Category: Egypt

A large blast near police headquarters in central Cairo on Friday killed at least two people and wounded many others, security and medical sources said. Three security sources said a car bomb was the likely cause of the explosion, which damaged the building and sent smoke rising over the city centre Three explosions struck the Egyptian capital on Friday, killing at least five people and injuring almost 60, on the eve of the third anniversary of the country’s 2011 uprising against President Hosni Mubarak . At 6.30am a powerful car bomb exploded outside the Cairo police headquarters, killing at least four people and injuring 50. Several hours later, an explosion targeted police vehicles near an underground station in western Cairo, […]

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Egyptian Refining Co. (ERC) is set to start construction on its long-delayed grassroots refining upgrade project to be built within the existing Mostorod Petroleum Complex (MPC), 20 km northeast of Cairo in Qalyoubia Governate, Egypt. Construction on the $3.7 billion project, which is designed to address Egypt’s demand for petroleum products and reduce the country’s dependence on imports, is scheduled to begin in late February or early March 2014, ERC’s Chief Executive Tom Thomason recently told OGJ. Unique undertaking A joint-development of both the private sector and Egypt’s government, the ERC project includes the construction of a hydrocracking and coking complex within the walls of government-owned Cairo Oil Refinery Co.’s (CORC) 145,000-b/d refinery, the nation’s largest. Once completed, the hydrocracking and coking plant—which will receive 67% of its feedstock from CORC in the form of fuel oil—will have the capacity to produce more than 4.1 million tonnes/year of refined […]

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Egypt’s military has stepped up security along the Suez Canal, a vital oil shipping artery that’s one of the world’s most strategically important waterways, to protect it from attack amid a swelling jihadist insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula. There were at least two jihadist operations in 2013 on the canal — 120 miles long and 900 yards wide, most of which is vulnerable to attack. No serious attacks have been reported since then but a study by the Combating Terrorism Center at the U.S. Military Academy warns the military-led government "appears increasingly incapable" of curbing such strikes and that "ships in the canal risk future attacks." "There is concern that militants could successfully disrupt shipments through the Suez Canal, such as sinking a large vessel and blocking the canal for a period of time," the report, written by Middle East analyst Stephen Starr, concluded. […]

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Egyptians who voted in a referendum overwhelmingly approved a new constitution, official sources said, citing early results of a ballot that could set the stage for army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to declare his candidacy for president. About 90 percent of voters approved the constitution, the state news agency and a government official said. It comes as no surprise: the constitution won wide support among Egyptians who backed the army overthrow of President Mohamed Mursi in July, and there was little or no trace of a no campaign as the state presses a campaign on dissent. Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood, which is sure to dispute the official numbers, had called for a boycott of the two-day vote, seeing it as part of a coup against a leader freely elected 18 months ago. It had called for anti-government protests. After nine people were killed in clashes between […]

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After crushing the Muslim Brotherhood at home, Egypt’s military rulers plan to undermine the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which runs the neighboring Gaza Strip, senior Egyptian security officials told Reuters. The aim, which the officials say could take years to pull off, includes working with Hamas’s political rivals Fatah and supporting popular anti-Hamas activities in Gaza, four security and diplomatic officials said. Since it seized power in Egypt last summer, Egypt’s military has squeezed Gaza’s economy by destroying most of the 1,200 tunnels used to smuggle food, cars and weapons to the coastal enclave, which is under an Israeli blockade. Now Cairo is becoming even more ambitious in its drive to eradicate what it says are militant organizations that threaten its national security. Intelligence operatives, with help from Hamas’s political rivals and activists, plan to undermine the credibility of Hamas, which seized control of Gaza in […]

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Egyptians are to vote in a referendum on a new constitution, which could pave the way for fresh elections. The new charter aims to replace the constitution passed under Islamist President Mohammed Morsi months before he was ousted by the army. Correspondents say the military wants a strong "Yes" vote as a popular endorsement of Mr Morsi’s removal. Mr Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood, which has since been designated a terrorist group, has called for a boycott. A huge security operation is being mounted amid fears of violence. The interior ministry says 200,000 police officers, 150 central security units and 200 combat groups are being deployed around polling stations on both days of voting. Egyptian soldiers stand guard outside a school being used as a polling station Advertisements in […]

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They hide in safe houses on the outskirts of this city, talk only fleetingly on cellphones and avoid the cafes where they used to meet. Heavy scarves obscure their identities when they venture out to join protests. The leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood, now outlawed, have adjusted to life underground, even while hundreds of their fellow members have been arrested in this city since the military deposed President Mohamed Morsi, a Brotherhood leader, and the Egyptian government branded the group a terrorist movement. Yet, rather than crack and disintegrate under the pressure, members say, the group has fallen back on the organizational structure that sustained it for decades as a banned and secretive movement. It is becoming more decentralized, but also more cohesive and rigid, as its members abandon activities like preaching and social work and shift their attention to a virtually singular goal: resistance to […]

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At least two people were killed and nine others injured on Friday in clashes across Egypt between supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsi and security forces, health ministry said. Following the Friday prayers, hundreds of Morsi’s supporters took to main squares in Egypt to protest against the armed forces, the police and the new draft constitution. One of the death cases was reported in Faiyum governorate, where the other one was killed in the coastal city of Alexandria. The protesters in the Faysal district in Giza hurled Molotov Cocktail at an armored police vehicle and set it on fire. They also blocked the roads and fired at police officers, the official news agency MENA reported. State TV’s footage showed hundreds of Morsi’s loyalists protested in eastern Cairo’s Nasr City, carrying posters against the interim government and Defense Minister Abdel Fattah al-Sisi who led the […]

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An Egyptian judge says Jan. 28 has been set as opening day for the third trial of ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, this one on charges of organizing prison breaks with the help of foreign militants. Judge Medhat Idriss says the Cairo Appeals Court set the date Thursday. The jailbreaks took place during the January 2011 uprising against Morsi’s predecessor, autocrat Hosni Mubarak. Morsi was jailed in Cairo at the time and escaped with more than 30 others, while more than 20,000 inmates escaped from prisons across Egypt, including Lebanese Hezbollah and Palestinian militant Hamas members. Morsi faces three trials on various charges, most of which carry the death penalty, from conspiring with foreign groups to inciting violence that led to the killings of protesters during his year in power. © 2014 The Associated Press . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, […]

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