CAIRO (Reuters) – The Middle East has moved on since the U.S. president addressed Muslims from Cairo two years ago, transformed by uprisings that have already ousted two autocrats.

As he addressed the region again on Thursday, some Arabs said Barack Obama wasn’t keeping pace of the change, others welcomed his fine words but wanted more action and some said they were too busy with the regional turmoil to listen to him.

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt’s ruling military council on Wednesday dismissed speculation it would pardon former President Hosni Mubarak, who is under investigation for graft and abuse of power, and said it does not interfere in judicial affairs. Mubarak, 83, is detained in a hospital in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh after officials said he had heart problems. His wife, Suzanne, who also fell ill when ordered detained, was freed on Tuesday after giving up assets but faces a graft probe.

The timing of the illnesses of Mubarak and his wife meant neither joined other officials in jail and has fueled talk they were getting special treatment by the army.

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt’s publicly reviled former interior minister was jailed for 12 years on Thursday, the first member of Hosni Mubarak’s cabinet to be sentenced, a step that sent a message that no one in the new Egypt is above the law.

Habib al-Adli, hated for the brutality of his police by the protesters who ousted Mubarak on February 11, led a powerful security apparatus and was once seen as untouchable.

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt intends to open its border with Gaza permanently to ease life for Palestinians under an Israeli blockade but the mechanics of such a step are still being worked out, the Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.

The initiative, received coolly in Israel, suggested a further Egyptian policy shift since the toppling of Hosni Mubarak, whose government cooperated with the Jewish state in enforcing the blockade on the Islamist Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.

CAIRO/BENGHAZI (Reuters) – Diplomats will make a new effort to forge an end to the Libyan civil war on Thursday, after agreeing to call for Muammar Gaddafi to leave power but failing to forge a unified strategy to force him out.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, Arab League head Amr Moussa and officials from the African Union and Organisation of the Islamic Conference will discuss Libya at Arab League headquarters in Cairo.

CAIRO/BENGHAZI, April 14 (Reuters) – Diplomats will make a
new effort to forge an end to the Libyan civil war on Thursday,
after agreeing to call for Muammar Gaddafi to leave power but
failing to forge a unified strategy to force him out.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, EU foreign policy chief
Catherine Ashton, Arab League head Amr Moussa and officials from
the African Union and Organisation of the Islamic Conference
will discuss Libya at Arab League headquarters in Cairo.

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt’s former president Hosni Mubarak suffered a “heart crisis” on Tuesday during questioning over the killing of protesters and embezzling of public funds and is now in intensive care, state media said.

Mubarak, ousted on February 11 after 30 years in office, was summoned on Sunday by the public prosecutor as part of the investigation. His sons, Alaa and Gamal, were also summoned by state prosecutors probing accusations of embezzlement.

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt’s politics have been transformed since Hosni Mubarak was toppled on February 11 but the prospect of elections may put remnants of his ruling party and an established Islamist group in the driving seat for now.

Torn between the desire for stability and a full purge of the system which could extend turmoil that has cost the economy billions of dollars, many Egyptians have opted for the former.

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt’s politics have been transformed since Hosni Mubarak was toppled on Feb. 11 but the prospect of elections may put remnants of his ruling party and an established Islamist group in the driving seat for now.

Torn between the desire for stability and a full purge of the system which could extend turmoil that has cost the economy billions of dollars, many Egyptians have opted for the former.

CAIRO (Reuters) – The Arab League chief told Reuters Friday that the U.N. Security Council resolution on Libya was aimed at protecting civilians without backing any invasion, and said he did not want any side “to go too far.”

Secretary-general Amr Moussa said the participation of any Arab state in implementing a no-fly zone or in other action would be discussed bilaterally as the League’s own resolution backing a no-fly zone had not specified steps by states.