The Skeptic الشكاك

156 Darfur, the Video Game

Yes. Unbelievable, but true. What’s the cliche about “the road to hell?”

To all the people who really care about Darfur and want the experience of seeing a refugee camp first hand: What’s stopping you?

[tags]Sudan, Darfur[/tags]

155 Mowaffak al-Rubaie: Majority of multinational forces probably out by 2008

Interesting interview, courtesy of CNN’s PR department. Worth reading in full:

Speaking this morning to CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, Iraq’s national security adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie discussed withdrawing multinational forces from Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and President Bush’s upcoming Camp David meetings. A highlighted excerpt is below, and a full transcript follows.

Please credit all usage to CNN’s “Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer”

Highlighted Excerpts

On having fewer than 100,000 members of the multinational force by the end of 2006

AL-RUBAIE: We have what we call a condition-based agreement with the coalition forces, with the coalition in Iraq. Basically, the more our Iraqi security forces, our police, our army, the more they grow in number, in training and are ready and able to perform and to protect our people, then the less we need of the multinational forces.

I believe by the end of the year, of this year, I believe that the number of the multinational forces will be probably less than 100,000 in this country. And by the end of next year, most of the multinational forces will have gone home. And by middle of 2008, we will not see a lot of visibility, neither in the cities or in the towns of the multinational forces.

So the overwhelming majority of the multinational forces will leave probably before the end of middle — sorry, before the middle of 2008.

Full Transcript

THIS IS A RUSH FDCH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

BLITZER: Dr. Al-Rubaie, thanks very much for joining us. Welcome back to “Late Edition.”

Even as we speak right now, al Qaeda in Iraq is making a new threat, posting a threat on the Internet, saying they’re going to launch major attacks, in their words, in the aftermath of the killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. What do you make of this latest threat?

AL-RUBAIE: This is I believe, this is a propaganda ploy. They’re trying to make up for the huge loss and the disorientation they’re suffering from, because there is a huge vacuum of power now within al Qaeda. And I can tell you, we have many to (ph) infiltrate this terrorist organization, and we got quite few of not only Abu Musab al-Zarqawi but others now in the organization, we managed to get to, and I think they are trying to gather pace, if you like, and it’s an empty threat. But we are fully alerted. We have a very, very well and detailed plan to secure Baghdad and to secure Diyala and to secure other parts of Iraq, and we’re going to stand and protect our people.

BLITZER: Are you saying that you’ve captured some of al-Zarqawi’s colleagues alive and that you’re holding them prisoner right now?

AL-RUBAIE: What I’m saying is that we’ve managed to inflict a heavy casualty. Without detailing anything, to not to jeopardize our security plan and our security operation, I can tell you that we have managed to inflict heavy casualty on this organization when we got to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and after that even operation performed after that, and before this.

BLITZER: Is there a successor to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi who’s now taken over for him?

AL-RUBAIE: I think with his iconic, if you like, personality and character and with the method of ruthlessness, severe ruthlessness he used to use, his place and his position will be difficult to fill.

And I think what we believe is that there is going to be — a number of his lieutenants are going to start jockeying for power to fill his shoes, and we believe that this organization split into many, many divisions.

BLITZER: How worried are you, though, that in this jockeying for power from his subordinates, that they could launch major suicide bombings, beheadings, terror attacks against Iraqis, against U.S. forces, to show that they are still around?

AL-RUBAIE: Admittedly, Wolf, those operations or those attacks that he has planned, and they are already in the pipeline and they’re in the final stages of carrying them out, it will be carried out, and it will happen. But the medium-term effect of the departure and the death of Zarqawi is going to be huge on this organization, and not only on this organization, but on other groups, insurgent groups if you like. Because those people were reluctant and afraid, from Zarqawi, to join the political process. Now, the road is easy to go and to come back to the political process and to join the Iraqi people, and I believe this is going to encourage a lot of people from the insurgents, the nationalists, the former regime elements, Baathists, (inaudible) and religious extremists, they’re going to start joining the political process and joining the new Iraq.

