Epstein Secrets

ces the old idea of dynasty. The regime of the Al-Assads does not believe in freedom of information. An A

ent Hafez Al-Assad's brother, Rifat, killed 10,000 (some say 20,000). As a showdown intensifies a generation later, it is another pair of brothers, Bashar and Maher, poised to do the same, against demonstrators lightly armed or weaponless but willing to look EFTA_R1_02032813 EFTA02691196 35 death

of truth. A presidential election in 2005, although marred by low turnout and many irregularities, was won by Mubarak with 89 percent of the vote. Ayman Nour, runner-up, obtained only 7 percent and was then jailed for a five-year term, apparently for the effrontery of opposing the autocrat. His example o

orgive those Syrians left at the mercy of their dictator's cruel war: It is hard to explain to them w=y those drones don't somehow find their way to Bashar al-Assad <http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Bashar%20al- Assad&sit==wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_n=_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF- 8&filter=p

drones don't somehow find their way to Bashar al-Assad <http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Bashar%20a

in the ruin of Egypt came in 2=05. The dictator rigged yet another presidential election, his fifth in a =ow, and he ordered a decent young rival, Ayman Nour, to prison on trumped =p charges. The administration of George W. Bush grasped the importance of the moment, but Mubarak brushed t=eir entreaties as

ian behavior, and faux reforms. Then there were the adversarial authoritarians. Here, a smaller group photo featured Iraq's Saddam Hussein, Syria's Assads (father and son), and Libya's Muammar al-Qaddafi. America sought to check and constrain their power, even removing one through invasion. But at tim

ting out Shater, as well as Ismail, both charismatic figures capable of mobilizing voters. Other candidates have been banned, including the liberal Ayman Nour — who, like Shater, was imprisoned under Mubarak — but EFTA00660297 the Islamists are the SCAF's true targets, and few Egyptians buy the tortured

ved in this recent murder. Many have argued that Gen Al Hassan was killed to settle a score relating to his role in the arrest of Michel Samaha, an Assad apparatchik who was caught planning a domestic bombing campaign during the summer. In fact, Gen Al Hassan was probably targeted because of his grow

iopia in April and May last year, and it included political figures like Al-Guindi, Al-Sayed Al-Badawi, leader of the Wafd Party, Ghad Party leader Ayman Nour, and presidential hopeful Hisham Al- Bastawisi. Other members of the delegation included journalists like Sekina Fouad, popular figures like Mohamed

lims in Syria and throughout the region feel that Assad's Syria has unduly favored the Alawites, a sect o

A government spokeswoman has hinted that coming reforms will include greater freedom for the press and the right to form political parties. President Bashar al-Assad is due to address the country in the next 48 hours. His speech is eagerly awaited, but it remains to be seen whether it will be enough to defuse the

llenged the fundamentals of Syria's security state, a harsh system of controls over every aspect of society, put in place by the late Hafez al-Assad, Bashar's father, who ruled for 30 years from 1970 to his death in 2000. By all accounts, the debate HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_030032 --- PAGE BREAK --- 4 about how

es been far from neutral, favoring one community over another in cynical power plays. Many Sunni Muslims in Syria and throughout the region feel that Assad's Syria has unduly favored the Alawites, a sect of Shiite Islam, who constitute some 12 percent of the population but control a vastly greater percen