Egypt in Crisis: Business Collapse Piles Pressure on Mubarak
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Factories are closed, cash machines running dry, and food and petrol shortages feared, but some say it is a price worth paying

The industrial city of Abu Rawash sits in the desert beyond the pyramids. You reach it down a dusty road that seems to lead to nowhere. Then the factories and warehouses begin: Toyota, Hyundai, Mazda and Jeep deserted save for a handful of security guards sitting in front of a vacant parking lot for absent staff.

Outside the gates of the Toyota warehouse Ayman Ibrahim is talking to the gatekeeper. The factories are closed, the man tells Ibrahim, who owns a window business on the same site. They won't reopen until at least mid-week. Perhaps even Friday. No one really knows.

The closures in places such as Abu Rawash have been accompanied by calls from unions for an indefinite general strike. "I'm losing £10,000 pounds a week," says Ibrahim. "But it's worth it, I've been to the protest in Tahrir Square for the past three days with my kids. Mubarak is costing me money, but he has been costing Egypt money for 30 years." >>> Peter Beaumont in Cairo | Monday, January 31, 2011

Egypt under Israel's Spotlight
Israel hopes its three-decade-old peace treaty with Egypt will survive any change

In Pictures: Egypt in Turmoil
Images of the thousands of Egyptian protesters that defied a curfew in the capital Cairo and other cities taken throughout the day

Mid-East Contagion Fears for Saudi Oil Fields
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Risk analysts and intelligence agencies fear that Egypt's uprising may set off escalating protests in the tense Shia region of Saudi Arabia, home to the world's richest oilfields.

"Yemen, Sudan, Jordan and Syria all look vulnerable. However, the greatest risk in terms of both probability and severity is in Saudi Arabia," said a report by risk consultants Exclusive Analysis.

While markets have focused on possible disruption to the Suez Canal, conduit for 8pc of global shipping, it is unlikely that Egyptian leaders of any stripe would cut off an income stream worth $5bn (£3.1bn) a year to the Egyptian state.

"I don't think the Egyptians will ever dare to touch it," said Opec chief Abdalla El-Badri, adding that the separate Suez oil pipeline is "very well protected". The canal was blockaded after the Six Days War in 1967.

There has been less focus on the risk of instability spreading to Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province, headquarters of the Saudi oil giant Aramco. The region boasts the vast Safaniya, Shaybah and Ghawar oilfields. "This is potentially far more dangerous," said Faysal Itani, Mid-East strategist at Exclusive.

"The Shia are 10pc of the Saudi population. They are deeply aggrieved and marginalised, and sit on top of the kingdom's oil reserves. There have been frequent confrontations and street fights with the security forces that are very rarely reported in the media," he said.

The Saudi Shia last rose up in mass civil disobedience in the "Intifada" of 1979, inspired by the Khomeini revolution in Iran. Clashes led to 21 deaths. Mr Itani said it is unclear whether the Saudi military could cope with a serious outbreak of protest in the province.

Saudi King Abdullah is clearly alarmed by fast-moving events in Egypt and the Arab world. In a statement published by the Saudi press agency he said agitators had "infiltrated Egypt to destabilise its security and incite malicious sedition". Read on and comment >>> Ambrose Evans-Pritchard | Monday, January 31, 2011

WikiLeaks: Britain Secretly Advised Libya How to Secure Release of Lockerbie Bomber
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Ministers secretly advised Muammar Gaddafi’s Libyan regime how to secure the successful early release of the Lockerbie bomber, documents obtained by The Daily Telegraph have disclosed.

Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi clasps the hand of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the Libyan leader's son, after arriving back in Tripoli. Photograph: The Daily Telegraph
A Foreign Office minister sent Libyan officials detailed legal advice on how to use Abdelbaset al-Megrahi’s cancer diagnosis to ensure he was released from a Scottish prison on compassionate grounds.

The Duke of York is also said to have played a behind-the-scenes role in encouraging the terrorist’s release.

The Libyans closely followed the advice which led to the controversial release of Megrahi – who was convicted of the murder of 270 passengers on Pan Am Flight 103 – within months of the Foreign Office’s secret intervention.

