MENASource

Top News: Constitution Panel Elects Moussa Head, Sets 75 Percent Vote to Approve Articles

By EgyptSource

Former liberal-leaning presidential candidate Amr Moussa has been elected ٍas head of Egypt’s fifty-strong constitution-drafting committee.The committee agreed on Monday that controversial articles will be settled by a 75 percent vote if their initial referral to a specialized ‘consensus committee’ fails to garner the agreement of all members. 

Syria: Keeping Hope For Peace Alive

By Fred Hof

There can be no prospect for a negotiated end to the Syrian nightmare so long as Syrian civilians are targeted by Bashar al-Assad’s regime for terror, death, injury, and flight.

This Week in Egypt – September 6, 2013

By Amira Mikhail

Catch up on the latest out of Egypt every week, with analysis, news updates, photos, videos, and more.

Muslims and Islamists in Syria

By Faysal Itani

A recent exchange between Senator John McCain and Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade reflected a disturbingly popular view of the Syrian uprising: that it is a jihadist phenomenon, dominated by groups just as or even more hostile to the US than the regime.

Muslim Brotherhood Leader Arrests

Immediately in the wake of former President Mohamed Morsi’s ouster, Al-Ahram reported that security services were working to arrest approximately hundreds of Muslim Brotherhood members across the country. Since the August 14 sit-in dispersal, authorities have been undertaking a massive crackdown on Brotherhood leaders. 

His Holiness the Pope Speaks Out on Syria

By Fred Hof

In a letter to Russian President Vladmir Putin dated September 4, 2013, and addressed to Putin in his capacity as host for the G20 meeting in St. Petersburg, one interpreted by some as a rebuke to President Barack Obama, His Holiness Pope Francis had the following to say about Syria

Egypt’s Constitutional Committees

By Yussef Auf

With interim president, Adly Mansour’s constitutional declaration on July 7, a new system was adopted to amend the currently suspended Egyptian constitution, with two committees formed to carry out the task. The first committee of ‘ten experts,’ has completed its work, while the second, the ‘Committee of Fifty’ will begin its work on September 8.