Cairo  - A delegation of senior members of the Palestinian group Hamas arrived in Cairo Tuesday for talks with Egyptian officials aimed at ending the Hamas-Fatah power struggle in Gaza and the West Bank and achieving Palestinian national reconciliation.

Cairo - A bus collided with a truck in central Egypt on Sunday, killing at least

Baghdad - Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit on Sunday arrived in Iraq on an unannounced visit, the first by a high- level Egyptian delegation since the 2003 US invasion, an Iraqi official

Cairo  - Bahrain's Foreign Minister called for the establishment of a regional organization that includes Arab states as well as Turkey, Israel and Iran, media reports said on Wednesday.

Sheik Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa was quoted by the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat as saying "such an organization should be formed even if we don't recognize each other."

The aim of the grouping would be to resolve disputes its members have with one another, according to the minister.

"Let them all sit together in one group ... Why not become one organization to overcome this difficult phase?," he said.

Cairo  - Egyptians on Wednesday celebrated the first day of Eid al-Fitr that marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

This year, the holiday in Egypt is a week long, due to the coming weekend and the October 6 commemoration of the 1973 war with Israel.

After four weeks of fasting, a holiday mood spread among Egyptians, who began the day with the Eid prayers after sunrise.

Families and friends prepared to visit each, while many, encouraged by the warm weather, headed to coastal cities for the feast.

Cairo - German ambassador in Cairo Bernd Erbel has praised Egypt's 'intense efforts' to secure the release of the Germans among the 19 people kidnapped on Sept 19, media reports said on Wednesday.

"We are happy the German hostages plus a Romanian national have returned home in good health," Erbel told the English-language daily The Egyptian Gazette.

The hostages - five German, five Italian and a Romanian tourist, as well as eight Egyptian tour guides, were freed on Monday, 10 days after they were kidnapped while on safari in the Gilf Kebir region of Egypt's Western Desert.

"We are all happy about our common success," he said.