Egypt Cracking Down on Challenge to Status Quo

Tweet There can't be too much happiness with the part the Egyptian gov't has played in arming Fatah in Palestine, either. The crack-down described here could be pre-emptive for the coming tough times. Whole article is here: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/319959_egypt15.html

It has this to say about the disappeared men: "The nexus between democracy, religion and Abdellatif Muhammad Said is his cousin -- Amr Tharwat. Like Said, Tharwat contends that Islamic law should be based solely on the Quran, not the sayings and traditions of the Prophet Muhammad, known as the Hadiths. The men support a secular government and seek to promote peace and tolerance among faiths, though their rejection of the Hadiths is considered radical within the faith."

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"CAIRO, Egypt -- Heavily armed police woke the Said family at 2 a.m. with pounding on the door. The parents dressed quickly as their two children drifted between sleep and fear. The police seized books, documents and computer equipment. They blindfolded the father, Abdellatif Muhammad Said, 40, and took him away.

"The raid occurred about two weeks ago in a tidy, two-bedroom apartment that also served as an office for a family business that promoted an unconventional view of Islam over the Internet. The Saids and their relatives concluded that they had run afoul of the state-sanctioned vision of faith.

"That may well be true. But in the weeks since Said disappeared into the netherworld of Egyptian jails, it has also begun to appear that his case may have as much to do with efforts to challenge the governing party's monopoly on power as it does with holding a view of Islam that many Muslims consider heretical. The arrest appears part of a zero-tolerance policy toward anybody who challenges the status quo, political analysts said.

"In recent days, hundreds of members of the Muslim Brotherhood, the popular, outlawed political movement, have been arrested. A request was denied to free from prison the onetime presidential candidate and political dissident Ayman Nour. A prominent member of Parliament who helped form a new political party was forced out in connection with a years-old financial case.

"The state-controlled press has virulently attacked Egyptians who attended a conference in Doha, Qatar, to discuss democracy. And elections on Monday to select members of the upper house of Parliament were described by independent organizations as manipulated to ensure that the governing party won a majority of the seats -- a charge the government denies.