When I was in Egypt last week, I discovered something that both the ‘old men' of politics and youths agree upon, namely, that corruption in the former regime was wider and deeper than anyone thought or knew it was, and it seems that no one among the former officials will be spared questioning or even prosecution. Since the media freedom's ceiling has risen or vanished altogether, the news stories ran by Egyptian newspapers are of the kind that I never imagined I would ever read. I chose to go over the material published throughout the week to see how the media benefited from the new margin of freedom, and whether the latter has been abused. I paused at a headline in Al-Akhbar newspaper that said: “This criminal killed 30 people - execute him” with the last words printed in large emphasized characters. The person intended by this was an officer who fired at the protesters, and the newspaper anticipated his indictment and conviction by asking for his execution. This alone would have been sufficient in the West to dismiss the trial, and move it to another city, because incitement against a defendant means that he will not get a fair trial. In the same newspaper, and in the same day, I read a story about how students from Al-Azhar demonstrated to demand the dismissal of Dr. Mohamed Reda, a member of the faculty of the university, because he described the prophet as being the ‘biggest secularist'. Even though Dr. Reda said the next day that he did not remember when he said that statement attributed to him or when, I dealt with this issue from the perspective of the freedom of speech. The students who demonstrated against the professor had demonstrated in the previous weeks against the regime and called for democracy, and when they obtained full freedom, it did not accommodate the opinions of others it seems, and I believe that the professor most probably had meant that the prophet was also a military and political leader. On the other hand, the coverage of Al-Wafd felt more like a settling of accounts than it was news. I read “Capital punishment for Mubarak, Gamal, al-Sharif, Srour and Azmi”, and this of course before their indictment, let alone conviction. I also read that Mubarak's men were a bunch of “Mamlouk Thieves”, that “Alaa is a hustler and a thief” and that “Egypt was ruled by a busker and ministers who did not finish junior school”. I also read that seven ministers “paid bribes to Gamal Mubarak to be appointed as ministers” (The above is less than half of the headlines on the front page of Thursday's issue). On Friday, Al-Masri Al-Yawm said that “Mubarak and his men are falling”. Al-Shourouq, meanwhile, said on the same day that “the People's tribunal issued its verdict against Mubarak and his henchmen” and that Nazif is getting ever closer to Al-Mazraa prison, while Zakaria Azmi has been “making illegal profits”. But the newspaper was professional in the sense that it refrained from issuing verdicts or convictions, and just presented the news to the readers. When another headline in the newspaper spoke about Alaa Mubarak, the word ‘thievery' was placed between two small brackets to stress that the word was not a reflection of the newspaper's opinion. Meanwhile, I read in Rose Al-Youssef and Nahdat Misr the same accusations railed against the senior figures of the former regime, but without any convictions that would preempt their trial. I would begin each morning by reading Al-Ahram as I did in London where I keep the newspaper's issues next to Al-Hayat's, and found that the oldest Arab newspaper dealt with news responsibly and with the defendants fairly, in a manner that reflects ‘the new era' at my favorite newspaper. I visited Al-Ahram's offices one afternoon, and had a pleasant meeting with the Editor in Chief Abdulazim Hammad, along with the editorial director Abdulazim Darwish and Hazem Abdul Rahman, and the newspaper's prominent correspondent from Bosnia to South Africa Yahya Ghanem. I went after that with the Editor in Chief to visit Labib Sibai, the Chairman of the Board who also worked at Al-Ahram both in its management and editorial board, and who was famous for his independent opinion and professional courage. We spoke amid the scent of flowers emanating from the bouquets sent by congratulators, since both men had only occupied their posts a few days earlier. I believe that the Egyptian press is on the verge of a golden age of liberty, and I expect Al-Ahram to lead the way, with a lot of competition from other newspapers such as Al-Akhbar, Al-Shourouq, Al-Masri Al-Yawm and other papers. Egypt was never lacking in competent and skilled men and women, but only in the margins [of freedom] afforded to it. On the evening of the previous day, I and colleague Mohammed Salah, Al-Hayat's bureau chief, were the guests of colleague Sahar Abdul Rahman and her husband Nabil Attia, for a dinner that also brought us together with dear Yusra. In truth, I consider Yusra to be a professional colleague because, if she weren't this gorgeous and creative, she would have definitely ended up a journalist. I was also pleased to see with us the prominent actor Yahya Fakhrani. In a lengthy interview I had read, he said that he never imagined that he would live to see change happening, but only expected it in the lifetime of his grandchildren. Also present with us was his wife Dr. Lamis Jaber, and perhaps some of the readers will remember her for the series King Farouk. I sat next to Munir Fakhri Abdel-Nour, Minister of Tourism, and we exchanged opinions and some information. I also ‘questioned' Nader Jawhar, who played such a leading role in the youths' revolution that he was invited to the White House. We had also with us Abdulazim Hammad and old friend Dr. Mustafa El Feki (I shall return to El Feki and the subject of the Arab League and its post of Secretary General in this column tomorrow). All throughout the week, my exchanges in Egypt were about the youths' revolution, which is nothing short of a miracle, and about its hopes, ambitions and expectations. If half of these materialize, then that too would be yet another miracle. [email protected]
