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MANAMA, Bahrain, Nov. 18, 2009 – The U.S.-flagged Maersk Alabama’s security team repelled an attack from suspected pirates this morning 560 nautical miles off the northeastern coast of Somalia, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command officials reported. Four suspected pirates in a skiff came within 300 yards of the Maersk Alabama and used small-arms weapons in an attempt to board the ship. The ship’s security team responded with evasive maneuvers, long-range acoustic devices and small-arms fire, causing the suspected pirates to break off their attack. The acoustic devices emit a high-pitched sound that can be painful to human ears. "Due to...

MANAMA, Bahrain, Aug. 13, 2009 – The combined task force of international navies that counter piracy off the coast of Somalia and throughout the Gulf of Aden was returned to U.S. command at a ceremony here today. U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Scott E. Sanders salutes the side boys as he arrives to relieve Turkish navy Rear Adm. Caner Bener as commander of Combined Task Force 151 during a change-of-command ceremony held aboard USS Anzio in Manama, Bahrain, Aug. 13, 2009. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Nathan Schaeffer  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Navy Rear Adm. Scott...

MANAMA, Bahrain, July 21, 2009 – Navy Rear Adm. Carol M. Pottenger and Navy Rear Adm. Michelle Howard have plenty on their respective plates – Pottenger as commander of Naval Expeditionary Combat Command and Howard as commander of Expeditionary Strike Group 2. But that doesn’t stop the two flag officers from taking on the additional role of mentoring female sailors. Navy Rear Adm. Carol Pottenger, right, and Navy Rear Adm. Michelle Howard met with women surface warfare officers at U.S. Naval Forces Central Command headquarters in Manama, Bahrain, to encourage them in their careers and lives. U.S. Navy photo by...

MADINAT HAMAD, Bahrain -- On a recent evening, Issa al Jibb climbed the roof of his home and started hurling Molotov cocktails into the adjoining property of the Rawi clan. By the time Bahraini police shot him down with a rubber bullet, Mr. Jibb had managed to burn three cars and part of the building, and inflicted serious burns on two Rawi teenagers. This was no ordinary feud among neighbors. Mr. Jibb, 46 years old, is a native of this small Persian Gulf kingdom. The Rawis are originally from Syria, were recruited along with thousands of other Arabs and Pakistanis...

MANAMA, Bahrain -- Every weekend, bumper-to-bumper traffic blocks the causeway into this small island nation as visitors from nearby Saudi Arabia flock to delights unavailable at home: movie theaters, bars and, for some, commercial sex. With few other attractions, Bahrain's booming tourism industry thrives on the island's reputation as a freewheeling oasis just a short drive from major Saudi cities. Bahrain has little oil of its own; tourism, mostly by the four million Saudis who cross the causeway each year, accounts for a tenth of its economy. All of this is endangered, as Bahraini legislators press to scrap the country's...

MANAMA, Bahrain, April 20, 2009 – The British military support ship Royal Fleet Auxiliary Wave Knight, working in support of the Combined Maritime Forces, thwarted two April 18 pirate attacks on merchant vessels in the Gulf of Aden, resulting in the release of 13 hostages and disrupting the activities of 14 Somali pirates. "This is a clear demonstration of how cooperation between more than a dozen international naval forces can result in the successful disruption of piracy activity," said Royal Navy Commodore Tim Lowe, deputy commander of the Combined Maritime Forces. "In the last 72 hours alone, coordinated efforts of...

DUBAI -- Persian Gulf investors plan to open a new $10 billion Islamic bank by year end in Bahrain, the chairman of the Union of Arab Banks said Sunday. The institution would be called "Istikhlaf Bank" and its shares would be listed on the Bahrain Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Dubai via an initial public offering, Adnan Ahmed Yousif said. "We call it the godfather of Islamic banks," Mr. Yousif told reporters on the sidelines of a banking conference. The proposed bank "will be established with a $10 billion capital and right now we are at a stage of forming the...

