http://www.aawsat.com/english Asharq Alawsat English Edition is your insight into the Middle East en-us © 2012 Saudi Research and Publishing Wed, 26 Feb 2013 13:43:12 GMT 1 http://www.aawsat.com/english http://www.aawsat.com/english/images/aaaeng.gif 144 33 Asharq-e delivers up-to-the-minute news and information on the latest stories, weather, entertainment, politics in the Middle East http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=1&id=33004 Sharjah, Asharq Al-Awsat—Leading opposition National Salvation Front figure, Amr Moussa, acknowledged that Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi was democratically elected, but confirmed that he is considering boycotting the forthcoming parliamentary elections, stressing that securing accomplishments on the ground is more important than democratic elections. The Congress party leader informed Asharq Al-Awsat that “we, in the opposition, have plans related to securing a better life for the [Egyptian] people, in terms of the economy, justice, healthcare, education, and society in general.” He confirmed that the Egyptian president will continue in power on the basis that he was democratically elected, but stressed that democratic elections are not everything. He said, “This [democratic elections] are important but the people are waiting for results” asserting “that is more important.” The former Arab League Secretary-General told Asharq Al-Awsat, “We had hoped for the formation of a national unity government in Egypt to resolve the crisis and for the elections to be postponed so that this government could focus on the economic file, however unfortunately this did not happen.” He stressed, “As a result of this, we are all worried about Egypt and hope that the future will be better.” In an interview with Sky News Arabia, Moussa confirmed that he is considering boycotting the parliamentary elections scheduled for April. He said, “I am truly inclined to boycott the elections, so long as everybody is boycotting, and I will review the position of the parties and ruling regime on this issue.” He added that the opposition National Salvation Front is set to meet later today “to look at this issue and take the appropriate action.” In an interview earlier this week with Britain’s The Daily Telegraph, Amr Moussa revealed that pressure for a boycott is growing. He stressed that he would prefer his opposition colleagues to consult before reaching a decision, something the newspaper described as an “implicit criticism” of Mohamed ElBaradei. ElBaradei had unilaterally called on his followers to boycott the April elections. However Moussa stressed that any electoral boycott would require unanimity, or at least consensus, to be effective. He also revealed that “a third party [in the opposition] are still reluctant and want to get into an electoral battle.” Moussa stressed, “My personal preference when it comes to elections is always to run and to join in the electoral process, but Egypt is going through special circumstances most of them negative. The priorities are confused.” He added, “We do not challenge the fact that the president was elected democratically, and that he is the president. But we differ with his choices. This is our right as citizens.” Wed, 26 Feb 2013 13:43:12 GMT http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=1&id=33002 LUXOR, Egypt (AP) — A hot air balloon flying over Egypt's ancient city of Luxor caught fire and crashed into a sugar cane field on Tuesday, killing at least 18 foreign tourists, a security official said. It was one of the worst accidents involving tourists in Egypt and likely to push the key tourism industry deeper into recession. The casualties included French, British, Belgian, Hungarian, Japanese nationals and nine tourists from Hong Kong, Luxor Governor Ezzat Saad told reporters. Three survivors of the crash — two British tourists and one Egyptian — were taken to a local hospital. Egypt's civil aviation minister, Wael el-Maadawi, suspended hot air balloon flights and flew to Luxor to lead the investigation into the crash. According to the Egyptian security official, the balloon carrying at least 20 tourists was flying over Luxor early Tuesday when it caught fire, which triggered an explosion in its gas canister, then plunged at least 300 meters (1,000 feet) from the sky. The balloon crashed into a sugar cane field outside al-Dhabaa village just west of Luxor, 510 kilometers (320 miles) south of Cairo, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media. Bodies of the dead tourists were scattered across the field around the remnants of the balloon. An Associated Press reporter at the crash site counted eight bodies as they were put into body bags and taken away. The security official said all 18 bodies have been recovered. The security official said foul play has been ruled out. He also said initial reports of 19 dead were revised to 18 as confusion is common in the aftermath of such accidents. An official with the state prosecutor's office said initial findings show that the accident occurred when the pilot's landing cable was caught around a helium tube. He spoke anonymously because the investigation is ongoing. The head of Japan Travel Bureau's Egypt