AVOID MUSLIM EGYPT
Violence mars Egyptian referendum
Demonstrators opposing 'sham' referendum
beaten by pro-Mubarak supporters
Compiled by Daily Star staff
May 26, 2005
CAIRO: Plain clothes supporters of Egyptian President hosni Mubarak beat up groups of anti Mubarak demonstrators as voting in a national referendum was expected to clear the way for Egypt's first multi-candidate presidential elections. Critics consider the referendum a sham, saying the rules being laid down ensure Mubarak will have no serious challengers and that his ruling National Democratic Party won't lose its grip on power. The measure was expected to pass easily.
Several opposition groups called a boycott of the vote, and some organized demonstrations. One was canceled amid heavy security and warnings that protests would not be tolerated.
But scattered anti-Mubarak demonstrations took place in defiance of the warnings, some on the margins of pro-Mubarak street rallies, with scattered reports of violence. Many gatherings were broken up by force.
In one, more than a dozen members of the anti-Mubarak movement Kefaya, or "Enough" were beaten by pro-Mubarak gangs. The protesters tried to seek police protection but a high-ranking officer ordered lawmen to withdraw and allowed the attackers to set upon the demonstrators.
Elsewhere, 150 pro-Mubarak protesters attacked Kefaya members, belting them with wooden sticks used to hold Mubarak banners. Demonstrators scattered, with some taking refuge inside the press syndicate building.
Another clash occurred when demonstrators placed Kefaya stickers onto placards emblazoned with Mubarak's face and waved them in the air, chanting: "Leave, leave Mubarak." Plainclothes state security investigators were beating, groping and verbally harassing demonstrators, particularly women.
About a dozen people, mostly women, were violently cornered and surrounded by nightstick-toting plainclothes police. Some began beating demonstrators.
A senior government official said he was "dismayed" by reports of violence, but said there was no intentional harassment of protesters. He asked not to be identified.
Kefaya spokesman Abdel-Halim Qandil said two Kefaya members were hurt; it wasn't clear how badly. Police said 10 demonstrators were arrested.
"This is the first time this sort of beating and humiliation has taken place here in Cairo," Qandil said, but added it has been a problem in provincial areas away from the media.
At polling stations, "no" voters were hard to find, but it wasn't clear whether their absence was due to boycott calls or lack of interest in a measure sure to pass. Many supporters of the measure weren't clear what they were agreeing to.
"Of course I would say yes, because the president is so committed to serving us that he doesn't sleep," said Mohammad Ahmad, a 42-year-old shopkeeper.
Outside Cairo, there were reports of light turnout with many voters saying they were urged to vote or suffer penalties.
"I voted to avoid any government penalty," said Ahmad Hussain Mohammad, a government worker in Sohag, 390 kilometers south of Cairo, who said his colleagues told him that he would be fined if he didn't cast a ballot.
Mubarak has led Egypt since soon after President Anwar Sadat was assassinated in 1981, reinstalled every six years in the yes-no, single-candidate referendums he is asking the Constitution to end. Mubarak hasn't formally announced he will run again but is widely expected to do so.
Egypt's opposition leaders are known in certain circles, but except for the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, are relatively unknown to most Egyptians. The Brotherhood, the country's oldest and largest Islamic movement, is believed to have hundreds of thousands of supporters nationwide.
The Interior Ministry has said about 32.5
million registered citizens were expected to vote. Results are expected today.
Egypt's semiofficial Middle East News Agency said preliminary results may be
available later Wednesday. - AP
Deaths increase in Egypt bombings
Official arrest 35, but their links to blasts remain unclear.
By GREG MYRE and MONA EL-NAGGAR
The New York Times
Sunday, July 24, 2005
SHARM EL-SHEIK, EGYPT – The death toll from three bombs at this Red Sea resort rose sharply Saturday. Egyptian authorities said at least 90 people had been killed in an attack strikingly similar to one that tore apart resorts farther up the coast of the Sinai peninsula nine months ago.
The latest attacks, the worst in Egypt, ripped through an upscale hotel, a local market and a parking lot beginning shortly after 1 a.m., a synchronized series of blasts that witnesses and authorities said had occurred about five minutes apart.
Citing police officials, Reuters reported that 35 people had been arrested Saturday, though it was not clear if they were suspected of close ties to the bombers or whether it was part of a general roundup.