BLITZER: What can you tell us, Dr. Al-Rubaie, about the circumstances of his death? Because we’re now learning that he did survive, albeit briefly, after the two 500-pound bombs hit that building. How long did he survive, and what was the final cause of his death?

AL-RUBAIE: We have been monitoring and surveilling Zarqawi for the last few weeks now, and we plot a pattern of his movement. And we located him, when we identified the place. There was an air raid on that place, but the first force which sort of got to that place and got to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was the Iraqi police, the national Iraqi police. When they arrived to the scene, it was literally flattened, but they got to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and he was gasping, but he was still alive. They put him on the stretcher, they tried to start medical aid for him, tried to resuscitate him, but he was trying to utter some words, but it was muffled and wasn’t clear. Because we believe that he was confused. So — and he died shortly after that.

BLITZER: Within a matter of minutes, would that be fair?

AL-RUBAIE: Yeah, within — well, several minutes, he was still alive on the stretcher. He was trying to get out of the stretcher, probably because he was severely injured.

BLITZER: What about the other people who were killed in that bombing?

There has been some confusion as to how many others. There was a woman, we’re told, and maybe even a child. What can you tell us?

AL-RUBAIE: Well, there were two women. There was one of the — one of his companions, if you like, and were working with him, that were killed. One child, unfortunately, also was killed, and the two other men and Abdul Rahman al-Musli (ph). Abdul Rahman al-Musli (ph) is his spiritual leader. He’s the one who issues the fatwahs for him. He’s the one who is the most, one of the most horrible extremist Islamist terrorists in the — in Iraq. He’s Egyptian in origin. He has been trained in Afghanistan before, over the last several years, and he joined Abu Musab al-Zarqawi a couple of years ago. And he has been along, along with him for two years now, and he has been issuing fatwahs and he has been issuing statement against the Shia, against those who are — against the Kurds, and against even those Sunnis who work with the government or took part in the political process in the last election.

BLITZER: The woman who was killed, was that his wife?

AL-RUBAIE: We don’t know, to be quite honest with you. We couldn’t identify the identity of these two women, and neither the child as well.

BLITZER: Let me read to you from “The Los Angeles Times” on Saturday. “The United States conducted at least 56 raids against targets connected with Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s al Qaeda in Iraq organization. In the 48 hours after his death, at least 25 people have been captured and one killed.”

This is what you were referring to earlier, when you said you’ve got a bonanza of new information about al Qaeda in Iraq. Is that right?

AL-RUBAIE: Well, we found a lot of material in that place. We found the diaries. We found telephone numbers. We found computers, and we found — there was a database in that computer. And there was a lot of information carrying — Zarqawi used to carry with him. So it was very, very useful, not only to capture Zarqawi and get him out of the way of the Iraqi people, because he’s the number one enemy of the Iraqi people, it was the value of the information we got with him.

BLITZER: Here is another quote I wanted to read to you…

AL-RUBAIE: And that’s what I was referring to when I said we have done a lot of raids immediately after we got Zarqawi.

BLITZER: Let me just pinpoint one thing. Is this Iraqi military, security and police forces, or U.S.? Or is it a joint operation?

AL-RUBAIE: The air raid was a U.S. air raid. It was used (inaudible). But the police on the ground of the forces on the ground was the national Iraqi police. And after the national Iraqi police arrived to the scene and got the injured, got the dead sorted out, in an hour or so, I think, coalition forces have arrived to the scene also to help in the logistics of the operation afterwards.

BLITZER: Let’s talk a little bit about something that is not good news. The investigation of some 24 Iraqi civilians allegedly killed by U.S.

Marines at Haditha. What’s the latest information that you’re getting on that incident?

AL-RUBAIE: Well, the prime minister, Maliki, has ordered the — an investigation team to go to Haditha, and to — also to get some information from the coalition forces, to start, launch an investigation. And we’re still waiting for the outcome of this investigation. It’s quite unfortunate that if this has happened and killing the civilians, but — unfortunate. But I will wait for the outcome of the investigation now.

