CAIRO: Egyptians on the streets of Cairo said they had reservations about opposition leader Mohamed El-Baradei, who has offered to act as transitional leader to prepare Egypt for democratic elections. ElBaradei said he had a mandate from opposition groups to make contact with the army and negotiate a government of national unity. An opposition party, Arab nationalist Karama Party of Hamdin Sabahi, has rejected ElBaradei as a transitional figure, saying he was trying to jump on the bandwagon of popular uprising. ElBaradei's cosmopolitanism he lived abroad for years is a source of suspicion among others.

WASHINGTON: Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak "will have to go," a top US lawmaker said Monday after a closed-doors Senate meeting on weeklong, deadly protests calling for the authoritarian leader's ouster. Mubarak "cannot afford to clamp down again, as he initially tried to do by deploying his security forces and shutting down access to the Internet," Senator Bill Nelson wrote in an opinion article after a closed doors meeting of the Select Committee on Intelligence on recent events in Egypt and Tunisia. "Instead, Mr Mubarak will have to go," Nelson added, though cautioning against the Egyptian government falling and "leaving the door open for extremists," such as the powerful Muslim Brotherhood opposition group. His statement came amid the seventh straight day of nationwide protests against Mubarak's three-decade rule that have shaken Egypt, and left at least 125 people dead as the veteran leader clings to power. US President Ba...

CAIRO: Egyptian protesters gave a call for a million people to pour onto the streets of Cairo tomorrow to put up a massive show of strength to force the beleaguered President Hosni Mubarak to leave the country by Friday. Upping the ante to topple Mubarak, a coalition of opposition parties, including the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood also served an ultimatum telling the powerful army to choose between " Egypt or Mubarak", indicating that a decisive stage may be near as the death toll in the last six days of violence crossed 150. Anti- Mubarak sentiments reached a feverish pitch, as thousands of protesters converged on Tahrir or Liberation Square the hub of the protests in the heart of Cairo to make the call for a "million man march" tomorrow. They waved placards that the time had come for the Army to choose between "Egypt or Mubarak" as they defied assembled tanks and armoured carriers backing heavily armed contingents of Army, police and secret polic...

Egyptian protesters on Monday called for an indefinite strike in Egypt and a "million man march" on Tuesday in Cairo, upping the stakes in their bid to topple President Hosni Mubarak's regime. "It was decided overnight that there will be a million man march on Tuesday," Eid Mohammed, one of the protesters and organisers said. "We have also decided to begin an open ended general strike," he said. The strike was first called by workers in the canal city of Suez late on Sunday. "We will be joining the Suez workers and begin a general strike until our demands are met," Mohammed Waked, another protest organiser said. In Cairo's Tahrir square, hundreds of protesters camped out overnight, in a bid to keep up the biggest anti government protests in three decades. Embattled President Hosni Mubarak appointed the first vice president in his 30 year rule, and a new Prime Minister in a desperate attempt to hold on to power. The protesters ins...

CAIRO: Foreign governments stepped up their warnings Sunday about travel to Egypt, with several urging their citizens to evacuate as soon as possible amid uncertainty over where the Arab nation is headed after nearly a week of mass protests. The fears of foreign tourists mirrored those of many Egyptians. Dozens with the means to do so rented jets or hopped aboard their own planes in a mad dash that did little to boost confidence in the future of a country long viewed as a pillar of stability in a restive region. Those leaving included businessmen and celebrities. The United States, Canada, Switzerland, Turkey and the Netherlands issued advisories encouraging nationals already in Egypt to leave and telling those who planned trips there to reconsider. The US embassy in Cairo said it was making arrangements to transport Americans who want to leave to "safehaven locations in Europe." Flights would begin Monday. Assistant US secretary of state Janice Jacobs said it will...

