By Saad Eddin Ibrahim

Former US Secretary of State Madeline Albright visited Egypt late in January on a fact finding mission for the Council on Foreign Relations. While there she met with officials and civil society leaders including an opposition member of Egypt’s parliament, Ayman Nour, who also heads a new political party, el Ghad. In his assessment of the situation in Egypt, Nour was sharply critical of President Mubarak’s failing policies. As soon as Albright and company left Egypt, the parliament met in emergency session and swiftly approved a government-sponsored motion to strip Nour of his parliamentary immunity-- needed it was said, to enable the authorities to investigate alleged criminal charges against him. Minutes later as he was leaving the parliament building, Nour was arrested by members of the notorious State Security Agency (SSA), his home and party headquarters were raided and searched, and computers and many of his papers seized. In the days that followed, the state-controlled media competed to decimate Nour’s character, calling him a crook and accusing him of forgery and lying about the membership of his party. The State Security Prosecutor issued a detention order remanding him to solitary confinement for 45 days without bail.

Following this unfolding story in Cairo brought flashback images of my own arrest and detention at the hands of the same State Security forces. On midnight of June 30th, 2000 over 30 armed agents stormed into my house, arrested me and carted away personal computers, family property and personal papers. Twenty seven of my research associates at the Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies were also rounded up, terrified and put behind bars. All of us were detained without bail for 45 days. Again, the state-controlled media had a field day with character assassination—I was alleged to have embezzled millions of dollars, spied for foreign powers, and—just as now with Ayman Nour—to have defamed the image of Egypt abroad.

It took the following three years, two sham trials before State Security Courts and one real trial by Egypt’s High Court of Cassation before all 28 of us were finally acquitted of all charges. In our highly-publicized case, the ultimate High Court ruling contained
a sharp reprimand of the Egyptian investigative authorities for having fabricated the case. It went even further, and certainly beyond the call of judicial duty, to critique the political arrangements in place now that give inordinate power to the Presidency.

Many observers have expressed their doubts about the legitimacy of the Nour case, believing it to be politically motivated. Months from now it could very well end in acquittal by the High Court just as mine did two years ago. The real question, however, is why does the Mubarak regime continue to resort to the same heavy-handed tactics vis-à-vis its peaceful opposition?

Here is an attempted answer. For nearly a quarter of a century, the Mubarak regime has perfected the art of scare politics, both at home and abroad. They argue that should Mubarak allow democratization to run its course, Islamists will take over through any fair and honest elections. None of his western listeners ever answer back with a counter question: What have you done to preserve the popularity of non –Islamist forces in the country? What has your regime done with over $100 billion of foreign aid and remittances from Egyptians working abroad? Why has Egypt’s ranking during your rule steadily worsened on every development index—from that of UNDP, to the World Bank, to Freedom House? Why is it that Eygpt only get higher rankings on Transparency International’s Corruption Index, where Egypt jumped several points to now compete with Russia, Syria and Nigeria as the top-most corrupt countries in the world? Isn’t it these dismal failings that feed popular discontent and contribute to the Islamists’ growing numbers? And isn’t it your repression of secular civil forces that has kept the field empty for the Islamists in Egypt, where there are now more than 100,000 mosques in which they can freely preach their message, and only a handful of registered political parties and human rights groups?

Recently, as calls for political liberalization mounted from pro-democracy activists like Ayman Nour at home, and from the G-8 initiative for the Broader Middle East abroad, Mubarak has geared up his propaganda machine. The newspapers and newscasters now repeat endlessly the need for economic reform and settling the Palestinian question first, as if it is an either/ or choice to be made. Lately, Mubarak has added Iraq to his priority policy list, preceding any consideration of genuine democratization at home. Thus, the free and fair elections in Iraq and before that in Palestine -- despite military occupation of both countries -- must have embarrassed Mubarak, who had warned of dire trouble accompanying what he considered as premature elections.

The budding democratic momentum must not be ignored in Egypt. I was dismayed by the faint ‘we take note’ reaction of the State Department’s spokesman Richard Boucher, commenting on Nour’s arrest and the trumped up charges against him. There are hundreds of dissidents like Nour in Egypt, Syria and Saudi Arabia --the three countries that are at the hard core of Arab authoritarianism. President Bush has repeated that the US will stand by those who work for freedom in their countries. There are scores of couragous Arab dissidents who have taken a stand for freedom, many of whom face pending trials or have spent years in prison. But the US is yet to be heard from in their defense. What we have so far from George Bush is fine language in the Inaugural and State of the Union speeches. The message was loud and clear. The credibility of the messenger is what is still at stake.