The disclosure seriously undermines British Government claims that is was not complicit in the release of al-Megrahi, and that the decision to free the convicted terrorist was taken by the Scottish Executive alone.

It will also lead to renewed pressure from senior American politicians on David Cameron to release all internal documents detailing Britain’s role in the scandal. Last summer, the Prime Minister pledged to release the relevant information – but the publication has yet to occur sparking fears that a cover-up may have been ordered. >>> Christopher Hope and Robert Winnett | Monday, January 31, 2011

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: WikiLeaks cables show Government was 'playing false' over Lockerbie bomber: WikiLeaks documents that disclose how British ministers secretly advised Libya on securing the successful early release of the Lockerbie bomber demonstrate that Tony Blair's Government was "playing false" over the issue, Alex Salmond has said. >>> Christopher Hope, and Robert Winnett | Tuesday, February 01, 2011

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: WikiLeaks: How Libya trade fears forced British ministers to back release of Lockerbie bomber >>> Robert Winnett and Christopher Hope | Monday, January 31, 2011

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: WikiLeaks: Yvonne Fletcher suspect 'a key player in US-Libya relations' – One of the two men who faces accusations over his role in the shooting of the British policewoman Yvonne Fletcher is now a “key player” in American-Libya relations, the documents show. >>> Christopher Hope | Tuesday, February 01, 2011

Egypt Crisis: President Hosni Mubarak on the Brink as He Offers Concessions to Demonstrators
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt made a last desperate attempt to cling on to power on Monday night ordering his new vice-president to make concessions to demonstrators.


Omar Suleiman, the long-standing security chief appointed as Mr Mubarak’s deputy on Saturday, went on state television to announce negotiations for constitutional reform.

His move came after the army issued a statement promising it would not fire on demonstrators planning “million-strong marches” in the capital Cairo and Alexandria on Tuesday.

There was no immediate sign that Mr Mubarak was in a mood to concede to the demonstrators’ central demand that he hand over power, despite calls from world leaders, including those of America, Britain and the European Union, for an orderly transition.

He ordered a closure of railway lines and Egypt Air flights to prevent people flocking to join “million-strong marches” planned for Cairo and Alexandria on Tuesday. He also swore in a new cabinet, including a general, Mahmoud Wagdy al-Solaya, to replace the hated interior minister, Habib al-Adly, who was sacked on Friday.

Western diplomats who have talked to officials close to the president earlier said he seemed determined to stay on.

“President Mubarak still regards himself as playing a clear role in the future government of Egypt and he is not persuaded of the need to leave,” commented one diplomat. >>> Colin Freeman, Cairo and Richard Spencer in Cairo and Bruno Waterfield in Brussels | Monday, January 31, 2011

Face to Face: Lauren Booth vs Anjem Choudary

Anjem Blows His Cover on Newsnight

Egypt Crisis: Country Braced for 'March of a Million'
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A "march of a million" against the Egyptian regime has been called for Tuesday in Alexandria after one was announced in Cairo and all train services were cancelled, an aide to dissident Mohamed ElBaradei said.

Protest organisers announced earlier that they would stage a mass march from Cairo's Tahrir Square, the epicentre of nationwide protests against President Hosni Mubarak's regime that have been raging for a week, leaving at least 125 people dead.

"We wanted to take part in the march from Tahrir Square tomorrow but given that all the trains have been stopped and there's no other means of transport we have decided to stay and organise a march of a million tomorrow," Abeer Yussef told AFP on Monday by telephone from Alexandria.

Mr Yussef said separate demonstrations would leave different districts of the Mediterranean port at 11:00am (0900 GMT) on Tuesday and congregate on the square in front of the main Masr train station.

Countries around the globe stepped up evacuation of foreign tourists and workers from Egypt on Monday as anti-government protesters applied further pressure to force out beleaguered President Hosni Mubarak.

Britain was advising its nationals to leave flashpoint Egyptian cities, but tour operators stressed there was no need to pull tourists out of popular Red Sea resorts.