branch, Atsushi Imaeda, confirmed that four Japanese died in the crash. He said two were a couple in their 60s from Tokyo. Details on the other two were not immediately available. In Hong Kong, a travel agency said nine of the tourists that were aboard the balloon were natives of the semiautonomous Chinese city. There was a "very big chance that all nine have perished," said Raymond Ng, a spokesman for the agency. The nine, he said, included five women and four men from three families. They were traveling with six other Hong Kong residents on a 10-day tour of Egypt. Ng said an escort of the nine tourists watched the balloon from the ground catching fire around 7 a.m. and plunging to the ground two minutes later. In Britain, tour operator Thomas Cook confirmed that two British tourists were dead and two were in hospital. "What happened in Luxor this morning is a terrible tragedy and the thoughts of everyone in Thomas Cook are with our guests, their family and friends," said Peter Fankhauser, CEO of Thomas Cook UK & Continental Europe. "We have a very experienced team in resort with the two guests in the local hospital, and we're providing our full support to the family and friends of the deceased at this difficult time," he said. In Paris, a diplomatic official said French tourists were among those involved in the accident, but would give no details on how many, or whether French citizens were among those killed. Speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to be publicly named according to government policy, the official said French authorities were working with their Egyptian counterparts to clarify what happened. French media reports said two French tourists were among the dead but the official wouldn't confirm that. Hot air ballooning, usually at sunrise over the famed Karnak and Luxor temples as well as the Valley of the Kings, is a popular pastime for tourists visiting the area. Tickets for a hot air balloon ride per person are around 200 Egyptian pounds, or roughly $30. The site of the accident has seen past crashes. In 2009, 16 tourists were injured when their balloon struck a cellphone transmission tower. A year earlier, seven tourists were injured in a similar crash. Egypt's tourism industry has been decimated since the 2011 uprising and the political turmoil that followed and continues to this day. Luxor's hotels are currently about 25 percent full in what is supposed to be the peak of the winter season. Scared off by the turmoil and tenuous security following the uprising, the number of tourists coming to Egypt fell to 9.8 million in 2011 from 14.7 million the year before, and revenues plunged 30 percent to $8.8 billion. Magda Fawzi, whose company operates four luxury Nile River cruise boats to Luxor, said she expects the accident will lead to tourist cancellations. Tour guide Hadi Salama said he expects Tuesday's accident to hurt the eight hot air balloon companies operating in Luxor, but that it may not directly affect tourism to the Nile Valley city. Poverty swelled at the country's fastest rate in Luxor, which is highly dependent on visitors to its monumental temples and the tombs of King Tutankhamun and other pharaohs. In 2011, 39 percent of its population lived on less than $1 a day, compared to 18 percent in 2009, according to government figures. In August, Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi flew to Luxor to encourage tourism there, about a month after he took office and vowed that Egypt was safe for tourists. "Egypt is safer than before, and is open for all," he said in remarks carried by the official MENA news agency at the time. He was referring to the security situation following the 2011 ouster of autocratic leader Hosni Mubarak. Deadly accidents caused by poor management and a decrepit infrastructure have taken place since Morsi took office. In January, 19 Egyptian conscripts died when their rickety train jumped the track. In November, 49 kindergarteners were killed when their school bus crashed into a speeding train because the railway guard failed to close the crossing. The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's most powerful political force and Morsi's base of support, blames accidents on a culture of negligence fostered by Mubarak. Wed, 26 Feb 2013 13:43:12 GMT http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=1&id=33001 CAIRO (AP) — An Egyptian security official says protesters have thrown firebombs and rocks at police who tried to re-open Cairo's central Tahrir Square, where a sit-in has brought downtown traffic to a standstill for nearly three months. The official says police came under assault after they tried to remove metal barricades and allow traffic to enter the square at dawn on Tuesday. It remains closed to traffic. He added that around 70 protesters and street vendors were arrested during the skirmish at Tahrir, the epicenter of anti-government protests in Egypt. He spoke anonymously in line with regulations. Many Cairo residents complain that the overcrowded capital's already gridlocked traffic has been exacerbated by the sit-in. Wed, 26 Feb 2013 13:43:12 GMT http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=1&id=33000 Beirut, Asharq Al-Awsat—Following