Tag: egypt

WaPo: “Lost in the Middle East”

The Washington Post takes the time to point the obvious and gets in some good old fashioned Hozz-bashing:

The new strategy explains a series of reversals of U.S. policy that otherwise would be baffling. In addition to embracing the Middle East peacemaker role that it has shunned for six years, the administration has decided to seek $98 million in funding for Palestinian security forces — the same forces it rightly condemned in the past as hopelessly corrupt and compromised by involvement in terrorism. Those forces haven’t changed, but since they are nominally loyal to “mainstream” Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and serve as a check on the power of the “extremist” Hamas, they are on the right side of Ms. Rice’s new divide.

So is Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, a thuggish autocrat who was on the wrong side of Ms. Rice’s previous Mideast divide between pro-democracy forces and defenders of the illiberal status quo. In past visits to Cairo, Ms. Rice sparred with Mr. Mubarak’s foreign minister over the imprisonment of democratic opposition leaders such as Ayman Nour and the failure to fulfill promises of political reform. On Monday, she opened her Cairo news conference by declaring that “the relationship with Egypt is an important strategic relationship, one that we value greatly.” There was no mention of Mr. Nour or democracy.

They should also mention that this US egging on of a Sunni-Shia conflict is the most irresponsible thing since… well, since the invasion of Iraq. My feeling is that while some Arab governments are at least partly encouraging this worldview to justify their backing of US policy — see Sandmonkey’s reflections on anti-Shia diatribes in the Egyptian press lately — the main force behind this is the Bush administration, which against all common sense seems bent on escalating tensions with Iran. If some kind of regional conflict pitting Shia against Sunnis emerges, than the US will bear a great deal of the responsibility for having started it, and this will not be forgotten by the region’s inhabitants.

Over the last five years, major Arab states like Saudi Arabia and Egypt had made some overtures to Iran and both sides were keen to improve relations. Trade with Iran has also increased over the last few years. Now talks of reopening embassies are over.

This is not dismiss the problem posed by Iran’s nuclear program, but between Iran having nuclear weapons and a region-wide second fitna, I know what I’d choose.

NDP MP strips to protest amendments??!?

Intriguing story:

An Egyptian ruling party politician started to undress in parliament on Tuesday in protest at proposed constitutional amendments which perpetuate many of the Egyptian president’s vast powers.

In a debate on the amendments, details of which have not been released, member of parliament Mohamed Hussein objected to the article which gives the president the right to dissolve parliament.

“Enough of that, enough. Should I take my clothes off?” he added, using a sarcastic popular expression used in response to someone’s excessive expectations.

When Hussein unbuttoned the waistcoat of his suit, speaker Fathi Sorour threatened to have him thrown out of the chamber.

A month or so ago I remember hearing about a group of 60 NDP MPs who wrote a letter of protest asking for the amendment of Article 77 to limit presidential terms to two. I do know some in the NDP believe this should be done, as well as many establishment commentators in the state press. But Hozz has made it clear it’s not about to happen. Still, it’s an interesting development to see NDP MPS — the majority of which, remember, were elected as independents, defeating the leadership’s chosen candidates — getting some backbone.

By the way, does anyone know more about this individual MP or those who demanded that Article 77 be amended?

natural bedfellows

It’ll be interesting to see whether the IHT hits Cairo newstands (has hit the newsstands? when does the print edition come out?) with a Michael Slackman piece intact. The article is more than a little critical of the Egyptian regime and of Condi’s support for it, and, while it is posted on the IHT and NYT websites, it will give the boys down at the Ministry of Info no great pleasure if they are told they have to let it through here.

Cairo: In the days before Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with officials in Egypt, the news media here were filled with stories detailing charges of corruption, cronyism, torture and political repression.

And Slackman then fills out his lead: police torture on video, contaminated blood being distributed, journalists getting arrested. He gives Ibrahim Eissa space for a quote on regime duplicity and political tensions, lets Hafez Abou Saada say the usual, and runs through a short list of the kind of reforms instituted since 2005 (back when Condi was making those huffy puffy noises that sounded to some like criticism of beating protestors and fixing elections):

Since then, Egypt’s government has piled up a long list of repressive actions, including ordering the police to block people from voting in parliamentary elections; delaying local elections by two years; imprisoning an opposition leader, Ayman Nour, on charges widely seen as politically motivated; battling with judges who have demanded oversight of elections; and imprisoning Talaat el-Sadat, a member of Parliament and the nephew of President Anwar el-Sadat, for a year in a military jail after he criticized the armed forces on television.

And he twists it closed nicely at the end, juxtaposing the experience of some Wafd members who tried to do something about sewage in their village (you guessed it, friendly visits from security) and Condi’s latest public message to Egyptians:

“I especially want to thank President Mubarak for receiving me and for spending so much time with me to talk about the issues of common interest here in the Middle East,” Ms. Rice said. “Obviously the relationship with Egypt is an important strategic relationship — one that we value greatly.”

