Egypt

20 Dec 2021; MEMO: A criminal court in Egypt yesterday sentenced deputy guide of the Muslim Brotherhood Mahmoud Izzat to life imprisonment over allegations of spying for Hamas, Arabi21 reported.

This is the third life sentence against Izzat since August 2020. He was sentenced to death in absentia over the claim and appealed after he was detained in August 2020.

During sentencing, Judge Shereen Fahmi accused Izzat of betraying Egypt and carrying out deeds that harm national security.

CAIRO, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- An Egyptian court sentenced acting leader of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group Mahmoud Ezzat, along with other co-defendants, to life in prison over charges for espionage with the Palestinian Hamas movement.

Life imprisonment in Egypt is 25 years in jail.

Ezzat and other members of the banned group have been charged with storming the Egyptian eastern borders, attacking security institutions, plotting with Hamas and Hezbollah to create chaos in Egypt to bring down the authorities, the prosecution read.

CAIRO (AP) — Sudanese took to the streets in the capital of Khartoum and elsewhere across the country for mass protests Sunday against an October military takeover and a subsequent deal that reinstated Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok but sidelined the movement.

The demonstrations mark the third anniversary of the uprising that eventually forced the military removal of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir and his Islamist government in April 2019.

CAIRO, Dec 18 (NNN-MENA) – The United Nations (UN) anti-corruption conference concluded yesterday, in Egypt’s city of Sharm El-Sheikh, with a declaration on fighting corruption in times of crisis, adopted.

The ninth session of the Conference of the States Parties to the UN Convention against Corruption, adopted the Sharm El-Sheikh Declaration, as well as, seven other resolutions and an agreement on the host country, for the tenth session of the conference.

CAIRO (AP) — Egyptian health authorities said they have identified the country’s first cases of the highly transmissible omicron variant of the coronavirus.

Three people were found to have the variant among 26 travelers who tested positive for coronavirus at Cairo International Airport, the Health Ministry said in a statement late Friday. It didn’t say where the three came from.

The local Masrawy news outlet reported the three were among travelers from South Africa.

18 Dec 2021; MEMO: Cairo has deported United Arab Emirates (UAE) Ambassador Hamad Saeed Al-Shamsi over his involvement in smuggling Egyptian antiques, Al-Quds Al-Arabi reported on Friday.

According to Al-Quds Al-Arabi, Egyptian Ambassador to Qatar Amr El-Sherbini posted on his official Facebook page on Friday that the decision to deport the Emirati ambassador came following the revelation that he was involved in smuggling Egyptian antiques.

CAIRO, Dec 17 (NNN-MENA) – Arab League (AL) Secretary-General, Ahmed Aboul-Gheit, yesterday discussed in Cairo, with the visiting International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General, Rafael Mariano Grossi, the nuclear issues in Iran and Israel, according to the AL’s statement.

Aboul-Gheit called on Israel to “join the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, and to put all its nuclear activities and facilities under the IAEA’s supervision.”

The meeting also tackled the Iranian nuclear talk’s latest developments.

CAIRO, Dec 17 (NNN-MENA) – Egyptian Foreign Minister, Sameh Shoukry, and his Saudi Arabian counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, yesterday agreed to boost cooperation in maintaining regional security and stability.

“We discussed the issues of fighting terrorism, the developments in Libya, Sudan, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen, and the Iranian nuclear issue and the current relevant talks in Vienna,” Shoukry said, at a joint press conference, following their meeting in Cairo.

15 Dec 2021; MEMO: Ten human rights organisations have demanded Egypt immediately release blogger and activist Ahmed Douma, one of the founders of the Revolutionary Youth Coalition, as he has no judicial avenues to take to end his detention.

SHARM EL SHEIKH (Egypt), Dec 14 (APP): Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Tuesday urged the international community to effectively address challenges of corruption to ensure a better future for people across the globe.

In his video message screened at the ninth Session of the Conference of the States Parties (CoSP) to the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, the foreign minister said corruption hampered efforts to eradicate poverty.