Hamas denies Al Qaeda militants entering Egypt from Gaza

On Sunday, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak defended the building of the barrier along the border with the Gaza Strip, saying it is necessary for the country's security.

Hamas denies al-Qaida militants entering Egypt from Gaza
Report by Xinhua via People's Daily Online 12:23, January 30, 2010:

Deposed Prime Minister of Hamas government in the Gaza Strip Ismail Haneya denied on Friday that extremist militants affiliated to al-Qaida had entered Egypt through the Gaza Strip.

During Friday's prayers in a refugee camp mosque in northern Gaza Strip town of Jabalia, Haneya denied reports published on Thursday that some members of al-Qaida had entered Egypt from the Gaza Strip.

"Such reports are full of lies," Haneya said, adding that "the Islamic movements in Gaza are moderate movements and we don't have any other radical or fanatic Islamic groups as it was published."

However, Haneya did not deny that some young men in Gaza began to believe in extremism and fanatic thoughts, adding "but we had treated this phenomena through meetings and dialogues."

Gaza-based news websites quoted Arab media reports as saying that Egypt decided to build a barrier along its borders with the Gaza Strip after extremists linked to al-Qaida entered Egypt from Gaza.

"I doubt that such kind of danger exists as the reports said," Haneya said, "the aim of publishing such reports is to destroy the good ties between Hamas and Egypt, but I tell them our enemy is not Egypt, it is Israel."

On Sunday, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak defended the building of the barrier along the border with the Gaza Strip, saying it is necessary for the country's security.

Source: Xinhua

Pass this on: Missing Persons Registry - Haitian Earthquake January 2010

Copy of message today on Twitter from Ushahidi's Erik Hersman:

Pass this on. Missing persons registry for #haiti is http://www.haitianquake.com
about 4 hours ago from twhirl
ushahidi

Further reading

Patrick Meier's report at Ushahidi's blog, 13 January 2010: Our Efforts in Response to Haiti’s Earthquake - We’ve launched Haiti.Ushahidi.com

Ethan Zuckerman's blog post at My Heart's in Accra, 13 January 2010: Following the Haitian earthquake online

Israel to build wall along Egyptian border to keep out African migrants

Israel to build wall along Egyptian border
From Ma'an News Agency 11/01/2010 (updated) 12/01/2010 10:48:

(Bethlehem – Ma’an/Agencies) – Israel approved on Sunday the construction of a barrier along its border with Egypt, Israeli media reported on Monday.

"I took the decision to close Israel's southern border to infiltrators and terrorists. This is a strategic decision to secure Israel's Jewish and democratic character," said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a statement.

In recent weeks, the number of African migrants detained by Egypt whilst trying to enter Israel has increased. On Sunday, Egyptian security sources revealed that security forces thwarted two attempts by African migrants to enter Israel through Egypt's Sinai border. Many have been shot dead at the border by Egypt.

"We cannot let tens of thousands of illegal workers infiltrate into Israel through the southern border and inundate our country with illegal aliens,” Netanyahu added.

Israel’s border with Egypt spans approximately 266 kilometers and the new wall is tipped to cost Israel more than 270 million US dollars, taking two years to complete. The new wall will be accompanied by advanced security and monitoring installations.

Egypt’s steel wall

Meanwhile, Egypt began constructing a steel wall along the border that will extend underground in an attempt to cut off a network of smuggling tunnels. The tunnels are a lifeline for Palestinians living under an Israeli-led blockade.

In December, Egyptian government workers constructing the massive metal barrier along the Egypt-Gaza border came under fire from Palestinian gunmen according to Egyptian security sources.

The presence of Gaza’s smuggling tunnels, which were constructed to attempt to ease the ongoing siege, is deemed a focal security concern for both Israel and Egypt.

In part, Israel’s Operation Cast Lead last winter aimed at collapsing and destroying the industry, which the Israeli army has termed “terror tunnels.”

Egyptian authorities regularly report shutting down smuggling efforts which include the transfer of cigarettes, bottled water, and fuel into Gaza.

On Friday, following an airstrike, the Israeli army dropped leaflets across southern and northern Gaza, warning residents to “take responsibility for their future.”

"Terrorists, tunnel owners, and the smugglers of military equipment know for certain that the continuation of terrorist attacks, the smuggling of military equipment, and the digging of tunnels will be targeted by the IDF [Israel Defense Forces], but they continue to work in your residential areas and seek refuge among you," according to the flier, which was written in Arabic.

Israeli airstrikes on the rise in Gaza

Meanwhile, three Palestinians affiliated to the Islamic Jihad movement were killed in Israeli airstrikes overnight in central Gaza. Islamic Jihad leader Khalid Al-Bashta has warned that all signs point to a new Israeli operation in the besieged coastal strip. Israel is seeking international support for such an operation, he claimed.

Netanyahu said in his weekly cabinet meeting that "Last week 20 rockets and mortar rounds were fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip. I regard this very seriously.”

“The IDF responded immediately; it attacked missile producing factories in the Gaza Strip and tunnels through which Iran smuggles missiles and rockets into the Strip. The Government's policy is clear: Any firing at our territory will be responded to strongly and immediately.”

