Thursday, February 03, 2011

MUBARAK DOES A FALSE FLAG TO LOOK LIKE SAVIOUR

ISAIAH 19:1-15
1 The burden of Egypt. Behold, the LORD rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it.
2 And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbour; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom.(ETHNIC TRIBE AGAINST ETHNIC TRIBE)
3 And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards.(THEY WILL SEEK MEDIUMS-OCCULTISTS)
4 And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts.
5 And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up.
6 And they shall turn the rivers far away; and the brooks of defence shall be emptied and dried up: the reeds and flags shall wither.
7 The paper reeds by the brooks, by the mouth of the brooks, and every thing sown by the brooks, shall wither, be driven away, and be no more.
8 The fishers also shall mourn, and all they that cast angle into the brooks shall lament, and they that spread nets upon the waters shall languish.
9 Moreover they that work in fine flax, and they that weave networks, shall be confounded.
10 And they shall be broken in the purposes thereof, all that make sluices and ponds for fish.
11 Surely the princes of Zoan are fools, the counsel of the wise counsellors of Pharaoh is become brutish: how say ye unto Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings? (THESE LAST VERSES SEEM TO SAY THAT EGYPT IS DECIEVED BY THE ISLAMIC RELIGION TO ME)(VERSES 11-14)
12 Where are they? where are thy wise men? and let them tell thee now, and let them know what the LORD of hosts hath purposed upon Egypt.
13 The princes of Zoan are become fools, the princes of Noph are deceived; they have also seduced Egypt, even they that are the stay of the tribes thereof.
14 The LORD hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof: and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof, as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit.
15 Neither shall there be any work for Egypt, which the head or tail, branch or rush, may do.(NO WORK-THATS WHY THESE RIOTS IN EGYPT NOW)

WELL NOW WE FIND OUT MUBARAK SET FREE THE CAPTIVES FROM JAILS THE LAST FEW DAYS AND YESTERDAY THEY CAME RIDING ON CAMELS AND HORSES TO THE SQUARE AND STARTED BEATING AND WHIPPING PEACEFUL PROTESTORS.THIS WAS A TYPICAL FALSE FLAG EVENT SO EGYPTS CITIZENS WOULD CALL ON MUBARAK TO SAVE THEM FROM THE MUBARAK SUPPORTED CRIMINALS. UNFORTUNATELY FOR MUBARAK THIS FALSE FLAG NEVER WORKED AND EGYPTS CITIZENS STILL WANT HIM OUT IMMEDIATELY.

AND WHILE WERE ON THE ODDITY OF HORSES AND CAMELS BEING USED AS WAR CHARIOTS OF WAR AGAIN.HERES A FEW SCRIPTURES ABOUT TRIBULATION HAPPENINGS.AND GUESS WHAT THE HORSES SCRIPTURES TALK ABOUT.MUSLIM COUNTRIES...SURPRISE...SURPRISE.AND ALL THE ARAB-MUSLIM COUNTRIES MENTIONED IN THESE SCRIPTURES ARE CURRENTLY OR ON THE VERGE OF BEING OVERTHROWN.PROPHECY IS LITERALLY COMING TO PASS QUICKLY.


REVELATION 9:7-10
7 And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men.
8 And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.
9 And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.
10 And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months.

EZEKIEL 38:4-7
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE RUSSIA-MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY)of the north quarters, and all his bands:(SUDAN,AFRICA) and many people with thee.
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.

PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they (MUSLIMS) have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,(JORDAN) and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, PALESTINIANS,JORDAN) and the Hagarenes;(EGYPT)
7 Gebal,(HEZZBALLOH,LEBANON) and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA,ARABS,SINAI) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)

DANIEL 11:40-43
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south( EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) and the king of the north (RUSSIA AND MUSLIM HORDES OF EZEK 38+39) shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.
41 He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.(JORDAN)
42 He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
43 But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.

Kurt Haskell Exclusive: Christmas Day Bomber Assisted by U.S. State Dept. Official
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKZ1XLHiklk&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXW1mea6sy4&feature=player_embedded

RELATED TO THIS STORY
http://israndjer.blogspot.com/2011/02/radical-muslim-brotherhood-charter-in.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.com/2011/01/radical-muslims-infiltrate-eypt.html
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=258397
http://rss.nfowars.net/20110202_Wed_Alex.mp3

IF THE CIA AND MI5 IN BRITAIN ARE IN CONTROL OF THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD LIKE JONES CLAIMES.THEN OBAMA IS SETTING UP ALL THESE MUSLIM COUNTRIES UP TO FALL AND GET CONTROLLED BY THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD WHICH IN TURN WILL TEAM UP WITH RUSSIA AND ALL THE MUSLIM-ARAB COUNTRIES AND WILL THEN GO AGAINST ISRAEL LIKE THE BIBLE SAYS WILL HAPPEN.IF JONES IS RIGHT ABOUT THIS.OBAMA WANTS ISRAEL DESTROYED BY A DECEPTIVE MEANS OF BRINGING IN THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD TO CONTROL ALL THE ARAB-MUSLIM COUNTRIES AND THEN ALL ATTACK ISRAEL.IF THIS IS OBAMAS PLAN IT WILL BACKFIRE ON HIM AS AMERICA WILL BE NUKED BY RUSSIA.THIS WILL BE GODS WAY OF GETTING BACK AT AMERICA FOR SETTING UP FALSE DEMOCRACY MUSLIM-ARAB NATIONS TO ELIMINATE ISRAEL.OVIOUSLY RUSSIA WILL GO WITH OBAMA AT THE BEGGINING AND LEAD THE ARAB-MUSLIMS AGAINST ISRAEL.BUT BECAUSE OF OIL,GAS AND MINERAL RICHES IN ISRAEL.RUSSIA WILL BACKSTAB AMERICA AND NUKE IT ON THE WAY TO ISRAEL.WE KNOW 5/6TH OF THE RUSSIA-ARAB-MULIMS DIE ON THE MOUNTAINS OF ISRAEL.SO AMERICA AND RUSSIA WILL BOTH BE DECIEVED TO GO AGAINST ISRAEL ONLY TO COME TO THEIR DEMISES AT THE HAND OF ISRAELS NUKES LEAD BY GOD.REMEMBER WORLD YOU CAN'T TOUCH ISRAEL AND NOT EXPECT TO BE DESTROYED.WE HAVE A KING IN WAITING READY TO TAKE HIS THRONE IN JERUSALEM(KING JESUS)AND RULE FROM THERE FOREVER.SO JERUSALEM AND ISRAEL WILL NEVER BE DESTROYED SCHEMERS AGAINST ISRAEL AND HATERS OF GOD(KING JESUS) AND ISRAEL.

