MENASource

Travel Ban Lifted for Americans, but Will Egyptian Civil Society Be Left Behind?

By Tarek Radwan

It seems the US State Department’s behind-the-scenes diplomacy may have paid off. Reuters reported, yesterday, that the Americans in the case of Egypt’s foreign-funded NGOs will no longer be barred from travel. Without a doubt, officials on both sides are breathing a sigh of relief as this move could mark the first step toward a […]

Top News: ElBaradei Criticizes ‘Intervention in Judiciary Work’

By Mara Revkin

Former presidential candidate Mohamed ElBaradei criticized what he called “intervention in judiciary work” in the trial of NGO employees. On his Twitter account, ElBaradei wrote that regardless of the circumstances surrounding the case, intervening in judicial matters “kills” democracy. The three presiding judges recused themselves on February 28 from the trial of 43 foreign and […]

Top News: Presidential Election Slated for May 23-24

By Mara Revkin

Egypt’s presidential election will take place May 23-24 with results expected on June 21, according to the head of the Election Commission, Farouk Sultan. The SCAF has pledged to turn over power to a civilian government after a new president is chosen, but it has not set a date for the transfer.

Top News: Parliament Approves Presidential Elections Amendments

By Mara Revkin

Islamists Anxious over Constitutional Challenge to Election Results

By Salem Mostafa Kamel

The People’s Assembly or the “Revolutionary Council” as Egypt’s newly elected parliamentarians call themselves may be at risk of being dissolved as quickly as it was formed. In the weeks following the sweeping victory by Islamists – led by the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party and the Salafi Nour Party, which together hold around […]

Ending the NGO Crisis: Can a Face-Saving Exit Strategy be Found?

By Denis Sullivan

Egyptian-US relations have been low before, but the current quarrel has taken on the absurdity of a grotesque political soap opera, not only to Americans but to many Egyptians as well.  Although this bilateral blowout is looking increasingly unfathomable, the significance of the current crisis over the trial of American NGO workers cannot be underestimated, […]

Sharia in Egypt? Reality is Somewhere Between Hopes and Fears

By Khaled Saad

Just a few days after assuming executive powers from former president Hosni Mubarak, the newly empowered Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) took a significant but often overlooked step toward building the legal foundation for Egypt’s emerging democracy: forming a committee of legal experts headed by Justice Tarek al-Beshry. Al-Beshry, a former vice chairman […]

NGO Trial Adjourned Until April 26

By Mara Revkin

The trial of 43 Egyptian and international NGO employees began in Cairo on February 26. None of the American citizens among the accused were present at the opening session, reportedly because none of them had received official summons from the court. All present defendants pleaded not guilty to all charges without bail, and were released […]

Time to Shave: When Public Safety Trumps Religious Expression

By Tarek Radwan

Those following Egypt’s transition may have stumbled upon one of the more peculiar debates that have emerged among the foot soldiers of the Ministry of Interior: the beard issue. This past week, tensions between policemen and senior ministry officials flared over whether or not police officers could grow their beards. The ban on beards among […]

Islamist Presidential Candidate Hospitalized After Carjacking

By Mara Revkin

Presidential candidate Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh was attacked by three masked gunmen in a carjacking incident on February 23. Aboul-Fotouh sustained a concussion while his driver was wounded and both men were hospitalized on February 24. The assailants made away with Fotouh’s car after the overnight carjacking on a Cairo highway.