MANAMA, Bahrain — It’s O.K. to be Jewish in Bahrain. Actually, that may be an understatement. “It’s fashionable,” said Rouben Rouben, 55, an electronics dealer who proudly displays his name, a recognizably Jewish one, on the sign above all four of his shops in Manama, the capital. In the tense landscape of the Middle East, there is little room left for Jewish Arabs, a tiny minority in this country as well as in places like Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia. But in Bahrain, the king, Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, has taken unprecedented steps for an Arab leader to show his support...

WITCHCRAFT and sorcery could soon be outlawed, following allegations that suspicious packages containing hair, nails and even blood are being shipped to Bahrain. Parliament yesterday voted in favour of making such activities criminal offences. A narrow vote saw the amendment to Bahrain's penal code approved, despite objections from a senior government official and some MPs. It means anyone caught practising witchcraft and sorcery could face jail and a fine, which would be left up to a judge to decide. The amendment has been drafted by the government based on a proposal from parliament, but Minister of State for Parliament and...

WASHINGTON, March 20, 2009 – Two U.S. Navy vessels, a submarine and a surface ship, collided in the Strait of Hormuz today, according to a U.S. Navy news release. The collision involved the USS Hartford, a Los Angeles-class nuclear submarine, and the USS New Orleans, an amphibious ship, according to a release issued by the Bahrain-based U.S. Navy Fifth Fleet. The Hartford’s nuclear propulsion plant was unaffected by the collision. Fifteen submariners aboard the Hartford were slightly injured and have been returned to duty, the release said. No servicemembers aboard the New Orleans were injured. The New Orleans reportedly...

"Hillary Clinton (R) meets with Bahrain's Foreign Minister Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmed al-Khalifa at the State Department in Washington."

MANAMA, Bahrain, March 9, 2009 – U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Boutwell left Karachi, Pakistan, today after a four-day port visit to participate in the international naval exercise Aman 2009, marking the first time a U.S. ship has pulled into Pakistan since May. The 10-day exercise, which began March 5, focuses on air, surface and maritime security training. It includes representatives from 38 countries, as well as ships from 11 nations that include the United States, United Kingdom, Pakistan and Australia. The at-sea portion of the exercise is being conducted primarily in the North Arabian Sea, off the coast of Pakistan....

THE alleged abduction and gang rape of a woman was dismissed as harmless fun by a female defence lawyer in a Bahrain trial yesterday. Three men accused of the attack should be acquitted because young people often commit crimes for "fun", without criminal intent, said lawyer Fatima Al Hawaj. The men, aged 19, 20 and 21, are accused at the High Criminal Court of snatching a Filpina off the street as she walked home from work at night, last September. They allegedly drove her to an isolated area in Askar, gang raped her and then abandoned her, after stealing her...

Iran is trying to defuse a potential crisis with Bahrain and other Arab states after the tiny kingdom received a wave of support and assurances that it would not be left alone to face potential Iranian threats against its sovereignty. Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Ghashghavi on Thursday downplayed the implications of official statements and newspaper commentaries coming out of Iran that said Bahrain had once been part of Iranian territory. But that does not seem to be enough. "Our position on Bahrain is clear," Ghashghavi told the Arabic-language Iranian Al-Alam TV. "We have repeatedly said we respect the sovereignty...

MANAMA, Bahrain, Feb. 6, 2009 – The U.S. Navy is providing humanitarian assistance to the Ukranian ship Faina and its crew following the ship's release yesterday by Somali pirates. The U.S. Navy fleet ocean tug USNS Catawba provides fuel and fresh water to the Ukranian ship Faina following its release by Somali pirates, Feb. 5, 2009. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Michael R. McCormick  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Sailors from the Norfolk-based destroyer USS Mason went aboard Faina to conduct a health and comfort inspection of the crew as well as to provide Faina's...

MANAMA, Bahrain, Jan. 8, 2009 – A new multinational task force is focusing solely on counter-piracy operations in and around the Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean and the Red Sea, the commander of the combined maritime forces in the region said. The force created the Maritime Security Patrol Area in the Gulf of Aden in August to support international efforts to combat piracy. Coalition efforts included Combined Task Force 150, which conducted maritime security operations -- such as the deterrence of drug smuggling and weapons trafficking. "Some navies in our coalition did not have the authority to conduct...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander is calling on Islamic countries to use oil as a weapon to end the fighting in Gaza. The Iranian suggestion this week echoed a similar call made last week by lawmakers in Bahrain. The demands are unlikely to lead to an immediate embargo. They don't come from the Persian Gulf nations' top rulers or carry the support of other major producers like Saudi Arabia.