BLITZER: I understand there is a separate, Iraqi investigation under way as opposed to the U.S. military investigation. Some commentators here in the United States have suggested you don’t trust the U.S. military to come up with a good conclusion, a fair conclusion. That’s why you want to do your own, independent investigation. What do you think?

AL-RUBAIE: No, Wolf, I don’t think we don’t trust the American and military investigation. As a matter of fact, the Iraqi investigative team is seeking help, logistical, scientific help, and they’re interrogating some Iraqi civilians, and Iraqi witnesses from the military and civilian. And we certainly need the help and cooperation of the American military who were there and who were witnessing that incident, that unfortunate incident. So I don’t think — it’s a cooperation. It’s basically we’re working together to reach to what exactly happened in that place.

BLITZER: This is what the new prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, said on May 24th. He said: “Our forces will be able to take over the security file in all Iraqi provinces in a year and a half. That sounds like a very ambitious schedule that he has in mind, because if Iraqi forces can take over security in all the provinces, that means U.S. and other coalition forces can leave within a year and a half. Is that realistic?

AL-RUBAIE: Let me tell you something, Wolf. We have what we call a condition-based agreement with the coalition forces, with the coalition in Iraq. Basically, the more our Iraqi security forces, our police, our army, the more they grow in number, in training and are ready and able to perform and to protect our people, then the less we need of the multinational forces.

I believe by the end of the year, of this year, I believe that the number of the multinational forces will be probably less than 100,000 in this country. And by the end of next year, most of the multinational forces will have gone home. And by middle of 2008, we will not see a lot of visibility, neither in the cities or in the towns of the multinational forces.

So the overwhelming majority of the multinational forces will leave probably before the end of middle — sorry, before the middle of 2008.

BLITZER: That’s a very ambitious schedule, and it falls in line with what Prime Minister al-Maliki said.

As you know, President Bush is convening his national security team at Camp David on Monday. On Tuesday, he’ll have a video conference with the leadership of Iraq, with Prime Minister al-Maliki. Is this what you expect to be discussed, an eventual troop withdrawal, U.S. and coalition forces, during these two days of meetings?

AL-RUBAIE: Wolf, there are so many things we need to discuss with the American administration and with the U.S. government. There is the long-term and the strategic relationship between Iraq and the United States. There is the president’s ordered departure of the troops, and this is conditions-based, as I said. And also, we need to work out what are there logistical support, what other support, financial support, military support, the guarantees after the departure of the multinational forces. There are a whole list of things we need — we will need to discuss with the American administration.

So I believe it’s going to be a very important meeting, and we certainly need more. I mean, we’ll need to work out what sort of financial help we need for next year, Iraq needs. What sort of training we need. What the level of troops is going to be for the next year in Iraq and the number of multinational forces. And so on and so forth.

BLITZER: One final question, Dr. Al-Rubaie, because we’re almost out of time. The militias. Will the new government crack down on these Shiite, these Kurdish, the Sunni, various ethnic sectarian militias so that there will be one military force, under the rule of the Iraqi government, one police force? Is there going to be some movement on the militia front?

AL-RUBAIE: There is a whole plan. Number one, there is a law called CPL order 91. And this is the Coalition Provisional Authority order 91, which states the way or reintegration and disbandment of these militias. And the nine out of 10 of these militias have signed this law. So nine of out 10 of these militias are going to be disbanded and reintegrated into the Iraqi society, into the Iraqi security forces, the police, the army, the intelligence, into civilian life, into other ministries, or into retirement.

So there is a whole — there is a plan for that.

As far as those militia which was formed or were formed after CPL order 91, like, for example, Dishmadi (ph) or other Sunni militias, or other militias, these — there is also a plan of the last transitional government, the last government, which is a five-point plan, basically to reintegrate into normal civilian life, and leave the Iraqi police and the Iraqi army is the only — Iraqi security forces, as the only forces which carry weapon and authorized to use force against the criminals.