Thanks for clearing that up Condi.

The depressing part, however, is the point that Slackman raises in the middle of his article. Shalit’s still walled up in little cell under Gaza somewhere and Fatah and Hamas are going at it like a bunch of well-armed soccer hooligans. So what does Washington have to gain these days in exchange for its complicity in the very public human rights violations of the Mubarak regime? Are they anticipating an imminent need to outsource the questioning of Gitmo releasees to the Lazoughly Interrogation Company?

Ultimately, Condi’s stance looks at best like knee-jerk retrenchment in the face of the utter failure, and at worst like somebody taking comfort in the arms of like-minded friends.

Politics doesn’t always make strange bedfellows, it seems.

Egyptian spy satellite

Egypt is about to launch a spy satellite:

Egypt will be able to spy on Israel from outer space if it successfully launches a new spy satellite Tuesday from Kazakhstan. The cameras on the EgyptSat 1 vehicle will be able to transmit photographs of objects four meters (13 feet) wide.

I guess they’re trying to keep track of Rami Lakah.

Updated since 15 Jan: Apparently the satellite will be used for remote sensing — officially at least.

Interior Ministry’s “videogate” takes a new turn

Egypt’s torture scandal is getting increasing international coverage thanks to the fact that a) it was caught on video and b) it was blogged: FT, Le Monde, Le Figaro, and others are covering the scandal, which has taken a turn for the worse yesterday with al-Jazeera reporter Howeida Taha arrested as she was leaving the country with tapes for a documentary on torture. The tapes included some reconstruction of torture scenes — a standard tool in documentary film-making — but of course security is accusing her of fabricating lies about Egypt’s sensitive, gentle police officers. So alarmed are some bloggers who covered the scandal from the beginning — such as our own Hossam el-Hamalawy, who has his thoughts on these developments here — that late last night I received an email from Wael Abbas, the one-man photo and video news agency of the Egyptian blogosphere, with the subject line “I might get arrested tomorrow!” We’ve been warned.

In the meantime, we note the predictable petty vindictiveness of the regime in the way it has decided to reward the whistle-blower and victim of this affair, Emad al-Kebir, by sentencing him to three months of prison for “resisting the authorities” — yes, the same authorities that beat and raped him in custody. HRW has the details.

I sure am glad I live in a “moderate” Arab country, Ms. Rice.

Feudal family sues over embarrassing memoirs

I’ve been hearing about this story in the last few days:

The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (HRinfo) is highly concerned by the defamation claim filed by a feudal family against an academic, Dr. Sherin Abu El Naga, a political activist, Shahenda Mekled, and the owner of the Dar Merit Publishing House, Mohamed Hashem. HRinfo is also worried about the attempt to confiscate a historical document issued in the form of a book.

Some of the employees of the feudal Aziz Al-Fiki family filed a defamation claim against the two writers and the publisher and demanded confiscation of the book titled “From the Papers of Shahenda Mekled” published by Dar Merit. Dr. Sherin Abu El Naga, the author of the book, recounted some of the feudal practices in Kamshich village, Menoufia Governorate, in the 1950s and 1960s. She documented the murder of Shahenda Mekled’s husband and political activist Salah Hussein in 1966. The book is considered an important historical document about this era. However, the Aziz Al-Fiki family’s members regarded the book as both defamatory and insulting because it discussed some of their violations against poor peasants at that time. Consequently, the Al-Fiki family filed a claim and called for the imprisonment of the two writers and the publisher in addition to confiscation of the book.

Egypt’s patrician regression continues… It is telling that the al-Fiki family is doing this, much like its scion Mustafa al-Fiki, a foreign policy busybody close to the president, shamelessly stole his seat in the 2005 parliamentary elections. And that Merit publishing, one of the best new things on the cultural scene in the past decade, is getting attacked.

Correction: I am told this is a different al-Fiqi family than that of the not-so-honorable MP from Damanhour.

Egyptian feminist blogs

Joseph Mayton writes about them in the Middle East Times:

Leading the charge is a young Egyptian female – preferring to remain anonymous due to the nature of the campaign – who has started an Arab-language feminist blog called Atralnada (morning dew). In a country where Islamic fundamentalism is on the rise, and the status of women a subject of much debate, this young activist has made her struggle public, and her blog is empowering Egyptian women to speak out in turn.

“I wanted to post about my personal experiences of being harassed,” she says simply, adding that the events of the last Eid celebration had sparked something inside her, compelling her to begin expressing herself in such a fashion.

Particularly galling to her has been the apparent callousness by Egyptian men regarding the assaults. “I am asking women to speak up and tell their stories since most of the men have denied anything [of this nature ever] happens in this country,” she points out.

“[Males] write disgusting comments on blogs telling us that we are using the forum to become famous – even though [posters have to be] anonymous – and … to attract men,” she says incredulously.

