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Egypt: Aboul Fotouh Remanded For 15 Days, His Party Suspends Activities

Aboul Fotouh ran as an independent candidate in the 2012 presidential elections [File: Mohamed Abd El Ghany/Reuters]
Aboul Fotouh ran as an independent candidate in the 2012 presidential elections [File: Mohamed Abd El Ghany/Reuters]
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Egypt: Aboul Fotouh Remanded For 15 Days, His Party Suspends Activities

Aboul Fotouh ran as an independent candidate in the 2012 presidential elections [File: Mohamed Abd El Ghany/Reuters]
Aboul Fotouh ran as an independent candidate in the 2012 presidential elections [File: Mohamed Abd El Ghany/Reuters]

Egypt’s State Security prosecutor remanded on Thursday opposition figure Abdel-Moneim Aboul Fotouh in custody for 15 days for questioning over alleged contacts with the banned Muslim Brotherhood.

The list of charges against him include “inciting against the state and the constitution, calling for boycotting the upcoming Presidential elections in March, being a member of a law-labeled terrorist group and communicating with fugitives, destabilizing Egypt’s stability and security aiming to topple the current regime, calling for chaos and spreading rumors and finally hindering the state’s organizations from practicing their role in stabling and securing the country.”

Aboul Fotouh was arrested on Wednesday night at his house in the suburbs of Cairo, after two Egyptian lawyers had submitted an official complaint to the public prosecutor, calling for the arrest of Aboul Fotouh for “spreading fake news” and contacting members of the Muslim Brotherhood.

The arrest also came after the man appeared on an Al Jazeera television show from London last Monday, “spreading fake news” and demeaning Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

During Al-Jazeera interview, Aboul Fotouh said Egypt's presidential election is a "referendum with guaranteed results" for el-Sisi, and he encouraged citizens to boycott the "absurd" vote, expected to take place between March 26 and 28.

On Thursday, the prosecutor had instructed Aboul Fotouh to undergo medical checkups at a prison hospital after he “complained of exhaustion and sudden fatigue.”

Following the arrest of Aboul Fotouh, his Strong Egypt party announced it was suspending activities and said the arrests marked “a complete closure by the ruling regime of political life in Egypt.”

In a statement issued on Thursday, the party also said it holds the ruling regime in Egypt responsible for Aboul Fotouh’s safety.

Aboul Fotouh, who quit the Muslim Brotherhood in 2011, is considered one of the leading Islamist political figures in Egypt.

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Arab World

Rescue Teams Search for Survivors in Building Collapse that Killed at Least 2 in Northern Lebanon

A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
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Rescue Teams Search for Survivors in Building Collapse that Killed at Least 2 in Northern Lebanon

A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
A Lebanese flag is pictured, in the aftermath of a massive explosion, in Beirut's damaged port area, Lebanon August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay

At least two people were killed and four rescued from the rubble of a multistory apartment building that collapsed Sunday in the city of Tripoli in northern Lebanon, state media reported.

Rescue teams were continuing to dig through the rubble. It was not immediately clear how many people were in the building when it fell.

The bodies pulled out were of a child and a woman, the state-run National News Agency reported.

Dozens of people crowded around the site of the crater left by the collapsed building, with some shooting in the air.

The building was in the neighborhood of Bab Tabbaneh, one of the poorest areas in Lebanon’s second largest city, where residents have long complained of government neglect and shoddy infrastructure. Building collapses are not uncommon in Tripoli due to poor building standards, according to The AP news.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry announced that those injured in the collapse would receive treatment at the state’s expense.

The national syndicate for property owners in a statement called the collapse the result of “blatant negligence and shortcomings of the Lebanese state toward the safety of citizens and their housing security,” and said it is “not an isolated incident.”

The syndicate called for the government to launch a comprehensive national survey of buildings at risk of collapse.

Arab World

Israel to Take More West Bank Powers and Relax Settler Land Buys

A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)
A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)
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Israel to Take More West Bank Powers and Relax Settler Land Buys

A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)
A view of Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in the West Bank, Sunday, June 18, 2023. (AP)

Israel's security cabinet approved a series of steps on Sunday that would make it easier for settlers in the occupied West Bank to buy land while granting Israeli authorities more enforcement powers over Palestinians, Israeli media reported.

The West Bank is among the territories that the Palestinians seek for a future independent state. Much of it is under Israeli military control, with limited Palestinian self-rule in some areas run by the Western-backed Palestinian Authority (PA).

Citing statements by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Defense Minister Israel Katz, Israeli news sites Ynet and Haaretz said the measures included scrapping decades-old regulations that prevent Jewish private citizens buying land in the West Bank, The AP news reported.

They were also reported to include allowing Israeli authorities to administer some religious sites, and expand supervision and enforcement in areas under PA administration in matters of environmental hazards, water offences and damage to archaeological sites.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the new measures were dangerous, illegal and tantamount to de-facto annexation.

The Israeli ministers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The new measures come three days before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to meet in Washington with US President Donald Trump.

Trump has ruled out Israeli annexation of the West Bank but his administration has not sought to curb Israel's accelerated settlement building, which the Palestinians say denies them a potential state by eating away at its territory.

Netanyahu, who is facing an election later this year, deems the establishment of any Palestinian state a security threat.

His ruling coalition includes many pro-settler members who want Israel to annex the West Bank, land captured in the 1967 Middle East war to which Israel cites biblical and historical ties.

The United Nations' highest court said in a non-binding advisory opinion in 2024 that Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories and settlements there is illegal and should be ended as soon as possible. Israel disputes this view.

Arab World

Arab League Condemns Attack on Aid Convoys in Sudan

A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
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Arab League Condemns Attack on Aid Convoys in Sudan

A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit strongly condemned the attack by the Rapid Support Forces on humanitarian aid convoys and relief workers in North Kordofan State, Sudan.

In a statement reported by SPA, secretary-general's spokesperson Jamal Rushdi quoted Aboul Gheit as saying the attack constitutes a war crime under international humanitarian law, which prohibits the deliberate targeting of civilians and depriving them of their means of survival.

Aboul Gheit stressed the need to hold those responsible accountable, end impunity, and ensure the full protection of civilians, humanitarian workers, and relief facilities in Sudan.