EPHESIANS 2:2-3
2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air,(SATAN)the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:(NEW WORLD ORDER NUTCASES)
3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

EPHESIANS 5:6
6 Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.(NEW WORLD ORDER NUTCASES)

MATHHEW 13:49-50
49 So shall it be at the end of the world:(AGE OF GRACE) the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just,
50 And shall cast them into the furnace of fire:(WICKED)there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Obama quietly builds ties with Muslim Brotherhood Back-door talks with movement vowing end of West, rule of Islam February 01, 2011 9:02 pm Eastern
By Aaron Klein 2011 WorldNetDaily


JERUSALEM – President Obama and top administration officials have an extended history of reaching out to the organization representing the main opposition now in Egypt's unrest, quietly building ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and its worldwide allies. Even today, as throngs are flooding the streets of Egyptian cities targeting the regime of President Hosni Mubarak, a key U.S. ally in the Middle East, the White House seemingly has been championing the protests.The Muslim Brotherhood seeks to spread Islam around the world, in large part using nonviolent means. Hamas and al-Qaida are violent Brotherhood offshoots.Muslim Brotherhood members reportedly were invited to attend President Obama's 2009 address to the Muslim world from Cairo. Khaled Hamza, editor of the Muslim Brotherhood website, confirmed at the time that 10 members of the Brotherhood's parliamentary bloc received official invitations to attend Obama's historic speech.Also in 2009, the Egyptian daily newspaper Almasry Alyoum ran a report claiming Obama had met with U.S. and European-based representatives of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood that year According to the report, the Brotherhood members requested that news of the meeting not be publicized. They expressed to Obama their support for democracy and the war on terror.

The newspaper also reported Brotherhood members communicated to Obama their position that the Muslim Brotherhood would abide by all agreements Egypt has signed with foreign countries, implying that if they took power in Egypt they would continue that country's peace treaty with Israel.Besides contact with the Muslim Brotherhood itself, there have been multiple reports the past two years of behind-the-scenes contact with Hamas, which was founded as an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood. Hamas maintains a close alliance with the Brotherhood; in fact, the Brotherhood's new leader, Muhammad Badi, serves as a de facto lead spiritual guide for Hamas.
Multiple top leaders of Hamas in Gaza claimed to WND several times they passed messages to Obama through dignitaries who visited the Gaza Strip, including Jimmy Carter and Sen. John Kerry – both of whom have a close relationship with the White House.Kerry, for example, reportedly accepted a letter for Obama from Hamas leaders in Gaza during a February 2009 visit to U.N. installations in the coastal territory.

Karen Abu Zayd, the U.N. relief agency chief in Gaza, told the BBC the Hamas letter had been received by his agency and passed on to an unnamed American official.In November 2008, WND first quoted Hamas officials stating they would be sending a letter to Obama.Immediately after that month's elections, Ahmed Yousef , Hamas' chief political adviser in Gaza, called Obama's win a historic victory for the world and told WND that Hamas was sending a letter of congratulations to the president-elect.

Obama ties to Brotherhood’s U.S. allies

It is not just Obama's reported contacts with the Muslim Brotherhood and the group's allies in the Middle East that have raised questions.The Obama administration also has evidenced a working relationship with several U.S.-based Islamist organizations that are listed by the Brotherhood as likeminded organizations.One such group is the Islamic Society of North America, or ISNA, a radical Muslim group that was an unindicted co-conspirator in a scheme to raise money for Hamas.ISNA was named in a May 1991 Muslim Brotherhood document – An Explanatory Memorandum on the General Strategic Goal for the Group in North America – as one of the Brotherhood's likeminded organizations of our friends who shared the common goal of transforming countries into Muslim nations.The White House relationship with the ISNA began even before Obama took office. One week before the presidential inauguration, Sayyid Syeed, national director of the ISNA Office for Interfaith and Community Alliances, was part of a delegation that met with the directors of Obama's transition team. The delegation discussed a request for an executive order ending torture.ISNA President Ingrid Mattson represented American Muslims at Obama's inauguration, where she offered a prayer during the televised event.Mattson also has represented ISNA at Obama's annual Ramadan dinners, including the last such event in which Obama announced support for the rights of Muslims to build an Islamic cultural center and mosque two blocks from the site of the 9/11 attacks.

In June 2009, Obama's top aide, Valerie Jarrett, invited Mattson to work on the White House Council on Women and Girls, which Jarrett leads.That July, the Justice Department sponsored an information booth at an ISNA bazaar in Washington, D.C.
Also that month, Jarrett addressed ISNA's 46th annual convention. According to the White House, Jarrett attended as part of Obama's outreach to Muslims.It was an ISNA-sponsored event that held a February 2010 question and answer session with Obama's top adviser on counter-terrorism, John Brennan, who came under fire for controversial remarks he made at that session, which was addressed to Muslim law students at New York University.Another Muslim Brotherhood likeminded organization that was welcome at the White House was the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR.

Egypt blames White House for fomenting uprising

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of Egyptian protesters today thronged Cairo's Tahrir Square ahead of a million man march protest due to take place later in the day to mark seven days of anti-government demonstrations in the country.WND quoted a senior Egyptian diplomat stating the Egyptian government suspects elements of the current uprising there, particularly political aspects, are being coordinated with the U.S. State Department and Obama administration.The senior Egyptian diplomat told WND the Mubarak regime suspects the U.S. has been aiding protest planning by Mohamed ElBaradei, who is seen as one of the main opposition leaders in Cairo.ElBaradei, former International Atomic Energy Agency chief, has reinvented himself as a campaigner for reform in Egypt. He is a candidate for this year's scheduled presidential elections.ElBaradei arrived in Cairo just after last week's protests began and is reportedly being confined to his home by Egyptian security forces.

He is seen as an ally of the Muslim Brotherhood.

