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DEMOCRACY
Commentary: SOS from Mubarak sons
by Arnaud De Borchgrave
Washington (UPI) Jun 24, 2011

disclaimer: image is for illustration purposes only

The new Egypt is a frightening picture, according to letter from Hosni Mubarak's two sons, Gamal and Alaa.

In a letter hand-carried out of prison in Egypt to Dr. Omar Zawawi, Oman's most prominent businessman and close adviser to Oman's Sultan Qaboos, the Mubarak brothers wrote, "We have been through rounds of politically motivated investigations that resemble more of a witch hunt directed at our family at large.

"Egypt is passing through a critical phase in its modern history," wrote the Mubaraks. "The announced vision and policies aim to respond to demands for more freedom, human rights and dignity for all. (But) what we have witnessed over the past few months is anything but those noble objectives.

"The media are being manipulated, the investigations of us and others corrupted, the charges leveled against us are manufactured and the allegedly accused dare not speak out or even have their supporters or lawyers speak out in their defense."

"For the past three months," the two Mubarak brothers wrote, "we have been subjected to an organized media campaign, led by state media outlets, to leak out false details about our investigations, continue relentlessly to slander our reputation, spread lies about fabricated charges against us, without allowing us any space whatsoever to respond.

"They have even launched a slandering campaign against any lawyer that would come forward to join our defense team," the brothers said.

"To tamper with the judicial process to appease the mobs is the untold story that the outside world doesn't know of Egypt over the past few months," they said. "Demonstrations and mobs in the street have forced the authorities to first issue orders banning us from traveling. Manufactured state media hype escalated the mobs demands for our detention, and the (military) authorities responded.

"Finally and ahead of a planned demonstration calling for our trial, the authorities abruptly rushed an investigation, manufactured charges against us and in less than 72 hours referred us to court, and then announced our first court appearance for Aug. 3. This is the mother of all appeasements by the authorities. Hosni Mubarak and his two sons will stand in court together on fabricated and totally outrageous charges."

One of those charges against ex-President Hosni Mubarak, now in a prison hospital where he is gravely ill with cancer, "carries the death penalty," wrote his two sons.

Mubarak is accused of ordering the killing of protesters. "Who in his right mind could believe that Hosni Mubarak with his history of fighting for the dignity of his people … would even contemplate committing such a crime. In fact, he decided to step down to prevent violence from escalating. The evidence put together for his case is a farce," said the brothers' letter.

Such a trial, they said, is what Mubarak's "staunch opponents, the Muslim Brotherhood, wanted all along."

"More serious," they said, "is that such a trial has little chance of being fair … A senior Cabinet member, a former attorney general during our father's time, a politician, minister of Justice in the 'new Egypt' announced a verdict eight weeks ago before even the supposedly independent attorney general's office completes or even seriously starts investigation. And the shocking side to all that is not a single voice of criticism about such flagrant manipulation of the justice system was heard, neither from within the government, nor from the orchestrated state media.

"No one dares to speak out of the carefully designed script."

The Muslim Brotherhood, wrote the Mubarak brothers, have "captured the moment with a weak mob appeasing government, lack of leadership, and a state media … orchestrated to attack and slander Mubarak … We have witnessed firsthand in my jail, ex-Cabinet ministers who have already been sentenced on outrageous charges. The authorities want convictions of ex-officials to continue to appease the mobs, and the courts have been answering their calls.

"The outside world has to start understanding the reality of what is going on in Egypt," they wrote. "Hosni Mubarak and his family have to pay the ultimate price."

The brothers urged Zawawi "to use your esteemed global standing to shed light on what is going on, This is not the 'new Egypt' the West aspires to, nor the one we hope for our country."




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Egypt military rulers want power transfer: McCain
Cairo (AFP) June 26, 2011 - Egypt's military rulers want to hand over powers to an elected government "as soon as possible," US Senator John McCain said after talks on Sunday with the head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.

Power was transferred to the armed forces by former president Hosni Mubarak upon his ouster on February 11 after mass protests against his 30-year rule.

"The field marshal again indicated his absolute commitment to a transition to a civilian government at the earliest possible time after the elections have taken place," McCain told reporters in Cairo.

The Republican senator was speaking after meeting Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi who heads the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.

John Kerry, a Democratic senator and one-time US presidential candidate, who took part in the talks, said: "I think they (the military) are very anxious to get out of the business of governing and they want to go back to doing what they were doing.

"They want a civilian government to take over the responsibilities."

The military council has repeatedly pledged to restore power to a civilian government after legislative elections due in September and a presidential vote in November.

But earlier this month Prime Minister Essam Sharaf, quoted by the state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper, said delaying a September parliamentary election would give parties more time to prepare.

"Postponing the election would give the chance for a larger number of new political parties to develop," Sharaf said.

His comments come at a time of mounting calls by liberal and secular groups to delay the election until a new constitution is drafted amid fears that early polls could benefit Islamists.

Some secular and liberal opposition groups, however, want to push ahead with elections to have the ruling military council -- which they see as an extension of the old regime -- out of power as soon as possible.

The two US senators also said they had recommended that Tantawi allow international observers for the elections.

"He clearly stated that as they move forward with the process of elections that they would give that recommendation serious consideration," McCain said.

In the Mubarak era, such recommendations were systematically ignored.

McCain and Kerry are in Cairo at the head of a delegation of US businessman to discuss foreign investment in Egypt, which along with Tunisia pioneered the "Arab spring" sweeping the region.

"The failure or success of the revolution in this part of the Arab world will be directly related to the ability to provide investment and jobs for the Egyptian people," McCain said.





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