the Syrian regime’s offer for peace talks without pre-conditions on Monday and an international pledge “to alleviate the suffering” of the Syrian people, the Syrian opposition has agreed to attend an international summit in Rome later this week. This represents a turnaround after the Syrian National Council had pledged to boycott the Friends of Syria conference to protest against “international silence” over the slaughter of Syrians. After a meeting on Monday, British Prime Minister David Cameron, British Foreign Secretary William Hague, and US Secretary of State John Kerry jointly called on Syrian National Coalition leader Moaz Alkhatib to attend the Rome summit on Thursday. Following this, Alkhatib announced that he would be attending the summit. In an official statement, Alkhatib said: “After discussions with the coalition leaders and various calls, the coalition leadership has decided to stop the suspension of the visit to the Friends of Syria conference in Rome.” The statement asserted that the talks would be “used as a practical way to reassess relations between the Syrian opposition and international parties.” Speaking in London, Kerry said he understood that the Syrians wanted concrete results from the summit. He said: “We are determined that the Syrian opposition is not going to be dangling in the wind, wondering where the support is, if it is coming.” He added, “We are not going to let the Syrian opposition not have its ability to have its voice properly heard in this process.” The British Foreign Secretary also urged the Syrian opposition to stay involved in international talks, pledging to boost support. He stressed that “an appalling injustice is being done to the people of Syria, which the world cannot ignore.” Hague added, “That is why in the United Kingdom we believe we must significantly increase our support for the Syrian opposition, on top of our large contributions to the humanitarian relief effort, and we are preparing to do just that.” He pledged that “in the face of such murder and threat of instability, our policy cannot remain static as the weeks go by, and it is an important opportunity in Rome on Thursday to discuss this with our allies and partners.” Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Al-Moallem said that his government was prepared to hold talks with the Syrian opposition without imposing any preconditions, such as the rebels laying down arms. He said, “We are ready for dialogue with all who want dialogue, including those are carrying arms.” He added, “We believe that reforms will not come through bloodshed but only through dialogue.” Following this, Alkhatib responded by informing reporters in Cairo, “We have not been in contact yet, and we are waiting for communication with them.” For their part, rebel commanders have said they are not prepared to hold talks while the regime forces continue to bombard rebel-held civilian areas. Secretary of State also voiced skepticism about the regime’s offer of talks in light of the recent use of Scud missiles targeting Aleppo. He said, “It seems to me that it’s pretty hard to understand how, when you see the Scuds falling on the innocent people of Aleppo, it is possible to take their notion that they are ready to have a dialogue very seriously.” The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that at least 26 rebel fighters, 40 soldiers, and five pro-government militiamen had been killed in clashes around Aleppo over the past two days. The activist group claimed that the Syrian rebels and regime forces have been shelling each other, while the government has launched repeated airstrikes. Kerry’s Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, criticized “extremists” in the Syrian opposition who he claimed were blocking the start of dialogue. Speaking earlier today, the Russian Foreign Minister told reporters that “it seems that extremists who bet on an armed solution to the Syrian problem have prevailed in the ranks of the opposition at this time, including the so-called (Syrian) National Coalition, blocking all initiatives that could lead to the start of dialogue.” Kerry is scheduled to meet Lavrov today to discuss the possibility of dialogue between the Syrian rebels and Assad regime. Wed, 26 Feb 2013 13:43:12 GMT http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=1&id=32997 TEHRAN, (AFP) — Iranian media on Monday scoffed at Hollywood's awarding of its top honour to Ben Affleck's Iran hostage drama "Argo", branding it a "political" win while poking fun at US first lady Michelle Obama's surprise appearance at the Oscar ceremony. The 85th Academy Awards is "the most political Oscar ever," Iran's state television said as it reported the news that "Argo" had won the coveted best film Oscar. Iranian officials have not immediately reacted. The Iranian state broadcaster accused "Argo" director and star Affleck of specialising "in exaggeration, blowing things out of proportion and creating false scenes." "Argo" recounts the long-classified CIA plot to extract six US hostages out of revolutionary Iran, who managed to evade Islamist students storming the US embassy in Tehran on November 4, 1979. The other 52 hostages were held for 444 days in an action that