Despite the odds, the forum’s popularity is catching on, having become the mouthpiece of a fledgling feminist movement, which, unlike the majority of other movements in Egypt, can lay claim to a truly grassroots base.

Does anyone have a link to the blog? Nevermind.

Rally to free Kareem

Kareemdc.Gif

Hands Across the Middle East Support Alliance and the DC Coalition for Blog Freedom are organizing a rally in support on imprisoned Egyptian blogger Abdel Kareem Soliman on Thursday Jan. 11 2007 at noon. Kudos to them!

As many readers know Kareeem was arrested in November specifically because of his blogging and is one of several Egyptian bloggers arrested in 2006. So if you’re in the DC area, lend your support.

French documentary about Mubarak?

From the Arab gossip site Waleg:

The well known journalist Christian Mallare from France has made a documentary film about the Egyptian president Husni Mubarak and considers it the most important documentary in comparison to the other 2 films produced for foreign presidents and predicts that it will be a surprise.

Christian traveled to Egypt the last month to start the production of the film. The documentary included the biography of Mubarak, his family and practical life and interviews with his friends.

Christian says that he has made this film because he really appreciates Mubarak whom he made with a lot of important interviews and met him in several occasions in the last 23 years.

Doesn’t sound like it will be very critical… probably yet another French sycophant of Arab dictators. Googled him and can’t find anything about it, though.

New Carnegie report on Egypt and US policy

This new Carnegie Endowment report on Egypt by Michele Dunne (editor of the Arab Reform Bulletin and former State Dept. diplomat in Egypt, among other things) has gotten quite a lot of attention in the Egyptian press because it focuses on the succession issue in Egypt, its link to the ongoing (flawed) political reform initiatives and the apparent grooming of Gamal Mubarak to succeed his father:

The Constitutional amendments proposed by the NDP are intimately linked to the positioning of Mubarak’s son Gamal, who has risen gradually over the past decade to become Deputy Secretary General of the NDP and the party’s likely candidate in the next presidential election. Over the past several years Gamal Mubarak has made economic and political reform his signature issues, and in fact he previewed most of the new initiatives announced recently by the president at the annual party conference in September. He also made news by advocating a nuclear energy program and a more assertive Egyptian regional role in order to counter U.S. influence. These attention-getting statements—along with a notably humbler, more populist tone in his rhetoric about the need to translate economic reform into real benefits for poor Egyptians—appeared to be an effort to show Gamal’s responsiveness to the concerns of Egyptian citizens and to demonstrate his growing mastery of national security issues. Domestic political and economic reform took center stage, however, in NDP proposals for legislation in the parliament.


The report actually does not offer any decisive take on Gamal, which is wise (I personally believe in a Gamal scenario less and less.)

Dunne’s report offers an overview of the major amendments proposed by the NDP and the demands made by the opposition, including the Muslim Brotherhood. In its recommendations on US policy on Egypt, it urges Washington to support widespread opposition demand for term limits and the amendment of Article 77. Funnily enough — and probably no coincidence — today’s state newspaper headlines are all about Mubarak categorically refusing to amend Article 77 on the grounds that “the people decide to choose their president” and that other “big countries” also have no term limits.

I have only had time to skim the report, but I find the section on recommendations to US foreign policymakers the most interesting because Dunne is a former policy insider (she advised Rice and Bush on Egypt in 2000-2002, I believe) and an established “Egypt hand” who has been working on the problems of the US-Egypt relationship for a long time. Here are a few:

Freedom for parties: The United States should support the demand of parties for a more open and straightforward licensing system—one in which the NDP cannot strangle nascent rivals in the cradle—and should protest regime interference in party affairs. Only with such changes would the NDP initiative to shift to a proportional representation system give parties with a small base of support (which means all parties except the NDP and the illegal Brotherhood) a real chance at parliamentary representation. Regarding the Brotherhood, there is as yet no clear consensus on how it can be fully enfranchised without threatening stability, and it is not up to the United States to resolve this conundrum. Washington should, however, encourage Egypt to continue opening the political system so that a solution can emerge over time.

Electoral supervision: It is extremely important that the gains made in 2005 be built upon and not reversed. Although the creation of a truly independent and capable electoral commission is desirable, it probably is not feasible at present, and so the United States should support the calls of Egyptian judges for continued extensive involvement in electoral supervision for the time being.

And perhaps most interesting:

the single most important thing the United States can do to promote political reform in Egypt is to pay consistent attention to the subject. Direct engagement should primarily take place through private dialogue with the Egyptian government and continued assistance to governmental and nongovernmental entities. The United States can have a significant effect on opposition and civil society activists in Egypt despite widespread anger at many aspects of U.S. policy in the Middle East.

It seems to me that is a polite of way of saying that US policy towards Egypt has been, in recent years, hesitant and incoherent, if not outright contradictory. The difference between 2002-2004 and post-2004 is particularly striking, and it’s not only the changing of ambassadors.