Archive: egypt

26th September 2016
By: Brian Whitaker
Writing for the Independent last week, Middle East reporter Robert Fisk highlighted an event which he claimed "may prove to be even more dramatic than the terror of Syria's civil war". The cause of his excitement was a conference held in the Chechen capital, Grozny, towards the end of August and… Read more
23rd September 2016
By: Brian Whitaker
There are signs of growing consternation among Coptic Christians over the Egyptian patriarch's obsequious behaviour towards the Sisi regime. Last week, amid preparations for Sisi's visit to the United States, Pope Tawadros issued instructions for Copts living in the US to welcome the dictator "… Read more
27th July 2016
By: Brian Whitaker
Boris Johnson, the former Mayor of London who was unexpectedly appointed as Britain's Foreign Secretary two weeks ago, is famous for his gaffes. No newspaper story about Boris is complete, it seems, without some amusing reference to his blunders and mishaps. But such are the expectations of him, as… Read more
12th May 2016
By: Abdel Fattah el-Sisi
This is a short extract from "Democracy in the Middle East", an essay written by the Egyptian president while studying as a Brigadier General at the US Army War College in Pennsylvania in 2006. Because the government exercises control over the media, the media serves no accountability role for… Read more
9th May 2016
By: Brian Whitaker
There are signs that the Egyptian authorities are becoming slightly more cooperative in their dealings with Italy over death of Giulio Regeni. Regeni, a 28-year-old Italian studying for a doctorate at Cambridge University, disappeared in Cairo on January 25. Nine days later his body – showing… Read more
11th April 2016
By: Brian Whitaker
The behaviour of Egypt's Sisi regime is increasingly shambolic. Last week relations with Italy took an unnecessary turn for the worse over the regime's obstructive attitude to investigating the torture and death of Julio Regeni, the Italian PhD student whose horribly mutilated body was found on the… Read more
19th March 2016
By: Brian Whitaker
The killing of postgraduate student Giulio Regeni, apparently at the hands of Egypt's security apparatus, has put the Sisi regime on the spot. In the face of an international outcry, the regime is responding with a mixture of bluster, conspiracy theories and diversionary tactics. Read more
26th February 2016
By: Brian Whitaker
Youssef Rakha: genius in a land of madness Egypt's ground-breaking novelist     The Book of the Sultan's Seal, in its English translation, measures 203mm x 134mm, weighs approximately 410 grammes and has a brownish cover. It consists of 374 pages divided into nine sections which… Read more
1st January 2016
By: Brian Whitaker
Egyptian TV presenter Islam Beheiry left court in handcuffs on Monday to begin a one-year prison sentence for thought crime. He had been convicted of "defaming" religion by calling for reform in Islam – a call previously made by no lesser figure than President Sisi himself. In comparison with Raif… Read more
15th December 2015
By: Brian Whitaker
Six weeks after the Russian airliner crash in Sinai that claimed 224 lives, Egypt's civil aviation ministry has issued a preliminary report of its investigation. This has prompted some misleading stories in the media that Egypt is either flatly denying a terrorist connection or at least insisting… Read more