ISTANBUL: A new Turkish film in which an action-man hero avenges the death of Turkish activists in Israel's deadly raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship is likely to put new strain on already tense relations between Turkey and Israel. "Valley of the Wolves: Palestine," one of the most expensive Turkish films ever made, has drawn accusations at home of excessive violence and abroad of anti-Israeli propaganda, but it attracted big audiences at its opening this weekend. In the film, Polat Alemdar, a secret agent more akin to Rambo than James Bond, emerges from a series of bloody clashes to track down and kill the Israeli commander who ordered the storming of an aid ship heading for Gaza. It starts with a depiction of the real-life incident last May when Israeli marines boarded the Mavi Marmara, part of a flotilla organized by a Turkish Islamic charity, and killed nine Turkish activists who tried to stop them, creating a crisis between the former allies. In the film, an Isr...

KHARTOUM: Sudanese police beat and arrested students on Sunday as hundreds protested throughout the capital demanding the government resign, inspired by a popular uprising in neighbouring Egypt. Armed riot police broke up groups of young Sudanese demonstrating in central Khartoum and surrounded the entrances of four universities in the capital, firing teargas and beating students at three of them. Some 500 young people also protested in the city of el-Obeid in North Kordofan in the west of the country. Police beat students with batons as they chanted anti-government slogans such as "we are ready to die for Sudan" and "revolution, revolution until victory". Groups have emerged on social networking sites calling themselves "Youth for Change" and "The Spark", since the uprisings in nearby Tunisia and close ally Egypt this month. "Youth for Change" has attracted more than 15,000 members. "The people of Sudan will not remain ...

CAIRO: Egyptian air force fighter planes buzzed low over Cairo on Sunday, helicopters hovered above and extra troop trucks appeared in a central square where protesters were demanding an end to President Hosni Mubarak's rule. It was the latest show of military might on Sunday in an apparent effort to send protesters back to their homes before a curfew. Mubarak held talks with top military commanders earlier in the day, state media reported. A Reuters witness saw at least three jets fly over Tahrir Square. The warplanes flew over the city several times. At least a dozen troop trucks and extra tanks drove towards the square as more protesters gathered in defiance of the curfew. Tanks have been posted in the square since Friday when the army was sent to the streets to take control after days of unrest and anti-government demonstrations. "The planes are out there to scare the people. It's time for the curfew and no one is going home," a 45-year-old engineer who was ...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates: The pan-Arab broadcaster Al-Jazeera said Sunday that Egyptian authorities ordered the closure of its Cairo news hub overseeing coverage of the country's massive street protests, denouncing the move as an attempt to "stifle and repress" open reporting. The Qatar-based network has given nearly round-the-clock coverage to the unprecedented uprising against Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and had faced criticism by some government supporters as a forum to inspire more unrest. Al-Jazeera's flagship Arabic channel has faced numerous bans and backlash across the Arab world, including bitter complains this month from the Palestinian Authority over allegations that its reporting favored rival Hamas over leaked documents about peace talks with Israel. Al-Jazeera also broadcasts in English. But the ban by Egyptian official comes amid one of the most pivotal Arab political showdowns in decades. The blanket coverage offers another example of...

TEHRAN: The Netherlands has frozen contacts with Iran after Tehran hanged an Iranian-Dutch woman for drug smuggling, having initially arrested her for taking part in anti-government protests. Zahra Bahrami's execution on Saturday brings the total number of people hanged in Iran so far this year to 66 -- on average more than two a day -- according to an AFP tally based on media reports. "A drug trafficker named Zahra Bahrami, daughter of Ali, was hanged early on Saturday morning after she was convicted of selling and possessing drugs," the Tehran prosecutor's office said. Dutch Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal "was profoundly shocked by the news, he called it an act committed by a barbarous regime," foreign ministry spokesman Bengt van Loosdrecht told AFP. "The Netherlands has decided to freeze all contacts with Iran" after obtaining confirmation of Bahrami's execution from Iran's ambassador to the Netherlands Kazem Gharib Abadi, the m...

