Epstein Secrets

those presidents and kings on whom America depended to help protect its interests. They were constant, if not always agreeable, companions. Egypt's Mubarak, Jordan's King Hussein, Tunisia's Ben Ali, Yemen's Ali Saleh, Morocco's King Hassan II, Saudi Arabia's kings Fand and Abdullah. The PLO's Yasir Ara

eiman, Egypt's longtime intelligence chief and Hosni Mubarak consigliere, who had recently thrown his hat in the political race. "Omar Suleiman and Hosni Mubarak's intelligence men are trying to drag us backwards," he half- shouted. They want to "steal the revolution and forge the elections." Just over 48 hou

amists like Muhammed Selim al-Awa will work to draw in Abu Ismail and Shater voters. Former Air Force commander and Mubarak's final prime minister, Ahmed Shafiq, will similarly try to appeal to the stability/anti-Islamist bloc that might otherwise have voted for Suleiman. Perhaps the only candidate left who

sidency) the winner by the barest of majorities over his opponent, Shafiq, who was widely viewed as the military's favored candidate and a relic of Hosni Mubarak's ousted dictatorship. The worst of it is this: no matter how unexpectedly skillful a politician Morsi might turn out to be, the task he's facing is

rim military government has actually ceded to him. Just weeks before he took the oath of office, the Supreme Court, stacked with holdovers from the Mubarak regime, effectively dissolved the country's first freely elected Parliament. Then the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) amended its own pr

keptics to believe in his campaign promises that things will get better. And that won't be easy. When Morsi faced off against former prime minister Ahmed Shafiq in last month's presidential runoff contest, half the country's voters didn't participate, and those who bothered to show up divided nearly down th

ote counts from across the country indicated that the Islamist leader was ahead of rival Ahmed Shafiq, who was the last prime minister appointed by Hosni Mubarak and was widely considered the generals' preferred candidate. Preliminary results published in the state-run Ahram Online news site showed that, wit

amed Morsi, a protégé of the Brotherhood's strongman Khayrat Elshater. If anything, this "choice" is the incarnation of the doctrine that served Mr Mubarak for three decades, "either me — an authoritarian regime backed by the military, or the Islamists". Having alienated their partners and lost substan

l elections took place against this backdrop. The result of the first round confirmed this dichotomy, with Egyptians left to choose between General Ahmed Shafiq, a long-time protégé of Hosni Mubarak, and Mohamed Morsi, a protégé of the Brotherhood's strongman Khayrat Elshater. If anything, this "choice" is

hought, he added a conciliatory call for dialogue with his politic=l opponents. As on January 28th =011, so on January 27th 2013. As with President Hosni Mubarak, so with Pre=ident Muhammad Morsi. And in both cases to little effect. After both telev=sed addresses vast throngs gleefully defied the curfew, fres

ns braced for the unknown. The drama that has =een unfolding since January 25th, the anniversary of the beginning of the =prising which toppled Mr Mubarak two years ago, would have looked peculiar=y familiar even without the eerily precise coincidence of the dates. Some are tempted to see the similarit

ver=ll, non-Islamist candidates captured a slim majority. But the one among them with the most votes, and thus Mr M=rsi's second-round opponent, was Ahmed Shafiq, a suave air-force officer=and a minister under Mr Mubarak—a past that many non-Islamists could not=stomach. Their votes were crucial in giving Mr

acked the military commission for being behind his black ball. He'll be trouble for whomever gets the presidential post. Enter Amr Moussa, former Mubarak foreign minister and Secretary General of the Arab League. The cigar- smoking Moussa is one of the best known Egyptians on the international scene.

fled Tunisia, he and his family were welcomed in Saudi Arabia. Then, Riyadh worked EFTA_R1_02205167 EFTA02721247 to prevent the toppling of the Hosni Mubarak regime, its ally in Egypt, but to no avail. It did, however, manage to help put down the Shia uprising against the Sunni government in neighboring

The knock on Moussa is his greatest political strength: He is known as rabidly anti-Israeli -- not a bad thing when you're in Egyptian politics. Ahmed Shafiq, Mubarak's last prime minister, is said to have strong backing from his old Air Force buddies, but is of course under attack as a Mubarak toady. T

sidency) the winner by the barest of majorities over his opponent, Shafiq, who was widely viewed as the military's favored candidate and a relic of Hosni Mubarak's ousted dictatorship. The worst of it is this: no matter how unexpectedly skillful a politician Morsi might turn out to be, the task he's facing is

rim military government has actually ceded to him. Just weeks before he took the oath of office, the Supreme Court, stacked with holdovers from the Mubarak regime, effectively dissolved the country's first freely elected EFTA_R1_02209742 EFTA02723614 Parliament. Then the Supreme Council of the Armed

eptics to believe in his campaign promises that things will get better. And that won't be easy. When Morsi faced off against former prime minister Ahmed Shafiq in last month's presidential runoff contest, half the country's voters didn't participate, and those who bothered to show up divided nearly down th

d havoc in Sinai. For years now, Egyptian security forces have been battling a ghost in the desert. Since the 2011 uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak, militants have blown up the E FTA_R1_00298250 EFTA01883831 pipeline that supplies natural gas to Israel 15 times. Only weeks before the Ramadan

leiman and her eight children showed off stacks of date boxes, which she insisted were Selmi's only source of income. "We voted for Morsy to escape Mubarak's injustice. Now we don't believe in him! It's the same way they treated us in 2005 after the Dahab and Sharm El Sheikh bombings," Suleiman compla

fy such concerns. But Morsy will have to tread carefully in coming months. He was elected by a clear, but narrow, margin over former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq and Egyptian society remains deeply divided between Islamists and non-Islamists. If he is seen as going too far, a backlash against him could be sw