MANAMA, Bahrain, Dec. 29, 2008 – Coalition warships operating in the North Arabian Sea and Gulf of Aden as part of Combined Task Force 150 have seized more than 20 tons of narcotics since October, with an estimated value of more than $100 million, officials said. CTF 150, also tasked with conducting counter-piracy operations, is part of a continual presence in the region committed to creating and maintaining a lawful maritime order. The task force has seized more than 53 tons of narcotics during 2008, officials said. The drugs, seized by U.S. and Royal Navy forces, otherwise could have been...

Fourteen people have been detained for plotting attacks on the Bahraini capital Manama, Bahrain's interior minister said on Saturday. Sheikh Rashid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa told reporters that those arrested have been trained in weapons and explosives in Syria and were planning to attack commercial streets, the diplomatic district and night clubs in Manama on the Dec. 17 national holiday. Two Bahrainis residing in London are believed to be the masterminds and cell's leaders, he added, according to the AP. The minister said that suspects traveled to Syria as tourists in July and August and then met with one of...

(IsraelNN.com) The King of Bahrain has called for expatriate Jews to return to the small Islamic island nation. King Hamad bin Issa al-Khalifa expanded the invitation to all expatriate Bahrainis, announcing during a recent visit to the United States that regardless of religious affiliation, any former citizen could return whenever they want. “It’s open, it’s your country,” declared the king, who also extended a personal invitation to Washington D.C.-based Chabad-Lubavitch emissary Rabbi Levi Shemtov to meet with him in New York during his visit. The king had been in New York to attend last week’s Interfaith Conference, organized at the...

NEW YORK (JTA)—The king of Bahrain said he would facilitate the return of Jewish expatriates through restored citizenship and land offers. King Hamad bin Issa al-Khalifa met in New York Tuesday with about 50 Bahraini Jews who had immigrated to the United States, following a similar meeting in London this summer. The king said that all expatriate Bahrainis, whatever their religion, were welcome to return. “It’s open, it’s your country,” he said in New York. Hamad had reversed a law that banned dual citizenship and was ready to restore the citizenship of Bahrainis who had lost it in the interim,...

MANAMA, Bahrain, Oct. 29, 2008 – Proactive measures taken by masters and crews of targeted commercial shipping vessels thwarted five piracy attempts yesterday in the Gulf of Aden, Combined Maritime Forces officials reported. Even when shots were fired during two of these attacks, officials said, the crews of commercial shipping vessels conducted evasive maneuvering and used fire hoses to repel their attackers. “The proactive measures taken yesterday by merchant vessels are exactly what we have been recommending,” said Navy Vice Adm. William E. Gortney, commander of Combined Maritime Forces. “For slightly more than two months, the coalition has been working...

The Single Arab daring, waking up Web posted at: 10/2/2008 1:35:54 Arabs, Israel should sit together, says Bahrain minister Source ::: AFP dubai • The foreign minister of staunch US ally Bahrain has called for the creation of a regional grouping of Arab states with historic foe Israel, as well as Iran and Turkey, a newspaper reported yesterday. “Israel, Iran, Turkey and Arab states should sit together in one organisation,” Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmad Al Khalifa was quoted in the pan-Arab daily Al Hayat as saying. “Aren’t we all members of a global organisation called the United Nations? Why not...

Bahrain's foreign minister has called for the creation of a regional grouping of Arab states with Israel, as well as Iran and Turkey, a newspaper reported on Wednesday. "Israel, Iran, Turkey and Arab states should sit together in one organisation," Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmad al-Khalifa was quoted in the pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat as saying. "Aren't we all members of a global organisation called the United Nations? Why not (come together) on a regional basis? This is the only way to solve our problems. There's no other way to solve them, now or in 200 years." Al-Hayat, which interviewed the Bahraini...

