Egypt resumes trials of former officials

The trial of Egypt's former interior minister, Habib al-Adly, and six senior security officials, has resumed.
The accused all face charges related to their involvement in the killing of protesters during the revolution earlier this year, which toppled the government of the former president, Hosni Mubarak.
Thursday's trial in Cairo, the capital, is a continuation of one that began in April. This is the fifth session.
"Today is the day when evidence is presented to the judge by the various sides," Al Jazeera's Sherine Tadros, reporting from the capital, said.

Adly, along with his aides, is accused of having ordered the shooting of demonstrators during protests that toppled Mubarak and led to more anti-government protests in the Arab world.

He is also being held responsible for the insecurity that prevailed after police disappeared from the streets of Cairo in the early days of the protests.

"These are all the senior key figures, the buck really stops with these people when it comes to the ordering of the killing of protesters, which is what the prosecution is trying to prove. And that's why it is such an important trial," Tadros said.

The former officials on trial include the head of central security, the head of state security, the head of investigations, and the heads of security for the Cairo, Sixth of October city and Giza governorates.

According to an official toll, 846 people were killed and several thousand wounded during 18 days of massive nationwide street protests that forced Mubarak to quit on February 11.

Adly was also the first member of Mubarak's regime to be put on trial in another case where he faced charges of fraud and money laundering.

He has already been sentenced to 12 years in jail in that separate corruption case.

The removal of Adly from office was one of the chief demands of protesters when they launched the revolution against Mubarak's regime on January 25.

Mubarak faces similar charges of corruption and complicity in the killing of protesters.

In the first day of his trial held on Wednesday, he plead not guilty to all the accusations against him.

"I categorically deny all the charges," Mubarak said, speaking from a hospital stretcher where he lay inside a cage for defendants.

Wednesday was Mubarak's first public appearance since the day before he stepped down as president. There have been reports of his ailing and deteriorating health.

He will remain in a hospital near Cairo until his trial resumes on August 15.

civilians were killed by security forces across Syria

 At least 24 civilians were killed by security forces across Syria, including 10 after evening prayers on the first day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, a human rights activist said on Tuesday.

Egyptian tanks enter Tahrir Square

The Egyptian army deployed troops in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Monday and fired shots in the air to disperse remaining pro-democracy protesters.

A few hundred demonstrators were staying put, state television reported, showing army vehicles in the square and people taking down tents and canopies.

Local authorities say they asked demonstrators to allow traffic to move through the square, after local shopkeepers clashed with protesters for interfering with their businesses.

Demonstrators reportedly refused, so the military and riot police moved in.

The protesters responded by throwing stones and rocks at the security forces and several protesters were injured in the clashes, officials said. Activists said several protesters had been arrested.

Members of the April 6th protest movement say the military did not just storm the square, but attacked the mosque where protesters had sought shelter.

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"There were a good 200 to 300 people who were still camped out earlier. Now it's filled with tanks and army soldiers.

"They've essentially driven out all the people. There do seem to be some civilians moving around but the army is continuing to move out anyone trying to get back into the square."

"People have been telling us, 'They can do what they want but we will just come back once they leave'."

Israeli and Lebanese troops trade fire

Israeli and Lebanese troops have exchanged fire along the countries' border, officials say.
The Israeli and Lebanese sides offered different accounts of Monday's incident, which did not appear to have caused casualties.
The Israeli military said its army unit on a routine patrol within Israeli territory when it received fire on Monday morning from over the border in Lebanon near Ghajar, a disputed village which straddles a strategic corner where boundaries between Syria, Israel and Lebanon meet.
It said UNIFIL, the UN peacekeeping force stationed on the border, was informed of the incident, which took place at dawn.
A Lebanese army official told the media that the incident occurred when Israeli solders crossed the Blue Line, the UN-drawn border with Lebanon which was established in 2000.
"An Israeli patrol in the Wazzani area crossed the Blue Line and went beyond it about 30m," the official told various news agencies on condition of anonymity.
"Lebanese troops stationed in the area fired warning shots," he said. "The Israeli patrol retreated and then fired at Lebanese army posts."
Neeraj Singh, the UNIFIL spokesman, confirmed the incident but did not elaborate on whether Israeli troops had violated the Blue Line or not.
"We can confirm that at around 7am this morning there was a brief exchange of fire between the Lebanese army and the Israeli army along the Blue Line in the general area of Wazzani," Singh said.
"UNIFIL peacekeepers immediately responded to the location in order to contain the situation and prevent any escalation.
"The firing has since ceased and the situation in the area is quiet. No casualties have been reported".
Singh said the UN force had opened an investigation into the shooting.
The last act of violence on the Israeli-Lebanese border was in May when Israeli soldiers fired on Palestinian demonstrators who swarmed the Lebanese frontier in an act of protest to commemorate the Nakba, the 1948 displacement of 700,000 Palestinians during the creation of Israel.
Monday's fire exchange also came almost exactly a year after the two countries' troops traded fire, leaving two Lebanese soldiers and a journalist killed along with a senior Israeli officer.
Israel fought a war in 2006 war against the Lebanese Shia political and military group, Hezbollah.
In an another incident of violence on Monday, two Palestinian men were killed during an arrest raid on Qalandiya refugee camp in the West Bank's south.
One man was shot in the head and the other in the abdomen. The Israeli army claimed the men were involved in rock-throwing and scuffles with Israeli solders.

Israeli soldiers killed two Palestinians in West Bank

Two Palestinians 23 and 25 years old were shot by Israeli soldiers.Palestine presidency blamed Israel for such crime and considered her responsible for it,while israeli military spokes said that the israeli army is investigating the matter.

Germany calls for UN meeting on Syria crisis

Germany has requested a meeting of the UN Security Council on Monday to discuss the escalating violence in Syria, as the death toll continues to mount one day after tanks and troops launched an assault on the Sunni Muslim city of Hama.

Syrians mark bleak Ramadan after 80 killed in Hama

Syrians began the Muslim Ramadan fast in sombre mood on Monday after troops stormed into Hama, scene of a 1982 massacre, in one of the bloodiest days of a five-month-old uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.

Rights activists said 80 civilians were killed in Sunday's tank-backed assault on the central Syrian city where Assad's father crushed an armed Muslim Brotherhood revolt 29 years ago by razing neighbourhoods and killing many thousands of people.

Security forces had besieged the Sunni Muslim city of 700,000 for nearly a month before Sunday's crackdown on the eve of Ramadan, a holy month when Muslims fast in daylight hours.

Many people flock to mosque prayers at night, occasions which may provide opportunities for protests to multiply across Syria.

The Syrian state news agency said the military entered Hama to purge armed groups that were terrorising citizens, an account dismissed as "nonsense" by a U.S. diplomat in Damascus.

The agency said eight police personnel were killed while "confronting armed terrorist groups" in Hama.

Residents said tanks began pounding neighbourhoods of the city after attacking from several directions in a dawn assault.

Footage posted on social media showed large parts of the city covered in smoke, and panic-stricken groups surrounding the bodies of dead or wounded people in the streets as gunfire rang out. Reuters could not independently verify the content of the videos.

U.S. President Barack Obama said he was appalled by the Syrian government's "horrifying" violence against its people in Hama and promised to work with others to isolate Assad.

"Syria will be a better place when a democratic transition goes forward," Obama said in a statement.

Britain and France condemned the Hama assault. Italy urged a tough statement by the U.N. Security Council, where Russia and China have previously opposed any condemnation of Syria.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/08/01/uk-syria-idUKTRE76S3YW20110801