caused the rupture of diplomatic ties between Washington and Tehran. Although "Argo" takes liberties with history by its makers' own admission, the movie has racked up a rash of honours on the awards circuit. The movie's Oscar win was announced by US first lady Obama in an unprecedented satellite appearance from the White House. Iran's state television said her involvement "increases speculation that awarding this movie was politically motivated." The Fars news agency, affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards, branded "Argo" as an "anti-Iran movie" financed by a "Zionist company" -- in a reference to the California-based Warner Bros. which produced it. Fars was also critical of Obama and her silver low cut gown, which would be banned in the Islamic republic under its strict dress code for women. A photo of Obama announcing "Argo" as the winner appeared to have been altered -- her dress is shown covering her shoulders, in contrast to the original which shows her bare-shouldered. Doctoring of pictures is not uncommon in Iran. In 2011, Iranian newspapers published an altered picture of EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton that covered up her cleavage. She was at the time heading the P5+1 group of United States, Russia, China, Britain, France plus Germany in talks with Iran over its controversial nuclear drive. Those talks are to resume after an eight-month hiatus on Tuesday in the Kazakh city of Almaty. Iran and the United States are locked in a tense showdown over an array of issues, including Tehran's nuclear ambitions which the West and Israel suspect are aimed at military objectives, despite Iran's repeated denials. Iran's contempt of Hollywood is no secret. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei last Wednesday criticised it as a "totally political" machine that propagates policies brewed in Washington. "Hollywood is totally political. Otherwise it would have let our anti-Zionist movies participate in film festivals," he said in remarks reported by his Khamenei.ir website. "Producing political anti-Iranian movies and giving awards to anti-Iranian movies is a clear sign that politics is mixed with art in the US," Khamenei added in an allusion to "Argo". Hollywood in 2007 drew the wrath of Iranians for its Spartan war epic "300," a smash hit in the United States for its gory tale of the Greco-Persian wars which depicted Iranians as bloodthirsty. The relationship between the entertainment industry and Iranians however was somewhat repaired in 2012 when Iran won its first ever Oscar, with "A Separation" in the best foreign-language category. Tue, 25 Feb 2013 13:43:12 GMT http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=1&id=32995 London, Asharq Al-Awsat—The Al-Assad’s regime is ready to enter talks with the armed opposition, Syrian foreign minister Walid al-Moallem said in Moscow on Monday. Moallem said his government was ready to hold talks with the armed opposition, without mentioning any preconditions, such as forcing the rebels to lay down arms first. "We are ready for dialogue with all who want dialogue, including those who are carrying arms," the Syrian foreign minister said. Moallem is in Moscow for talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, whose country is one of the few big powers still maintaining ties with Assad's regime. The Moallem-Lavrov talks came a day before Russia’s top diplomat meets new US Secretary of State John Kerry in Berlin for the first time, with the Syria crisis expected to be at the top of the agenda. "We feel that Russia can play a key role in convincing the (Syrian) regime that there is need for political transition," said a State Department official travelling with Kerry. Still, the offer by Moallem marks the first time that a high-ranking Syrian official has stated publicly that the government would meet with opposition fighters. Past government offers for talks with the opposition have included a host of conditions, such as for the rebels to first lay down their weapons. Those proposals have been swiftly rejected by both activists outside the country as well as rebels on the ground. Syria's 23-month-old conflict, which has killed more than 70,000 people and destroyed many of the country's cities, has repeatedly confounded international efforts to bring the parties together to end the bloodshed. On Sunday alone, according to a toll compiled by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, at least 105 people were killed in violence across the country. Both sides in the conflict in recent weeks have floated offers and counter offers to hold talks aimed at resolving the crisis. In a speech in January, Assad offered to lead a national dialogue to end the bloodshed, but also said he would not talk with the armed opposition and vowed to keep on fighting. The opposition rejected the proposal. This month, the leader of the Syrian National Coalition, the umbrella group for opposition parties, said he would be open to discussions with the regime that could pave the way for Assad's departure, but that they government must first release tens of thousands of detainees. The government refused. Tue, 25 Feb 2013 13:43:12 GMT http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=1&id=32994 BAGHDAD (AP) — The fliers began turning up at Sunni households in the Iraqi capital's Jihad neighborhood last week bearing a chilling message: Get out now or face "great agony" soon. The leaflets were signed by the Mukhtar Army, a new Shiite militant group with ties to Iran's Revolutionary Guard. "The zero hour has come. So leave along with your families. ... You are the enemy," the messages warned. Such overt threats all but disappeared as the darkest days of outright sectarian fighting waned in 2008 and Iraq stepped back from the brink of civil war. Their re-emergence now — nearly a decade after the U.S.