Egypt's interior minister, Habib el-Adly, who visited the blast sites on Saturday, said those behind the October explosions in Taba "could be linked" to the ones here.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak visited the injured in a hospital, and later addressed the nation on television, vowing to track down those responsible. World leaders quickly condemned the bombings.
"This cowardly, criminal act is aimed at undermining Egypt's security and stability and harming its people and its guests," Mubarak said. "This will only increase our determination in chasing terrorism."
The dead and injured included significant numbers of European tourists and Egyptians, with at least 240 people injured, said Essam Sharif, director of emergency medicine in Sharm el-Sheik. The foreign casualties included Spaniards, British, French, Italians, Qataris and Kuwaitis.
The first of the three explosions Saturday was apparently set off by a suicide bomber in a car on a street between the town's Old Market and a new shopping center, killing several people.
The second and worst of the bombings took place along the main strip of beachfront hotels when a bomber drove a small truck through a plate glass window and into the lobby of the Ghazala Gardens hotel. The entrance of the two-story building was reduced to rubble.
The third and least damaging of the bombs exploded in a bag in a parking lot where there were relatively few people. Sharm el-Sheik hosts many tourists this time of year, but the bombing sites were less than packed because of the late hour.
The bombings come about nine months after the attacks in Taba and Nuweiba, north of Sharm, and just south of Israel's border, which also included three closely timed explosions.
Those bombs were aimed at popular sites for vacationing Israelis - among the only places in the Arab world where Israeli tourists traveled in large numbers. Egypt allowed Israeli ambulances and military units to cross the border at Taba to help with the rescue and forensic efforts.
While Saturday's bombings were similar in style, the target was somewhat different. The bombers attacked the largest resort city in a country that is heavily dependent on tourists from Europe and other Arab nations. The attacks could scare away visitors as happened in the 1990s with a previous round of terrorism.
The White House issued a statement saying that "the United States condemns in the strongest possible terms the barbaric terrorist attacks in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, that killed and injured scores of innocent civilians from many nations and religious faiths."
The statement said that President George W. Bush spoke with Mubarak on Saturday and offered his personal condolences and the support of the American people.
Egypt and Mubarak have been fiercely criticized by al-Qaida and its adherents for supporting American policy, as well as for its peace treaty with Israel. Egypt has also tried to crush or severely restrict Islamic political movements.
Egypt city tense after violence
By Michael
Slackman
The New York Times
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2005
ALEXANDRIA, Egypt Riot police forces armed with shotguns guarded a Coptic Christian church here over the weekend after Muslim protesters tried to storm the building in a demonstration that was broken up when security forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets into the crowd.
Three people were killed and many more wounded Friday in what officials called the worst case of sectarian violence to strike this Mediterranean city in recent memory.
Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets Friday, apparently angry over a play that was performed two years ago in the church and that was recently distributed on videodisc.
Although few people interviewed Saturday said they actually had seen the play or the DVD, the word on the street was it was anti-Islamic.
The streets remained tense Saturday, and many people warned that foreigners were not welcome. The mood in the city was sour and explosive.
"People are very, very provoked," said Ahmed Ali Mahmoud, 25, a pharmacist whose shop is opposite St. George's Coptic Church. "They are boiling."
While relations between faiths are often tolerant, if tense, in Egypt, there have been signs recently of growing strain between Egypt's Coptic Christians and Muslims.
It was unclear who was giving out the DVD, and church officials, as well as local residents, speculated that its distribution might somehow be connected to the coming parliamentary elections, where aggravated sectarian tensions could help certain candidates.
"We believe that this problem was raised in light of the coming parliamentary elections," a church statement said.
Alexandria, an ancient city founded by Alexander the Great, two hours north of Cairo, is home to one of the country's larger Coptic communities.
Of Egypt's 74 million people, more than 90 percent are Muslim, mostly Sunnis, and about 8 percent to 10 percent are Christian, mostly Copts.
Islam is the official state religion, and all legislation is supposed to be based on the Islamic code.
U.S. prods
Egypt to clean up election after violence
Tue Nov 29, 2005
By Saul Hudson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States urged Egypt on Monday to clean up its elections, which have been marred by accusations of fraud, voter intimidation and a crackdown on the main Islamist opposition group.