"We do want people to take the opportunity if they are able to leave ... but as yet the situation has not reached the stage where we would necessarily be considering chartering planes and getting larger numbers out," Foreign Office minister Alistair Burt told the BBC. >>> | Monday, January 31, 2011

THE TIMES: Mubarak’s hopes vanish as Army refuses to crush uprising >>> Martin Fletcher, Cairo | Monday, January 31, 2011 [£]

Carla Bruni-Sarkozy Confession: 'I No Longer Feel Left Wing'
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: France's first lady, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, has confessed to no "longer feeling left-wing" after three years of marriage to the country's conservative president, Nicolas Sarkozy.

The supermodel-turned-singer's reputation as a "luvvie Lefty" has been cited as a major handicap to Mr Sarkozy's re-election, and her political change of heart is an attempt to boost support for her unpopular husband among his core Right-wing electorate.

Only two years ago Mrs Bruni-Sarkozy had claimed that she was "instinctively left-wing" after at one stage supporting her husband's Socialist rival in the 2007 presidential elections. She had also publicly opposed Mr Sarkozy's plan to conduct DNA tests on immigrants.

In 2008, she told the Libération newspaper: "Nobody has to be joined at the hip in politics or with one's husband". A year earlier she told a British newspaper: "I would never vote on the Right."

But in Monday's interview with Le Parisien newspaper, she said her previous political persuasion was only due to her belonging to a "community of artists." "We were bobo (bourgeois bohemians), we were left-wing but at that time I voted in Italy (her native country)." I have never voted for the Left in France and I can tell you, I'm not about to start now. I don't really feel left-wing anymore," she said. >>> Henry Samuel, Paris | Monday, January 31, 2011

Opposition Leader Back in Tunisia
Rachid Ghannouchi, leader of the previously banned al-Nahda party, returns to native Tunisia after 22 years in exile.

CHICAGO TRIBUNE: Tunisians wary as Islamists emerge from hiding: Islamists, long oppressed under the former regime, had little to do with the uprising, but they could benefit from a transition to democracy. The thought unsettles some in this largely secular country. >>> Borzou Daragahi, Los Angeles Times | Sunday, January 30, 2011

Obama Divorces Mideast
YNET NEWS: Op-ed: Obama offers hesitant response while America’s most important Mideast ally collapses

American President Barack Obama has divorced the Middle East, even if it he did not declare it or present the world with the divorce certificate.

US Administration officials are treating the protests in Egypt as a constitutive event in the Mideast and comparing them to the revolution in Europe in the wake of the Berlin Wall’s collapse. However, Obama, loyal to his worldview that the US should not build or ruin foreign regimes, presented the world with a hesitant response over the weekend: He did not support Mubarak, but also did not go all the way to the other end of the spectrum and called for general elections or the replacement of the Egyptian regime.

Obama could have led a revolution in the Middle East: As the leader of the Free World, he could have facilitated peace agreements, if not by coercion then at least by exerting massive pressure. Yet precisely when he chose to take one step back, America’s most important ally in the Middle East, Egypt, collapsed right before his eyes. >>> Orly Azoulay | Sunday, January 30, 2011

Huckabee: Israelis Should Be Able to Live Anywhere in Jewish State
YNET NEWS: Likely US Republican presidential candidate attends cornerstone-laying ceremony in Jewish neighborhood in east Jerusalem, tells MKs 'I don’t see why bedrooms for their children built by Jews on hilltop in Samaria pose threat to world peace'; calls lack of construction in settlements 'irrational'

Israelis should be able to live "anywhere in Israel they wished to live," Iikely US presidential candidate Mike Huckabee said Monday during a visit to the Mount of Olives for a cornerstone-laying ceremony in a Jewish east Jerusalem neighborhood.

"It is inconceivable in many ways that we would have to even argue and debate whether or not Israelis could live in Israel, not just in parts of Israel but anywhere in Israel they wished to live," said Huckabee, who is expected to run against US President Barack Obama in the 2012 elections on behalf of the Republican Party.

"I cannot imagine as an American being told that I could not live in certain places in America because I was Christian, or because I was white, or because I spoke English. I would be outraged if someone told me that in my country, I would be prohibited and forbidden to live in a part of that country, for any reason," the former governor of Arkansas added. >>> Yair Altman | Monday, January31, 2011

All By Himself
YNET NEWS: Hosni Mubarak never thought this moment would arrive. But tough general, who has ruled Egypt with iron fist for 30 years, found himself in a dark corner, in a battle for his own survival. At 82 he's all alone: Hated by masses that idolized him, abandoned by world's leaders

President Hosni Mubarak's popularity reached its peak 18 months ago when his 12-year-old grandson Muhammad died suddenly of a blood hemorrhage. Millions throughout Egypt, especially among the lower sectors of Egyptian society sympathized with the pain of the 'Rais'.

They took to the streets, begging to be interviewed by any media outlet that would give them the opportunity to offer their condolences.

"We are one family and Mubarak is everyone's father," the Egyptians said between heartfelt sobs. "The Rais' tragedy is our tragedy." And yet, for over a week now, those same sobbing masses are thronging the city streets and squares, screaming "Go home Husseini," while tearing up his portraits in anger.

Meanwhile, the target of the protestors' anger is sitting in front of his television watching each and every one of his rebellious citizens. What is going through his head as he's holed up in the family villa in Cairo's Helipolis suburb or at the nearby Unity Palace?

Wherever he is, he will be surrounded by a close ring of security guards from the elite of Egypt's security forces, tense silence around him. The presidential guard is charged with watching over the top of Egypt's governmental pyramid, they won't be out in the streets trying to instill calm – they are responsible for the president alone.

Mubarak is never alone at his private villa in Helipolis – a modest residence when compared with the extravagant palaces enjoyed by other Arab rulers. His wife Suzanne, his firstborn son Alaa with his wife Heidi and young grandson Omar, his younger son Gamal with his wife Khadiga and baby Sara, are all there with him.

But that isn't where it ends; a battery of his senior advisors and aides has remained with him since last Tuesday, and has yet to abandon ship. Each advisor with his own advice, each aide with his own recommendations for how to proceed, but those who know Mubarak will swear: Even at the ripe old age of 82, with his ill-health creating worry lines among the international intelligence community – Mubarak makes the crucial decisions on his own. He listens, digests, gets updates, reads the influx of intelligence reports, and makes the final decision – alone. >>> Smadar Peri | Sunday, January 30, 2011

Tony Blair Discusses Egypt Crisis

Who Is Hosni Mubarak?

What Is the Muslim Brotherhood?
Mideast expert Barry Rubin weighs in

Where in the World Is Gamal Mubarak?

Egypt Protests - Live Updates
THE GUARDIAN: • Calls for general strike as street demonstrations continue
• Police been ordered back on to the streets
• President Mubarak orders reforms in a bid to cling to power >>> | Monday, January 31, 2011

Israël redoute l'essor des Frères musulmans
LE FIGARO: Israël risque de perdre avec Hosni Moubarak son dernier «ami» dans la région au moment où les relations avec l'ancien allié turc traversent une crise aiguë.

Israël croise les doigts pour Hosni Moubarak. Les menaces sur le régime d'un président qui a connu huit premiers ministres israéliens depuis son accession au pouvoir ont provoqué une véritable bouffée d'angoisse. «Un nouveau Moyen-Orient» : ce titre barrait dimanche la une de deux quotidiens populaires, faisant référence non pas à une région sur le point de devenir un havre de paix, mais plutôt à une montée des périls tous azimuts.

Officiellement, Benyamin Nétanyahou, le chef du gouvernement a imposé le silence dans les rangs parmi ses ministres. Il s'est contenté d'affirmer que «la paix avec l'Égypte dure depuis plus de trois décennies. Notre objectif est que cela continue.» Il a prôné «la stabilité et la sécurité dans la région». Une déclaration dont chaque mot a été soigneusement pesé pour éviter de fournir le moindre argument aux opposants du président Moubarak. >>> Par Marc Henry | Lundi 31 Janvier 2011

LE FIGARO: Égypte : Moubarak promet le dialogue avec l'opposition – Face à la mobilisation de la rue qui ne faiblit pas, le chef de l'État égyptien a appelé à davantage de démocratie dans une allocution télévisée. L'opposition appelle à la grève générale. >>> Par lefigaro.fr | Lundi 31 Janvier 2011