Cairo - An Egyptian military court has sentenced an opposition politician and former newspaper editor to two years in prison for illegally crossing into the Gaza Strip, a source close to Egyptian security said on Wednesday.

The source, who spoke to Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media, said that the military tribunal in the Suez Canal town of Ismailiya on Wednesday found Magdi Hussein, a fiery orator with Egypt's suspended Labour Party, guilty of traveling to Gaza illegally through a smuggling tunnel in January.

Hussein may appeal the sentence, following changes to Egypt's law on military justice, passed in April 2007.

Cairo - Egyptian security forces on Wednesday morning released a German-Egyptian graduate student and blogger held incommunicado since Friday night, his friends and family reported.

Late on Friday night, officers from Egypt's domestic intelligence agency, State Security Investigations, detained Philip Rizk, a German-Egyptian graduate student, blogger, and film-maker, after he completed a symbolic march in Egypt's Qalubiya province north of Cairo to protest the blockade of Gaza.

"It's true. Philip is at home. We are very happy," Rizk's sister, Jeannette, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa on Wednesday.

Cairo/Beirut - A delegation from Hamas' leadership in Gaza on Tuesday crossed into Egypt to continue cease-fire negotiations in Cairo as Israelis went to the polls in an election whose outcome could influence the talks.

The four-member delegation, which includes the movement's spokesman, Ayman Taha, will join other Hamas negotiators who have been meeting with Egyptian intelligence officials to hash out a deal to establish a long-term ceasefire and open Gaza's borders.

Cairo  - Police have detained a third pro-Palestinian blogger in Egypt, a source close to Egypt's Interior Ministry confirmed on Tuesday.

The security source, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media, on Tuesday told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that police took Dia al-Din Gad from his home in Egypt's Gharbiya province, northwest of Cairo, on Friday.

London, Feb 10: In a rare find, archaeologists have discovered more than 20 mummies in a burial chamber in Egypt, dating back at least 2,600 years.

According to a report in BBC News, the mummies, 22 of which were found in niches along a wall, were in a tomb dating to 640 BC.

One wooden sarcophagus had not been opened since ancient times, though one official said ancient grave robbers had probably reached it first, according to a government statement.

Paris - Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak said Monday in Paris that a ceasefire could come into effect in the Middle East "perhaps as early as next week," French media reported.

Mubarak made the statement after holding talks about the situation in the strife-torn region with French President Nicolas Sarkozy at the Elysee Palace.

The Egyptian president invited Sarkozy to take part in a conference on the reconstruction of Gaza to be held March 2 in Cairo. Both leaders have been active in trying to broker a truce between Hamas and Israel.