The United States has this year prodded one of its closest allies in the Middle East to improve its democratic record despite some U.S. and Egyptian fears it could destabilize the Arab world's largest country.
The United States has raised its concerns over the parliamentary election, which has been held over several days and will end next month, and asked the government of longtime leader President Hosni Mubarak to allow people to vote freely.
"We would urge the government of Egypt to provide an atmosphere during this election process in which the Egyptian people, all the Egyptian people, can express their will through the ballot box and not fear violence, not fear intimidation by any group," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters.
Egyptian police arrested nearly 200 Muslim Brotherhood activists on Monday in a crackdown on the Islamist opposition group.
McCormack cited as "sources of real concern" reports that security forces have barred some voters from casting their ballots and that election monitors have been threatened and hampered from observing polling stations.
The criticism effectively put the Bush administration in the unusual position of defending the rights of the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist group that has increased its seats five-fold by fielding candidates as independents.
President George W. Bush vowed this year to make democracy central to U.S. ties in the Middle East and called on Mubarak to lead reforms in the region.
DEMOCRACY DRIVE BENEFITS BROTHERHOOD
But Egypt's parliamentary voting so far has bolstered the view that free and fair elections could empower Islamist parties hostile to U.S. policies in several Middle Eastern countries.
And, while a change in tone has been evident in public statements from the Bush administration this year, critics complain it has held back from demanding quicker reforms in Egypt because of such fears.
Although the Muslim Brotherhood is clearly the strongest opposition force in the country, the United States distances itself from the group to avoid angering Mubarak and supports his refusal to recognize the Muslim Brotherhood as a party.
In keeping with that diplomacy, McCormack did not condemn the arrests on Monday of the activists from the Muslim Brotherhood, which wants greater political freedoms in Egypt and said the arrests were designed to weaken its chances in this week's voting.
But the Brotherhood has benefited from U.S. calls for change, which have helped to open debate in Egypt and emboldened civil society groups to monitor elections much more closely.
And McCormack seemed to welcome their election showing.
"We note that there have been a number of independent candidates that have won seats," he said. "It's important in any democratic process -- for any healthy, vibrant, growing democracy -- that the results of an election reflect the will of the people."
BY SALLY BUZBEE
ASSOCIATED PRESS
November 28, 2005
CAIRO, Egypt -- For months, the Bush administration has said that it is serious about pushing for democracy in the Middle East. It's about to get a serious test of that resolve.
Egypt, the world's most populous Arab country, is suddenly roiling with a wide-open, combative election that seems certain to end with the country's main Islamic group, the banned Muslim Brotherhood, as a big winner.
The country's rulers, longtime U.S. allies, are starting to show signs of panic: Police have barred voters from polls, and thugs have attacked Brotherhood supporters in recent days in an apparent effort to blunt the group's growing momentum.
The final round of voting is Thursday, but Brotherhood loyalists -- who run as independents -- have already increased their seats in parliament fivefold. That's not enough to unseat the ruling party, but is still seen as a slap to President Hosni Mubarak.
In some ways, despite the violence, the process is going as well as President George W. Bush could hope. Nine months after Mubarak took the first steps toward reform under U.S. pressure, it is indisputably clear that Egyptians hanker for choice and change.
Yet two things about the election could prove deeply worrisome for the West:
· One is the Brotherhood itself, and what it might do now that it has gained enough power to influence government policy in a secular system it opposes.
· The second is the turmoil Egypt likely would face during any transition, as Mubarak and his long-ruling elite struggle to decide whether to give up power, and if so, how much and how fast.
Even though Bush says it was hypocritical for the United States to forgo pressing democratic reform on authoritarian regimes such as those in Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia in return for support on other issues, Washington still needs a few Arab allies at a time when Al Qaeda loyalists are active, Iran is increasingly combative toward Israel and Iraq continues to be bloody.
A chaotic Egyptian government, torn by infighting, would be bad for the United States, as it would be unable or unwilling to help with Arab-Israeli peace or Iraqi reconciliation. Yet a U.S. retreat on democracy would reinforce the view of many Arabs who are suspicious of American motives.
So far, the Bush administration has stressed that it just wants a free and fair vote.
Still, there is American discomfort with the Brotherhood, a group that will almost certainly be less accommodating than Mubarak on issues involving Israel.
Some worry the Brotherhood's more-moderate stance -- it renounced violence in the 1970s and says it wants to create an Islamic nation through peaceful means -- is just a smoke screen.