This past weekend, the London Telegraph reported the U.S. Embassy in Cairo in 2008 helped a young dissident attend a U.S.-sponsored summit for activists in New York, while working to keep his identity secret from Egyptian state police.The Telegraph would not identify the dissident, but said he was involved in helping to stir the current protests. The report claimed the dissident told the U.S. Embassy in Cairo that an alliance of opposition groups had a plan to topple Mubarak'sgovernment.The disclosures, contained in U.S. diplomatic dispatches released by the WikiLeaks website, show American officials pressed the Egyptian government to release other dissidents who had been detained by the police.The White House has been almost openly championing the unrest in Egypt.Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Obama both reportedly voiced support for an orderly transition in Egypt that is responsive to the aspirations of Egyptians.Deputy National Security Adviser Denis McDonough, speaking in a White House webcast, also urged the government and protesters in Egypt to refrain from violence.Egyptian officials speaking to WND, however, warned the Muslim Brotherhood has the most to gain from any political reform.

Worldwide Islamist revolution

The Obama administration's support for the unrest is strikingly reminiscent of Jimmy Carter's support of the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979, which marked the birth of modern Islamist expansion now seemingly sweeping the Mideast.In fact, some Muslim clerics already are calling the riots in Egypt simply an extension of 1979's Islamist conquests.Thirty-one years after the victory of the Islamic Republic, we are faced with the obvious fact that these movements are the aftershocks of the Islamic Revolution, said Iranian cleric Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami, as reported by Iran's Radio Zamaneh. The fate of those who challenge [our] religion is destruction.
Speaking of media and government leaders, Khatami added, They want to highlight the labor, liberal and democratic issues, but the most important issue, which is the religious streak of these protests, [is] being denied.The leader of Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood, Hammam Saeed, warned that the unrest in Egypt will spread across the Mideast until Arabs succeed at toppling leaders allied with the United States. The Americans and Obama must be losing sleep over the popular revolt in Egypt, Saeed said at a sympathy protest held outside the Egyptian Embassy in Amman. Now, Obama must understand that the people have woken up and are ready to unseat the tyrant leaders who remained in power because of U.S. backing.And on the Internet, the Middle East Media Research Institute reports, prominent Salafi cleric Abu Mundhir Al-Shinqiti issued a fatwa in the website Minbar Al-Tawhid Wal Jihad encouraging the protests in Egypt, claiming Islamist jihadis are now on the verge of a historic moment in the history of the Islamic nation, an earthquake he likened to the Sept. 11attacks in New York City.

Brotherhood declares war on U.S.

Multiple prominent U.S. commentators also have been claiming the Muslim Brotherhood is a moderate organization and denying any Islamist plot to seize power.In November, the Brotherhood's new supreme guide, Muhammad Badi, delivered a sermon entitled, How Islam Confronts the Oppression and Tyranny.Resistance is the only solution, stated Badi. The United States cannot impose an agreement upon the Palestinians, despite all the power at its disposal. [Today] it is withdrawing from Iraq, defeated and wounded, and is also on the verge of withdrawing from Afghanistan because it has been defeated by Islamist warriors.Badi went on to declare the U.S. is easy to defeat through violence, since it is experiencing the beginning of its end and is heading toward its demise.Read more: Obama quietly builds ties with Muslim Brotherhood http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=258397#ixzz1ColDaJkg

Heavy gunfire rings out in Cairo protest square By HADEEL AL-SHALCHI, Associated Press - FEB 03,11

CAIRO – Bursts of heavy gunfire rained into Cairo's Tahrir Square before dawn Thursday, killing at least three anti-government demonstrators among crowds still trying to hold the site after an assault by supporters of President Hosni Mubarak, according to a protest organizer.Sustained bursts of automatic weapons fire and powerful single shots rattled into the square starting at around 4 a.m., and was continuing more than an hour later.Protest organizer Mustafa el-Naggar said he saw the bodies of three dead protesters being carried toward an ambulance. He said the gunfire came from at least three locations off in the distance and that the Egyptian military, which has ringed the square with tank squads for days to try to keep some order, did not intervene.Footage from AP Television News showed two bodies being dragged from the scene. The health minister did not answer a phone call seeking confirmation of the deaths.Throughout Wednesday, Mubarak supporters charged into the square on horses and camels brandishing whips while others rained firebombs from rooftops in what appeared to be an orchestrated assault against protesters trying to topple Egypt's leader of 30 years. Three people died in that earlier violence and 600were injured.The protesters accused Mubarak's regime of unleashing a force of paid thugs and plainclothes police to crush their unprecedented nine-day-old movement, a day after the 82-year-old president refused to step down. They showed off police ID badges they said were wrested from their attackers. Some government workers said their employers ordered them into the streets.

Mustafa el-Fiqqi, a top official from the ruling National Democratic Party, told The Associated Press that businessmen connected to the ruling party were responsible for what happened.The notion that the state may have coordinated violence against protesters, who had kept a peaceful vigil in Tahrir Square for five days, prompted a sharp rebuke from the Obama administration.If any of the violence is instigated by the government, it should stop immediately, said White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs.The clashes marked a dangerous new phase in Egypt's upheaval: the first significant violence between government supporters and opponents. The crisis took a sharp turn for the worse almost immediately after Mubarak rejected the calls for him to give up power or leave the country, stubbornly proclaiming he would die on Egyptian soil.His words were a blow to the protesters. They also suggest that authorities want to turn back the clock to the tight state control enforced before the protests began.Mubarak's supporters turned up on the streets Wednesday in significant numbers for the first time. Some were hostile to journalists and foreigners. Two Associated Press correspondents and several other journalists were roughed up in Cairo. State TV had reported that foreigners were caught distributing anti-Mubarak leaflets, apparently trying to depict the movement as foreign-fueled.

After midnight, 10 hours after the clashes began, the two sides were locked in a standoff at a street corner, with the anti-Mubarak protesters hunkered behind a line of metal sheets hurling firebombs back and forth with government backers on the rooftop above. The rain of bottles of flaming gasoline set nearby cars and wreckage on the sidewalk ablaze.The scenes of mayhem were certain to add to the fear that is already running high in this capital of 18 million people after a weekend of looting and lawlessness and the escape of thousands of prisoners from jails in the chaos.
Soldiers surrounding Tahrir Square fired occasional shots in the air throughout the day but did not appear to otherwise intervene in the fierce clashes and no uniformed police were seen. Most of the troops took shelter behind or inside the armored vehicles and tanks stationed at the entrances to the square.Why don't you protect us? some protesters shouted at the soldiers, who replied they did not have orders to do so and told people to go home.The army is neglectful. They let them in, said Emad Nafa, a 52-year-old among the protesters, who for days had showered the military with affection for its neutral stance.Some of the worst street battles raged near the Egyptian Museum at the edge of the square. Pro-government rioters blanketed the rooftops of nearby buildings and hurled bricks and firebombs onto the crowd below — in the process setting a tree ablaze inside the museum grounds. Plainclothes police at the building entrances prevented anti-Mubarak protesters from storming up to stop them.