And that’s it. We have agreed on that. There’s a lot of political engagement with the militia leaders. There is a lot of political engagements with the religious and political leaders as well. So there is a whole lot of activity. We’re quite aggressive in this way, and I’m sure all the militia leaders and the political leaders are cooperating with us to disband, to dissolve and reintegrate into normal life of this country.

BLITZER: We have to leave it there. Dr. Mowaffak Al-Rubaie, as usual, thanks very much for joining us. Good luck to you. Good luck to all the Iraqi people. It’s a dangerous mission. Be careful over there.

AL-RUBAIE: Thank you very much, indeed, Wolf, for having me.

[tags]Iraq[/tags]

154 Former Tunisian Amnesty International President Arrested

Late on this, but I wanted to note a more important aspect to the story of the crackdown on Amnesty International in Tunisia than the ejection of a Swiss representative.

Et? arr?t? le 22 mai 2006 ? 12h30 ? la porte du (CHU) Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Farhat Hached de Sousse (lieu de travail) par un agent en civil qui m’a montr? ses papiers, mais n’avait ni convocation, ni mandat. N’ayant pas obtemp?r?, j’ai ?t? conduit de force vers une voiture de police banalis?e et puis conduit ? la s?ret? nationale de Sousse. On m’a entre-temps enlev? ma carte d’identit? et mon t?l?phone portable.

Au bout d’un quart d’heure, on m’a pris en voiture ? Tunis jusqu’au local de la police judiciaire. On m’a apport? une convocation que j’ai refus? de signer car elle m’a ?t? apport?e ? mon arriv?e ? Tunis puis on m’a fait lire un avertissement comme quoi ? l’Assembl?e G?n?rale de la Section Tunisienne s’est transform?e en tribune contre le pouvoir et le pr?sident de la r?publique ; ceci ?tait contre le statut d’Amnesty International (non ing?rence dans son propre pays). Cette interpellation est consid?r?e un dernier avertissement avant la dissolution de la Section Tunisienne d’Amnesty International en cas de r?cidive ?.
J’ai sign? pour information cet avertissement. J’ai ?t? lib?r? vers 18h15.

Hichem Osamn
Comit? Ex?cutif
AI Section Tunisienne

Briefly, Hichem Osamn, former president of Amnesty International’s Tunisia chapter, was also detained and forced to sign a statement saying that “the general assembly of the Tunisian chapter of Amnesty had been transformed into a tribune opposed to the power and president of the republic, that this was contrary to the statute of Amnesty International, and that this statement would be considered the last notice before the dissolution of the Tunisia chapter of Amnesty in case of its recidivism.”

A bully in a diaphanous judge’s robe.

[tags]Tunisia, tunisie, amnesty international[/tags]

153 Pyramid with Pizza Hut

Look, Ma, no Photoshop! Thanks to Lawrence for going out of the way to take this picture.

[tags]Egypt, Pyramid, Pizza Hut[/tags]

151 Riverbend: ‘Ethnic Cleansing’ in Iraq

OK, from serious to frivolous…

Serious: Riverbend has an alarming post from a few days ago.

There?s an ethnic cleansing in progress and it?s impossible to deny. People are being killed according to their ID card. Extremists on both sides are making life impossible. Some of them work for ?Zarqawi?, and the others work for the Iraqi Ministry of Interior. We hear about Shia being killed in the ?Sunni triangle? and corpses of Sunnis named ?Omar? (a Sunni name) arriving by the dozen at the Baghdad morgue. I never thought I?d actually miss the car bombs. At least a car bomb is indiscriminate. It doesn?t seek you out because you?re Sunni or Shia.

Strong stuff. I was sifting through the coverage of Zarqawi’s death when I ran across that. She also has one interesting anecdote about Zarqawi’s death: “They don’t need him anymore,” our elderly neighbor waved the news away like he was shooing flies, “They have fifty Zarqawis in government.”