In reality, many Egyptians who voted for the Brotherhood did so not because they want an Islamic government but to protest a Mubarak regime seen as widely corrupt.
Riots throw spotlight on a changing Egypt
Sectarian tension remains high in
Egypt just a few days after widespread riots rocked the country. The deadly
religious violence has pitted Christian and Muslim protesters against each
other. The unrest has thrown the spotlight on the country, exposing deeper
changes taking place there, not least with regards to the role of women in
Egyptian society. Analysts, for example, say an increasing number of Muslim
students are wearing veils.
"I wear the veil to be in accordance with my religion, to protect myself before
God," said one student at the University of Cairo. Fighting for more rights is
the New Woman Foundation, which says it has been subject to pressure from the
police. According to the founder, Nawla Darwiche, women are denied a place in
politics and the veil represents religious oppression.
She said: "It's a way of controlling a woman's body. It's like a chastity belt
in the middle ages. It's like female circumcision which still exists in Egypt."
However, other women, who belong to a group called Muslim Brotherhood, insist
the veil has its place. Member Makarem Al Deiri was the only female Muslim
candidate in the last elections.
She said: "We must enforce religious values at the heart of each family because
this prevents youth delinquency and helps with their education." Georgette Sohbi
belongs to the Coptic Christian minority in Egypt. She is one of only 10 women
in parliament, nominated by President Mubarak.
She said: "If the Muslim Brotherhood takes power, they'll change the country's
laws. I think there'd be violence between Coptic Christians and Muslims. Coptics
refuse to be treated like second class citizens, without any rights." With
regard to the country's future direction, observers say the role of religion is
becoming increasingly important, especially with each side convinced they know
which path is best.
A Study by the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center at the Center for Special Studies:
29 October 2006
Overview
Between December 21 and 31, 2005, the 17 th International Book Fair was held in Doha , Qatar , under the auspices of the Qatari ruler, sponsored by the National Council for Culture, Arts and Heritage of Qatar. Three hundred and fifty publishers from 17 Arab and Muslim countries had booths exhibiting over 65,000 titles in Arabic and foreign languages, some of it anti-Semitic literature published in Arab countries. Prominent in the anti-Semitic field were Syria, Lebanon and Egypt.
This follow-up Bulletin surveys a selection of anti-Semitic books published in Egypt between 2000 and 2006 and sold at the international book fair in Qatar . It includes information about the authors and publishers. Some of the publishing houses are large and well-known , which lends the literature an air of respectability .
The books published in Egypt include anti-Semitic texts which reflect great hostility toward Israel, the Jewish people and the West, and in effect justify the use of violence against them. The main themes appearing in the books are:
The Jews are responsible for all the ills of the world. They distribute drugs and pornographic movies, finance houses of prostitution and encourage corruption.
Without a doubt, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion are authentic and reflect the Jewish plot to take over the world. The Jews aspire to cause global crises, take over international finance and harness the media to serve their needs.
Denial of the Holocaust, or minimizing it and reducing its importance while comparing it to the so-called Israeli “holocaust” against the Palestinians. The books claim that the Nazis did not kill six million Jews, there were no crematoria and the Jews invented the “Holocaust lie” to extort money from European countries.
The use of early Islamic traditions to “prove” that the Jews have always betrayed and plotted against the Arabs (comparing, for instance, the security fence being built by Israel for the prevention of terrorist attacks to the fence the Khaybar Jews built, who according to Muslim tradition betrayed the prophet Muhammad and were expelled from their dwelling places).
The West has only contempt for Islam and Muslims . As an example one of the books states that during the Crusades poems and stories were written slandering Islam and Muslims, including horror stories about the Christian Crusaders’ eating the flesh of their Muslim victims.
During the Second World War the liberal West was as guilty of war crimes as Hitler . The United States, which boasts of being a democracy, encourages terrorism, racism and the dictatorships of the world.
The contents of the books express anti-Semitism with principally Western sources, inspired particularly by The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. At the same time anti-Semitism based on Islamic sources is also present, although to a lesser degree. In addition, some of the authors are high-placed PhDs, which makes the literature more “respectable” because they are often interviewed by the Arab media and some of them are often quoted by the Arab Internet news sites. However, some of them are unknown and apparently some of them use pen names.