The two sides pummeled each other with chunks of concrete and bottles at each of the six entrances to the sprawling plaza, where 10,000 anti-Mubarak protesters tried to fend off more than 3,000 attackers who besieged them. Some on the pro-government side waved machetes, while the square's defenders filled the air with a ringing battlefield din by banging metal fences with sticks. In one almost medieval scene, a small contingent of pro-Mubarak forces on horseback and camels rushed into the anti-government crowds, trampling several people and swinging whips and sticks. Protesters dragged some riders from their mounts, throwing them to the ground and beating their faces bloody. The horses and camels appeared to be ones used to give tourists rides around Cairo.Dozens of men and women pried up pieces of the pavement with bars and ferried the piles of ammunition in canvas sheets to their allies at the front. Others directed fighters to streets needing reinforcements.The protesters used a subway station as a makeshift prison for the attackers they managed to catch. They tied the hands and legs of their prisoners and locked them inside. People grabbed one man who was bleeding from the head, hit him with their sandals and threw him behind a closed gate.Some protesters wept and prayed in the square where only a day before they had held a joyous, peaceful rally of a quarter-million, the largest demonstration so far.Egyptian Health Minister Ahmed Sameh Farid said three people died and at least 611 were injured in Tahir Square. One of those killed fell from a bridge near the square; Farid said the man was in civilian clothes but may have been a member of the security forces.Farid did not say how the other two victims, both young men, were killed. It was not clear whether they were government supporters or anti-Mubarak demonstrators.

After years of tight state control, protesters emboldened by the uprising in Tunisia took to the streets on Jan. 25 and mounted a once-unimaginable series of demonstrations across this nation of 80 million. For the past few days, protesters who camped out in Tahrir Square reveled in a new freedom — publicly expressing their hatred for the Mubarak regime.After our revolution, they want to send people here to ruin it for us, said Ahmed Abdullah, a 47-year-old lawyer in the square. Another man shrieked through a loudspeaker: Hosni has opened the door for these thugs to attack us.The pressure for demonstrators to clear the square mounted throughout the day, beginning early when a military spokesman appeared on state TV and asked them to disperse so life in Egypt could get back to normal.It was a change in attitude by the army, which for the past few days had allowed protests to swell with no interference and even made a statement saying they had a legitimate right to demonstrate peacefully.Then the regime began to rally its supporters in significant numbers for the first time, demanding an end to the protest movement. Some 20,000 Mubarak supporters held an angry but mostly peaceful rally across the Nile River from Tahrir, responding to calls on state TV.They said Mubarak's concessions were enough. He has promised not to run for re-election in September, named a new government and appointed a vice president for the first time, widely considered his designated successor.They waved Egyptian flags, their faces painted with the black-white-and-red national colors, and carried a large printed banner with Mubarak's face as police officers surrounded the area and directed traffic. They cheered as a military helicopter swooped overhead.

They were bitter at the jeers hurled at Mubarak.I feel humiliated, said Mohammed Hussein, a 31-year-old factory worker. He is the symbol of our country. When he is insulted, I am insulted.Sayyed Ramadan, a clothing vendor said: Eight days with no security, safety, food or drink. I earn my living day by day. The president didn't do anything. It is shame that we call him a dog.Emad Fathi, 35, works as a delivery boy but since the demonstrations, he has not gone to work.I came here to tell these people to leave, he said. The mosques were calling on people to go and support Mubarak, he said.The anti-Mubarak movement has vowed to intensify protests to force him out by Friday.State TV said Vice President Omar Suleiman called on the youth to heed the armed forces' call and return home to restore order. From the other side, senior anti-Mubarak figure Mohamed ElBaradei demanded the military intervene immediately and decisively to stop this massacre.Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton spoke with Suleiman to condemn the violence and urge Egypt's government to hold those responsible for it accountable, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said.Protesters had maintained a round-the-clock, peaceful vigil in Tahrir Square since Friday night, when the military was first deployed and police largely vanished from the streets.

After celebrating their biggest success yet in Tuesday's demonstration, the crowd thinned out overnight. By morning a few thousand protesters remained. Mubarak supporters began to gather at the edges of the square a little after noon, and protesters formed a human chain to keep them out.In the early afternoon, around 3,000 pro-government demonstrators broke through and surged among the protesters, according to an Associated Press reporter at the scene.They tore down banners denouncing the president, fistfights broke out, and protesters grabbed Mubarak posters from the hands of the supporters and ripped them to pieces.From there, it escalated into outright street battles as hundreds poured in to join each side. The battle lines at each of the entrances surged back and forth for hours. Each side's fighters stretched across the width of the four-lane divided boulevard, hiding behind abandoned trucks and holding sheets of corrugated metal as shields from the hail of stones.At the heart of the square, young men with microphones sought to keep up morale. Stand fast, reinforcements are on the way, said one. Youth of Egypt, be brave. Groups of bearded men lined up to recite Muslim prayers before taking their turn in the line of fire.Bloodied young men staggered or were carried into makeshift clinics set up in mosques and alleyways by the anti-government side.Women and men stood ready with water, medical cotton and bandages as each wave returned. Scores of wounded were carried to a makeshift clinic at a mosque near the square and on other side streets, staffed by doctors in white coats. One man with blood coming out of his eye stumbled into a side-street clinic.As night fell, some protesters went to get food, a sign they plan to dig in for a long siege. Hundreds more people from the impoverished district of Shubra showed up later as reinforcements.

Wednesday's events suggest the regime aims to put an end of the unrest to let Mubarak shape the transition as he chooses over the next months. Mubarak has offered negotiations with protest leaders over democratic reforms, but they have refused any talks until he steps down.As if to show the public the crisis was ending, the government began to reinstate Internet service after days of an unprecedented cutoff. State TV announced the easing of a nighttime curfew, which now runs from 5 p.m. to 7 a.m. instead of 3 p.m. to 8 a.m.AP correspondents Sarah El Deeb, Hamza Hendawi, Diaa Hadid, Lee Keath, Michael Weissenstein and Maggie Michael contributed to this report.