- - -

Israel orders new fence to keep out African migrants



Photo: A Sudanese refugee family are surrounded by Israeli army soldiers after crossing illegally from Egypt into Israel. Photo credit: ARIEL SCHALIT/AP. Source: The Independent, by Ben Lynfield in Jerusalem Tuesday, 12 January 2010 - Israel orders new fence to keep out African migrants

Egypt: Darkness at noon clouds Cairo skies

From Norwegian Council for Africa, 10 December 2009:
Egypt: Darkness at noon clouds Cairo skies
Inter Press Service (IPS)/International Federation of Environmental Journalists (IFEJ)

Cairo (Egypt) — For the last decade, the autumn skies over Egypt - especially over capital Cairo, have been overshadowed by a thick haze people call "the black cloud".

The black cloud first appeared in 1998, ironically after the creation of Egypt's ministry of environment. Three environment ministers since then have failed to solve the problem, which manifests itself in an ugly pall of haze from dusk until dawn between mid-October and December.

This year has been no exception.

"Black cloud covers Cairo-Alexandria highway...resulting in an increase in the number of road accidents owing to decreased visibility," independent daily Al-Dustour reports. A headline in independent daily Al-Masry Al-Youm reads: "The black cloud covers Cairo, (as well as urban governorates) Qalioubiya and Helwan."

The cloud has direct health effects. In mid-October, independent weekly Youm Al-Sabaa reported some 300 daily cases of respiratory problems in the Nile delta province Gharbiya as a result of the cloud.

The weekly quoted Mohamed Ibrahim, member of the government-run National Councils of Specialists as saying that the appearance of the black cloud had become "a seasonal phenomenon."

Ever since it first appeared, the government has blamed it on widespread burning of rice straw on the outskirts of Cairo and in the countryside. This is an annual practice among farmers during the autumn rice harvesting season.

Minister of state for environmental affairs Maged George says the burning of rice straw accounts for more than 50 percent of all air pollution in Egypt.

"Farmers aren't adhering to established quotas for rice burning every year," George said. He stressed the need for to financial penalties and even arrest in order to deter anyone who threatened the environment through agricultural or industrial practices.

The governor of Gharbiya province says 1,031 farmers have so far been charged by the authorities with burning excess rice straw. Each faces fines ranging between 5,000 and 100,000 Egyptian pounds (930 to 18,600 dollars) each.

A handful of public-private projects, some in cooperation with international development agencies, have sought to eliminate the practice by encouraging farmers to recycle straw for other uses. Under one such initiative, farmers are paid roughly 45 Egyptian pounds (8.40 dollars) per ton of straw they turn in at designated collection centres. The straw, along with other forms of agricultural waste, is then recycled into fertiliser.

But many experts say such initiatives - while a step in the right direction - are far from adequate.

"There's far more rice straw than can be processed by these recycling facilities, which are only available in three or four provinces," Ahmed Abdel- Wahab, professor of environment at Benha University told IPS. "Meanwhile, the cost of transporting the straw to recycling centres usually ends up being more than what farmers receive for it."

What's more, while environmentalists laud the notion of recycling, they point out that the government tends to focus - unfairly, they say - on the rice- straw burning while overlooking other causes of the cloud.

"The cloud will continue as long as the government insists on ignoring its real causes and concentrates solely on rice farmers as the usual suspects," Ibrahim said. "In greater Cairo at least, vehicle exhaust emissions, garbage burning and industrial pollution constitute the main causes of the phenomenon."

"The government is only focusing on the margins of the problem," Mohamed Nagi, head of the Cairo-based Hapi Centre for Environmental Rights tells IPS. "Most experts agree that the burning of rice straw represents only 12 percent of the cause of the cloud."

Abdel-Wahab agrees that automobile exhaust emissions and industrial pollution from factories are prime causes for the cloud.

"Every day, some two million cars hit the streets of greater Cairo, which is also surrounded by industrial factories, and both of these represent bigger pollutants than the straw burning," he said. "While straw burning certainly contributes to a rising carbon content in the air, vehicle emissions are just as much - if not more - to blame."

"The only reason that the cloud appears in the fall is the natural drop in temperature, which tends to trap accumulated air pollution close to the ground and make it visible to the eye," Abdel-Wahab added. "But the pollution is still there - just not as visible - during the rest of the year."

Nagi says that the rice farmers are being "unfairly accused of responsibility" for the cloud. "The environment ministry has taken some measures against straw burning, but it has failed to address any of the other root causes of the phenomenon."

Nagi pointed to two earlier government decisions - one to seize or fine automobiles with high exhaust emissions, and another to withdraw polluting factories from the capital. "Both of these decisions have yet to be implemented," he said.

Nagi says several government ministries - not just the one for the environment - are responsible for the lapses.

"It's not only the environment ministry that's to blame," he said. "The interior ministry is responsible for automobile emissions, the industry ministry for factories, and the agriculture ministry for farmers."

