Cairo - Egypt imprisoned and said it would deport a German family that tore up its German identification papers upon arrival, fearing the documents would connect them to an "infidel state."

Egypt accused the family of Islamic extremism and imprisoned the family, which consisted of a man, his wife, his two sisters and his mother. They were being prepared for deportation, Egyptian Independent al-Badeel newspaper reported.

According to media reports, the family does not want to return to Germany.

Jerusalem - Israeli Interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert telephoned Egyptian President Hozny Mubarak Wednesday to apologize "in the name of the state of Israel" for a remark in which a hardline Israeli lawmaker told the Egyptian president to "get lost."

Damascus - Talks to reconcile differences between feuding Palestinian factions could fall apart if Egyptian mediators refuse to consider input from the factions, a source close to the negotiations said Wednesday.

"Egypt told the Palestinian factions that it would not consider the comments and amendments made by the factions on the draft submitted by Cairo," said Khaled Abdel Meguid, secretary of the follow-up committee of a national meeting of Palestinians.

Cairo - Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa on Monday condemned the US raid in Syria on Sunday, describing it as "a violation of Syrian sovereignty."

Mussa told reporters at the League's headquarters that the US action did not help stability in the already volatile region.

He underlined the Arab League's support for Syria's "right to defend its land and people" and called for an investigation in the incident to "hold those responsible into account."

Gaza - Three Palestinians were killed Saturday when a tunnel used for smuggling beneath the Gaza-Egypt border collapsed, medics and witnesses said.

Witnesses said the three had been working on the tunnel, which collapsed near its end on the Egyptian side. The dead were taken to Egyptian hospitals in the northern Sinai city of al-Arish.

Palestinian medics said the deaths brought the number of Palestinians killed in such tunnels to 50.

Cairo - Crowds of private investors in Egypt's stock market, rallying angrily outside the bourse in downtown Cairo, demanding a halt in trading or at least the resignation of the exchange's head, have become a common sight in recent weeks.

Egypt's capital market, which for five years has been one of the best performing in the world, is now in the doldrums. The benchmark CASE 30 index has fallen by more than half since last May.

As a result, Egypt's many small retail investors, who had bet their family's savings on the seemingly inexorable rise of the CASE, are increasingly caught by the financial, social and psychological fallout of the global credit crunch.

Ordinary Egyptian families are now feeling the pain, some in desperate ways.