A bridge too far

[Eugene]

Cairo dispatch

A bridge too far

Egypt's police took a dim view of an innocent protest on the Nile
condemning the Sharm el-Sheikh bombings, Brian Whitaker learns from
some beleaguered bloggers

Tuesday July 26, 2005

Egyptians have been living under "emergency" laws for the last 24
years, ever since their president, Hosni Mubarak, came to power.
This may not have done much to stop terrorism but it has been highly
effective in stopping just about anything else that might disturb the
government's tranquillity.

One effect of the emergency is that it is illegal to hold a street
protest in Egypt without the authorities' permission, even if you want
to do nothing more sinister than demonstrate against terrorism. Since
the bombings in Sharm el-Sheikh, on Saturday, Egyptian bloggers have
been filling the blogosphere with their thoughts.

<snip>

When they gathered, on a bridge over the Nile on Sunday afternoon,
it was not exactly an earth-shattering demo: a mere 10 people holding
placards in Arabic and English saying "No to terrorism", "Egypt
against terrorism" and "Islam against terrorism". But even this was
enough to swing the authorities into action.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/elsewhere/journalist/story/0,7792,1536304,00.html