Category: North Africa

Texas independent oil & gas explorer IPR announced the discovery of a significant gas condensate field in its Alamein Concession located in the Western Desert of Egypt.  IPR, operator of the Concession, pursued a new play concept for several years targeting the untapped Alam El-Bueib (AEB) formation in the Yidma-11X well.  The discovery well, located 80 miles (130 km) southwest of the city of Alexandria, encountered both gas and condensate at a depth of 12,000 ft.  The well tested 14.3 million cubic ft/day of gas and 1,000 bbls/day of condensate of 53 deg API gravity with no water produced.  This primary target of the AEB was discovered by IPR after subsurface imaging of high quality 3D seismic revealed bright spots in this region of the Alamein Ridge.  While no gas has been found in this formation in this region of the Western Desert, it appears that commercial quantities […]

Click here to view full article at www.rigzone.com

Egypt’s government is likely to call a presidential election before parliamentary polls, officials said on Monday, rearranging the political timetable in a way that could see army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi elected head of state by April. Parliamentary elections were supposed to happen first under the roadmap unveiled after the army deposed Islamist President Mohamed Mursi in July after mass protests against his rule. But critics have campaigned for a change, saying the country needs an elected leader to direct government at a time of economic and political crisis and to forge a political alliance before a potentially divisive parliamentary election. Opponents say it risks creating a president with unchecked power. Were that Sisi, who is widely tipped to win the vote, it would restore the army’s sway over a post controlled by military men until Mursi was propelled to office last year by the […]

Click here to view full article at www.reuters.com

Egypt’s Interior Ministry says security forces have arrested journalists working for the Qatari-based Al-Jazeera network over alleged links to the Muslim Brotherhood, the leading Islamist group that was last week branded as a "terrorist" organization. The network said Monday that four of its Cairo team – correspondent Peter Greste, producers Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed, and cameraman Mohamed Fawzy – are in custody since Sunday night. Al-Jazeera says it’s demanding their immediate release. The ministry says only two Al-Jazeera staff were arrested, an Australian journalist and a second person, a Brotherhood member. It says they were meeting at a five-star Cairo hotel that is used to "spread rumors harming national security." Egypt’s military-backed government has long accused Al-Jazeera of bias because Qatar is perceived to have supported the Brotherhood. © 2013 The Associated Press . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten […]

Click here to view full article at hosted.ap.org

Egypt’s Interior Ministry says security forces have arrested journalists working for the Qatari-based Al-Jazeera network over alleged links to the Muslim Brotherhood, the leading Islamist group that was last week branded as a "terrorist" organization. The network said Monday that four of its Cairo team – correspondent Peter Greste, producers Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed, and cameraman Mohamed Fawzy – are in custody since Sunday night. Al-Jazeera says it’s demanding their immediate release. The ministry says only two Al-Jazeera staff were arrested, an Australian journalist and a second person, a Brotherhood member. It says they were meeting at a five-star Cairo hotel that is used to "spread rumors harming national security." Egypt’s military-backed government has long accused Al-Jazeera of bias because Qatar is perceived to have supported the Brotherhood. © 2013 The Associated Press . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten […]

Click here to view full article at hosted.ap.org

Defying the widening crackdown against them, supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood marched in cities across Egypt on Friday, protesting the government’s decision to declare the group a terrorist organization and clashing with security forces in several places. At least three people were killed in Cairo, Damietta and Minya on Friday, as officers fired tear gas and birdshot at protesters who threw rocks, burned tires and set fire to police vehicles. The Interior Ministry, which oversees the police, said it had arrested 265 people across the country, illustrating the government’s resolve to move forcefully against the Brotherhood, the government’s principal political opponent. Most of the group’s leadership and thousands of its members are already in prison, having been rounded up during a sustained assault on the movement after the military ousted President Mohamed Morsi, a Brotherhood leader, in July. The state’s security services have killed hundreds of Mr. […]

Click here to view full article at www.nytimes.com

Breaking news Supporters of banned Islamist Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt set fire to university building in Cairo, state TV says More to follow.

Click here to view full article at www.bbc.co.uk

Egyptian security forces fired tear gas at dozens of supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi as authorities tighten security measures in the capital after renewed calls for mass rallies. Anti-riot police chased student protesters chanting against the military and the police at the Islamic Al-Azhar University on Friday. Similar clashes took place Thursday night, leaving one person dead, as anti-Morsi civilians joined in the fighting with protesters, according to Egypt’s official news agency. Clashes also erupted Friday in two other districts of the capital. Armored vehicles closed main squares and city centers in Cairo and other major cities after Morsi’s group, the Muslim Brotherhood, and its allies announced now protests in defiance of the interim government’s latest move labeling the group as a terrorist organization. © 2013 The Associated Press . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more […]

Click here to view full article at hosted.ap.org

Egyptian security officials inspect the damaged bus that was targeted by a bomb in Nasr City district, Cairo, Egypt A crude explosive device on a Cairo street injured five people on a bus on Thursday morning, deepening the sense of crisis in Egypt after a massive car bomb earlier this week which killed 16 people at a security headquarters in the northern town of Mansoura. The latest bloodshed came just hours after the military-backed government formally designated as a “terrorist organisation” the Muslim Brotherhood group of Mohamed Morsi , Egypt’s first elected president, ousted by a popularly backed coup in July. In a statement late on Wednesday night, clearly intended to seal the expulsion from politics of the Islamist group which led in elections held over the past three years, the government accused the Muslim Brotherhood of “terrorist” activities, including carrying out the Mansoura attack. It comes less than […]

Click here to view full article at www.ft.com