Parliamentary speaker Saad El-Katatni on Sunday announced the suspension of all scheduled sessions of the People’s Assembly – the lower house of Egypt’s parliament – until 6 May to protest the continuance of the government of Prime Minister Kamal El-Ganzouri against the wishes of the parliamentary majority.

In Sunday’s session, El-Katatni stated that there was “nothing personal” between the People’s Assembly and the government, stressing that the former was simply “doing its job” by monitoring the latter’s performance – which it found to be “unsatisfactory.”

He added, however, that assembly members were aware from the start of their “constitutional limitations,” noting that they had refrained from taking steps towards withdrawing confidence from El-Ganzouri’s government.

El-Katatni went on to stress that Egypt’s current parliamentary assembly was the first to be freely chosen by the Egyptian popular will. “As assembly head, it’s my responsibility to maintain the assembly’s dignity,” he declared, going on to accuse the government of “fabricating crises to hinder the assembly’s performance.”

Last month, El-Katatni called on the parliamentary committee tasked with evaluating the government’s first official report — delivered by El-Ganzouri to parliament on 26 February — to refer its findings to the general body. The committee’s report concluded that all 19 committees of the People’s Assembly unanimously rejected El-Ganzouri’s statement, citing a large “gap between the recommendations and visions of the MPs and what the government has offered.”

On 24 April, the People’s Assembly voted to reject the government’s economic and political programme, stopping short, however, of taking any concrete steps towards withdrawing confidence from the Cabinet. According to last year’s constitutional declaration, only the SCAF – not Egypt’s Parliament – enjoys the authority to withdraw confidence from the incumbent government.

The El-Ganzouri government’s fate is only part of the ongoing dispute between the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) and the Muslim Brotherhood, which has escalated lately, with both sides issuing statements against one another.

The Muslim Brotherhood’s FJP has been demanding for several weeks that the parliamentary majority be allowed to form a government and that the SCAF dismiss the El-Ganzouri government. The military council, however, has publicly dismissed these demands.

Talk of an early vote in Israel is revived by Foreign Minister Lieberman who asks for fixing a date for the elections

Israel was buzzing on Sunday with the possibility of an early election after a key partner in the ruling right-wing coalition threatened to pull out, and the opposition called for an autumn vote.

Fresh speculation about an early general election came as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fought off sharp criticism from a former top security chief over his policies on Iran’s nuclear programme and on peace with the Palestinians.

Talk of an early vote, which has been in the air for several months, was revived by Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman who on Saturday said his Yisrael Beitenu party had exhausted its commitment to the coalition in a dispute over the issue of drafting Orthodox Jews into the army.

“I think that our obligation to the coalition is over,” Lieberman told Israel’s privately owned Channel Two television.

“There is also an obligation to the voter and, when the coalition is not prepared to compromise with us, we shall take decisions.”

The country would only know whether or not it was heading for early elections “after May 9,” Lieberman said, referring to the date when parliament is expected to discuss new legislation to replace the outgoing Tal Law, which allowed ultra-Orthodox Jews to defer their service in the Israeli military.

Lieberman’s ultra-nationalist party, which is staunchly secular, is the second largest in Netanyahu’s coalition after his own right-wing Likud, and it is the third-largest in parliament.

Opposition leader Shaul Mofaz said his centre-right Kadima party would move to dissolve parliament in the coming weeks if Netanyahu did not heed calls for an early vote.

“The days of Netanyahu’s government are numbered,” wrote Mofaz on his Facebook page on Saturday.

“I call for a general election to take place at the earliest possible date,” he said, proposing they be held on Friday, October 16, and urging Netanyahu to set a date as soon as possible.

“If he doesn’t, Kadima will move to dissolve parliament as early as next week,” he warned.

The general election had been due to take place in autumn 2013.

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The aircraft went down on Saturday in the Tabuk region, the agency said, adding that an investigation had begun to determine the cause of the crash.

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President Omar al-Bashir issued a resolution declaring the emergency in border districts of South Kordofan state, White Nile and Sennar states, it said.

The measure follows a month of border fighting with South Sudan, which separated last July after a peace deal ended one of Africa’s longest civil wars, which killed about two million people between 1983 and 2005.

An emergency has already been in effect for almost a decade in Darfur, along the western border with South Sudan, while a similar status took effect in Blue Nile state last September when an ethnic insurgency began.

Trade across the border has unofficially been banned since South Sudan’s independence but the emergency formalises that prohibition.

Bashir’s resolution “gives the right to the president and anyone with his mandate” to establish special courts, in consultation with the chief justice, SUNA said.

The courts will handle criminal and “terrorist” cases, it added.

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Following Saudi ambassador’s departure from Cairo on Sunday, Egyptian and Saudi activists on Twitter express their mutual admirationEslam Omar, Sunday 29 Apr 2012Hundreds of Saudi and Egyptian bloggers on Sunday expressed solidarity with one another on social-networking platform Twitter, amid an ongoing diplomatic row between their two countries.

