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In Libya, a Coup. Or Perhaps Not.

Stealing a page from neighboring Egypt, a senior army officer in Libya on Friday announced a military takeover, the suspension of Parliament and a new “road map” for the future. Then, nothing happened. Prime Minister Ali Zeidan called the supposed coup “ridiculous.” A military spokesman called it “a lie.” None of the Libyan Army’s few tanks or soldiers made any visible moves. The empty Parliament was quiet. It was the latest evidence of the long shadow cast across the region by the military takeover in Cairo last summer that was announced by Abdul-Fattah el-Sisi, then an army general. The attempted imitation in Libya, though, demonstrated the limits of the Egyptian example. While Egypt’s military ushered out President Hosni Mubarak three years ago and dominated the political transition, the Libyan military never had much cohesion even under Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, and it had splintered long before his ouster. […]

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92 prisoners escape in western Libyan jailbreak

A Libyan local official says 92 prisoners have escaped from a prison in a western town due to weak security. Hassan bin Sophia, who is spokesman of the Zliten local council, said only four guards were watching 220 criminal and political detainees at the prison on Friday. He said the prisoners asked for a doctor, and when the prison gate was opened, they attacked the guards and fled. He said 19 prisoners were soon recaptured, two of them wounded when guards opened fire. Local officials are contacting the families of the escapees to convince them to surrender. Libya has experienced a security vacuum since the 2011 overthrow of Moammar Gadhafi. Earlier this month, 54 detainees escaped from a prison in the capital Tripoli. © 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our […]

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Egypt signs oil, gas deals with foreign companies

The Egyptian government said it signed oil and natural gas exploration deals with Middle East and European companies on behalf of a national holding company. Egyptian Oil Minister Sherif Ismail signed deals with Emirati energy company Dana Gas, Italy’s Edison and Irish exploration and production company Petroceltic, the Egyptian news website Ahram Online reported Thursday. The deals, signed on behalf of Egypt’s National Natural Gas Holding Co., are expected to bring in $265 million in new investments to the Egyptian energy sector. Exploration is expected in the Mediterranean Sea, the Nile Delta and the Gulf of Suez, the report said. No statement was made from Dana, Edison or Petroceltic on the deals. Eight other oil and gas exploration deals were signed in January valued at $2.1 billion. Apache Corp., which this week singled out a partnership agreement in Egypt with China Petrochemical Corp. as […]

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Libyan army helicopter missing, possibly shot down

A Libyan military spokesman says an army helicopter with eight people on board has gone missing in the country’s east and may have been shot down. Colonel Ali al-Sheikhy says the aircraft went missing late Wednesday while en route to the city of Benghazi. He says there was no word on the fate of its two-member crew and six passengers. A regional security operations center in the coastal city of Ajdapia said the aircraft went down near the oil town of Ras Lanov. A military official said the helicopter had come under fire, which forced it to change course before it went missing. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to media. © 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms […]

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Putin backs Egypt army chief’s run for president

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday wished Egypt’s military chief victory in the nation’s presidential vote as Moscow sought to expand its military and other ties with a key U.S. ally in the Middle East. Putin said at the start of his meeting with Field Marshal Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi that he’s aware of his intention to seek the presidency. "I know that you have made a decision to run for president," Putin said, according to Russian news reports. "That’s a very responsible decision: to undertake such a mission for the fate of the Egyptian people. On my own part, and on behalf of the Russian people I wish you success." El-Sissi, who rose to prominence after the ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi last July, is popular among a large segment of Egyptians and is widely expected to announce a candidacy for presidential elections that […]

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Putin backs Egypt army chief's run for president

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday wished Egypt’s military chief victory in the nation’s presidential vote as Moscow sought to expand its military and other ties with a key U.S. ally in the Middle East. Putin said at the start of his meeting with Field Marshal Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi that he’s aware of his intention to seek the presidency. "I know that you have made a decision to run for president," Putin said, according to Russian news reports. "That’s a very responsible decision: to undertake such a mission for the fate of the Egyptian people. On my own part, and on behalf of the Russian people I wish you success." El-Sissi, who rose to prominence after the ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi last July, is popular among a large segment of Egyptians and is widely expected to announce a candidacy for presidential elections that […]

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Egypt Blackouts Raise New Worries

Egyptians are suffering through a rare spate of winter power outages, an indication they could sweat through a hot summer when soaring temperatures are likely to bring nationwide blackouts, experts say. Summer blackouts would put Egypt’s next leader, set to be elected in the coming months, in a difficult position. In July, frequent electricity cuts, long gas lines and political tensions helped to stoke massive antigovernment protests that prompted the military to oust Mohammed Morsi, the country’s first freely elected president. Some experts attribute shortages to a lack of foreign investment to develop Egypt’s natural-gas resources, which meet most of the country’s energy needs. Mohamed Shoeib, managing director of the energy division at Egypt’s Citadel Capital and former head of the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Co., said he expected the power cuts this summer to be far worse than those last summer. "The expectation for next summer is the […]

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Egypt: Militants blow up gas pipeline in Sinai

Egyptian security officials say suspected al-Qaida-inspired militants have blown up a natural gas pipeline in the restive Sinai Peninsula. The officials say the explosion took place early Tuesday in a desert area south of el-Arish, the provincial capital of North Sinai. The pipeline carries natural gas to Jordan and feeds heavy industry factories in central Sinai. The officials say pipeline technicians were forced to shut the flow of gas in order to get the fire under control. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to talk to media. There have been scores of attacks on the pipeline since the 2011 uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak and the security vacuum that ensued. A Sinai-based militant group, Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, has claimed responsibility for several such bombings. © 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, […]

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Battle of the Nile: Egypt, Ethiopia clash over mega-dam

Egypt and Ethiopia remain at loggerheads over Addis Ababa’s plan to build a $4.2 billion, 6,000-megawatt dam on a major tributary of the Nile River that Cairo says will greatly reduce the flow of water that is Egypt’s lifeline. Tension between the two African states rose sharply in January after Ethiopia rejected Egypt’s demand it suspend construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile, the main tributary of the 4,130-mile river, the world’s longest. Egypt has vowed to protect its "historical rights" to the Nile "at any cost" and says it could lose 20 percent of its water if the giant dam in northwestern Ethiopia, one of several hydroelectric projects planned by Addis Ababa, is completed. "It would be a disaster for Egypt," Mohamed Nasr Allam, a former Egyptian water minister, lamented to the Guardian daily of London in 2013. […]

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Jihadist Return Is Said to Drive Attacks in Egypt

In just the last two weeks, Islamist militants have detonated a car bomb at the gates of the capital’s security headquarters, gunned down a senior Interior Ministry official in broad daylight and shot down a military helicopter over Sinai with a portable surface-to-air missile. But perhaps most alarming to officials in Cairo and Washington are the signs that the swift increase in the scale and effectiveness of the attacks may come from a new influx of fighters: Egyptians returning from jihad abroad to join a campaign of terrorism against the military-backed government. “Egypt is again an open front for jihad,” said Brian Fishman, a researcher in counterterrorism at the New America Foundation in Washington. “The world is being […]

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