CAIRO: Cairo will “re-examine” diplomatic ties with Syria that were severed last month under ousted president Mohamed Mursi, new foreign minister Nabil Fahmy said.
“Everything will be re-examined,” Fahmy said of the decision to sever ties with Syria. “It doesn’t mean they will resume or not resume,” he told reporters. “There is no intention of jihad in Syria,” he added. Mursi announced on June 15 the “definitive” cutting of relations with Syria, which has been ravaged by more than two years of bloody civil war. Egypt closed its embassy in Damascus and shut down the Syrian mission in Cairo after the announcement.
The military ousted Mursi on July 3 in a popularly backed coup.
During his single year of rule, Mursi’s Islamist-dominated government had repeatedly called for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down, and urged the international community to impose a “no-fly zone” over the country. Fahmy also said that he supported a political solution to the conflict in Syria.
Security forces raid Iranian TV office
CAIRO: Egyptian security forces raided the office of the Iranian Al Alam Arabic language satellite channel in Cairo and detained its director, the outlet reported yesterday.
“The security forces also seized equipment and devices from the channel without giving any explanation for these actions,” Al Alam said on its website.
A security source confirmed their account and said the raid was conducted because the channel lacked a license. The incident signaled a return to cooler relations between the two Middle Eastern powers after an attempt at rapprochement under deposed Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi.Agencies
