Egyptian security forces raided
the office of the Iranian Al Alam Arabic language satellite channel in Cairo
and detained its director, the outlet reported on Saturday.
"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
Mohamed Morsi.
This as Egypt's interim president has issued a decree for a committee of legal experts to start work on Sunday to amend the constitution that was suspended by the army earlier this month, the state-run news website of Al-Ahram said.
The constitution was drafted last year by an Islamist-dominated assembly boycotted by liberals and Christians, who said it fell short on human rights and freedoms. It was put on ice following the July 3 ousting of President Morsi.
A revised constitution has to be in place before Egypt can hold fresh elections.
On another note, Egypt's new foreign minister said
Cairo is reevaluating its relationship with
Syria following the military's
ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.
Nabil Fahmy said in his
first public comments since becoming Egypt's top diplomat that the country
continues to support the Syrian uprising but that Cairo has no intention of
waging jihad, or holy war, in Syria.
Fahmy's comments signaled a shift
from Morsi's approach.
Just weeks before Morsi was
deposed on July 3, a senior presidential aide said authorities would not
prevent Egyptians from traveling to Syria to join the rebel cause.
Morsi also attended a rally on
June 15 in which hard-line clerics urged young Egyptians to go fight in Syria.
Speaking at the rally, Morsi announced he was severing diplomatic ties with
Damascus.
Earlier, Egypt said it was very concerned that the
Ethiopian government had not responded to an Egyptian invitation to discuss a
dispute over a giant dam that Ethiopia plans to build on the Nile.
"Egypt is deeply worried that Ethiopia has
not yet reacted to the invitation Egypt's minister of water and irrigation made
to conduct a meeting in Cairo on the consequences of the dam," a statement
issued by the foreign ministry said. Egypt fears the dam will reduce water
flows vital for its 84 million people.
Egypt's recently ousted President Mohamed Morsi
said last month that "all options" were open in dealing with Ethiopia
over the project, prompting Ethiopia to say it was ready to defend its $4.7
billion dam, which lies near its border with Sudan.
On the field:
An Egyptian woman and a 13-year-old boy were killed when supporters and opponents of ousted Islamist President Mohamed Morsi clashed in the Nile Delta town of Mansoura, the website of state-run newspaper Al-Ahram said.
Thousands of Morsi supporters took to the streets of Egyptian cities on Friday to demand the reinstatement of the Islamist leader who was removed by the army on July 3 after mass protests.
REUTERS/AP