Mursi’s Egypt seeks to keep strong ties with France

Egypt's President Mohamed Mursi will hold talks with President Francois Hollande and Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius on Tuesday. (Reuters)

Egypt wants to maintain close ties with France following the uprising which brought Islamists to power, Foreign Minister Mohammed Kamel Amr told AFP on Sunday on the eve of a visit to Paris.

"It's a message of continuity," Amr said ahead of the trip during which he will hold talks with President Francois Hollande and Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius on Tuesday.

"Relations are based on interests, on strategic cooperation, not depending on who is in power," he told AFP in an interview.

Amr rejected the idea that the 2011 ouster of Hosni Mubarak, who had been in power for 30 years, and the arrival of a president from the Muslim Brotherhood, Mohamed Mursi, would result in a major change in ties between the two states.

Amr, a career diplomat and foreign minister since July 2011, sought to play down disagreements over France's military intervention in Mali, after Mursi said in January he would not accept any operation "likely to fuel conflict in the region."

A senior Brotherhood leader last week also compared the French intervention to those of the United States in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"Before using force, we need to exhaust and explore all peaceful means" and treat problems that often have their roots in poverty and under-development, Amr said.

"We are against any effort to overthrow the government by force, we are against any efforts for extremists to overtake any country," he said.

"But we should also look at these issues in a holistic way, not only military force can solve that problem."

Amr said that a visit by Mursi to Paris -- cancelled in January due to unrest in Egypt -- was still on the cards.

On the conflict in Syria, Paris and Cairo see eye to eye, both having firmly called for the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad, while Paris has proposed arming the Syrian opposition.

Amr said: "The opposition has of course the right to defend themselves, but at the same time we need to strike a balance so as not to contribute to an increase of bloodshed and not lose sight that the solution should be a political solution."

Turning to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Amr said: "It is time for countries like France, Egypt and others to get together and come up with some creative ideas to really achieve peace on the ground."
 

01 Apr, 2013

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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/03/31/Mursi-s-Egypt-seeks-to-keep-strong-ties-with-France-.html
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Residents flee fierce Aleppo clashes: watchdog

A Syrian opposition fighter runs for cover from Syrian army snipers during clashes in the northern city of Aleppo on March 27, 2013. (AFP)

Fierce fighting between Syrian rebels and regime forces has sparked an exodus of residents from the Sheikh Maqsud district of the northern city of Aleppo, a watchdog group said on Sunday.

Violence also engulfed areas in and around Damascus, where children were among eight civilians killed in shelling of Kafar Batna village, while a missile slammed into Yarmuk Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus costing more casualties.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights watchdog also reported that at least 62 people, more than half of them civilians, were killed nationwide on Easter Sunday.

"The Sheikh Maqsud neighborhood has seen a major exodus after shells hit the area, destroying several homes," the head of the Britain-based Observatory, Rami Abdel Rahman, told AFP.

"Hundreds of cars carrying families were seen leaving the neighborhood."

Battles have been raging in the strategic, predominantly Kurdish neighborhood since Friday, as regime troops try to prevent rebels from advancing into the district.

The battles have killed so far at least 43 people, including 15 civilians, 19 soldiers and pro-regime fighters as well as nine rebels, the Observatory said.

Sheikh Maqsud sits atop a hill, with vantage points over all second city Aleppo and its capture would be a key victory for the rebels, allowing them to target districts still in regime hands.

On Saturday, the Observatory and Syrian state media reported that rebels had killed a pro-regime Sunni cleric in Sheikh Maqsud, dragging his body through the streets afterwards.

In other violence on Sunday, SANA reported that "armed terrorists groups" has "set fire to three oil wells in the province of Deir Ezzor, after a dispute between them on sharing stolen oil."

The agency also reported claims that rebels forces were responsible for a "massacre" late Saturday of at least 10 people in the town of Tal Kalakh near the border with Lebanon, an accusation denied by opposition activists.

SANA said women and children were among those killed in a "new massacre" in the Burj neighborhood of Tal Kalakh carried out by "terrorists" -- the regime's word of reference for rebels.

The Observatory, quoting activists, gave a toll of 11 dead, including eight women, and said they were "executed during a raid by regime forces in the Burj neighborhood" of the town.

In Damascus province, a car bomb exploded at a rebel checkpoint, killing at least five rebel fighters, the group added.

Speaking in front of some 250,000 people from around the world gathered in the Vatican for Easter Mass, Pope Francis prayed for "dear Syria, for its people torn by conflict and for the many refugees who await help and comfort.

"How much blood has been shed! And how much suffering must there still be before a political solution to the crisis will be found?" he asked.

01 Apr, 2013

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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/03/31/Residents-flee-fierce-Aleppo-clashes-watchdog-.html
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Skype, WhatsApp, Viber not blocked in Saudi Arabia despite threat

Saudi Arabia's telecommunications regulator has threatened to block messaging applications, such as Skype, WhatsApp and Viber. (Al Arabiya)

Saudi Arabia's telecommunications regulator didn't block messaging applications despite an ultimatum it gave to telecom companies if they failed to monitor these applications.

Al Arabiya correspondent said messaging applications, such as Skype, WhatsApp and Viber were not blocked in Saudi Arabia, and an agreement is expected to take place between Saudi Telecommunications and Information Technology Commission and telecom companies .

On Monday, the commission urged telecom companies to examine possible ways for security oversight with companies who own those 'apps,' or else they will be blocked.

Telecom companies say it is impossible to monitor the applications, the commission said it will consider procedures to block them altogether in the kingdom.

The Saudi telecommunication watchdog had addressed a similar case with BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM) in 2010 when it ordered local telecommunication companies to suspend BlackBerry messenger services.

The Kingdom demanded access to the Blackberry's encrypted network. The Saudi regulatory commission reportedly refused to comment about its imminent decision.

Sulaiman Mirdad, the commission's deputy governor, told the Okaz daily newspaper that the commission has named Sultan al-Malik as its spokesman to answer the media's questions.

But the paper reported that several attempts were made to reach al-Malik by phone but he did not respond.

Saudi online users took to twitter to mock the commission's anticipated decision, with some asking for the internet service to be cut off altogether. Others wrote that the next target for government control will be the oxygen that people breathe.

The number of internet users has reached 16 million in Saudi Arabia, Al Arabiya correspondent said. Around 55 percent of cellphone users in Saudi Arabia have smartphones, he added.

01 Apr, 2013

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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/2013/03/31/Skype-WhatsApp-Viber-not-blocked-in-Saudi-Arabia-despite-threat-.html
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Iran lifts visa requirements for Egyptian tourists

Iranian president signed a project that sees the lifting of visa requirements for Egyptian tourists visiting the Islamic republic. (Reuters)

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has signed a project that sees the lifting of visa requirements for Egyptian tourists visiting the Islamic republic, Iran's semi-official Mehr news reported Sunday.

Canceling visa requirements for Egyptian tourists came a day after flights between Tehran and Cairo resumed since a 34-year hiatus

However, Director of the Department of International Relations and Strategic Planning in the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism, Adel al-Jundi, said there were no links between the first patch of Iranian tourists visiting Egypt and Tehran canceling visa requirements for Egypt.

Egypt makes its decisions after taking into consideration economic, trade, political and security factors, Jundi added.

Meanwhile, Egyptian police heighted security measures to protect 58 Iranian tourists after arriving at Aswan International Airport on Saturday.

Tourism plays a key economic role in Egypt.

Egypt is trying to win back holidaymakers after it was gripped by renewed political crisis.
 

01 Apr, 2013

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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/2013/03/31/Iran-cancels-visas-for-Egyptian-tourists-report-.html
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