"Islamists ensure voice in constitution
CAIRO - Egypt’s Islamist-dominated Parliament voted overwhelmingly Saturday in favor of ensuring that its own lawmakers will make up the bulk of a panel that will write the country’s constitution. The Islamists want a formidable presence on the 100-member panel to ensure a strong voice in the process. They voted that 50 members of the group drafting the first constitution after the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak must come from the Parliament (AP)."
"Lawmakers denounce Egypt’s constitution panel selection" by Maggie Michael | Associated Press, March 25, 2012
CAIRO - Egypt’s Islamists looked poised Saturday to gain control of a key lever of power that will help steer the country’s political future as Parliament selected a panel to draw up the country’s new constitution. Liberal lawmakers denounced the process as a farce and walked out in protest....
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"The dispute pits the country’s two most powerful political forces - the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood and the ruling generals who took over after Mubarak’s ouster - against each other....
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I guess Egyptians can't write.
Related:
"the generals.... cozying up to the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood.... cultivating ties with the powerful Muslim Brotherhood.... praised the Brotherhood"
I dunno what to tell you, readers. Don't read an AmeriKan newspaper if you want to know what is really going on in the world.
Well, at least they get a free and fair election for dictator, 'er, president:
"Egypt’s election commission disqualified 10 presidential hopefuls, including the country’s former spy chief and key Islamists, from running in a surprise decision that threatened to upend the tumultuous race....
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One of them that got the boot:
"As chief of intelligence, Suleiman knew all the secrets of the old government, its friends and its enemies. US officials have said that on matters of foreign policy, talking to Suleiman was as good as talking to Mubarak, and State Department cables released by the antisecrecy group WikiLeaks show that he collaborated with the United States in the interrogation of people suspected of being terrorists. Torture was routine under the Mubarak government’s security services."
Then he's a war criminal.
But that was okay because Egypt was a rendition destination and an ally.
Related:
Egypt’s ex-spy chief says he joined race to stop ‘religious state’
Islamists rally against candidate in Egypt
Others that received the same:
"New entrant in presidential race
CAIRO - Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, in control of almost half the seats in Parliament, said it was fielding a presidential candidate. The nomination of Khayrat el-Shater was a reversal of an earlier decision and could put the group on a collision course with Egypt’s ruling generals (AP)."
Also see: Egypt court clears an obstacle to candidacy of Islamist presidential candidate
Islamists set back in Egypt’s election
Egypt's military sets new election condition
Egyptian generals urged to give up power
Egypt’s ruling military to reshuffle Cabinet
Egypt presidential race narrowed to 13 candidates
One who won't be running:
"Pope Shenouda III, leader of Egypt’s Coptic Christians" by Maggie Michael and Lee Keath | Associated Press, March 18, 2012
CAIRO, Egypt - Pope Shenouda III, the patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church who led Egypt’s Christian minority for 40 years during a time of increasing tensions with Muslims, died Saturday. He was 88.
His death comes as the country’s estimated 10 million Christians are feeling more vulnerable than ever amid the rise of Islamic movements to political power after the toppling a year ago of President Hosni Mubarak. The months since have seen a string of attacks on the community, heightened anti-Christian rhetoric by ultraconservatives known as Salafis and fears that coming governments will try to impose strict versions of Islamic law.
Tens of thousands of
Christians packed the main Coptic cathedral in Cairo on Saturday
evening hoping to see his body. Women in black wept and screamed. Some,
unable to get into the overcrowded building, massed outside, raising
their hands in prayer.
Munis’ friend, Sherif Sabry, interrupted. “He was our rock. God help us find someone who can fill his place.’’
**********************************
Pope Shenouda’s method was to work behind the scenes. He sought to contain Christians’ anger and gave strong support to Mubarak’s government, while avoiding pressing Coptic demands too vocally in public to prevent a backlash from Muslim conservatives. In return, Mubarak’s regime allowed the Church wide powers among the Christian community.
In the past year, young and liberal Christians grew increasingly overt in their criticism of his approach, saying it brought little success in easing violence or discrimination. Moreover, they argued, the Church’s domination in Christians’ lives further ghettoized them, making them a sect first, Egyptian citizens second....
Pope Shenouda had one significant clash with the government, in 1981 when he accused President Anwar Sadat of failing to rein in Islamic militants. Sadat said Pope Shenouda was fomenting sectarianism and sent him into internal exile in the desert monastery of Wadi Natrun, north of Cairo. Sadat was assassinated later that year by militants. Mubarak ended Pope Shenouda’s exile in 1985.