Live updates: Unrest in Egypt (All times are in IST) 6:01am: Would-be looters broke into Cairo's famed Egyptian Museum, ripping the heads off two mummies and damaging about 10 small artifacts before being caught and detained by army soldiers, Egypt's antiquities chief said Saturday. (Source: AP) 5:17am: More than 100 people have been killed during anti-government protests that have swept Egypt, according to a Reuters tally of reports from medical sources, hospitals and witnesses . (Source: Reuters) 4:32am: Egyptian police shot dead 17 people trying to attack two police stations on Saturday in Beni Suef governorate, south of Cairo, witnesses and medical sources said. (Source: Reuters) 3: 45am: Top European leaders tell Mubarak to end crackdown in Egypt. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister David Cameron wrote in a joint statement that they are "deeply concerned about the events that we are witnessing in Egyp...

CAIRO: Egypt's street protesters pushed President Hosni Mubarak into naming a deputy on Saturday for the first time in his 30 years in power, but many went on defying a curfew, urging the army to join them in forcing Mubarak to quit. Flames from the tax authority headquarters lit central Cairo after the building was set ablaze. Police again opened fire. The German, French and British leaders appealed jointly to Mubarak to stop violence against civilians and hold free elections -- a move that would surely bring his military-backed rule to an end. In naming intelligence chief Omar Suleiman vice-president, many saw Mubarak edging toward an eventual, army-approved handover of power. The 82-year-old former general has long kept his 80 million people guessing over succession plans that had, until this week, seemed to focus on grooming his own son. The elevation of Suleiman, a key player in relations with Egypt's key aid backer the United States, and the appointment of another...

Live updates - Egypt's unrest continue (All times are in IST) 21: 42 : Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Saturday appointed aviation minister Ahmed Shafiq the new prime minister, hours after he sacked the government amid massive anti-regime protests. (Source AFP) 21:39: Plane carrying families of Israeli diplomats evacuated from Egypt lands in Tel Aviv. (Source Reuters) 20:49: Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who has not picked a vice president since his took office in 1981, appointed his intelligence chief and confidante Omar Suleiman to the post, the official news agency said on Saturday. (Source Reuters) 20: 40 - Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was holding crisis talks with senior officials at the presidency, state television reported on Saturday, as mass riots demanding his ouster entered their fifth day. (Source AFP) 20: 39: At least three people were killed during anti-regime protests in downtown Cairo on Saturday, medics at a mobile hospital told AFP as they te...

BAGHDAD: Iraqis on Saturday welcomed the revolt in Egypt that threatens to topple President Hosni Mubarak, with some claiming the tremors shaking Arab rulers had begun with the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. "Saddam was their teacher, and all of these dictators are his little pupils," declared Hussein Mohammed, taking a break from loading boxes of imported toys into a truck. "The dictator (Mubarak) must leave -- all dictators must go," the 55-year-old added, noting that he stayed up until 4:00 am listening to the radio for news from Cairo. "From Morocco to Saudi Arabia, we Arabs want all dictators out." Other Iraqis remained glued to their television sets throughout the day, with electronics store owner Maher Minjal tuning four televisions to different Arabic news channels reporting events in Egypt. "The fuse was lit by Iraq, because we became the first Arab country to achieve democracy and get an elected government," said Minjal, 28, f...

CAIRO: Tanks guarded key government building around Cairo and the central square Saturday as protesters returned to the streets a day after massive and violent confrontations emboldened the movement demanding the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak. The Cabinet resigned in the midst of rampant looting across the sprawling city and the death toll since protests began rose to 45. Dozens of military armored personnel carriers and tanks as well as soldiers on foot deployed around a number of key government buildings in the capital, including state television and the foreign ministry after thousands of protesters besieged the two offices in Friday's riots. The military was protecting important tourist and archaeological sites such as the Egyptian Museum, home to some of the country's most treasured antiquities, as well as the Cabinet building. The pyramids on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt's premiere tourist site, were closed by the military to tourists. On Friday, protesters...

CAIRO: At least 74 people have been killed in protests across Egypt calling for an end to the rule of President Hosni Mubarak, according to a tally from Reuters reports from medical sources, hospitals and witnesses. There was no official figure, and the real figure may be very different, given the confusion on the streets. Some 68 deaths were reported killed in Cairo, Suez and Alexandria during Friday's protests. Before then, security sources said at least six people, including a police officer had been killed. On Saturday, medical sources told Reuters around 2,000 people had been wounded throughout the country, however with more protests erupting, that number is almost certain to rise. The sources were unable to specify whether they were police protesters.

CAIRO: Hundreds of anti-government protesters returned Saturday to the streets of central Cairo, chanting slogans against Hosni Mubarak and attacking police just hours after the Egyptian president fired his Cabinet and promised reforms but refused to step down. The sight of protesters pouring into Cairo's downtown Tahrir Square and clashing with police for a fifth day indicated Mubarak's words in a televised speech shortly after midnight had done little to cool the anger over Egypt's crushing poverty, unemployment and corruption. Over five days of protests _ the largest Egypt has experienced in decades _ crowds have overwhelmed police forces in Cairo and other cities around the nation with their numbers and in attacks with rocks and firebombs. Overnight, the government called in military forces and by morning the army had replaced police in guarding government buildings and other key areas around the capital. Several tanks were parked in the vast Tahrir Square, but s...

TEHRAN: Iran on Saturday hanged an Iranian-Dutch woman, Zahra Bahrami, after she was found guilty of selling and possessing drugs, the Tehran prosecutor's office said on its website. "A drug trafficker named Zahra Bahrami, daughter of Ali, was hanged early on this morning after she was convicted of selling and possessing drugs," the prosecutor's office said. Bahrami, a 46-year-old Iranian-born naturalised Dutch citizen, was reportedly arrested in December 2009 after joining a protest against the government while visiting relatives in the Islamic republic. The prosecutor's office today confirmed that she had been arrested for "security crimes." But elaborating on her alleged drug smuggling, the office said Bahrami had used her Dutch connections to smuggle narcotics into Iran. "The convict, a member of an international drug gang, smuggled cocaine to Iran using her Dutch connections and had twice shipped and distributed cocaine inside the coun...

TUNIS: The head of Tunisia's main union body said PM Mohammed Ghannouchi had agreed to meet critics demanding his removal amid signs that mass protests were running out of steam. The day after Ghannouchi sacked key allies of deposed dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, there were none of the usual slogans among hundreds of protesters camped out in front of his offices since Sunday.

BEIRUT: The competing demands of protecting the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and achieving national unity dominated Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikatis discussions Friday with MPs who relayed their demands vis-a-vis the formation of a new government. Mikati wrapped up two days of consultations with parliamentary blocs on forming a new cabinet to replace caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariris national unity Cabinet, which collapsed on Jan. 12 after ministers of Hezbollah and its March 8 allies resigned in a dispute over the U.N.-backed STL. The non-binding consultations were held at Parliament in Nijmeh Square. All March 14 lawmakers voiced support for the STL, which is probing the 2005 assassination of Hariris father, former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Beirut MP Imad Hout, who named Saad Hariri for prime minister, said after meeting Mikati that the new cabinets priority should be to close Lebanese ranks amid many dangers facing the country, led by the presence of the Zionist enemy o...

BEIRUT: Lebanon has no authority to abolish the Special Tribunal for Lebanon but the government could cancel the memorandum of cooperation ratified with the U.N.-backed court, according to legal experts. However, the experts warned against such a decision, saying it could result in political and economic sanctions imposed on Lebanon for failing to comply with international resolutions. The disputed issue of the STL, investigating former Prime Minister Rafik Hariris assassination, led to the collapse of the Cabinet of Prime Minister Saad Hariri. Hariri has tied his participation in a new government to be formed by the March 8-backed Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati to the latters commitment to uphold STL cooperation. Legal expert and former Baabda MP Salah Honein said Lebanon had not ratified an agreement with the U.N. over the tribunal to be capable of abolishing it. Honein added that the U.N. Security Council would not succumb to any pressure to halt the tribunal, while a Lebanes...