-led invasion — is a worrying sign that rising sectarian tensions are again gnawing away at Iraqi society. Iraqis increasingly fear that militants on both sides of the country's sectarian divide are gearing up for a new round of violence that could undo the fragile gains Iraq has made in recent years. Members of the country's Sunni minority have been staging mass rallies for two months, with some calling for the toppling of a Shiite-led government they feel discriminates against them and is too closely allied with neighboring Iran. Sunni extremists have been stepping up large-scale attacks on predominantly Shiite targets, and concerns are growing that the brutal and increasingly sectarian fighting in Syria could spill across the border. Many Sunnis who received the Jihad neighborhood messages are taking the warnings at face value and considering making a move. "Residents are panicking. All of us are obsessed with these fliers," said Waleed Nadhim, a Sunni mobile phone shop owner who lives in the neighborhood. The 33-year-old father plans to leave the area because he doesn't have faith in the police to keep his family safe. "In a lawless country like Iraq, nobody can ignore threats like this." Iraqi security forces have beefed up their presence in and around Jihad. The middle-class community, nestled along a road to the airport in southwest Baghdad, was home to Sunni civil servants and security officials under Saddam Hussein's regime, though many Shiites now live there too. The Shiites, who are emboldened by a government and security forces dominated by their sect, have made their presence felt in Jihad in recent years. A Sunni mosque bears graffiti hailing a revered Shiite saint. A billboard on a major road shows firebrand Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr flanked by a fighter gripping a machine gun. Jihad was one of the earliest flashpoints in Baghdad's descent into sectarian bloodshed. In July 2006, the neighborhood witnessed a brazen massacre that left as many as 41 residents dead and marked an escalation in Iraq's sectarian bloodletting. In that incident, Shiite militiamen set up checkpoints to stop morning commuters, singled out Sunnis based on their names and systematically executed them in front of their Shiite neighbors. Residents now fear the events in southwest Baghdad could be the spark for a new round of tit-for-tat killing. Two weeks ago, a Sunni and a Shiite were each killed in separate attacks in Sadiyah, next to Jihad, said a 30-year-old Sunni government employee living in the area who gave her name only as Umm Abdullah al-Taie, or mother of Abdullah. "Nobody dares to go out after dark," she said. "People have started to hear sectarian alarm bells ringing again." The Mukhtar Army whose named appeared on the threatening leaflets was formed by Wathiq al-Batat, a onetime senior official in the Hezbollah Brigades. He announced the creation of the new militant group earlier this month. Hezbollah in Iraq is believed to be funded and trained by Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard and was among the Shiite militias that targeted U.S. military bases months before their December 2011 withdrawal. Al-Batat told Iraq's al-Sharqiya channel that he formed the Mukhtar Army to confront Sunnis who might attempt to topple the government in the same way that Syrian rebels are trying to overthrow Bashar Assad's Iranian-backed regime in neighboring Syria. He said the group is advised by Iran's hard-line Quds Force, which oversees external operations of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. He declined to say whether the group received any further support from Tehran. Little is known about Mukhtar Army's size or capabilities. Abdullah al-Rikabi, a spokesman for the group, boasted it has 1 million members and described al-Batat as loyal to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government has issued an arrest warrant against al-Batat, though he still walks free. In a speech Saturday, the Shiite premier vowed to prosecute anyone who seeks to incite sectarian strife. The Mukhtar Army denies being behind the threats, which some Shiites believe are a ruse to tar their sect and inflame sectarian divisions. "We have nothing to do with the fliers," said al-Rikabi, the group's spokesman. He accused members of Saddam's now-outlawed Baath party and al-Qaeda of making the threats in an effort to ignite civil war. Even though they are busy hunting down the group's leader, Iraqi authorities have their doubts about the Shiite militia's involvement in the leaflets too. Two senior security officials said intelligence agents have obtained an al-Qaeda hit list containing detailed names and residential information about people — both Sunnis and Shiites — living in mixed areas. They believe the group plans to target residents one by one, alternating by sect, in an effort to spread panic and suggest an atmosphere of retaliatory killings. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to disclose information about security operations. Threatening fliers from both Sunni and Shiite militias aimed at members of the opposite sect also have begun turning up in Baqouba, a former al-Qaeda stronghold north of Baghdad that has a history of sectarian violence, according to Diyala provincial council member Sadiq al-Hussein. For those living in areas where the threats turned up, their source matters less than what they portend. Jafaar al-Fatlawi, a Shiite government employee who lives in the Jihad neighborhood, said he has started carrying a pistol with him just to answer the door and takes his family to spend the night with relatives elsewhere in the city. "Everybody in the neighborhood expects sectarian fighting to erupt any minute," he said. "Our security forces weren't able to stop the sectarian war before and now they'll fail again." Tue, 25 Feb 2013 13:43:12 GMT http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=1&id=32993 CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's streets are turning into a daily forum for airing a range of social discontents from labor conditions to fuel shortages and the casualties of myriad clashes over the past two years. Parliamentary elections called over the weekend by the Islamist president hold out little hope for plucking the country out of the turmoil. If anything, the race is likely to fuel more unrest and push Egypt closer to economic collapse. "The street has a life of its own and it has little to do with elections. It is about people wanting to make a living or make ends meet," said Emad Gad, a prominent analyst and a former lawmaker. Islamist President Mohammed Mursi called for parliamentary elections to start in late April and be held over four stages ending in June. He was obliged under the constitution to set the date for the vote by Saturday. "I see that the climate is very agreeable for an election," Mursi said in a television interview aired early on Monday. He also invited all political forces to a dialogue on Monday to ensure the vote's "transparency and integrity." Mursi's decree calling for the election brought a sharp reaction from Egypt's key opposition leader, Nobel Peace Laureate Mohamed ElBaradei, who said they would be a "recipe for disaster" given the polarization of the country and eroding state authority. On Saturday, ElBaradei dropped a bombshell when he called for a boycott of the vote. An effective boycott by the opposition or widespread fraud would call the election's legitimacy into question. But in all likelihood, Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood and its ultraconservative Salafi allies will fare well in the vote. The Brotherhood has dominated every election in the two years since the 2011 uprising that ousted autocrat Hosni Mubarak. The mostly secular and liberal opposition will likely trail as they did in the last election for parliament's lawmaking, lower house in late 2011 and early 2012 — a pattern consistent with every nationwide election post-Mubarak. President Mursi's Brotherhood-dominated administration has been unable to curb the street protests, strikes and crime that have defined Egypt in the two years since the uprising. In fact, the unrest has only grown more intense, more effective and has spread around the country in the nearly eight months that Mursi has been in office. On any given day, a diverse variety of protesters across much of the troubled nation press demands of all sorts or voice opposition to Mursi and the Brotherhood. Sunday was a case in point. Thousands of brick workers blocked railroad tracks from a city south of Cairo for a second successive day to protest rising prices of industrial fuel oil, crippling transportation around the country of 85 million. The rise resulted from the government's decision last week to lift subsidies on some fuel prices. It is part of a reform program aimed at securing a $4.8 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund. Meanwhile there are ample signs that Egypt's economy is deteriorating steadily. Foreign reserves have dropped by nearly two thirds since Mubarak's departure, the key tourism sector is in a deep slump and the local currency has fallen nearly 10 percent against the dollar in the last two months. Khaled el-Hawari, a marketing executive in one of the brick factories, said industrial fuel oil prices increased by 50 percent, threatening the business and the livelihoods of hundreds of workers who could be laid off. "No one is listening to us or responding," he said. "We plan to protest outside the Cabinet next." In the Nile Delta province of Kafr el-Sheikh, hundreds of quarry workers stormed the local government building, forcing staff to flee. The workers are demanding permanent employment in the factory. They chanted against the recently