HEZBOLLAH CELL ESCAPED IN EGYPT PRISON BREAK

Hezbollah cell escaped in Egypt prison break
FEB 03,11 11:00 AM


CAIRO (AFP) – Members of a cell belonging to the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah and convicted of plotting attacks in Egypt were among the escapees in a weekend prison break, a security official told AFP Thursday.The 22 cell members fled on Sunday along with members of Palestinian group Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood and thousands of other convicts during a mass breakout amid anti-government protests in Egypt.The Hezbollah members escaped from Wadi Natrun north of Cairo after guards abandoned their posts.Last April a Cairo court handed down stiff prison sentences to 26 people in connection with a plot to carry out attacks on the Suez Canal and Sinai resorts. Four were sentenced in absentia.In a handwritten letter obtained by AFP, the defendants -- most of whom had been detained between late 2008 and January 2009 -- said they never planned attacks in Egypt.

Rights body urges Palestinian aid cut over crackdown
FEB 03,11


RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories (AFP) – Human Rights Watch urged the European Union and United States on Thursday to cut aid to the Palestinian Authority after security forces broke up up a pro-Egypt rally on the West Bank.It was the second time in four days that the security forces had broken up a rally in support of the Egyptian uprising, while Gaza's Hamas rulers also came under criticism for quashing a similar demonstration in the Strip.The rebuke came after police and security forces stormed a group of about 150 people demonstrating peacefully in Ramallah late on Wednesday, using batons and tear gas to disperse them, the human rights watchdog and organisers said.Police punched, kicked and detained participants in the demonstration, as well as at least two journalists and a HRW research assistant, Human Rights Watch said in a statement, .adding that the police began beating demonstrators without warning.One of the organisers told AFP the demonstration had been planned several hours in advance using Facebook, Twitter and text messages.

The PA's suppression is but a continuation of its crackdown on activists and anyone expressing dissent, he said, speaking on condition of anonymity. It is a clear violation of our basic rights.Palestinian security forces defended their actions, saying the protest had not received a permit.Freedom of expression is guaranteed within the framework of the law ... but we will not allow the situation of chaos, spokesman Adnan al-Dameery told AFP.Police in Ramallah broke up a similar rally on Sunday. The next day, Hamas police scattered a demonstration in Gaza City, briefly arresting six women protestors.The US and the EU should suspend aid to Palestinian Authority security forces unless the Palestinian authorities take appropriate measures to end such abuses and allow Palestinians to enjoy their rights to freedom of assembly and expression, Human Rights Watch said.Sarah Leah Whitson, head of the organization's Middle East and North Africa division, said those behind the violence should be prosecuted.The PA should take action against the responsible police officers or the US and EU should find another use for their taxpayers' money, she said.Every year, the European Union and the United States provide hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to train and equip the Palestinian security forces.

Hundreds in Gaza rally against Egypt's president
FEB 3,11


GAZA STRIP – Hundreds of Hamas supporters in Gaza are demonstrating against Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.The demonstration in front of the Egyptian representative office is the first public gathering of its type in the seaside strip since the turmoil in neighboring Egypt erupted more than a week ago.Thursday's protesters were Hamas supporters representing student councils from Gaza universities. Hamas security officials stood idly by and did not break up the protest.Hamas has largely kept quiet on the unrest in Egypt. But the group is perceived to oppose Mubarak's regime because of its support for Israel's blockade on the territory.The militant Islamic group took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007. It is affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood movement in Egypt.

Egypt crisis means Israel must resume peace talks
– Thu Feb 3, 6:29 am ET


JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel must relaunch peace talks with the Palestinians in light of the massive protests rocking Egypt, a senior Israeli politician said, as the popular uprising on Thursday entered its tenth day.Shaul Mofaz, head of the powerful parliamentary committee on foreign affairs and defence, said the revolt in Egypt is creating a new strategic reality in the region, making it imperative for Israel to restart talks with the Palestinians.The crisis in Egypt is a new strategic situation, the former defence minister told journalists late on Wednesday.Because of the strategic change in our region, we have to move forward with the Palestinians, said Mofaz, who is a senior figure within the opposition Kadima party. We have to do our best to restart negotiations with the Palestinians and with Syria as well.The alternative would mean Israel becoming a state for two nations and we will be very close to a new war with our neighbours.Direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians broke down late last year in a bitter row over Jewish settlement building, and look unlikely to restart any time soon.

Mofaz, a former chief of staff, has been working on his own peace plan which would involve the immediate establishment of a Palestinian state with provisional borders, and parallel talks on final status issues.His plan, which was made public some 15 months ago, would initially involve a Palestinian state on 60-65 percent of the occupied West Bank, which would eventually incorporate 92 percent of the territory seized by Israel during the 1967 Six Day War.We have to move to an interim agreement whereby we have a Palestinian state in the West Bank on 65 percent of the land ... with full continuity from north to south, with an international guarantee that the size of the land in a permanent agreement will be in the 1967 borders, he said.

The move would involve a land swap of 6-7 percent of the land, he said.It will mean the Palestinians move from having an authority to the status of a state, said Mofaz, claiming that most of the (Israeli) leaders as well as the people believe a future Palestinian state would be based on the 1967 lines.The major issue is that it will change the atmosphere totally.The Palestinians have always rejected the idea of an interim agreement, establishing borders for a future Palestinian state, insisting they want a comprehensive deal.

France hosts Palestinian PM in new peace drive
by Fabrice Randoux – Thu Feb 3, 5:40 am ET


PARIS (AFP) – Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad was due in Paris Thursday to meet French leaders and international peacebrokers on an official visit aimed at boosting flagging efforts for Middle East peace.Talks were also likely to cover the violent unrest in Egypt, whose long-term ruler Hosni Mubarak is an important supporter of the Palestinian Authority but who is facing mass protests demanding that he quit power.Fayyad was due to land in Paris at noon and meet French Prime Minister Francois Fillon and later President Nicolas Sarkozy, the French government said.In the evening he was due for dinner at the foreign ministry to discuss aid to the Palestinians, with representatives from the European Union and the so-called Quartet of powers for Middle East peace.This mainly economic conference... is part of plans to create by the end of 2011 a sovereign and independent Palestinian state, in accordance with the declarations of the Quartet, said the ministry's spokesman Bernard Valero.

