France to return antiquities to Egypt

October 8th, 2009 Chief Egypt archaeologist defends Louvre cut moveCAIRO — Egypt's decision to cut ties with the Louvre museum had nothing to do with the loss last month in the country's bid to head the Paris-based UNESCO, the country's chief archaeologist said Thursday. Zahi Hawass of the Supreme Council of Antiquities said the spat with the Louvre started eight months ago, when the Paris museum refused to return painted wall fragments of a 3,200-year-old tomb from near the ancient temple city of Luxor.

September 25th, 2009 CAIRO - Ancient coins bearing the name and image of biblical Joseph have been found from the Museum of Egypt, contradicting claims made by some historians that coins were not used for trade in olden Egypt. Archaeologists provided by MEMRI show that the coins were discovered among a multitude of unsorted artifacts stored at the Museum of Egypt, The Jerusalem Post reports.

September 19th, 2009 Iraq arrests three antiquities traffickersBAGHDAD — Authorities in northern Iraq have arrested three men on charges they were trying to traffic stolen antiquities, including the bust of a Sumerian king, a local army commander said Saturday. The three were arrested in a sting operation after attempting to sell one of the artifacts for $160,000 to an undercover intelligence officer of the Iraqi Army's 12th division in a village southwest of Kirkuk, division commander Maj.

September 19th, 2009 Iraq arrests 3 on antiquities chargesBAGHDAD — Authorities in northern Iraq have arrested three men on charges they were trying to traffic stolen antiquities, including the bust of a Sumerian king, a local army commander said Saturday. The three were arrested in a sting operation after attempting to sell one of the artifacts for $160,000 to an undercover intelligence officer of the Iraqi Army's 12th division in a village southwest of Kirkuk, division commander Maj.

August 17th, 2009 Clinton sees Mubarak ahead of White House talksWASHINGTON — The Obama administration is hopeful that groundwork can be laid soon to allow the resumption of stalled peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, the State Department said Monday. "We're trying to work hard to create conditions for negotiation to continue and we hope to have this phase of this process completed in the next few weeks," spokesman P.J.

July 21st, 2009 ISLAMABAD - After the fiasco of appointing a junior bureaucrat as Pakistan's ambassador to France - a move that was later cancelled - it appears that the job may be offered to senior diplomat Jalil Abbas Jilani. Quoting sources, a private TV channel said Tuesday that Jilani had been offered the ambassadorship to Brussels but he rejected the offer and now is likely be appointed the country's new envoy to France.

July 18th, 2009 JERUSALEM - Teheran's Intelligence Chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei has claimed that Israel had planned to assassinate Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during the country's elections last month. Mohseni-Ejei claimed that Israel collaborating with Iranian Mujahedeen opposition members had met in Egypt and France to plan Ahmadinejad's killing, The Jerusalem Post reports.

July 17th, 2009 NEW DELHI - A day after his meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani in Egypt, Prime Minister Mahnmohan Signh Friday made it clear that any "meaningful dialogue" will depend on Islamabad fulfilling its anti-terror pledge "in letter and spirit." The prime minsiter asked Pakistan to take "sustained, effective and credible action" not only against the perpetrators of the Mumbai carnage, but also against the larger infrastrucure of terrorism on its territory. "I also conveyed to Gilani that sustained, effective and credible action has to be taken not only against the pertpetrators of the Mumbai attacks, but also shut down the operations of terrorist groups to prevent future attacks," Manmohan Singh said in a prepared statement he read out in the Lok Sabha within hours of his return.

July 13th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Monday underlined India's commitment to strengthening the Non-Alignment Movement (NAM) and its desire to build stronger ties with Paris. The highlight of Manmohan Singh's trip will be his meeting Wednesday with his Pakistani counterpart Yousaf Raza Gilani on the sidelines of the 15th NAM summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.

July 12th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Two days after returning from the G8-G5 summit in Italy, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is leaving for France Monday on a 24-hour visit before flying to Egypt to attend the non-aligned summit where he will also meet with Pakistan's prime minister on the sidelines. In Paris, Manmohan Singh will be the guest of honour at the Bastille Day, officially celebrated as the French National Day on July 14.

July 11th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh returned home Saturday morning after attending the July 8-10 G8-G5 summit in the quake-hit Italian town of L?Aquila. "I am returning to India after attending meetings of the G5 leaders (India, Brazil, China, Mexico and South Africa), of the G5 + G8 and Egypt, and of the G8, G5, Egypt and African countries.

July 11th, 2009 ON BOARD AIR INDIA ONE - India wants Pakistan to punish those behind the Mumbai terror attack and is looking for a reaffirmation of this when he meets with his counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani in Egypt next week, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said. "I am looking forward to meeting Prime Minister Gilani (in Egypt).

May 30th, 2009 NAIROBI - Former Sudanese president Gaafar Muhammad Nimeiry died Saturday, media reports said. No cause of death was given.

January 12th, 2009 PARIS - Air France-KLM will pay 323 million euros ($431 million) to acquire a 25 percent stake in Italian airline Alitalia, the two companies have said. Alitalia, the 62-year-old state-run company, had gone bankrupt in August 2008 and the new Alitalia will be launched Tuesday with Air France as a shareholder along with other Italian investors.

January 3rd, 2009 PARIS - The French government late Saturday sharply criticized Israel's military operation in the Gaza Strip, saying it 'complicated' peace efforts. 'France condemns Israel's ground offensive against Gaza just as it condemns the continued rocket attacks' by Hamas against Israel, the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement.