Vol 54 No 25 | EGYPT Vote on constitution nears 12th December 2013 Liberals hope democracy can co-exist with a military insulated from scrutiny but many lawyers wonder about the flaws in the new legal framework Egypt’s draft constitution has been handed to President Adly Mahmud Mansour for formal signing, after the 50-member drafting panel approved it on 1 December. A simple majority referendum...
Vol 54 No 25 | EGYPTSUDAN Cape to Cairo, again 12th December 2013 Agrogate, an Egyptian private equity group, hopes to start work this month on a hard-top road in Sudan, the 362 kilometre Dongola-Toshke (Argeen) Highway, which will link the...
Vol 54 No 23 | LIBYA Little leadership and less oil 14th November 2013 Ali Zeidan has kept his grip on the premiership but financial pressures, oil blockades and secession threats in the east and south are crowding in The recent failure of the Muslim Brotherhood-backed Justice and Construction Party (JCP) and its allies to remove Prime Minister Ali Zeidan – whether via a vote of the...
Vol 54 No 21 | EGYPT Smart bomb for subsidies 17th October 2013 The smart-card fuel rationing system is about to be launched, says a Finance Ministry source. The government of ex-President Mohamed Hosni Mubarak conceived the scheme and ex-President Mohamed...
Vol 54 No 20 | EGYPT Gulf states to the rescue 3rd October 2013 Massive aid to the military-backed regime from Saudi Arabia and its allies could help dampen political tension after the ousting of President Mursi The economy is still struggling on many fronts but some indicators look healthier, thanks largely to over US$8 billion of aid from Gulf Arab governments since the army...
Vol 54 No 20 | EGYPT Neither military nor Mursi 3rd October 2013 Activists from the 2011 revolution are struggling to organise a political alternative to the dominant military and its Islamist adversaries Left-wingers and other secularists are trying to remobilise the revolutionary spirit of January 2011 and on 24 September they formed an opposition alliance, the Jebhat Tariq el Thawra...
Vol 54 No 19 | ALGERIA Boutef's miracle return 18th September 2013 After reshuffles to the intelligence services and government, the President is unexpectedly back from the dead Enfeebled by an illness that hospitalised him in Paris between April and July, and limited public appearances to stage-managed photo-shoots, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika began the political rentrée as...
Vol 54 No 17 | EGYPT After the crisis, the crackdown 22nd August 2013 General El Sisi and his military securocrats are trying to crush the Muslim Brotherhood. The attack on Islamism will reverberate through the region Egypt’s new rulers have set about stamping their authority on the country in the most brutal fashion, albeit with widespread domestic political and popular backing. The generals have... READ FOR FREE
Vol 54 No 17 | EGYPT Who's backing the new regime? 22nd August 2013 Egypt's crisis is producing curious bedfellows The confrontation between General Abdel Fatah Khalil el Sisi’s regime and supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood divides the region. Governments are juggling their ideological orientation and strategic interests...
Vol 54 No 15 | ALGERIA Leadership in limbo 15th July 2013 Policy and politics are at a standstill as Bouteflika lingers on as President, with no solution to the succession The return of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to Algiers on 16 July after nearly three months of medical treatment in Paris resolved neither the questions about his health nor...