YouTube - aljazeera channel is an example of racism in the ARAB WORLD...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p94t2YkoGQo This Arab admits on video that: "the Arabs are the most racist people in the world".  

Manama - An American woman working as a university lecturer in the Gulf kingdom of Bahrain was charged with insulting Islam's Prophet Mohammed, local media reported Friday. According to the report from the daily Akhbar al-Khalij, a female student at the private university where the lecture worked complained to authorities that the professor during a lesson presented a drawing of Muhammed, and in "shabby clothing." The lecturer - when called upon to apologize - refused and instead made negative remarks concerning the accusing student's head covering. According to the report, the accused who had already lost her university position had...

BOSASSO, Somalia (Reuters) - An unidentified warship off pirate-ridden Somali waters captured 14 pirates and destroyed their boat, a minister of the northern Puntland region said on Sunday. Abdulqadir Muse Yusuf, fisheries minister for the semi-autonomous region said the pirate vessel met a warship "that we think could be American" and all the pirates on board were captured and their boat destroyed. However, the U.S. Fifth Fleet, based in Bahrain, said there was no American involvement in the operation.

Key bombing suspect deported from Bahrain By ARIS R. ILAGAN & YUL MALICSE One of the alleged masterminds of a ferry bombing that killed 116 people four years ago and the Makati Valentines Day bombing in 2005 was captured in Bahrain and deported to the Philippines, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, chairman of the Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC), said yesterday.

RANIAN officials have drawn up a contingency plan to evacuate foreign visitors - including Bahrainis - if there is an outbreak of war with the US or Israel, according to a Bahraini travel operator.However, a looming crisis over the nuclear standoff has done little to deter Bahrainis making their regular pilgrimage to religious sites in Iran. While the global media speculates about a potential nuclear war, some travel operators say they have seen a 50 per cent surge in the number of Bahraini pilgrims making the trip to the Persian state.

(IsraelNN.com) The king of Bahrain, King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa, called this week for the Jews who emigrated from the Gulf nation to return. Natan Aloof, one of the veteran immigrants to Israel from Bahrain, responds to the royal call. Last week, King Al-Khalifa and Bahraini Prime Minister Shaikh Khalifa Bin Salman Al Khalifa met in London with a group of expatriate Bahraini Jews who currently live in the United Kingdom. The meeting was highly unusual for an Arab monarch, although, in May of this year, King Al-Khalifa became the only Arab ruler to appoint a Jewish woman as an...

BAHRAIN'S courts may have breached United Nations (UN) laws on human rights by freeing a father arrested for allegedly kidnapping his child during a tug-of-love custody battle. The verdict appeared to defy at least two UN conventions which the country has signed, said Bahrain Transparency Society (BTS) president Abdulnabi Al Ekri. The Bahraini father was freed following a Sharia Court hearing at the Justice Ministry, Manama on July 9 despite failing to reveal his five-year-old daughter Sarah's whereabouts. He had earlier been held at the Hoora Police Station for seven days after being arrested during a raid on his home,...

A simple question, What if it was not the Arabs, not the Muslims (OPEC) that control the world's energy? What if the oil tycoons were of a different background, say Irish Catholic or Jewish? Could you imagine how they would be lynched [in the media and all tools of public opinion]? But it's "only" Arabs, Muslims, and they can do whatever they want, limit or extend production of oil. Worst is of course the immense unlimited power they enjoy in being permitted to continue "business" as usual... in the "field" of crimes against humanity... No one ever dares speaks out...

MANAMA (AFP) — Police in Bahrain said on Saturday one man was arrested and another freed on bail after they were accused of cooperating with and funding a foreign terrorist group, a reference to Al-Qaeda. One suspect had delivered funds "to a foreign group that uses terrorism to reach its aims" and that his beliefs "could affect security," according to a public prosecution statement. "The first suspect has admitted delivering money to that group abroad, while the second has denied it... Both suspects have been accused of cooperating with a terrorist group abroad and financing a terrorist group."