The Arab street is on fire, how far will it spread? As the Tunisian contagion catches on and violent protests sweep through Egypt and Yemen, authoritarian regimes in the Arab world are facing unexpected challenges that could rearrange the political landscape in this part of the world. The trigger was December 17's Jasmine Revolution, when a young man set himself on fire in Sidi Bouzidi, south of Tunis. For the next four weeks, demonstrations intensified morphing from economic grievances to governance and corruption, and helped by damaging disclosures by WikiLeaks. It ended Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali's 23-year reign, and the Arab world's most stable despot was forced to flee... some say, with 1.5 tonnes of gold. The virus spread to Egypt, which has been on edge for almost a year. It was the scene of food riots last year and started out 2011 with Islamist attacks on the country's Coptic Christians. Egypt is also due for elections later this year, and for the first time...

CAIRO: The headquarters of the ruling National Democratic Party were ablaze in Cairo on Friday night, shortly after a curfew came into force, live footage carried by Al Jazeera television showed. State television confirmed the building was set on fire. NDP branch offices in several other cities around the country were also set on fire or attacked during the day, witnesses said.

CAIRO: As clashes between police and protesters spread on Friday through Egypt, a series of leaked US diplomatic cables painted a gloomy picture of any willingness by President Hosni Mubarak to introduce meaningful reforms. Mubarak, who would allow some changes unconnected with security, "generally views broader reforms as an invitation to extremism," one cable said. The cables, dating from 2009 and 2010 and released by WikiLeaks, described Mubarak as a "classic Egyptian secularist who hates religious extremism and interference in politics." They said he preferred a few individuals to suffer rather than risk chaos for society as a whole. "We have heard him lament the results of earlier US efforts to encourage reform in the Islamic world," one cable said, adding that the US encouraged the shah of Iran to change "only to watch the country fall into the hands of revolutionary extremists. "Wherever he has seen these US efforts, he can point t...

TEHRAN: A change of government in Tunisia and violent protests in Egypt and Yemen are evidence that Iran's revolution is being replayed, a senior Iranian cleric said today. "An Islamic Middle East is taking shape," Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami said in his Friday prayer sermon. "A new Middle East is emerging based on Islam ... based on religious democracy." Violent protests in Tunisia toppled former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and a "Friday of Wrath" has engulfed Egypt, a US ally. Protesters in Yemen also have called for the outser of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has ruled for nearly 32 years. Khatami said the deposed Tunisian president copied the policies of the former Iranian shah and met a similar fate. "This is God's tradition: Those who fight religion are doomed to fail," he said. Iran's state TV provided extensive coverage of the violent protests that have engulfed Egypt, saying President Hosni Mubarak won...

CAIRO: Internet service in Egypt was disrupted and the government deployed an elite special operations force in Cairo on Friday, hours before an anticipated new wave of anti-government protests. The developments were a sign that President Hosni Mubarak's regime was toughening its crackdown following the biggest protests in years against his nearly 30-year rule. The counter-terror force, rarely seen on the streets, took up positions in strategic locations, including central Tahrir Square, site of the biggest demonstrations this week. Facebook and Twitter have helped drive this week's protests. But by Thursday evening, those sites were disrupted, along with cell phone text messaging and BlackBerry Messenger services. Then the Internet went down. Earlier, the grass-roots movement got a double boost _ the return of Nobel Peace laureate Mohamed ElBaradei and the backing of the biggest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood. After midnight, security forces arrested at leas...

Former Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, and Nobel Peace Prize winner Mohamed ElBaradei, right, accompanied by his wife, Aida Elkachef leaves in a car upon his arrival at Cairo’s airport in Egypt, from Austria, Thursday, Jan. 27, 2011. ElBaradei told reporters that ‘the regime has not been listening.’ He urged the Egyptian regime to exercise restraint with protesters, saying they have been met with a good deal of violence which could lead to an ‘explosive situation.’ – AP Photo CAIRO: Internet service in Egypt was disrupted and the government deployed an elite special operations force in Cairo on Friday, hours before an anticipated new wave of anti-government protests. The developments were a sign that President Hosni Mubarak’s regime was toughening its crackdown following the biggest protests in years against his nearly 30-year rule. The counter-terror force, rarely seen on the streets, took up positions in strategic locations, including central Tahrir...