Frivolous: The deceased came up at dinner tonight, too. “What did you find most interesting about Zarqawi’s death?” My friend asked. My first thought was “that he existed,” but of course, one can’t say these things out loud (though for some reason it’s fine to put them on the Internet? By way of explanation, I should say that I’d followed Zarqawi since around 2002 when he popped up on antiterrorism think-tank Web sites as what seemed to be a bogeyman Israeli intelligence was peddling to tie up Al-Qaeda, Iran, and Iraq in one very evil body. That seemed awfully convenient, especially given the state of Iranian-Iraqi relations and that Zarqawi is, was, a Sunni. I gave up the Internet searches without finding anything useful because at that time sitting in a New York office building late at night punching “al-Zarqawi” into Google seemed like courting men with grappling hooks).

Anyway, that’s a whole lot of things one can’t say over dinner and still be thought clever or sane, so I tried to think of what else might be “interesting” about the death of a man who had other men wrap themselves in explosives, then go out to sell under-priced flour to hungry people so a crowd of people to kill would form. Fortunately, another friend interjected to talk about Jordanian intelligence’s role.

But it turns out—I didn’t see the press conference—that Zarqawi’s photograph was also brought out framed in what could look like a gold frame on camera. It’s a sign of veneration here. My friend reports sitting in a room full of (Arab) journalists when the news reports came on TV. They were all agog, but not at Zarqawi’s death—at the frame.

[tags]Zarqawi, Iraq[/tags]

149 Transcript of U.S. Debate on Egypt’s Aid Package

Astounding.

[tags]Egypt, aid, United States[/tags]

146 I think I’m in love…

I think I’m in love…

These days, being a Muslim woman means being saddled with what can only be referred to as the “burden of pity.” The feelings of compassion that we Muslim women seem to inspire emanate from very distinct and radically opposed currents: religious extremists of our own faith, and evangelical and secular supporters of empire in the West…

And again,

So now what? Where does this leave feminists of all stripes who genuinely care about the civil rights of their Muslim sisters? A good first step would be to stop treating Muslim women as a silent, helpless mass of undifferentiated beings who think alike and face identical problems, and instead to recognize that each country and each society has its own unique issues. A second would be to question and critically assess the well-intentioned but factually inaccurate books that often serve as the very basis for discussion. We need more dialogue and less polemic. A third would be to acknowledge that women–and men–in Muslim societies face problems of underdevelopment (chief among them illiteracy and poverty) and that tackling them would go a long way toward reducing inequities. As the colonial experience of the past century has proved, aligning with an agenda of war and domination will not result in the advancement of women’s rights. On the contrary, such a top-down approach is bound to create a nationalist counterreaction that, as we have witnessed with Islamist parties, can be downright catastrophic. Rather, a bottom-up approach, where the many local, homegrown women’s organizations are fully empowered stands a better chance in the long run. After all, isn’t this how Western feminists made their own gains toward equality?

Muslim women are used as pawns by Islamist movements that make the control of women’s lives a foundation of their retrograde agenda, and by Western governments that use them as an excuse for building empire. These women have become a politicized class, prevented by edicts and bombs from taking charge of their own destinies. The time has come for the pawns to be queened.

Oh, and in between, she’s explained in thousands of words why Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s and Irshad Manji’s books aren’t worth reading. I wish she hadn’t spent so quite so many words getting there (‘spose somebody had to). It’s just that I find it much more interesting to hear what she thinks, rather than where Hirsi Ali and Manji fail.

Incidentally, I met Manji briefly a few weeks ago. She was very nice. A bit intense. I’ve never wanted to read her books, but she was a nice person at any rate, and obviously curious. If this was her first trip to a Muslim country, I wonder what she took from it, and whether meeting the articulate, intelligent women of Egypt has changed her views.