The top EU foreign representative Catherine Ashton will attend the dinner, along with Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere and Gary Grappo, an American who serves as deputy to the Quartet's envoy Tony Blair.The dinner is to review progress following a 2007 conference at which international donors promised $7.7 billion (5.6 billion euros) in aid to the Palestinians over three years.That allowed Salam Fayyad to pursue the reforms he had committed to, particularly in governance, security and financial transparency, said Valero.Now France and other donors want to see their support rewarded with progress in the drive for Palestinian statehood.Europe cannot continue to pay while being kept out of the political process, Sarkozy said last month.If the discussions were progressing without Europe, we might just say That's the way it is. But the discussions are not even progressing.The Palestinians have set September as a target for an agreement with Israel on founding a Palestinian state in the region.

The last attempt to see through direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, hosted by the United States, broke down late last year due to a dispute over Jewish settlement-building on Palestinian land.With Fayyad's visit on Thursday and Friday, France now hopes for a fresh effort to bring them back to the table, with a bigger European role. To achieve that it will also have to reach out to Israel.One French diplomat told AFP: The success of the first donors' conference enabled them to show that the Palestinians were not corrupt, lax and incompetent.So now we can say without seeming ridiculous that the Palestinian state is ready to be declared at any time, added the diplomat, who asked not to be named.What was promised has been done. Now the question is, what political outcome can be drawn from it?

Israeli PM says Iran wants another Gaza in Egypt By ARON HELLER, Associated Press – Wed Feb 2, 5:59 pm ET

JERUSALEM – Israel's prime minister on Wednesday said Iran wants to take advantage of the chaos in Egypt to create another Gaza there, run by Islamic fundamentalists.
Speaking before the Israeli parliament, Benjamin Netanyahu said he expects any new government in Egypt to honor its three-decade-long peace agreement with Israel.But he warned that Islamic groups have already taken over by democratic means in Iran, Lebanon and Gaza.Is there freedom in Iran? Is there democracy in Gaza? Does Hezbollah promote human rights? he asked. They (Iranians) want an Egypt that goes back to the Middle Ages. They want Egypt to turn into another Gaza, that will be run by radical forces that are against everything we want, everything the democratic world stands for.He did not say how Iran would do this.

After initially keeping a low profile over the unrest, Netanyahu has in recent days been warning of the dangers posed by instability in Egypt.Egypt became the first Arab nation to sign a peace accord with Israel in 1979 and has strictly honored it. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has close ties to Israeli leaders and has acted as a bridge between Israel and the Palestinians to the broader Arab world.The anti-government protests, led by secular Egyptian activists, forced Mubarak to announce he will not seek re-election.Netanyahu said that a more democratic Egypt would not pose a threat to Israel. He called on the international community to insist that whoever takes over power in Egypt remains committed to peace with Israel.

Syria again holds the strings in Lebanon: analysts
by Mohamad Ali Harissi – Wed Feb 2, 5:52 am ET


BEIRUT (AFP) – Lebanon's former powerbroker Syria has edged its way back into the heart of local politics, analysts say, after the militant Hezbollah and its allies toppled the Western-backed government of Saad Hariri.Over the past six years, Syria has sought to regain its influence, step by step, until the time came when it could announce to the world that Lebanon was once again squarely in its hands, said Marwan Rowayheb, political science professor at the Lebanese American University.The rift between the (Hariri) alliance in Lebanon and Syria all these years did not prevent the latter from retaining its political hegemony over Lebanon.Syria's political tug-of-war with Lebanon runs back decades. Damascus first sent its troops into its smaller neighbour in 1976, shortly after the outbreak of the 1975-1990 civil war, at the request of the Lebanese.But Syria continued to wield its sway over Lebanon long after the war ended, maintaining a military presence until the 2005 assassination of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri.The killing of Hariri -- father of the outgoing premier -- sparked a wave of mass protests which, combined with international pressure, forced the withdrawal of Syrian troops in April 2005.

Syria was initially accused of being behind the murder but has consistently denied involvement.Saad Hariri's anti-Syrian alliance went on to win two legislative elections after Syria's withdrawal.But the Saudi-backed Hariri was dealt a severe blow last month when a rival Hezbollah-led coalition backed by Syria and Iran toppled his government in a long-running feud over a UN-backed probe into his father's murder.Hezbollah's leadership believes party members stand to be accused by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) and had been pressuring Hariri to cut all ties with the Netherlands-based court.The collapse of the Hariri government signals Lebanon's return to the pre-2005 era, and specifically to the 1990's, when Damascus reigned supreme over Beirut, said Salman Shaikh, head of the Brookings Doha Centre.

Syria is making it known to the world that peace and stability in Lebanon cannot be preserved without its help.All eyes now are turned to Najib Mikati, the billionaire businessman appointed -- with the blessing of Hezbollah and Syria -- to form a new government.Mikati is a personal friend of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his appointment is widely seen as a sign that Damascus once again is pulling the strings in Lebanon.Syria has long recovered the self-confidence and composure it lost in the 2005 crisis, said Peter Harling of the International Crisis Group, adding that Syria had acted on pragmatic political calculations.Syria arguably has the best hand ever -- combining the Shiites, the Druze, an important section of the Christians, and some key Sunni figures, Harling told AFP, referring to the Hezbollah-led coalition Damascus supports.He added however that contrary to the pre-2005 era, Syria today had to take into account other players, notably Iran, Turkey, France and the United States.The new government, experts say, will reflect the role Syria and other regional powers are set to play in Lebanon's future. Syria managed the Lebanese crisis to its advantage and placed both hands over Lebanon,Shaikh said.The question remains what lessons Damascus learned over the past few years and how that will be applied in the near future.

Palestinians urge Quartet to back their state
– Tue Feb 1, 1:00 pm ET


RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories (AFP) – Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat urged the Middle East Quartet on Tuesday to recognise a Palestinian state within 1967borders when it meets later this week.We call on the international Quartet take an historic decision to recognise the state of Palestine on the 1967 borders at its next meeting on February 5 in Munich, Erakat told AFP.In order to bring security and stability in the Middle East, we must drain the swamp that is the Israeli occupation, which is the sole cause of all problems in the region, he said.With unprecedented anti-government protests underway in Egypt, many are calling for democracy and human rights in the Middle East, but those same rights must be recognised for the Palestinians as well, Erakat added.The Quartet -- Russia, the United States, the European Union and the United Nations -- meets on Saturday to seek ways of reviving Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations which ran aground last year.The talks fell apart after Israel refused to renew a temporary ban on settlement building, with the Palestinians rejecting further negotiations so long as Israeli settlers build on land wanted for a Palestinian state.