appointed local governor, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood. In the coastal city of Port Said, a general strike entered its second week on Sunday. The city has practically come to a halt as thousands of workers from the main industrial area joined the strike. When asked about the strike in Port Said, Mursi suggested that the unrest there was primarily the work of "outlaws" and "thugs" who intimidated residents to take part in the general strike. He vowed to deal decisively with them in Port Said and elsewhere in the country. "There is no place for thugs or those who resort to violence," Mursi said in the interview, recorded on Sunday but aired Monday 5 ½ hours behind schedule. Calls for a civil strike in line with the one in Port Said have spread around Egypt. A group of protesters blocked the entrance to a major administrative building in Cairo's Tahrir Square, stopping citizens from entering and prompting small scuffles. But Port Said is emerging as a prime example of how the popular discontent is evolving into sustained anti-government action. There are even calls in Port Said for secession which, while not realistic, indicate the depth of anger. Activists there are demanding retribution for more than 40 residents killed there last month, allegedly by police. The killings took place amid a wave of anger that swept the city after a Cairo court passed death sentences against 21 people, mostly from Port Said, for their part in Egypt's worst soccer disaster on Feb. 1 2012. Mursi said in the interview that he has ordered an investigation into the killings and that he planned a visit to Port Said but did not say when. Mursi's supporters say that delaying elections, protesting and boycotting are affecting Egypt's ability to lure foreign investors and tourists again as the economy deteriorates. Lack of confidence in law enforcement has reached a point where villagers sometimes hunt down alleged killers, lynch them and burn their bodies with police unable or unwilling to intervene. With violent crime on the rise, rights groups accuse police under Mursi of falling back to the brutal methods and impunity of the Mubarak days. The opposition, which led the uprising against Mubarak, is showing signs of disarray. Another emphatic Islamist victory, especially if enough opposition groups do not heed ElBardei's boycott call, is likely to deal a body blow to the National Salvation Front — the main opposition coalition. In short, there is no end in sight to the growing popular discontent with Mursi's rule and the Brotherhood, who are accused by opponents of monopolizing power. Already, ElBaradei's call for a boycott has sown divisions with his movement, with some of its leading figures saying the former director of the U.N. nuclear agency spoke prematurely and without sufficient consultation with other leaders. Others said they would heed the boycott call. Ahmed Maher, the leader of the opposition April 6 youth group, said if the entire opposition does not join the boycott, it would be a "gift" to the Brotherhood and would accord legitimacy to a Brotherhood-dominated parliament. A successful boycott, he added in a statement, must be accompanied with a "parallel" parliament and a shadow government for it to be effective. Significantly, some activists say that with international monitoring of the upcoming elections to prevent widespread fraud, the Brotherhood and their Salafi allies may not get the comfortable win they are hoping for. "Entire cities and provinces have turned against the Brotherhood," said activist Ahmed Badawi. "This is a good time to defeat the Brotherhood because the economic crisis is hurting people's lives and they are angry." But Gad, the former lawmaker, pointed out that staggering the elections over a two-month period would only benefit the Brotherhood, which had gained valuable election expertise when it had for years under Mubarak fielded candidates in parliamentary elections as independents. "They have their election pros who will now be put to work in all four stages to ensure their supporters go out and vote while orchestrating soft fraud which, if widespread, can alter the results," said Gad. The Brotherhood has been repeatedly accused of influencing voters at polling centers, campaigning on voting day in violation of the law and taking advantage of the relatively high percentage of illiteracy among voters. Some also accuse the Brotherhood of buying votes, exploiting the country's widespread poverty. The Brotherhood denies the charges and counters them by boasting of its superior organizational skills. The group said it has the legitimacy of its consistent victories at the ballot box and accuses its opponent of trying to overthrow a democratically elected government. In the interview with the private Mehwar television, Mursi also tried to improve his standing nearly eight months into his four-year term. He repeatedly declared that he was a "president for all Egyptians," claimed he had no quarrel with any of the nation's political forces and reasserted his respect and confidence in the powerful military, which has recently shown signs of impatience with Mursi's rule. He vowed to continue his four-year term and, in an