145 Human Rights First on Alaa

Just found out that Human Rights First, formerly the Lawyers’ Committee for Human Rights, has launched an online campaign on Alaa’s behalf. When I checked today, it was on the front page, between Military trials in Guantanamo and the rights of refugees in the United States.
[tags]Egypt, Alaa, freealaa[/tags]

144 Saidi Bluesman

Saidi bluesman, at Makan performance space, Saad Zaghloul, Cairo.

143 A Leftist-Islamist Entente?

?Part of the problem,? Ali Abd al-Fatah?a senior figure in the Alexandria branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, and as such a prime target for arrest?said last night, ?is that the government is confused. It isn?t speaking with one voice. There?s an internal debate about how to respond to the current crisis?It?s not in our interests to remain quiet now, to let the government come to our houses and arrest us quietly. We?re better off in the streets, in public. It?s in the government?s interests to divide the opposition forces, to have the Brotherhood on one side, and the liberals on the other. We need to show that the national movement is united. Toward that end, we?d welcome support from any group. We support the right to freedom of expression, including the right to assembly and lifting restrictions on forming political parties.? I’m paraphrasing from memory, but I hope I’ve represented his words faithfully.

He was speaking to Ahmed Seif al-Islam, a secular leftist, veteran rights activist, and critic of the government who now heads the Hisham Mubarak Law Center, before a conference drawing together the Muslim Brotherhood, the Al-Shaab Party (whose activities have been suspended since 2000), the Revolutionary Socialists, Youth for Change, and assorted other opposition groups at the Lawyer?s Syndicate in downtown Cairo. In the hours before the conference, members of the Muslim Brotherhood sat in the pleasant garden behind the syndicate, drank tea next to secular opposition activists, and discussed how they could work together to achieve common aims. At various points in the evening, Magdi Hussein, editor of Al-Shaab?s banned party organ, and Abd al-Halim Qandil, a secular nationalist and editor of Al-Ahali, also joined Seif al-Islam and Abd al-Fatah?s table.

There was a lot of discussion about the future of opposition politics in Egypt, particularly now that the Judges? Club is in talks with the minister of justice about their demands (the outcome of those talks should become clear in the next few days). I?ve been predicting that the two parties might reach a compromise since the disciplinary tribunal treated Mekky and al-Bastawissy more lightly than many expected.

At one point, Montasser al-Zayat?a prominent Islamist lawyer who knew Ayman al-Zawahiri years ago, before they split over ideological differences, and who is now engaged in trying to reconcile Islamists with the government by getting them to forswear violence?came in. I would have been very interested to meet him, but he was on his way to pray and was busy receiving greetings from friends and admirers.

Meanwhile, activists who had only been freed in the past days and weeks after spending a month in prison for participating in protests in support of judicial independence and clean elections circulated around the garden, greeting friends and colleagues they hadn?t seen since their imprisonment. Ahmed al-Droubi was there. So were Akram al-Irani, Ahmed Al-Rifaat, and Faris Iskandr.

Shortly before sunset, about a dozen Kifaya activists gathered at the gates of the Syndicate and shouted slogans calling on Mubarak to resign. One young female activist became nervous at this point. She has worked quietly and effectively to get information about the recent crackdown out, but she said she was worried about being arrested, particularly because her final exams were coming up. I escorted her past the riot police and the 40 or so beltagiya, the plainclothes thugs who have been responsible for most of the police violence over the past month, to the metro station around the corner. When I got back, I kept Ahmed al-Droubi, who was hanging around the edges of the protest, engaged in conversation to keep him from participating, though I could see it was killing him not to take part. As the protesters started singing ?Kifaya, kifaya, kifaya,? he couldn?t help but mouth the words quietly in the middle of our conversation.

I spoke with Ashraf Ibrahim?a Revolutionary Socialist imprisoned in 2003 after he emailed photographs of police violence at anti-Iraq-war protests to human rights groups and then detained again for participating in an April 27, 2006, demonstration in support of judicial independence?by phone about an hour after was released from prison. He said that he was coming to the meeting with Malek Mostafa, an Alexandrian blogger imprisoned on April 26 for participating in a similar protest, ?to send a message to State Security. We want to tell them they cannot scare us.?