Eight South American countries have already declared their recognition of an independent Palestinian state, which the Palestinians want to establish in the West Bank and Gaza, with a capital in east Jerusalem, all of which were seized by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War.In Europe, meanwhile, six countries have upgraded the status of Palestinian diplomatic delegations to that of a mission -- one notch below embassy.Meanwhile, Palestinian officials said they were making preparations to hold long-postponed local elections as soon as possible.Prime Minister Salam Fayyad told Palestinian television that intensive discussions are underway to set a date for the elections that had initially been set for July 2010.Fayyad added that the Palestinians must think seriously about general elections as a way of reuniting the West Bank and Gaza Strip, divided since Hamas ousted the forces of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas from Gaza.Hamas has refused to recognise the Abbas's authority since his four-year term expired in January 2009, and rejected legislative elections that also were to have been held last year.Hamas, which won by a landslide in the last parliamentary elections in 2006, has said there can be no fresh vote without reconciliation with Fatah.The Islamist movement gained power in Gaza in June 2007 when it drove out forces loyal to Abbas in a week of bloody street battles, the culmination of years of struggle between the two main Palestinian movements.

Huckabee says no Palestinian state in West Bank By ARON HELLER, Associated Press – Tue Feb 1, 9:57 am ET

JERUSALEM – Potential 2012 U.S. presidential candidate Mike Huckabee said Tuesday that if Palestinians want an independent state, they should seek it from Arabs — not Israel.The evangelical minister and Fox News host said Jews should be allowed to settle anywhere throughout the biblical Land of Israel — an area that includes the West Bank and east Jerusalem.He called the demand on Israel to give up land for peace an unrealistic, unworkable and unreachable goal.Most of the international community — including President Barack Obama — considers Jewish settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem illegal because they are built on occupied land Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians claim both areas for a future state.Huckabee suggested that a Palestinian state were to be established, it shouldn't come at Israel's expense.There are vast amounts of territory that are in the hands of Muslims, in the hands of Arabs. Maybe the international community can come together and accommodate, he said in a meeting with reporters.

Huckabee makes frequent trips to Israel to voice support for Jewish settlements.He's currently being hosted by The Jerusalem Reclamation Project, a group that promotes settlements in an attempt to bolster a Jewish presence in mostly Arab areas. Joined by actor Jon Voight on the three-day visit, Huckabee's itinerary includes tours of Jewish settlements and meetings with Israeli leaders.Huckabee, a former governor of Arkansas and a presidential contender in 2008, is expected to seek the Republican nomination to run against Obama in 2012.He said that as president he would move the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem — affirming Israel's position that the city should be its undivided and eternal capital — and said he would not pressure Israel into making any territorial concessions.He was critical of previous U.S. attempts to broker a peace agreement with Palestinians, who he says have yet to truly recognize Israel's right to exist within secure borders.I know my view on this may be seen as the minority, out of the mainstream of the more politically correct idealistic view that we can just have a conference or a meeting and bring the diplomats together, toast marshmallows, build a camp fire and sing Kumbaya. It has not happened. I'm not confident that it ever could or would, he said.He said any peace agreement has to recognize that the Jewish people have indigenous rights to the land in which they occupy and live and it goes back not 60 years or 80 years but it goes back 3,500 years.

Gazan inmates home after escaping Egypt jail
– Mon Jan 31, 4:43 pm ET


GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories (AFP) – Six Palestinian prisoners who broke out of prison in Egypt during the chaos there have reached the Gaza Strip, a prisoners' family liaison group said on Monday.At least three of them were members of the militant Islamic Hamas movement, which rules Gaza, the group said.I was able to escape from Abu Zaabal prison with eight of my comrades, Palestinian political detainees, when it was torched during the events there, said Mohammed Abdel-Hadi, who was arrested in Egypt in 2009 for belonging to Hamas's military wing.At least three of the nine escapees managed to slip back into the Strip on Sunday by means of the cross-border smuggling tunnels, said Alaa al-Sayed, a spokesman for the liaison group.So far, six political prisoners who managed to escape from Egyptian prisons have arrived in the Gaza Strip, he told AFP.Mohammed al-Shaer, a major figure in the network of tunnels criss-crossing the Gaza-Egypt border returned on Sunday after six months in Egyptian custody, as did Hassan Wishah, who served three years of a 10-year term for unspecified security offences, a Hamas official said.The prisoners made their escape when thousands broke out of prisons across Egypt in the chaos sparked by nationwide riots demanding the removal of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

2 Gaza rockets explode in Israeli towns
– Mon Jan 31, 3:36 pm ET


JERUSALEM – The Israeli military says two rockets fired from Gaza have exploded in Israeli towns. No one was hurt, but there was some damage.The attacks came a few minutes apart late Monday. One rocket hit Netivot, 9 miles (14 kilometers) east of Gaza, and the second exploded in Ofakim, 15 miles (25 kilometers) from Gaza.The military says the range indicates the rockets were Grads. Israel charges that Iran supplies Gaza militants with Grads.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.Few Grads have been fired since Israel's punishing invasion of Gaza two years ago to try to stop rocket fire. Hundreds of smaller rockets have been aimed at border communities.Rocket fire usually draws retaliatory Israeli airstrikes at Gaza militant facilities or smuggling tunnels.

Republican star, US actor back E.Jerusalem settlers
– Mon Jan 31, 11:34 am ET


JERUSALEM (AFP) – Influential US Republican Mike Huckabee and Oscar-winning actor Jon Voight on Monday lent their backing to Jewish settlers in east Jerusalem, by laying the cornerstone for a new neighbourhood.The two were guests of honour at a ceremony to lay the foundation stone of a new settlement initiative called Beit Orot on the edge of the Mount of Olives.The essence of freedom, the very heart of it, is self determination and self direction, said Huckabee, who has been touted as a possible Republican candidate in 2012.So today we dedicate this place, not just as a place to live, but as a place to live free, he said.

His support for Jewish construction in east Jerusalem flies in the face of Washington's long-held position that opposes all Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.Israel captured the city's eastern sector from Jordan in the 1967 Six Day War and later annexed it in a move not recognised by the international community. It sees Jerusalem as its eternal, undivided capital and does not consider construction in the east as settlement activity.It is inconceivable in many ways that we have to argue and debate whether Israelis can live in Israel -- not just in parts of Israel, but anywhere in Israel they wish to live, Huckabee said after placing the cornerstone into a trough of wet cement.