"The government lacks a consistent policy to fight air pollution in general, not just the black cloud," Nagi added. "Unfortunately, civil society - which should pressure Egyptian officialdom to lay out a clear plan to combat air pollution - has been no less negligent than the government in this regard."

Under such circumstances, local experts fear that the cloud is set to remain a seasonal occurrence for a long time to come.
"The black cloud, which represents a clear violation of the citizen's right to a healthy environment, is likely to stay with us for several more years," said Nagi.

Abdel-Wahab said that without a more effective environmental policy, "the black cloud will be around for at least another 20 years."

Sudanese stabbed in Cairo football dispute

Photos: Algeria v Egypt football match held in Omdurman, Khartoum, Sudan. Algeria beat Egypt 1-0. (Posted at Flickr by Andrew Heavens, Nov 20, 2009)

There is still tension between Egyptian and Sudanese soccer fans following Egypt’s defeat by Algeria in Omdurman, Khartoum, Sudan two weeks ago.

The Egyptians claimed that they were attacked by Algerian fans after the match and that the Sudanese authorities did nothing to protect them.

Source: Report by SRS - Sudan Radio Service, 8 December 2009:
Sudanese Stabbed in Cairo Soccer Dispute

(Khartoum) – There is still tension between Egyptian and Sudanese soccer fans following Egypt’s defeat by Algeria in Omdurman two weeks ago.

Egyptian fans claim that Sudanese police failed to protect them when fighting broke out between rival supporters after the match.

A Sudanese living in Egypt, Mahir Musa, was attacked on Monday following an argument about the match. He spoke to SRS in Cairo.

[Mahir Musa]:"I had gone to visit my relatives in Alashir. At night I went to buy cigarettes from the kiosk. I politely asked the owner of the shop to hand me a cigarette. He then noticed from the way I spoke that I was from Sudan.

He then started talking to me about the football match. From there I said I was not interested in the cigarettes anymore and that he should give me back my money so I could leave. when I said I didn’t want anything from him, I just wanted my money, he started insulting me, I got annoyed and when I responded suddenly he came out from the kiosk carrying a knife and he and his friend started attacking me by stabbing me. My relatives had to take me to the hospital. This is just one of many the incidents happening to Sudanese in Cairo.”

The Egyptians claimed that they were attacked by Algerian fans after the match and that the Sudanese authorities did nothing to protect them.

Photos: Algeria v Egypt football match held in Omdurman, Khartoum, Sudan, posted at Flickr by Andrew Heavens, Nov 20, 2009.



Photo: Algeria v Egypt football match held in Omdurman, near Khartoum, Sudan. Source: Sudan Tribune report November 18, 2009 (KHARTOUM) - Egypt dispatching troops to evacuate soccer fans in Sudan: official

Cross posted to Sudan Watch.

Cat travels from Egypt to Britain in container ship

A stowaway cat survived a trip from Egypt after it became trapped in a container ship.

From The Daily Telegraph
Cat travels from Egypt to Britain in container ship
Nov 23, 2009

Pharoah the cat has been put into quarantine Photo: ARCHANT

The male ginger and white cat, named Pharaoh by his rescuers, was shut in a container which was brought to the Port of Felixstowe, a Suffolk County Council spokeswoman said.

She said the hungry animal was found in a freight depot a month after it left Port Said in Egypt.

RSPCA officers collected Pharaoh and he is now being looked after a quarantine cattery near Colchester, Essex.

''He was not in a very good state and at first it was thought he might not survive,'' said the council spokeswoman.

''He has been taken to a quarantine centre at Colchester, checked for rabies and other problems, fed and been looked after and now looks much better.

''Pharaoh will have to stay in quarantine and then he will be re-homed here.''

Egypt angered by football violence

From The Financial Times
By Heba Saleh in Cairo
November 18 2009 02:00
Egypt angered by football violence

Algeria's ambassador to Cairo has been summoned to the foreign ministry after a series of attacks on Egyptian workers and companies by crowds of angry Algerian football fans furious at being beaten 2-0 by Egypt in a World Cup qualifier in Cairo.

The envoy was called in to explain the violence in Algeria, which Egyptian businesses say has intensified ahead of a play-off between the teams today on neutral territory in Khartoum, Sudan's capital. The match will determine which of the sides attends South Africa 2010.

Egypt is the largest investor in Algeria outside the oil and gas sector.

The two countries are traditional football rivals and their games have often been marked by violence. A World Cup qualifier in 1989 is best remembered for rioting and the issuing of an international arrest warrant against one of the Algerian players.

The violence started after reports the Algerian team had been attacked in Cairo before Saturday's match. Images broadcast on the internet showed Algerian players with blood on their faces and the team coach with broken windows.

Naguib Sawiris, the Egyptian executive chairman of Orascom Telecom Holding, said mobs had ransacked the headquarters of Djezzy, Orascom's Algerian subsidiary, and destroyed its factory and 15 of its shops.

He said that with the destruction of crucial equipment there was a danger the company's network, which serves 15m subscribers, could stop functioning, and that the cost of the damage could run into "tens of millions" of dollars.

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