Arab Liberal Dr. Mamoun Fandy: The Palestinians Have Chosen the Model Of Tora Bora Over That of Singapore In an article published April 21, 2008 in the London daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, well-known researcher, writer, author, and columnist Dr. Mamoun Fandy wrote that the Palestinians must proceed from revolution to state-building, demonstrating that they are capable of building a prosperous state which will contribute to the stability of the region. [1] The following are excerpts from the article: "When Will the Palestinians Advance From the 'Adolescence' of Revolution to the 'Maturity' of Statehood?... [Will the] Palestinian State... Strengthen, Rather Than Weaken,...

Bahrain names Jewish ambassador Ms Nonoo is a businesswoman with homes in Bahrain and London Bahrain's king has appointed a Jewish woman as the country's envoy to the United States. Houda Nonoo said she was proud to serve her country "first of all as a Bahraini" and that she was not chosen for the post because of her religion. She is believed to be the Arab world's first Jewish ambassador. Ms Nonoo, 43, has served as a legislator in Bahrain's 40-member Shura Council for three years and is head of the Bahrain Human Rights Watch. "It is a great...

An Islamic parliamentarian in Bahrain has called for the expulsion of Bangladeshi immigrant workers after one of them was accused of a gruesome killing. "We need to expel all the Bangladeshi workers that are in our country," said Abdel Halim Murad of the hardline Salafi bloc according to a report in the local newspaper Akhbar al-Khalji. "We cannot tolerate the way in which these people continue to repeat crimes," he said. Murad said this during a political debate on Sunday after a Bahraini citizen was allegedly killed by a foreign worker from Bangladesh who worked as a mechanic. The victim...

Bahrain will name a Jewish ambassador to the United States, a report said. Huda Azar Nunu, a Jewish woman who is a lawmaker in Bahrain's upper house, will be named to the Washington position, according to a report this week in A Sharq al-Awsat, a Saudi-owned pan-Arab daily published in London. "The sources denied that the appointment of Nunu as a woman and a Jew is a public relations campaign by Bahrain in the West, emphasizing that Huda Nunu has proven her qualifications, whether through her membership in the Consultative Council or through her work in human rights associations, of...

The Daily Record in Baltimore, Maryland recently published a story by Brendan Kearney that oddly seems to present a conflict between a bank employing Islamic Shari'ah law with its American investments and some black American borrowers and painting it as a racist issue. Sadly, the real story, that of Islamic law being imposed on American investors, is sidelined in order to pursue the race card. (Full story reprinted at BlackEnterprise.com) As The Record reports, a black couple in Baltimore -- I identify their race because it is pivotal to how the Record reports the story -- had contracted with the...

Bahraini Women's Rights Activist Ghada Jamshir Attacks Islamic Clerics for Fatwas Authorizing Sexual Abuse of Children One of the ways to make peace in middle east is to stop the child abuse by Jihadists. A real video about a hope for a peace. We must give those children love instead of hate. They must be used as a weapon for peace, not as a weapon for war.

MANAMA (Reuters) - A female sailor was found dead at a U.S. naval base in the Gulf island kingdom of Bahrain on Sunday, the Navy said. The cause of death was under investigation, and the name of the sailor was being withheld until the family had been notified, the Navy said in a statement. It gave no further details. In October, two female sailors were killed and a third sailor was critically wounded with what appeared to a self-inflicted gunshot wound in a shooting incident at the base. Bahrain is the home of the U.S. fifth fleet. About 3,000 staff...

The foreign minister of the Sultanate of Oman, Yusef Bin Alawai Bin Abdulla, agreed to hold a short photo-op at the beginning of his meeting with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Monday at the Sheraton Doha hotel. In the last eight years, since the Al-Aqsa intifada led to severing of relations between the two countries, Israeli and Omani foreign ministers have met mostly in secret, in European capitals or on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. When it comes to Israel's ties with the Arab world, progress is measured in millimeters. Therefore, although it might seem to be...