Several dozen Jewish seminary students, accompanied by a clarinet and accordion, greeted the two Americans as they arrived at the site, singing of their hopes of rebuilding the Jewish Temple, as they bounced up and down like Massai warriors.
Voight, the estranged father of Hollywood star Angelina Jolie, spoke of his very deep connection to the Jewish people and his enjoyment of the singing and chanting that greeted their arrival.I'm very honoured to be here and very proud to be with all of you who have stood for justice and the legacy of -- you know -- the Jewish people, Voight said.The issue of ongoing Jewish settlement building on occupied Palestinian land was responsible for the breakdown direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians late last year.Talks which began on September 2 fizzled out after the expiry of a temporary ban on settlement building, with the Palestinians insisting they would not negotiate while Israel continues to build on land they want for a future state.

Gaza shuts border with Egypt as unrest spirals
by Adel Zaanoun – Sun Jan 30, 5:43 pm ET


RAFAH, Palestinian Territories (AFP) – Gaza's Hamas rulers on Sunday closed the Rafah border crossing after guards on the Egyptian side fled their posts amid the spiralling unrest gripping the country.As the angry revolt against President Hosni Mubarak entered its sixth day, Hamas officials announced the Rafah crossing would be closed for several days, preventing hundreds of Palestinians from crossing into Egypt.The move came after Egyptian troops stationed on their side of the crossing fled during the border's normal closure at the weekend, as angry protesters rampaged across the country.

Every day between 400 and 500 people cross from Gaza into Egypt.The closure was likely to keep thousands of people trapped inside the Gaza Strip, while the lack of personnel on the Egyptian side of the divided border town of Rafah would also prevent hundreds of Gazans from returning home.With the crossing closed, Hamas bolstered its forces along the border, deploying hundreds of troops compared with the usual number of around 50.The Islamist movement has so far given no official reaction to the crisis in Egypt, where more than 125 people have been killed in the biggest demonstrations to sweep the country in more than 30 years.But the closed border did not prevent at least two Hamas security prisoners from returning to the Strip after escaping from a jail near Cairo as Egyptian authorities struggled to maintain a grip on law and order.The two, who entered Gaza through cross-border smuggling tunnels, were part of a group of eight escaped Hamas convicts trying to return home, a senior official with the movement said on condition of anonymity.

The prisoners made their escape when thousands broke out of jails across Egypt amid an absence of police and chaos sparked by nationwide riots demanding the end of Mubarak's regime.Among those who returned on Sunday was Mohammed al-Shaer, a big name on the cross-border smuggling scene, arrested six months ago, and Hassan Wishah, who served three years of a 10-year term for unspecified security offences.
The remaining six prisoners were said to have reached Egypt's port city of El-Arish and were expected to reach Gaza later, official sources said.Although the prisoners managed to enter the enclave by tunnel, most other movement of goods through the underground network ground to a halt on Sunday, sparking fears of a fuel shortage in the Israeli-blockaded territory.Abu Abed Alwahab, a Hamas border guard carrying a Kalashnikov assault rifle, said, however, that tunnel workers were being allowed into the frontier zone.Our mission is to protect the border, he said. We prevent anyone from coming near, except for some workers in the tunnels.

A man who identified himself only as Samih, aged 30, was carrying earth from the entrance to a tunnel which he said had been put out of operation by a partial collapse caused by rainwater.I am working to repair it, he said, adding that he heard shots from the Egyptian side, but there was more yesterday than today.Nineteen-year-old Samir was working in another tunnel nearby. If the tunnels are closed it means no fuel, no cement, no goods to Gaza,he said.Long queues formed at outlets selling fuel as Gazans began to stockpile petrol and diesel over fears that supplies from Egypt could be cut back, witnesses said.Although most of Gaza's fuel supplies are brought in through the tunnels, the Hamas-run economy ministry insisted there was no shortage and called for an end to panic-buying.There is enough fuel in the stores and enough food. We urge people not to worry about fuel or other goods, it said in a statement.

Palestinians say Cyprus backs state on 1967 lines
– Sun Jan 30, 3:16 pm ET


RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories (AFP) – The Palestinian foreign minister said on Sunday that EU-member state Cyprus recognises a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders.Riyad al-Malki told AFP the move was "formalised" in a letter sent by Cyprus President Demetris Christofias to his Palestinian counterpart Mahmud Abbas.Officials in Cyprus, however, clarified that Nicosia would not recognise any changes to the pre-1967 borders between Israel and the Palestinians unless agreed to by the two parties.The position of the government of the Republic of Cyprus is in line with the well-known EU position that it will not recognise any changes to the pre-1967 borders, unless agreed by the two parties, said government spokesman.The Cyprus government stresses, in this context, the utmost importance of the resumption of talks between the two parties as soon as possible, Stefanos Stefanou said in a written statement, referring to Christofias' letter.

But Malki said he had received a letter from Christofias formally recognising the state of Palestine on the 1967 borders and delivered it to Abbas on Sunday.The letter pledged to raise the status of the Palestinian diplomatic delegation in Nicosia to that of an embassy, without giving a date, he said.The foreign ministry in Nicosia, meanwhile, said the issue of upgrading the Palestinian representative to Cyprus was on the table and any changes will be announced in due course.The 1967 borders include lands in annexed east Jerusalem, the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip, all of which were seized by Israel in the Six-Day War of that year.The move comes shortly after eight South American countries declared their recognition of an independent Palestinian state. Borders of a final Palestinian state have been one of the thorniest issues in peace negotiations with Israel.

Gazans stockpile fuel as tunnel trade stops
– Sun Jan 30, 5:05 am ET


GAZA CITY (AFP) – Gazans were on Sunday stockpiling fuel over fears that supplies from Egypt, which are brought in through smuggling tunnels, could be halted by the political unrest gripping the country, witnesses said.The witnesses in the southern city of Rafah said the daily passage of goods through the cross-border tunnels had ground to a halt since Friday as the political unrest sweeping the country reached the Egyptian half of Rafah.The majority of petrol and diesel supplies in Gaza are brought in through the tunnels, but the Hamas-run ministry of economy insisted there was no shortage and called for an end to panic-buying.There is enough fuel in the stores and enough food. We urge people not to worry about fuel or other goods, a ministry statement said.The reports came as Palestinian officials said the Rafah crossing would remain closed because there was no-one to man the Egyptian side of the terminal.More than 100 people have so far been killed in Egypt which is being rocked by the biggest protests to sweep the country in more than 30 years.
Demonstrators are demanding the removal of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak who has ruled the country since 1981.