.
Exquisite scholar, worthy to be read and heard.
Fear and loathing in post-Morsi Egypt
(France24) – As my EgyptAir MS800 flight touched down on the tarmac at Cairo’s international airport, August 15, the usually blasé voice of the plane’s captain wavered as he said, “Ladies and gentleman, welcome to Egypt … May god protect our country.”
Ever since the military’s deadly crackdown on supporters of ousted president Mohammed Morsi last week, the country has resembled a plane in free-fall, whose pilots continue to squabble even as the cockpit goes down in flames.
The endless escalation of violence in Egypt has pushed the military to adopt a series of security measures reminiscent of former president Hosni Mubarak’s rule – raising fears that the hard-won progress made in the wake of the country’s 2011 uprising is being eroded.
It’s impossible to move around Cairo without noticing the omnipresence of armed forces near the city’s key sites, be they bridges, main squares or public buildings. Furthermore, the recent decision to implement a curfew means that the previously straightforward 30-kilometre trip from the airport to capital’s central Zamalek neighbourhood is now a three-hour expedition punctuated by military roadblocks, makeshift check-points and blocked roads.
Interview on Egypt’s state of affairs
The crisis in Egypt deepens every day, with the country increasingly divided into two apparently irreconcilable camps. Recent events, such as the arrest of the Muslim Brotherhood’s supreme guide Mohamed Badie, indicate that the military rulers are determined to break the religious movement, and reconciliation appears impossible, at least for now. So where is Egypt heading? Eduardo Cue puts the question to Gilles Kepel, author of many books about Islam and the Arab world.
- Developments Arab Spring Egypt’s Revolt Explained
- Al Jazeera and Qatar: Muslim Brothers’ Dark Empire?
- Fall and Rise of the Muslim Brotherhood
