Archive: egypt
18th June 2010
Earlier this month I noted an important decision by Egypt's Supreme Administrative Court which, basically, over-ruled the Coptic church on the question of allowing divorced Christians to remarry.
The Coptic leader, Pope Shenouda III, rejected the court's decision – setting the scene for a… Read more
16th June 2010
More than a week after Khaled Said was beaten to death by police in Alexandria, there are signs that the Egyptian authorities are beginning to take the case more seriously.
The prosecutor general has ordered a fresh autopsy, to be carried out by the country's most senior coroners, the BBC and AFP … Read more
15th June 2010
More on the brutal killing of Khaled Said at the hands of Egyptian police. Zeinobia at the Egyptian Chronicles blog has photos and video of the latest protests. The Arabist also has a compilation of reports setting out what is known about the case so far (warning: it includes a very gruesome… Read more
14th June 2010
Demonstrators protesting at the brutal killing of a 28-year-old Egyptian while in the hands of the police were themselvesassaulted by security forces in Alexandria yesterday.
Earlier, some 600 people attended funeral prayers for Khaled Said whose death on June 6 is being seen as the latest… Read more
2nd June 2010
In a legal ruling that has far-reaching implications, Egypt's Supreme Administrative Court last week ordered Pope Shenouda III to allow two Coptic Christians, in two separate cases, to remarry after divorce.
At present the Coptic church does not allow re-marriage except in very limited… Read more
2nd June 2010
Egypt opened its border with Gaza yesterday in a move which is "seen as a response to increasing Arab anger at what is perceived as Egyptian complicity in the [Israeli] blockade" (as the Guardian puts it).
The decision followed demonstrations in Cairo on Monday and may take some of the heat out of… Read more
30th May 2010
The family of Suzanne Tamim, the murdered Lebanese pop star, have dropped their civil claim against her alleged killers, according to numerous reports (The National, Reuters, AFP, etc).
Hisham Talat Mustafa, an Egyptian property magnate who is close to the Mubarak regime, was convicted of her… Read more
22nd May 2010
Three of Egypt's most prominent human rights activists are due in court this morning, facing criminal charges of “insult, libel, blackmail and abuse of internet services”.
The three are Ahmad Saif al-Islam (of the Hisham Mubarak Law Centre), Gamal Eid (of the Arab Network for Human Rights… Read more
15th May 2010
The repression of Muslims with unorthodox religious views continues in Egypt. Following the absurd ban on Sufi dhikr ceremonies a couple of weeks ago, there's news that nine followers of the Ahmadiyya sect have been held in jail for the last two months under Egypt's controversial "emergency" law.
A… Read more
12th May 2010
Hot on the heels of efforts by the musicians' union to stop Elton John performing in Egypt because of his sexuality and his views on religion, the Moroccan Justice and Development Party has got in on the act too.
The Islamist movement wants to ban him from the Mawazine Festival in Rabat on May 26,… Read more
ARAB ART ONLINE: Susan Hefuna: Al Sabr Gamil (Patience is Beautiful) 2007. Ink stained on wood 140 x 170 cm. More information | Click to enlarge
