NEWS AND VIEWS

"A Dutch court has sentenced a 27-year-old radical Islamist to life in prison for the November murder of controversial film-maker Theo Van Gogh.

Mohammed Bouyeri, who has joint Dutch-Moroccan nationality, had made a courtroom confession and had vowed to do the same again if given the chance.

The murder in Amsterdam stunned the Netherlands. The court ruled that it was a terrorist act.

The judge said the murder had triggered 'great fear and insecurity' in society.

'The murder of Theo van Gogh provoked a wave of revulsion and disdain in the Netherlands. Theo van Gogh was mercilessly slaughtered,' said Judge Udo Willem Bentinck."

# posted by R @ 2:51 AM 3 comments

"At least 49 people have been killed and more than 130 wounded in a string of bomb attacks in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

The first explosion took place in the Old Market area, popular with tourists.

Other blasts followed in the nearby area of Naama Bay, which is packed with hotels. One blast tore off the front of the four-star Ghazala Gardens hotel.

Britons, Dutch, Qataris, Kuwaitis and Egyptians were among the casualties, police sources said.

Police sources said initial investigations suggested there had been at least four and possibly seven car bombs.

The blasts came within minutes of each other, shortly after 0100 local time (2200 GMT), when the bars and markets were busy with tourists."

# posted by R @ 8:33 PM 0 comments

"An Egyptian chemistry expert sought by police over the London bombings has been arrested in Cairo, Egypt.

Magdi Mahmoud al-Nashar, 33, had not been seen by colleagues in Leeds since early July.

British police are searching a house in Leeds linked to Mr al-Nashar, but have not formally named him as a suspect in their investigation.

Egypt's Interior Ministry said Mr al-Nashar denied having any role in the bombings, and was in Egypt on holiday.

Mr al-Nashar had planned to return to London, according to the ministry.

'He pointed out (to questioners) that all his belongings remained in his apartment in Britain,' a statement said.

Earlier, police said they were hunting the financiers, supporters and chemists who assembled the bombs used.

British police have said they want to question Mr al-Nashar, who completed a PhD in chemistry at Leeds University.

BBC security correspondent Gordon Corera said Mr al-Nashar's alleged link to the plot was unclear, but it was believed he handed over keys to a house in Leeds used by the bombers."

# posted by R @ 3:30 PM 0 comments

"Two days later, I was marching with Alaa, Manal and about 300 fellow Egyptians through the working-class neighborhood of Shubra, shouting 'Down down with Hosni Mubarak.' Riot police that had confined previous demonstrations to one spot were nowhere to be seen.

Emboldened, protesters who had begun the demonstration on a street corner pushed ahead and for the first time since the anti-Mubarak protests began, took their message to the street.

'You might have a point about Rice's speech,' Alaa said, grinning and taking pictures.

I had asked him over lunch if he thought U.S. pressure would help Egypt's reformers. He said he was less concerned with simple regime change to replace Mubarak than with changing Egypt's political system from the bottom up. Only Egyptians could do that, Alaa said.

True, but that did not stop demonstrators from injecting their chants with the humor we Egyptians pride ourselves on: 'Give Mubarak a visa and take him with you, Condoleezza.'"

# posted by R @ 9:54 AM 0 comments

"In the Egyptian village of Abou Shawareb, community leaders and women's rights activists made a public commitment last week to end the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) as part of 'The FGM Free Village Model' program established by The National Council for Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM). The program was launched in 2003 in an effort to eradicate FGM in 60 villages in the northern Egypt governates of Assuit, Aswan, Beni Suef, Minya, Quena, and Sohag. The NCCM has plans to enlarge the campaign to cover 120 villages."

# posted by R @ 9:30 PM 0 comments