Only hours after the Saudi ambassador to Cairo departed Egypt on Sunday, Saudi activists created an Arabic-language hashtag on Twitter loosely translated as “an Egyptian influenced my life.”

Saudi Arabia withdrew its ambassador and closed its embassy and consulates in Egypt following what it described as “unjustified” protests.

Egyptian activists staged protests last week at Saudi’s embassy in Cairo to demand the release of Egyptian lawyer Ahmed El-Gizawi and to denounce the alleged mistreatment of Egyptian nationals by Saudi authorities.

El-Gizawi was allegedly charged with “defaming the king” after he filed a lawsuit in a South Cairo court against Saudi monarch King Abdullah Bin Abdel Aziz Al-Saud on behalf of Egyptian citizens held without charge in Saudi prisons. Saudi authorities, however, maintain that El-Gizawi had been found in possession of large amounts of pharmaceutical drugs, sale of which is illegal in the oil-rich kingdom.

Hundreds of Saudi bloggers and internet users later joined together on a single hashtag to list the names of Egyptians that had “touched their lives,” including prominent Egyptian writers, actors, footballers, and, in some cases, even their teachers.

Egyptian bloggers responded to the gesture by launching a similar hashtag, citing Saudi icons that had had a positive impression on them. As of Sunday afternoon, the mutual compliments remained ongoing.

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Egyptian giants voice satisfaction with their 2-0 away win over Morocco in Saturday’s CAF Champions League matchAhram Online, Sunday 29 Apr 2012Zamalek players and technical staff expressed satisfaction with Saturday’s 2-0 away win against Maghreb Fez in round 16 of the CAF Champions League.

A late header by Zamalek midfielder Ahmed Hassan in the 78th minute gave the Egyptian giants the upper hand, while substitute Ahmed Gafar doubled the score with a counter-attack one minute before the end of the match, guaranteeing his team’s place in the second leg in Cairo.

“Congratulations to Zamalek fans, and to all Egypt. This precious win is a gift for the entire country, especially given the difficult circumstances the [Egyptian] football industry is now witnessing,” Whites midfielder Ahmed Hassan said following the match, in reference to the suspension of all domestic football activity since February’s Port Said stadium disaster.

“The players obeyed coach Hassan Shehata’s instructions; they were committed to our tactical strategies,” assistant coach Ismael Yussif said.

First goalkeeper and team captain Abdel-Wahed El-Said hailed his substitute, Mahmud Abdel-Rehim “Genesh,” for guarding the White net after the first was suspended for booking.

“I would like to thank Genesh for his enthusiastic performance, and I also thank the backline for its solid defence,” El-Sayed said.

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Freedom and Justice Party

Freedom and Justice Party calls on Riyadh to avoid escalating tensions with Egypt amid diplomatic row over detained Egyptian lawyer Ahmed El-GizawiAhram Online , Sunday 29 Apr 2012The Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party(FJP) issued a statement on its official website (Ikhwanweb.com) on Saturday regarding the ongoing diplomatic row that has led to the closure of Saudi Arabia’s embassy in Cairo.

“The Freedom and Justice Party has called upon the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to avoid increasing tension between Cairo and Riyadh and to reconsider its decision to shut its embassy in Cairo and consulates and recall its ambassador for consultations,” the party declared.

The FJP went on to state that Egyptian activists protesting outside the Saudi embassy in Cairo in recent days were simply “expressing their opinion that insulting the dignity of Egyptians abroad is no longer tolerated – not after the peaceful revolution [early last year] that restored their will, their voice and their dignity.”

The FJP also stressed that Egyptian-Saudi relations were greater than any particular problem, adding that “dialogue and transparency” would resolve any difference between the two states.?

The party called on Saudi authorities to allow an Egyptian team to join ongoing investigations into the case of Egyptian lawyer and political activist Ahmed El-Gizawi, who was detained last week by Saudi authorities. Results of investigations, the party added, should be announced in an “unbiased fashion to the public.”?

The statement concluded by calling upon Egypt’s ruling military council “to take concrete steps towards resolving the El-Gizawi issue in a manner that ensures Egyptians’ dignity and at the same time preserves the strength of Egyptian-Saudi relations.”

Egyptian activists have been staging anti-Saudi rallies at the kingdom’s embassy in Cairo for the last four days to demand El-Gizawi’s release and denounce the alleged mistreatment of Egyptians by Saudi authorities.

El-Gizawi was allegedly detained on charges of “defaming the king” after he filed a lawsuit in a South Cairo court against Saudi monarch King Abdullah Bin Abdel Aziz Al-Saud on behalf of Egyptians held without charge in Saudi prisons.

Following reports that El-Gizawi had been sentence to 20 lashes and one year in prison, Saudi officials denied the claims, stating that the Egyptian lawyer had been arrested after being found in possession of more than 21,000 pills of anti-depressant drug Xanax, the illicit sale of which is proscribed in the kingdom.

