DEATH PENALTY-EGYPT: Controversy Swirls Over When to Execute

Egyptians are likely to watch the upcoming U.N. General Assembly vote on a moratorium on executions - to be held in the coming weeks - with interest. But while many in this majority Muslim country would welcome a resolution aimed at reining in the use of capital punishment, there remain serious reservations about making any pledges for the "total abolition" of the practice.

MIDEAST: Egypt Challenges Israeli Smuggling Claims

Throughout October, Israeli officials reiterated longstanding claims that Egyptian authorities were failing to prevent weapons from being smuggled into the Gaza Strip, which has been governed by Palestinian resistance faction Hamas since June. According to many local commentators, however, the Israeli accusations are chiefly intended to achieve broader political ends.

EGYPT: Journalists Get Jail Sentences in New Crackdown

The government has stepped up its campaign against the independent and opposition press, with criminal courts delivering prison sentences to 11 prominent journalists within the last two months. While state prosecutors accuse the writers of "publishing false news", spokesmen for the Egyptian Journalists Syndicate have described the latest crackdown as a "war" on press freedom.

EGYPT: Strikes Sound a New Warning

A week-long sit-in strike last month achieved limited gains for employees of the state-owned Mahala Company for Spinning and Weaving in Egypt's Nile Delta region. Although government spokesmen have accused opposition movements of standing behind a recent spate of workers' strikes, independent critics attribute the labour unrest to the widening gap between public salaries and the rising cost of living.

EGYPT: After Summer Shortages, Promise of Water Runs Dry

This summer saw a spate of severe water shortages throughout the country, leading to numerous protests by frustrated - and thirsty - citizens. Egypt has seen its share of political demonstrations in recent years, but the latest water protests are the first time that ordinary people have taken to the streets to demand a basic service.

EGYPT: Regime Cracks Down on Independent Press

Several prominent independent and opposition journalists received prison sentences this month for libelling senior figures of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), including President Hosni Mubarak and his influential son, Gamal. Some critics say that the move represents an attempt to quash discussion about the so-called "inheritance" of the presidency, which many close observers believe is imminent.

EGYPT: State Piles Pressure on Islamist Opposition

The government has stepped up a campaign against the Muslim Brotherhood with a new wave of arrests in August and the resumption of a military trial involving dozens of the group's leading members.

MIDEAST: Border Impasse Arises Again

The border crisis that had appeared to subside last month is back, with an estimated 2,000 Palestinians marooned on Egypt's border with the Gaza Strip.

MIDEAST: Bush Peace Plan Met with Scepticism

Last month, U.S. President George W. Bush called for an international summit aimed at reaching a final settlement of the longstanding Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But while most Arab capitals welcomed the proposal, unofficial reactions to Bush's newfound zeal to revive the Middle East "peace process" have been less sanguine.

MIDEAST: Not Another International Force

Since the Gaza Strip was taken over by Palestinian resistance faction Hamas in June, Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas has twice appealed for the deployment of an "international force" to the troubled territory. But with international contingents already deployed in hotspots from Lebanon to Afghanistan, some observers see the trend as a challenge to principles of national sovereignty.

MIDEAST: Bush Could Have Given Fatah That Kiss of Death

Ever since the takeover of Gaza two months ago by Palestinian resistance faction Hamas, Washington and its allies have steadfastly supported the rival Fatah movement headed by Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas. But public support for Fatah, which has come to be seen by many as a stooge of Washington and Tel Aviv, has dropped off markedly.

MIDEAST: U.S. Arms Create New Divisions

Last month, Washington approved massive military-aid packages and arms sales to its Arab allies, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia and a number of smaller Gulf States. But while U.S. officials say the deals aim to bolster the "forces of moderation" in the region, some local commentators see the move as an unnecessary - and dangerous - provocation.

MIDEAST: Pan-Arab Peace Overture Faces Uphill Battle

Despite the fractured state of the Palestinian national cause between resistance faction Hamas and the U.S.-backed Fatah movement, Washington's Arab allies continue to promote the so-called "Arab Initiative" in hopes of restarting the long-moribund peace process.

EGYPT: ‘Al-Qaeda Plot’ Raises Required Fear

Earlier this month, scattered reports of an al-Qaeda plot to stage terrorist attacks in Cairo was followed by a series of security clampdowns countrywide. While the government has subsequently downplayed the threat, some local observers have come to question al-Qaeda's very existence as a cohesive entity.

EGYPT: Opposition Protests Plans for Bank Sell-Off

Earlier this month, the government announced its intention to sell a majority stake of Banque du Caire (BDC), Egypt's third largest state-owned bank, to a strategic investor. But the planned sell-off, which comes as part of the technocratic government's much-vaunted privatisation programme, has come under heavy criticism by the political opposition.

EGYPT: One Pope Takes On Another

A recent statement by Pope Benedict XVI in which he declared the Roman Catholic Church to be the only "complete" Christian faith met with angry responses from the heads of several western, Protestant denominations. In Egypt, meanwhile, Benedict's assertion about Eastern Orthodox churches - that they "lacked something" in their capacities as churches - prompted no less of an angry reaction from the Orthodox Coptic Christian community.

EGYPT: Palestinians Become Hostage to Border Politics

Ever since the closure of the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip more than a month ago, thousands of Palestinians have been marooned on the Egyptian side of the frontier.

EGYPT: Cairo Changes Tack on Gaza

In the immediate wake of last month's takeover of the Gaza Strip by Palestinian resistance faction Hamas, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak condemned the action, describing it as "the overthrow of Palestinian legitimacy." Since then, however, Cairo appears to have tempered its position, reiterating the need for peaceful dialogue between Hamas and its U.S.-backed rival Fatah.

EGYPT: Fearing Border Protests, Cairo Meets Bedouin Demands

Two months after the Bedouin, an indigenous people of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula began holding angry demonstrations against what they call a policy of official harassment by police, the authorities last week released dozens of tribesmen detained in mass arrests over the last three years.

EGYPT: Mubarak Party Faces Fraud Allegations

Doubts are being raised now over the landslide victory of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) of President Hosni Mubarak in mid-term elections for the Shura Council last month.

MIDEAST: Egypt Loses Diplomatic Ground with Hamas

Almost two weeks after the takeover of the Gaza Strip by Palestinian faction Hamas, attempts by Cairo to resolve the crisis have so far come to naught. But while government officials say mediation efforts are still under way, some commentators question the ability of Egypt - a longtime supporter of Hamas rival Fatah - to mediate impartially.