ABU DHABI — Shaikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Chairperson of the Family Welfare Foundation, received a delgation of diplomats’ wives from Dubai and the Northern Emirates here yesterday. They had come to extend Eid greetings to Shaikha Fatima.

By Kate Gaier 6:45 pm January 1, 2007 An arrest is made in a year old murder case in Cairo... but the motive is still anyone's guess. Neighbors say Pearl Johnson was a kind-hearted woman. Even though she was disabled, she would help anyone.

Al-Qaida's number two man is aiming some New Year's criticism at the leaders of Egypt and the Palestinians. But Ayman al-Zawahri's statement hasn't been authenticated.

Panaji, Jan 1 Muslim brethren celebrated Bakr-Id with ritualistic fervour in Goa. Friends and relatives besides people from other faiths wished the members of Muslim community Eid Mubarak on the auspicious occasion. Prayers were offered at mosques throughout Goa during the day.

Israeli officials on Monday denied claims that they were close to a deal that would secure the release of a captured soldier held by Palestinian militants, citing excessive demands by the Islamic Hamas.

Egyptian pound

The Egyptian pound (Arabic: الجنيه المصرى Al-Junieh Al-Misri) is the current legal currency of the Arab Republic of Egypt. The pound is divided into 100 piastres or 1000 milliemes.

The ISO 4217 code for the Egyptian pound is EGP. Locally, the abbreviation LE, which stands for livre egyptien (French for Egyptian pound) is frequently used. Historically, E£ has also seen unofficial usage.

Banknotes worth 100, 50, 20, 10, 5, and 1 pounds are in currently circulation, along with notes worth 50, 25, and 10 piasters. All Egyptian banknotes are bilingual, with Arabic texts and Arabic-Indic numerals on one side, and English and European numbers on the other.

Coins, even for the smallest amounts, are encountered much less frequently than notes, but 25, 20, 10, 5, 2, and 1 piastre coins remain legal currency. The most recent 25 piastre coin is pierced.

The value of the Egyptian pound compared to the U.S. dollar is 1 Dollar near 6 EGP. More information for Egyptian pound exchange rate:

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In 1834, a Royal Decree promulgating a Parliamentary Bill was issued providing for the issuing of an Egyptian currency based on a bimetallic base. In 1836 the Egyptian pound was minted and put into circulation.

The legal exchange rates were fixed by force of law for important foreign currencies which became acceptable in the settlement of internal transactions. Eventually this led to Egypt using a de facto gold standard.

The National Bank of Egypt issued banknotes for the first time on 3 April 1899.

The Central Bank of Egypt and the National Bank of Egypt were unified into the Central Bank of Egypt.