Today's News

Egypt Raises Taxes, Fuel Prices After Government Wage Hike
by Salah Nasrawi (The Associated Press)

Egypt’s parliament endorsed Monday a government bill to raise taxes and fuel prices less than a week after President Hosni Mubarak announced a 30 percent salary increase for all government employees. …

The increase comes as rising food prices have severely affected Egyptians of all social classes. Violent demonstrations north of Cairo in early April resulted in three deaths and 11 people have died the last two months in clashes while waiting in line to buy subsidized bread.

Posted on: 05/07/08
Egypt Ready to Send Delegation to Iraq
by Agence France-Presse

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit on Sunday said Cairo was ready to send a fact-finding delegation to Baghdad to evaluate security conditions for opening an embassy in the Iraqi capital. …

Cairo has had no official diplomatic representative in Iraq since the July 2005 abduction and murder of its charge d’affaires in Baghdad, Ihab Al-Sharif, by Al-Qaeda.

Posted on: 05/07/08
Egypt Asks Mobile Firms to Bar Anonymous Users
by Cynthia Johnston (Reuters)

Egypt has asked mobile phone companies to block service to anonymous subscribers as a public security measure, and at least two firms have begun efforts to comply, Egyptian officials and mobile firms said on Monday.

The move comes as Egypt tries to combat a wave of public discontent over rising prices and low wages that have sparked a series of labor and anti-government strikes, organized largely by mobile phone and over the Internet.

Posted on: 05/07/08
Activists Freed on Bail after Weeks of Re-Arrests
by Michaela Singer (Daily News Egypt)

Thirteen Cairo activists who were detained on April 6 were released on bail Monday, after spending almost one month behind bars. …

With Sunday’s national strike overwhelmingly considered a ‘flop,’ lawyers had no doubts that, with overt national anger subdued, the detainees would be freed.

Posted on: 05/07/08

Setting the Record Straight

Egypt’s Constructive Role in Gaza

“The Egyptians indeed refrain from shooting at us for the time being, but everything is temporary and fragile—and will likely explode in our face one of these days. The giant Egyptian army trains for war against the only enemy it has—and it could happen much faster than what many think. It would be enough to see a regime change in Cairo, as happened to the Persian Shah, and everything will change for the worse for us. From a seeming ally, Egypt, just like Iran, will turn into a bitter enemy that closes in on us from the south and joins the Hamas terror brigades.”
–Haim Misgav, professor of Law, Netanya Academic College, "Land for Peace a Fantasy," YNet, May 2, 2008

VS.

“Egypt has been trying to arbitrate the situation. Israel has many problems with that idea … The [deal] breaker will probably be a reliable agreement with the Egyptians that will improve very much the control of the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip and will prevent the smuggling of weapons. If such a situation can be reached, I think Israel can live with it. Egypt is a key player in this process.”
–Ret. Israeli General Shlomo Brom, deputy national security adviser under former Prime Minister Ehud Barak and director of Israel-Palestine relations at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel-Aviv, Le Courant, April 20, 2008

Middle East Analysis

Walking the Path to Reform With Egypt
by Francis J. Ricciardone, recently returned U.S. ambassador to Egypt (2005-2008). Interview with Middle East Bulletin, Part 2.

Egypt is a pivotal state in many ways. It is one of those dozen or so states in the world whose success or failure and choice of direction will influence choices by other people in their region. If Egypt can move toward a more liberal economy, more respect for international standards of human rights, toward international concepts of democracy, then it is indeed likely to influence other states, other peoples, to believe that they can accomplish the same. So, it’s

Continue Reading Walking the Path to Reform With Egypt

Posted on: 05/07/08

Background Basics

Egypt’s Important Political Players

Hosni Mubarak, president: A former air force officer and vice president, he took office in 1981 after the assassination of President Anwar Sadat. Mubarak is Egypt’s longest-serving president and ran unopposed in his four previous terms. In 2005, he was reelected in the country’s first multi-candidate race, a vote reportedly controlled by his ruling National Democratic Party (NDP). Concerns about his age and health, denied by the government, have raised questions about a

Continue Reading Egypt’s Important Political Players

Posted on: 05/07/08

Heard on the Street

Working Toward Regional Stability

Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ahmed Aboul Gheit, interview with the Council on Foreign Relations, April 18, 2008:

“We have a region in turmoil around us. We have the Palestinian-Israeli dispute that is not yet resolved—trying to do something there. We have a country like Lebanon, paralyzed by internal difficulties. We have a country like Iraq in difficulty— the least to say. We have a Palestinian national movement that has been cracked between two forces. And we

Continue Reading Working Toward Regional Stability

Posted on: 05/07/08

Upcoming Events

No End in Sight: Conversations on Iraq

Keynote Address:
Senator Jack Reed (D-RI)

Introduction by:
Rudy deLeon, Senior Vice President of National Security and International Policy, Center for American Progress

Featured Speaker:
Charles Ferguson, author, No End in Sight

Moderated by:
Brian Katulis, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress

When: March 13, 2008, 12:00pm - 1:30pm

Where: Center for American Progress, 1333 H St, NW, Washington, DC. 20005

RSVP for event or click here for more information

Posted on: 03/10/08