CAIRO — Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court ruled on Saturday against parts of an election law approved by the Islamist-led legislature that had lifted a long-standing ban on the use of religious slogans during campaigning.

DEAD SEA, Jordan — A Salafist adviser to Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi said Sunday that he “had no problem” with the Camp David Peace Accords between Israel and Egypt, but added that the number of Egyptian soldiers allowed to enter the Sinai Peninsula under the agreement must be increased.

The Muslim Brotherhood condemned on Saturday the Iranian intervention in Syria through “Hezbollah militias”.

Britain’s national security chiefs met on Thursday as counter-terrorism police investigated the murder of a soldier who was hacked to death in a London street by two suspected Islamic extremists.

Salafi jihadist groups denied any responsibility for the kidnapping of the seven soldiers being held hostage in Sinai.

Libyan authorities on Wednesday deported 238 Egyptian workers, including 28 fishermen, claiming that they had entered the country illegally.

Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Ahmad Al-Tayeb announced that Al-Azhar will be sending out convoys throughout Egypt to spread moderate Islamic thought, and to right misconceptions and destructive beliefs, particularly in regards to violence and extremism.

CAIRO, May 22 (Reuters) - An Egyptian court sentenced four men on Wednesday to death by hanging for the 2011 killing of a Coptic Christian priest in his apartment in the southern city of Assiut, state news agency MENA reported.

Salafi jihadist groups denied any responsibility for the kidnapping of the seven soldiers being held hostage in Sinai.

A delegation from Salafist Call – Egypt's most powerful Salafist group – is seeking to communicate with the kidnappers of seven security personnel in the Sinai Peninsula, the group's leader said on Tuesday.

The United States Department of State published its annual International Religious Freedom Report for 2012 on Monday. The section of the report regarding Egypt said that while the constitution includes provisions for freedom of religion, it also contains restrictions on these freedoms.

Tamarod, a rebellion campaign whose aim is to collect 15 million signatures on a petition against President Mohamed Mursi, said on Tuesday that the lawsuits against it show that the Muslim Brotherhood fears it.

Until recently, hardline Salafis in Tunisia held on to the belief that the country was a land of da’wa (preaching), not a land of jihad. The Islamist-led government elected after the 2011 revolution had given them the freedom to spread their puritanical brand

Hamas has declared the border area between Egypt and the Gaza Strip a “closed military zone” on Monday as the Sinai hostage crisis enters its fifth day. The closure was announced early on Monday morning, according state-run Al-Ahram, and all known tunnels are said to be closed.

A judge has referred 12 more people to court for their involvement in the violence in the town of Al-Khosous in April that claimed the lives of seven people and was the spark for further sectarian violence.

Cairo Criminal Court has issued a life prison sentence of 25 years and a fine of LE20,000 ($2,800) for Salafist Hazemoon movement member Ahmed Arafa, on possession of firearms without a licence.

Prominent preachers from Egypt's ultra-conservative Salafist Call have again lambasted the "ruling" Muslim Brotherhood for their policies that they say contradict with Islamic teachings.

Samir Sabri, a lawyer, filed a complaint to the Supreme State Security Prosecution against Ahmed Mamhoud Abdullah, also known as Abu Islam, because he threatened Christians in Egypt.

An al Qaeda-linked militant cell detained in Egypt was planning suicide attacks on the French and U.S. embassies, the state news agency MENA reported on Wednesday, quoting investigators.

Islamist group Al-Jamaa Al-Islamiya will focus efforts to end sectarian strife, said leaders and members of the group’s political wing the Building and Development Party (BDP) in a press conference on Wednesday.

A number of Egyptian prosecutors have recommended establishing a specialized committee to investigate crimes of human trafficking, saying there are loops in the existing legislation.