CAIRO — Five years ago, sociologist and activist Saadeddin Ibrahim broke a taboo by publicly criticising Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Hours later, he was in jail. “Everybody said that was the red line I crossed,” said Ibrahim, who wrote in a magazine article that leaders of Arab republics, including Egypt, …

US says `known terrorist’ killed as 45 die in fighting BAGHDAD (AP) — In a dramatic turn, the US ambassador opened the door Tuesday to further changes in Iraq’s draft constitution and signalled the Bush administration had not given up on a campaign to push through a charter that will …

GAZA CITY (AFP) — A senior Egyptian envoy told the Palestinian parliament Tuesday that Cairo would work “hand in hand” with the Palestinians for an end to Israel’s occupation of all territory seized in 1967. “I have the pleasure of being with you to convey the congratulations of President (Hosni) …

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Egyptian intelligence chief, Omar Suleiman, yesterday met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to discuss ways of shoring up the ceasefire and border controls between Gaza and Egypt. The visit came at the same time as EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana met Israeli officials to discuss how …

BEIRUT — After months of bombings, assassinations and political upheaval, many Lebanese fear the worst is yet to come as the United Nations wraps up its investigation into the killing of former prime minister Rafiq Hariri. Some prominent politicians and journalists have reportedly fled the country. Others stay cooped up …

GAZA CITY — The fishermen of Gaza believe that Allah has put them to work in the only place in the world where the Mediterranean suffocates rather than gives a sense of freedom. But as the days of Israel’s 38-year rule draw to a close, they are hoping to take …

CAIRO — From deep in Egypt’s south to the nation’s Mediterranean shores hundreds of kilometres to the north, everyone knows that it’s all but a formality for Hosni Mubarak to win next month’s presidential election. Such apathy is routine given Egypt’s long record of electoral fraud. Yet surprisingly, many in …

FALLUJAH — As the Sunni tribal chiefs file into the bullet-scarred headquarters of the US-led coalition in the centre of Fallujah, it is immediately clear what they came to talk about. “The constitution is weak and it casts the Sunnis aside,” says one. “We have to keep Iraq united from …

BAGHDAD (Reuters) — Reuters demanded the immediate release on Monday of an Iraqi cameraman who was still being held by US forces in Baghdad more than a day after being wounded in an incident in which his soundman was killed. Iraqi police said the news team was shot by US …

BAGHDAD (AP) — Thousands of Sunni demonstrators rallied in Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit on Monday to denounce Iraq’s new constitution a day after negotiators finished the new charter without the endorsement of Sunni Arabs. Sunni leaders have urged their community to defeat the charter in a nationwide referendum on …