengers be allowed on the ballot this fall.     The opposition long had demanded an open election, but Egypt's ruling party repeatedly had rejected it.     The Egyptian president, who has held power since 1981 without facing an election opponent, only last month dismissed calls for reform as "futile."     Mr. Mubarak made the announcement in a nationally televised...

CAIRO (Reuters) - Several hundred Egyptians protested in central Cairo on Monday in the largest street demonstration since the launch last year of a campaign against continued rule by the Mubarak family. Liberals, leftists and Islamists chanted: "Enough, shame, have mercy" and "Down, down with (President) Hosni Mubarak (news - web sites)" in a public square outside the gates of Cairo University, as tens of thousands of mostly bemused commuters drove past. Many of them carried yellow flags or stickers saying "Enough" -- the slogan of an informal movement dedicated to stopping Mubarak from obtaining a fifth six-year term in...

THE WASHINGTON TIMES Egypt is ready to deploy up to three full battalions to its border with Israel and a potential Palestinian state in Gaza as part of a push for a comprehensive peace deal, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said yesterday. Mr. Gheit, who meets today with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other senior U.S. officials, cautioned that new Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas must be given the time and resources to get the security situation under control. Ordinary Palestinians, he told editors and reporters at The Washington Times, must quickly see that Israel's withdrawal from Gaza...

Last month former secretary of state Madeleine K. Albright visited Egypt on a fact-finding mission for the Council on Foreign Relations. While there, she met with officials and civil society leaders, including an opposition member of Egypt's parliament, Ayman Nour, who heads a new political party called El Ghad, or Tomorrow. In his assessment of the situation in Egypt, Nour was sharply critical of President Hosni Mubarak's failing policies. Shortly afterward -- as soon as Albright and company had left -- the parliament met in emergency session to approve a government-sponsored motion stripping Nour of his parliamentary immunity. Minutes later,...

Concerning the two day Iraq summit recently held in Egypt:It is indeed a positive development that Iraq’s neighbours have committed themselves to the tasks ahead in the war-wracked country. The support from the six neighbours — Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Kuwait, Jordan and Turkey — is crucial to restoring peace and stability in the country. The importance of their cooperation can be hardly overestimated particularly when Iraq is set to have its first democratic election in a month from now. The January poll, Iraq’s neighbours would agree, can go a long way in restoring democratic rights to the Iraqi people...

VIENNA - Egypt’s ambassador to the UN atomic agency blasted as “totally baseless” a French newspaper report Tuesday that the Egyptian head of the agency Mohamed ElBaradei was helping Cairo hide a secret nuclear program. “There is no clandestine program and therefore there is no dossier,” ambassador Ramzy Ezzeldin Ramzy told AFP. “The issue of a connection between Egypt and Tripoli in the nuclear field is totally baseless,” Ramzy said. He was reacting to a report in the French newspaper Liberation, citing unnamed Western diplomats, that the now dismantled Libyan nuclear program “had Egyptian links.” The United States and Britain...

The most surprising thing about the Sinai bombings that have just killed at least 19 holidaying Israelis is the fact that they came as a surprise. Surprise and indignation were also expressed at the Egyptian authorities' unwillingness to cooperate with the Israeli fire and rescue teams. These highly skilled workers, with their heavy equipment that could have been put to quick use to perhaps save some lives, were reportedly kept standing helplessly on the Egyptian border within sight of the burning and pulverized Taba Hilton Hotel. Surprise and anger were expressed by other Israelis at the scene who were prevented...