Making such literature available at the Doha International Book Fair clearly illustrates that Egypt continues as a center for the widespread distribution of hate literature in the Arab-Muslim world despite its peace treaty with Israel . 2 The Egyptian regime would seem to apply rigorous standards of censorship to subjects concerning its own internal security but avoids taking effective steps when the issue is incitement against Israel , the Jews and the liberal West.
Egypt Blogger Begins Prison Sentence For "Insulting" Islam ; Christians Attacked
Journal Chretien
February 27, 2007
CAIRO, EGYPT — A young Egyptian blogger who criticized Muslim violence against Coptic Christians was behind bars Friday, February 23, after being sentenced to four years imprisonment for "insulting" Islam, "inciting sectarian strife" and "defaming" President Hosni Mubarak with his Internet writings.
Abdel Kareem Nabil, a 22-year-old former student at Egypt’s Al-Azhar University, had been a vocal secularist and sharp critic of radical Muslims in his blog. Nabil, who used the blogger name Kareem Amer, often lashed out at Al-Azhar - the most prominent religious center in Sunni Islam - calling it "the university of terrorism" and accusing it of encouraging extremism.
Judge Ayman al-Akazi of a court in the city of Alexandria sentenced Nabil to three years in prison for "insulting Islam and the Prophet Muhammad" and "inciting sectarian strife" and another year for "insulting President" Mubarak.
He said Nabil insulted the Prophet Muhammad especially with a piece he wrote in 2005 after riots in which angry Muslim worshippers attacked a Coptic Christian church over a play deemed offensive to Islam.
"UGLY FACE"
"Muslims revealed their true ugly face and appeared to all the world that they are full of brutality, barbarism and inhumanity," Nabil wrote at the time. He called Muhammad and his 7th century followers, the Sahaba, "spillers of blood" for their teachings on warfare - a comment cited by the judge. However court observers also noted that the judge overlooked Nabil’s clarification of the comments. He said Muhammad was "great" but that his teachings on warfare and other issues should be viewed as a product of their times.
In other writings, he reportedly called Al-Azhar the "other face of the coin of [terror network] al-Qaida" and called for the university to be dissolved or turned into a secular institution. He also criticized President Mubarak, calling him "the symbol of tyranny."
Nabil’s lawyer, Ahmed Seif el-Islam, said he would appeal the verdict. He and human rights groups also warned that the sentencing could have "a negative impact on freedom of expression" in Egypt. "This sentence is yet another slap in the face of freedom of expression in Egypt," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Middle East and North Africa Deputy Program Director of human rights group Amnesty International (AI) in a statement to BosNewsLife.
"The Egyptian authorities must protect the peaceful exercise of freedom of expression, even if the views expressed might be perceived by some as offensive." The official said AI considers the blogger "a prisoner of conscience who is being prosecuted on account of the peaceful expression" of his views. AI urged Egypt to "repeal legislation that, in violation of international standards, stipulates prison sentences for acts which constitute nothing more than the peaceful exercise of the rights of freedom of expression, thought, conscience and religion."
"SLAP AND SCREAM"
Nabil, sitting in the defendant’s pen, did not react as the verdict was read and made no comments as he was led to a prison truck outside, eyewitnesses said. Seconds after the door was closed, an Associated Press agency reporter claimed to have heard "a slap from inside the truck and a scream."
Last year another Internet writer, Hala Helmy Botros, was forced to close down her blog Aqbat Bela Hodood, or ’Copts Without Borders’ about the plight of Copts and to stop writing on this subject for other websites. Botros, who is in her 40s, wrote under the pseudonym of Hala El-Masry and became the target of a judicial investigation and was banned from leaving the country, BosNewsLife learned.
Thursday’s sentencing of Nabil came amid growing religious tensions between Muslims and minority Christians in Egypt. This month police reportedly detained Christian families in Upper Egypt and forced them to deny arson attacks on their homes during a spate of anti-Christian violence last week.
Two Coptic Orthodox families said police detained them for 36 hours when they attempted to report a February 13 assault on their homes in Armant, 600 kilometers (373 miles) south of Cairo. The fires came five days after Muslim groups set four Christian-owned shops alight on February 9.
International media said reports of a love affair between a Christian man and Muslim woman sparked the violence, but local media said hostilities broke out over accusations that Christians were blackmailing Muslim women to convert.