I asked him if there was anything I could say to convince him not to come. He said there wasn?t, and so I asked him to phone me before he arrived so I could at least be present as he came in. I was worried he?d meet the same fate as Al-Sharqawi, who was arrested, badly beaten, and sexually assaulted for participating in a May 25 protest, days after State Security released him with warnings not to attend any future protests. All the recently released detainees I spoke with said they had received similar warnings on their release.

I spent some nervous hours waiting for Ibrahim to arrive, listening to the speeches broadcast over the loudspeakers from the conference hall inside. Magdi Hussein, who seems like such a teddy bear in person, he?s so soft-spoken and has such a gentle smile, was all thunder and fire on the microphone. It?s like he becomes a different person on the podium. ?You?ll never get the people behind you telling them they need to support the judges because some guy in France called Montesquieu talked about the separation of powers,? he told the crowd. ?You need to give them something they can relate to, like ?Down with Mubarak!??

Other speakers railed against the government control of the professional syndicates, restrictions on registration of political parties, the fixing of elections, ?all the usual problems,? as one veteran protester put it to me. All spoke about the detention and abuse of protesters arrested over the past month. The names Karim al-Sha?er and Mohammed al-Sharqawi were mentioned again and again over the course of the evening. The proceedings were often interrupted by a group of men chanting slogans from the back of the room. I was at first surprised to see the room empty as Al-Qandil spoke. The people leaving, judging from their beards, seemed to be mostly Islamists. It initially looked like a huge dis, until I realized it was time for evening prayers. Al-Qandil continued speaking, never missing a beat, raising his voice still higher.

Hours had passed and I still hadn?t heard from Malek or Ashraf. I was getting concerned they might have been arrested on their way into the Syndicate. People made calls. It turns out Malek had decided to go to a concert instead. ?Good,? I told him, ? I want to see you on the street, not in prison.? But Ashraf was still coming, so I waited. His friends called around to get news of him. Eventually Hossam al-Hamalawy got hold of him at home and learned that he was staying there, no doubt enjoying the luxuries of a proper shower, his family?s company, and sleeping on a bed.

I?d also been worried about Wael Abbas, who has caught police beating and arresting protesters on camera and on video and has posted both on his Web site, Misrdigital.tk. He?s also been talking to the press these days, and has been featured on a recent Al-Jazeera documentary about bloggers in Egypt. I asked him if he had been the subject of any intimidation because of his activities. He said that when he was on the run, after the first week of the crack down, he got a call from a State Security investigator who tried to recruit him as an informer. ?They saw that I was on the run, that I was vulnerable, and took that as their opportunity,? he said. ?After I told them I wouldn?t do it, they stopped calling. But I hear from friends that my name has come up in their investigations. They?ve been asking people if they know me.?

Later that night, sitting on a downtown balcony enjoying the night breeze, I told a political columnist about the evening, particularly what I?d heard from the Brothers about their willingness to work with other groups.

?Well, what are they waiting for?? he asked. ?When they mobilize, they bring out numbers to match Central Security?s. Where are they? The problem is that people in this country don?t trust any of the parties: not the Brothers, not the NDP, and not Kifaya. Where?s the choice? The Brothers are creepy. The NDP is corrupt and is too lazy to change. It?s hoping against hope it can maintain the status quo for another few years, that it can put off the pain of really shaking things up for just a little while longer. And Kifaya? They?re amusing, but they?re not an alternative. The government?s arresting everyone because they?re terrified of what could happen if the people see that it?s alright to come out into the street.?

?Do you think that?s a legitimate concern?? I asked.

?Yes, I do,? he said. ?There?s an enormous amount of discontent right now. People are really angry.?

?What do you think it would take to bring the people out into the streets?? I asked.

He paused then said, ?For the government to be really humiliated somehow.?

[tags]Egypt, Muslim Brotherhood, Kifaya, Protests, Detentions, human rights[/tags]

I'm Reading: