• Egypt’s Despair, and Its Hope -
    Alaa Al Aswani

    a changing in the position of the egyptian writer?

    NYTimes.com FEB. 6, 2014

    http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/07/opinion/aswany-egypts-despair-and-its-hope.html?_r=0

    CAIRO — Last month, on the third anniversary of the revolution of Jan. 25 that led to the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak, millions of Egyptians came out onto the streets carrying Egyptian flags and pictures of Gen. Abdul-Fattah el-Sisi, the army leader whom they considered their hero for siding with the will of the people and overthrowing the Muslim Brotherhood government in June. At the same time, supporters of the Brotherhood’s deposed president, Mohamed Morsi, continued their confrontations with the police, which resulted in 49 deaths and scores of injuries.

    There was a third position taken by some of the young revolutionaries who played a role in ending Brotherhood rule last year, but were terrified at the prospect of the return of the police state they had opposed when Mr. Mubarak was in power. Two such people are Khaled el-Sayed, 30, and Nagy Kamel, 27, both engineers, who helped organize a demonstration against both a return of the Brotherhood and the Mubarak-style regime.

    The demonstration had hardly started before it was set upon by the police, reportedly using tear gas and live ammunition, causing the demonstrators to flee for their lives.

    After the protesters were dispersed, Mr. Sayed and Mr. Kamel went for lunch in the city center, where they were picked up and placed under arrest by the secret police, who charged them with possession of bombs for use in terrorist attacks. Prosecutors ordered both men to be held in custody for 15 days, pending investigation.

    What