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was to leave for Qatar Sunday for a two-day visit during which she is scheduled to speak at the opening of the Doha Forum on Democracy, Development and Free Trade. In her speech, Livni is expected to call on Arab nations to assist in the Israel-Palestinian peace process by promoting "gradual" normalization of ties with Israel, among other things. The foreign minister is scheduled to meet with the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, as well as Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamed bin Jassem al-Thani. During her meetings with senior Qatari officials, Livni is...

Published: 04.09.08, 23:20 / Israel News US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice plans to travel to the Middle East this month to build support among Arab countries for Israeli-Palestinian peace talks and to lobby Iraq's neighbors for help in stabilizing Iraq. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack says Rice will meet April 22 with foreign ministers from the Gulf Cooperation Council, Egypt and Jordan in Bahrain. He says she plans to discuss Middle East peace talks as well as Iraq. (AP)

A PROTEST group pushing for the re-opening of the Israel Boycott Office in Bahrain is hosting a major conference next month to highlight its cause. It claims that as a result of the office being closed, Israeli produce is now finding its way into the Bahrain market. The group also accused the US military of bringing in Israeli goods to be consumed at its naval base in Bahrain. However, a spokesman for the US Fifth Fleet would neither confirm nor deny the allegation. "The US receives goods both directly and indirectly for consumption from a variety of companies throughout the...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush told Bahrain's king after an Oval Office meeting on Tuesday that the Gulf island state showed leadership by deciding to reopen its embassy in Iraq and name a new ambassador there. Bush said Bahrain's announcement on Monday was "a very strong move that indicates a willingness to lead, as well as a willingness to send a signal that when a young democracy like Iraq is beginning to make progress, that it is important for the neighborhood to recognize that progress." Bahrain's charge d'affaires was shot and wounded in an attack on a convoy...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Bahrain Maritime and Mercantile International (BMMI) won a maximum $2.8 billion contract to supply food and other products to U.S. troops in three Middle Eastern countries, the Pentagon said on Monday. BMMI will supply and distribute food to the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps in Bahrain, Qatar and Saudi Arabia through March 2009, the Defense Department said in its daily list of defense contracts. The Defense Supply Center in Philadelphia chose BMMI after receiving a total of five responses to a notice seeking bids, the Pentagon said. BMMI, based in Bahrain, is a wholesaler...

At least two Gulf-based banks have prepared contingency plans to raise extra capital of about $300m each to help cover writedowns of their US subprime exposure, according to Moody’s, the rating agency. The agency has been monitoring the possible impact of subprime-related writedowns on the balance sheets of up to 10 Gulf-based banks over the past five months, said Mardig Haladjian, general manager of the financial institutions group at Moody’s in Cyprus. While the writedowns by these two banks, which he declined to name, may not be enough to warrant extra fundraising, the banks may choose to raise more capital...

Doctors successfully removed a 2-inch nail from an Indian man’s genitals after he admitted himself to a hospital due to abdominal pain and the inability to speak, the Bahrain Gulf Daily News reported Wednesday. An X-ray of the man, who was not identified, showed the nail lodged in his urethra. The victim claimed that the nail had been inserted by a gang of thieves who attacked and robbed him three days earlier, the paper reported.

Does Bahrain represent the democratic future of the Middle East? Even before the Iraq war, the Gulf state had experimented with free elections. The Islamist parties - no friends of the island's U.S. naval base - won hands down. In 1879, the USS Ticonderoga sailed up the Strait of Hormuz. With its 14 cannons, the elegant three-masted warship was the first American vessel to visit the Persian Gulf. Its arrival marked the beginning of a rocky relationship. Commodore Robert Shufeldt, the ship's commander, was on a peaceful mission - seeking contacts. Still decades from becoming a major power, the United...

Internet outages disrupted business and personal usage across a wide swathe of the Middle East on Wednesday after two undersea cables in the Mediterranean were damaged, government officials and Internet service providers said. In Cairo, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology said the cut of the international communications cables Flag and Seamewe 4 had led to a partial disruption of Internet services and other telecommunications across much of Egypt. Emergency teams were quickly trying to find alternative routes, including satellite connections, to end the disruptions, Minister Tariq Kamel said. A telecommunications expert at the Egyptian communications ministry, Rafaat Hindy,...