Mubarak on phone from Sharm: source

CAIRO: Egypt’s deposed President Hosni Mubarak is taking telephone calls in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, said a source who spoke to him Tuesday.

“He’s fine,” the source said. “He is at his residence in Sharm el-Sheikh with his family. He is receiving telephone calls. I spoke to him at 3 o’clock (1300 GMT) this afternoon.”

Speculation about Mubarak’s health has swirled since he was forced to resign Friday.

The Saudi-owned daily Asharq al-Awsat reported that Mubarak was ailing and had refused to travel abroad for treatment.

“What is certain is that his state of health is declining drastically. In addition there is information that he is refusing to receive the required medical treatment,” Asharq al-Awsat said in its online edition, quoting a former security official affiliated to the Egyptian military high command.

A military source told Reuters Mubarak was “breathing” but would not give details about his status.

The Higher Military Council took over Egypt when Mubarak resigned Friday following an 18-day revolt against him.

Asharq al-Awsat said Mubarak, 82, had refused advice to travel to Germany for treatment, quoting its source as saying: “He has asked those around him to allow him to die in his country, and I believe this is just a matter of time.”

Mubarak underwent gallbladder surgery in Germany last year. Rumors about his health have been rife since then.

While still clinging to office, Mubarak said in his final speeches to the nation that he would die in Egypt. Agencies

Egypt protesters defiant as Army calls for end to demonstrations

Violent clashes broke out Wednesday in Cairo’s main Tahrir Square between anti-regime protesters and supporters of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, as tensions escalated despite the army’s call for protesters to return home now as Mubarak had pledged to step down before the next election.

The army couched its new request gently, appealing to the protesters to bring back a sense of order. But demonstrators said they would proceed with plans for a massive protest on Friday, their designated departure day for Mubarak.

Earlier, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said on Tuesday he would surrender power in September. A leading reformist figure, retired diplomat Mohammad Al Baradei, was quoted as calling Mubarak’s move a trick.

The United States called for the transition of power to begin straight away, stopping short of endorsing Mubarak’s plan to stay in office for another six months.

Egypt President Announces New Govt

Breaking News

CAIRO: Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak swore in a new Cabinet on Monday, replacing one dissolved as a concession to unprecedented anti-government protests.

In the most significant change, the interior minister — who heads internal security forces — was replaced. A retired police general, Mahmoud Wagdi, was named to replace Habib el-Adly, who is widely despised by protesters for brutality shown by security forces.

Still, the new Cabinet is unlikely to satisfy the tens of thousands of protests who have taken to the streets in cities across Egypt the past week demanding the ouster of Mubarak and his entire regime.

When Mubarak announced the dissolving of the previous government late Friday and named his intelligence chief Omar Suleiman as his vice president, protesters on the streets rejected the move as an attempt by Mubarak, Egypt’s authoritarian ruler of nearly 30 years, to cling to power.

The new line-up of Cabinet ministers announced on state television included stalwarts of Mubarak’s regime but purged several of the prominent businessmen who held economic posts and have engineered the country’s economic liberalization policies the past decades.

Many Egyptians resented to influence of millionaire politician-moguls, who were close allies of the president’s son, Gamal Mubarak, long thought to be the heir apparent.

In the new Cabinet, Mubarak retained his long-serving defense minister, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, and Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit.

The longest-serving Cabinet minister, Culture Minister Farouq Hosni, was replaced by Gaber Asfour, a widely respected literary figure.

Egypt’s most famous archaeologist, Zahi Hawass, was named state minister for antiquities, a new post.

Egypt: At least 102 killed in 7 days of anti-government unrest

At least 102 people have been killed in seven days of anti-government unrest in Egypt.

33 people were killed and hundreds were reported injured on Saturday alone. An earlier overall toll said that 92 people had died since protests erupted on Tuesday. On Friday, 62 people were killed, including 35 in Cairo, in the deadliest day of protests calling for regime change in the country.

Seven people were killed between Tuesday and Wednesday in Cairo and the canal city of Suez, amid unprecedented protests demanding the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak. Several thousands have been reported injured this week.

The world has urged Egyptian President to make democratic reforms. US President Barack Obama has also suggested Hosni Mubarak to make crucial political reforms. Whereas EU, in a combined press release, has urged Egyptian President to stop torturing the protestors.

Venezuela: Chavez slams protesters for assailing Egyptian embassy

Venezuela: Chavez slams protesters for assailing Egyptian embassyVenezuelan President Hugo Chavez slammed a group of young Venezuelans with Egyptian ties who took over the Egyptian embassy in Caracas on Friday (January 28) in a sign of solidarity with protesters in Egypt demanding Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak resign.

Chavez said he was concerned about the actions saying it was unacceptable and that Venezuela has to protect all foreign embassies which are sovereign territory. The Venezuelan leader said the embassy was instructed not to provoke violence and that the protesters peacefully left soon after taking control of the building and being talked down by Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro. Look at what is happening in Egypt. And just today I spoke with the foreign minister. Something very worrisome happened that should not have happened in Caracas. A group of Venezuelan citizens that are Egyptian entered the Egyptian embassy. They entered peaceably, as Egyptian citizens. They supposedly went to ask for documents but when they were inside they took over the embassy. This cannot be allowed, Chavez said. Meanwhile, President Mubarak refused early Saturday (January 29) to bow to demands that he resign, after ordering troops and tanks into cities in an attempt to quell an explosion of street protest against his 30-year rule. Mubarak dismissed his government and called for national dialogue to avert chaos following a day of battles between police and protesters angry over poverty and political repression.

US Secretly Backed leading figures behind Egyptian uprising

Breaking News

Popular British newspaper The Daily Telegraph has revealed that the American government secretly backed leading figures behind the Egyptian uprising who have been planning regime change for the past three years.

According to the newspaper, the American embassy in Cairo helped a young dissident attend a US-sponsored summit for activists in New York, while working to keep his identity secret from Egyptian state police.On his return to Cairo in December 2008, the activist told US diplomats that an alliance of opposition groups had drawn up a plan to overthrow President Hosni Mubarak and install a democratic government in 2011.He has already been arrested by Egyptian security in connection with the demonstrations and his identity is being protected by The Daily Telegraph.The crisis in Egypt follows the toppling of Tunisian president Zine al-Abedine Ben Ali, who fled the country after widespread protests forced him from office.The disclosures, contained in previously secret US diplomatic dispatches released by the WikiLeaks website, show American officials pressed the Egyptian government to release other dissidents who had been detained by the police.

Egypt chaos: Mubarak refuses to step down

Breaking News Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak refused to bow to demands that he resign after ordering troops and tanks into cities in an attempt to quell protests against his 30-year rule. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is due to appoint a new government after firing his previous administration amid a wave of protests against his rule. Demonstrators were still out in the streets in the early hours of the morning, as were looters.

Parts of Cairo resembled a war zone, filled with smoke, rubble and the smell of tear gas. Mubarak dismissed his government and called for national dialogue to avert chaos after a day of battles between police and protestors. Medical sources said at least 24 people had been killed and over a thousand injured in clashes in Cairo, Suez and Alexandria. ‘It is not by setting fire and by attacking private and public property that we achieve the aspirations of Egypt and its sons, but they will be achieved through dialogue, awareness and effort,’ he said in a televised address, his first public appearance since the protests began four days ago.US President Barack Obama said he had spoken with Mubarak and urged ‘concrete steps that advance the rights of the Egyptian people’.The army, deployed for the first time in the crisis, cleared Cairo’s Tahrir square towards midnight. Shortly after Mubarak’s speech, protestors returned in their hundreds, defying a curfew. They said sacking the cabinet was far from enough.’It was never about the government, by God. It is you (Mubarak) who has to go What you have done to the people is enough’ said one protestor.

Shots were heard in the evening near parliament and the headquarters of the ruling National Democratic Party was in flames, the blaze lighting up the night sky. Cars were set alight and police posts torched. More than half of the dead in yesterday’s clashes were reported in Suez, the eastern city which has been ground zero for the most violent protests over the past four days.Mubarak, 82, has been a close ally of Washington and beneficiary of US aid for decades.The protests were triggered by the overthrow two weeks ago of Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Al Ben Ali. Street protests in Tunis focused on similar issues of poverty and political repression. Demonstrations have also flared in Yemen, Algeria, Sudan and Jordan in recent weeks.

Egypt: Deadly Car Bomb Blast Outside a Church Claims 9 lives

At least nine people were killed when a car bomb exploded outside a church in the northern Egyptian city of Alexandria.

The bomb went off as worshipers were gathering to mark the New Year. More than 20 others were reported to be injured in this incident. The attack triggered clashes between Christians and Muslims who pelted each other with rocks. Some cars were also set ablaze as a result of these clashes. Authorities stepped up security after a group linked to Al-Qaeda in Iraq threatened the church in Egypt. The Egyptian Interior Ministry says an investigation into the bombing is underway.

Mahmoud Abbas in Egypt for peace talks

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met with Egyptian and Arab League officials on Saturday to discuss the stalled direct peace talks with Israel, Egypt’s official MENA news agency reported.

Abbas, who arrived in Cairo on Saturday, talked with Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa and Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman about the latest situation of the peace process, the report said.

The talks also involved the Arab countries’ future moves in the event of Israel’s continued intransigence and failure of endeavors to produce a settlement freeze, it said. Abbas would meet Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Sunday. In early October, the Palestinians halted the US-sponsored direct talks with Israel, four weeks after it resumed in Washington. The decision was made after Israel refused to extend a ten-month moratorium over settlement building that ended on Sept. 26. There were recently new hopes of the peace talks as US President Barack Obama has reportedly offered Israel a package of incentive in exchange for Israel’s settlement freezing.

Dawoodi Bohra community celebrates EID today

Staff Report

KARACHI: Dawoodi Bohra community is celebrating Eid-ul-Adha throughout Pakistan today.

According to the Egyptian calendar, Eid is being celebrated by the Bohri community all across the country.

Many Eid prayer gatherings were held in Karachi. The biggest Eid prayer congregation of the metropolis was held in Tahiri Mosque.

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