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To the east of the famous Isis temple on the island of Philae in Upper Egypt, workers and archaeologists are busy at work. They are cleaning and restoring the massive stone blocks that once formed the temple of Hathor, which is being rebuilt and restored in order to be officially inaugurated next month.

Time has since taken its toll on the temple, which was built by King Ptolemy VI and extended during the reigns of Ptolemy VII and Roman emperors Augustus and Tiberius. Many of the temple’s stone blocks have deteriorated; its walls, meanwhile, are riddled with cracks.

According to antiquities ministry officials, the temple’s deteriorated blocks have been replaced with new ones, while fallen blocks have been returned to their original positions. Poor restoration work undertaken previously, meanwhile, has been corrected.

The temple consists of a colonnaded kiosk bearing 14 Hathor-headed pillars, a pronaos (vestibule) and a cult terrace facing the Nile River. Among the temple’s most impressive reliefs is one depicting a group of musicians performing before an assembly of ancient Egyptian deities.

Field marshal Mohamed Tantawi, and Israel defence minister Ehud Barak, at a 2007 meeting in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. (Photo: Reuters)

Despite both sides claiming this was just a business deal gone sour, against the backdrop of growing discontent and following the exchange of heated statements, it has become apparent that the actions of the neighbouring states are political.

Even though Egyptian officials had previously rejected calls to terminate the unpopular fuel deal arguing it was crucial for peace with Israel, on Sunday Egypt’s General Petroleum Corporation [EGPC] and Natural Gas Holding Company [EGAS] ditched the deal with East Mediterranean Gas Company (EMG). Israel is a major shareholder in EMG.

Citing purely economic reasons, head of Egypt’s Petroleum Authority Hany Dahy stated the decision was taken after several late Israeli payments. Following muchlegal consultation, Dahy explained that their findings showed that the contract stipulated that any one of the parties can terminate its obligations, if the other was not fully compliant with the terms.

The termination of the Israeli gas deal and the ensuing statements clarifying the decision, also directly contradict a long defended stance the Egyptian government has taken, in favour of the contract.

In 2010, the Supreme Administrative Court overruled a 2008 Administrative Court ruling in favour of cutting the gas deal, based on the argument that the court does not have the authority to infringe upon the government’s sovereignty.

Thus contrary to Dahy’s explanation that the move was purely economical, the decision to continue or cut the deal was previously considered by officials to be a political matter linked to national security.

Meanwhile, Shaul Mofaz, the Israeli Knesset opposition leader, described Egypt’s decision as a possible breach of the 1979 Camp David Accords and Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman went as far as to suggest bolstering Israel’s military presence along the Sinai border.

Such Israeli claims were however quickly brushed off by Egyptian political analysts.

Abdel-Alim Mohamed, former member of the Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, confirmed that the gas deal was not linked to the peace accord. He added that cutting the gas deal could not have been a purely economic act and clearly had politically motives.

The gas deal has not been the only tension between the two countries this week.

Only two days earlier, on 21 April, an Egyptian official claimed Israel was trying to harm tourism in Sinai. His statements came after Israel’s anti-terrorism unit on Saturday urged its citizens holidaying in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula to leave immediately, citing fears of kidnap attempts and terrorism.

South Sinai Governor Khaled Fouda refuted Israel’s claims accusing them of spreading rumors. Fouda said that Israel often did this whenever Egypt’s tourism industry witnessed a revitalisation.

The increase in the occupancy rate of Sharm El-Sheikh hotels to 65 per cent, according to Fouda, was the main trigger behind Israel’s “irresponsible statement.”

Ignoring the rising tension between the two sides, last week on 18 April, Egypt’s Grand Mufti Sheikh Ali Gomaa paid a rare visit to Jerusalem. His trip came despite decades of opposition by various political and religious bodies in Egypt to normalising relations with Israel and to travelling to areas under Israeli control.

His move was interpreted by many as an act of reassurance for the self-proclaimed Jewish state and a step towards normalisation, although he refuted such claims stressing he continued to refuse accepting relations between Muslims and the Israeli occupation.

 He instead highlighted the importance of supporting Jerusalem, adding he saw visits to Jerusalem’s Al-Asqa mosque, the world’s third most important Islamic site, as an essential part of “re-awakening” the Palestinian cause for Muslims.

It is yet unclear what the last week’s developments mean for Egypt-Israeli relations in the long term.

Official statements have yet to be made from the Egyptian side, although Foreign Minister Mohamed Amr requested that Egypt’s ambassador in Israel obtain official clarifications regarding Lieberman’s recent statements threatening Sinai’s borders.

the Saudi monarch, King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud

The agency, that the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, received a phone call on Saturday, from Tantawi, in which he referred to the historical relations linking the two countries, hoping to restore the Kingdom to consider in its recent decision, and that KingAbdullah promised that he would be considered in this matter in the coming days, according to the circumstances and interests of both countries, which stems from a long history of friendly relations between the two countries, Saudi Arabia and Arab Republic of Egypt.