The incident illustrated the bind of Egypt’s Christians. When they press too hard for more influence, some Muslims accuse them of causing sectarian splits. Many Copts saw Mubarak as their best protection against Islamic fundamentalists - but at the same time, his government often made concessions to conservative Muslims.
After Mubarak’s fall, ultraconservative Salafis grew more vocal, accusing Christians of seeking to convert Muslim women or even take control of the country. Several churches were attacked by mobs. Christian anger was further stoked when troops harshly put down a Christian protest in Cairo, killing 27 people.
See: Egyptian Army Crashed Coptic Christian Protests
Literally.
In an unprecedented move aimed at showing unity, leaders from the Muslim Brotherhood along with top generals from the ruling military joined Pope Shenouda for services for Orthodox Christmas in January at the Cairo cathedral....
The Muslim Brotherhood’s political party offered condolences “to the Egyptian people and its Christian brothers.’’
That's one reason I no longer buy into the intelligence agency operations known as sectarianism, sorry. Divide and conquer, cui bono?
Parliament speaker Saad el-Katatny, a Brotherhood member, praised the pope, calling him a “man respected among Coptic Christians and Muslims’’ for his love of Egypt and his opposition to Israel’s annexation of Jerusalem. Under a long-standing order, Pope Shenouda barred his followers from pilgrimage to Jerusalem as a protest of Israel’s hold on the city....
Then he is heaven as surely as I am typing this.
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So how is that new Egyptian justice system working out?
"Egyptians’ trial begins in deadly soccer riot" April 18, 2012|By Aya Batrawy
CAIRO - Fans charged in Egypt’s deadliest soccer riot declared their innocence in the first session of their trial Tuesday, directing their anger toward police accused of collaborating in the killing of 75 supporters of a rival team.
Nine senior officers, including six police generals and a colonel, are among the 73 people charged in the case. The officers were present in the courtroom, dressed in traditional white defendant uniforms, but they were not held in the courtroom cage with the rest of those on trial.
If the police are convicted, it would further fuel widespread speculation that the country’s much-despised Interior Ministry force allowed the bloody Feb. 1 attack on fans of a soccer club with which they have a long antagonistic history.
Most of the defendants are fans of Al Masry, the main sports club in the Mediterranean city of Port Said, where the attack took place. The majority of the victims were fans of a rival team, Cairo’s Al Ahly, whose supporters are credited with playing a major role in the 18-day popular uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak last year.
Survivors of the attack charge that police allowed the attack by Al Masry fans to deteriorate into bloodshed. Others have suggested that former regime loyalists hired thugs to infiltrate the stadium and kill Al Ahly fans....
The lights at the stadium were abruptly turned off and the exit doors closed during the melee, forcing a stampede down a narrow corridor. The stadium gate, which was locked from the outside, was forced open by the crowd. Dozens were crushed to death there....
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Related: Egyptian Government Gets Its Goal
Also see: Egypt comedian found guilty of offending Islam
Not funny.
Neither is this:
"US resumes military aid to Egypt, amid concerns about its progress toward democracy" New York Times, March 24, 2012
WASHINGTON - The Obama administration said Friday it will resume military aid to Egypt, despite the nation’s halting progress toward democracy, adding that national security interests favored the release of $1.3 billion in military aid.
The price of keeping Egypt's military in the ally column. Can't have Israel's western flank exposed as they move on the eastern front of Syria and Iran.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton waived a certification requirement imposed by Congress that would have held up the annual aid package.
The waiver was “designed to demonstrate our strong support for Egypt’s enduring role as a security partner and leader in promoting regional stability and peace,’’ the US State Department said.
The administration has been walking a fine line between supporting the government of Egypt, a longtime strategic partner, and the democracy movement among its people. Some critics say it has tilted too far in one direction; some in the other.
“Waiving the new conditions on democracy and human rights is regrettable,’’ said Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, who heads a subcommittee on foreign aid spending.
Leahy had urged the administration to dole out any aid a little at a time, and he said the decision to release the whole amount at once had compounded the error.
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Related: Egypt Antagonizes AmeriKa
Actually, they sent the spies, 'er, kids home.
Update:
"Embassy in Cairo closed after protest
RIYADH - Saudi Arabia closed its Cairo embassy on Saturday and recalled its ambassador after protests over a detained Egyptian human rights lawyer, a sharp escalation of tension between two regional powers already on shaky terms due to uprisings in the Arab world. The diplomatic break followed protests by hundreds of Egyptians in Cairo and other cities to demand the release of Ahmed el-Gezawi, who is accused of insulting the Saudi king (AP)."