emotional bid to win public sympathy, said: "I hope that my fellow Egyptians will forgive me if they see me making a mistake." He added: "We are together walking a path that is covered with thorns, but our feet are thick and we will complete the journey together even though our feet are bloody." Tue, 25 Feb 2013 13:43:12 GMT http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=1&id=32987 TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard said Saturday that it had captured a foreign unmanned aircraft during a military exercise in southern Iran. Gen. Hamid Sarkheili, a spokesman for the military exercise, said the Guard's electronic warfare unit spotted signals indicating that foreign drones were trying to enter Iranian airspace. Sarkheili said Guard experts took control of one drone's navigation system and brought it down near the city of Sirjan where the military drills began on Saturday. "While probing signals in the area, we spotted foreign and enemy drones which attempted to enter the area of the war game," the official IRNA news agency quoted the general as saying. "We were able to get one enemy drone to land." Sarkheili did not say whether the drone was American. In Washington, a CIA spokeswoman declined to comment on the report. Iran has claimed to have captured several U.S. drones, including an advanced RQ-170 Sentinel CIA spy drone in December 2011 and at least three ScanEagle aircraft. State TV said the Guard's military exercise, code-named Great Prophet-8, involved ground forces of the Guard, Iran's most powerful military force. State TV showed tanks and artillery attacking hypothetical enemy positions. He said various systems, including unmanned planes that operate like suicide bombers, were tested. "Reconnaissance as well as suicide drones, which are capable of attacking the hypothetical enemies, were deployed and their operational capabilities were studied," the semi-official Fars news agency quoted him as saying. Mon, 24 Feb 2013 13:43:12 GMT http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=1&id=32985 Cairo, Asharq Al-Awsat—Egypt’s President Mohamed Mursi has brought forward the start of parliamentary elections to April 22, in an effort to defuse a row with Egypt’s Christian minority, who said the schedule would conflict with their Easter celebrations. The decision by Mursi to start the four-stage vote five days earlier than scheduled was announced by his spokesman on Facebook. According to a presidential decree, the parliamentary elections, previously scheduled for April 27 will now be brought forward to April 22.The elections will take place in four stages and last for three months. The adjustment in dates should satisfy Coptic Christians, who make up 10 percent of the population. But the rift between Egypt's ruling Islamists and the opposition remained as deep as ever, with one leading liberal politician, Mohamed ElBaradei, saying he would boycott the polls. ElBaradei, a former U.N. nuclear agency chief, drew comparisons with the last parliamentary polls to be held under Mubarak in 2010, a vote which was widely seen as rigged. ElBaradei noted he had called for a boycott in 2010 "to expose sham democracy". "Today I repeat my call, (I) will not be part of an act of deception," he said on his Twitter account. ElBaradei boycotted the presidential election that brought Mursi to power last June. The Muslim Brotherhood, which backs Mursi, rejected any call to boycott the voting which has been scheduled in four stages from April 27 to June. Essam Erian, a senior member of the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, said the polls would be carried out under "complete judicial supervision" as well as being followed by Egyptian, regional and international media. Voting would be monitored by Egyptian and foreign civil society and human rights organizations, he said on his Facebook page, adding that he expected wide participation. In other news, Opponents of Mursi are voting to send him into outer space. The Islamist president on Saturday was leading the field in Egypt in an online contest sponsored by deodorant makers Axe to send a lucky few on a shuttle operated by space tourism company Space Expedition Corp. Egypt's opposition movement April 6 entered Mursi into the competition. "With God's help, and under His care, Mursi will soon be launched to the moon," the group said on its Facebook page, along with a picture of the president in a spacesuit. The presidency has not responded to the campaign on behalf of the former engineer and self-professed "Planet of the Apes" fan. But his opponents have enthusiastically embraced the possibility. "I just voted for Mursi to go to space. Proudest moment in voting history," one of them wrote on Twitter. Since Mursi's election win as Egypt's first civilian and Islamist president last summer, his popularity has eroded. Thousands took to the streets in December when he issued power-grabbing decrees temporarily that allowed his supporters to rush a draft constitution to a nationwide vote before a high court packed with Mubarak appointees could disband the process. It passed with 64 percent amid low turnout and a boycott by thousands of overseeing judges. Mon, 24 Feb 2013 13:43:12 GMT