by Amil Khan
ALEXANDRIA, Egypt -- Young men prevented from voting in the slums of Egypt's
second city say U.S. support for their government has added to their
mistrust of a country already deeply unpopular in the Arab world.
The United States, criticised by Arabs for invading Iraq and supporting
Israel, says it favours greater democracy and respect for human rights in
the Arab world but has delivered only mild protests about abuses in
elections in Egypt, where Islamist candidates have eclipsed the secularists
favoured in Washington.
When Egyptian riot police pushed youngsters away from polling stations in a
Muslim Brotherhood stronghold in the Nile Delta town of Damanhour at the
weekend, youngsters picked up spent teargas canisters and found them marked
"Made in USA". . . .
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Rory McCarthy, "
Muslim Brotherhood finds voice at the ballot box despite Mubarak
crackdown: Arrests, attacks and evidence of vote-rigging as government
feels heat of opposition," Guardian, November 24, 2005
"Egypt judges reject election results," Aljazeera,
November 28, 2005
[Thousands of would-be voters in strongholds of the banned Muslim
Brotherhood, Egypt's largest Islamic party, found their access to polling
booths cut off by lines of armed police yesterday, leading to angry
confrontations.--Daniel Howden, "Egyptian
police fire on opposition voters," Independent, December 2, 2005]
Patrick J. Buchanan, "Idealism vs. Realism in
Egypt," Antiwar.com, December 14, 2005
[Mr. Nour is back in prison, having been deprived by fraud of his
parliamentary seat.--Editorial: "Stand With Ayman Nour," Washington Post, December
23, 2005]
Hala Mustafa, "Ending the Silent War in Egypt,"
Washington Post, December 24, 2005