Middle East and Africa

News : Middle East and Africa

Barely three hours after the Israeli Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Moshe Ram, said the crime wave in River State was blown out of proportion by the Nigerian media, another Israeli, Mr. Ehud Arny, who works for Gilmore Engineering Limited, a construction company, was Tuesday night kidnapped in Port Harcourt. (AllAfrica)

The chief executive officer of Bahmed Travel and Tours, Black Stars' official travel agents, Alhaji Ahmed Bandoh is responding from far away USA, following the seeming controversy creeping into the organization of this year's Hajj. (AllAfrica)

It seems to have become a perennial thing for potential Moslem pilgrims to expect the difficulties and problems associated with the organization of the Hajj in Ghana. (AllAfrica)

There are strong indications yesterday that President Umar Musa Yar'Adua who is on an official trip outside the country, may have taken ill, as he has been admitted in a Saudi hospital. (AllAfrica)

Following renewed fighting between rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas, Egypt has stepped up calls for dialogue and reconciliation. But critics say Cairo's partiality to Fatah -- which is backed, like the Egyptian regime itself, by the U.S. -- prevents it from mediating fairly in the crisis. (AllAfrica)

President Isaias Afwerki returned home last night concluding a three-day working visit to Qatar and Dubai, UAE. (AllAfrica)

The managing-director of the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) said: We are trying to secure the release the crew of the vessel that was hijacked in Somali coast. (AllAfrica)

Nigeria has called for the strengthening and formalisation of trade relations between it and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. (AllAfrica)

The Sudanese government for the first time unveiled disagreements with the Arab League on a plan it formulated to counter a move by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to indict Sudan's president Omar Hassan al-Bashir. (AllAfrica)

The governments of Yemen and Ethiopia agreed to jointly work for the exploration of oil and gas, afrol News reported citing Minister for Mines and Energy Sinknesh Ejigu. (AllAfrica)

Hon Fatoumatta Jahumpa-Ceesay, the speaker of the National Assembly, on Tuesday, received Saeid Zare, the head of the Iranian Mission to The Gambia, in her office, in a bid to establish ties between the Assembly and the Iranian parliament. (AllAfrica)

Amnesty International has written to Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak this week urging him to end the use of lethal force against African migrants attempting to cross Egypt's the borders into Israel. (AllAfrica)

Somalia's interim president, Abdullahi Yusuf, has signed an agreement with two foreign firms paving the way for the establishment of a joint-venture company that would explore the Horn of Africa country's natural resources, government officials said. (AllAfrica)

About 40 Nigerians have been deported from Saudi Arabia for using fake passports at the entry point in Jeddah following several complaints from the Saudi authorities. (AllAfrica)

An Ethiopian delegation led by Beyene G. Meskel, director general of the Privatization and Public Enterprises Supervisory Agency (PPESA), flew to Turkey on Monday August 11, 2008, to lobby major Turkish textile companies to invest in Ethiopia. (AllAfrica)

The embassy of Israel in Nigeria has announced the posting of a new administrator/consul to its mission in Abuja. (AllAfrica)

The Arab league organization has opened its main office in the Somali capital Mogadishu a Somali online media reported citing an official. (AllAfrica)

Starting Aug 11, the Kuwaiti authorities stopped issuing all types of visas to Ethiopian nationals after three Ethiopian maids recently tested HIV positive, Arab Times reported from Kuwait City citing an official there. (AllAfrica)

The government of Turkey donated 3,500,000 USD as humanitarian aid to African countries through the World Food Programme (WFP) to contribute to the efforts of the international community to alleviate worsening humanitarian situation in the continent, the Embassy here said in a statement on Monday. (AllAfrica)

For the first time, the Arab League has opened permanent headquarters in the Somali capital Mogadishu. The head of the new Arab League mission to Somalia, envoy Ibrahim al-Shuwaymi (an Egyptian), has commenced his duty in a rented building located in the centre of the capital and will be joined by the remaining members of the delegation at a later time. (AllAfrica)

Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC), Mrs. Farida Waziri, has been commended for her effort in the fight against corruption in less than two months in office. (AllAfrica)

Towards successful 2008 Hajj operation in Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the directorate of Muslim pilgrims in the capital city is organising a two-day workshop for the contingents. (AllAfrica)

Saeid Zare, ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to The Gambia, has described the 14th anniversary of the July 22 Revolution as a turning point marking the march of the country's developmental process. (AllAfrica)

Rtd. Lt/Gen. Henry Dubar says the People's Redemption Council, surreptitiously re-established diplomatic ties with Israel in 1983, at a time most African countries had broken Diplomatic relations with Israeli due to that country's attack on Egypt. (AllAfrica)

Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) yesterday opened discussion with the Iranian Offshore Engineering and Construction Company (IOEC), for provision of offshore and onshore services in the oil and gas industry, as well as in the exploration of Nigeria 's abundance gas. (AllAfrica)

Starting Aug 11, the Kuwaiti authorities stopped issuing all types of visas to Ethiopian nationals after three Ethiopian maids recently tested HIV positive, Arab Times reported from Kuwait City citing an official there. (AllAfrica)

The leader of Somalia's divided Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS), Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, has called on Arab states to support the ongoing peace process in the war-torn Horn of Africa country. (AllAfrica)

I always held the Ugandan men that go to work in Iraq as guards in high esteem especially because they would leave their loved ones behind and head for the unknown that promised better remuneration. (AllAfrica)

Gamal Abdul Nasser was a Egyptian revolutionist that successfully drove British out of his country after 72 years of rule, under his presidency Egypt came out of intense poverty to prosperity, he became famous all around the Arab Peninsula after standing firm against the western nations and his efforts of combining the Arab power to combat anti-Muslim forces mainly the Israel. (AllAfrica)

AN Arab businessman accused by the United States (US) of links to President Robert Mugabe's administration has taken steps to clear his name as the swathe of companies hit by the new wave of trade restrictions digest their full impact on their operations. (AllAfrica)

THE Saudi Arabia Police have arrested Ali Bashir Juma Kirunda, son of former Uganda president Idi Amin. (AllAfrica)