Arab West Report Egyptian press summaries and media research for dialogue

Supporters of the Salafī al-Nūr (Light) Party in al-Beheira governorate handed out fliers in which they urged voters to cast their ballots in favor of the party and that anyone not voting for al-Nūr would be "a sinner in the heart, profligate and dishonest because they letting down the party that seeks implementing the sharī'ah (Muslim law) of Allāh." [Muhammad Khayāl, Al-Shurūq al-Jadīd, Dec. 22, p. 3] Read the original text in Arabic

The head of the Military Judiciary Authority, 'Ādil Mūsá, denied that the emergency law has been abolished, saying it will remain in place until June 30.

He added that the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) did not activate the emergency law either, and it was in fact the government in 1981.

He added that it will remain active according to the constitutional announcement made on March 30.

Read original text in Arabic

[Reviewer's note: a similar story was covered in al-Misry al-Yawm, September 21, 2011, the Egyptian Gazette, September 21, 2011 and al-Ahram, September 22, 2011]

Egypt's ruling military council (SCAF) is facing a dilemma over the adoption of the proportional list electoral system, described by experts as a contradiction of the transitional constitution.

Last week, Shaykh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice president of the UAE and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, emphasized that conserving the rich Islamic scientific heritage and propagating it around the world are vital in promoting cultural dialogue, which, in turn, will inspire interest in the Islamic civilization and its scientific legacy.

Prime Minister 'Isām Sharaf has promised to lift the emergency law once Egypt regains a stable state of security, which has been a fragile issue since the breakdown of the police institution after the January 25 revolution.

The Political Parties Affairs Committee on Monday rejected the establishment of al-Jamā‘ah al-Islāmiyah’s “Construction and Development Party.”

In a statement on Monday, the committee said it rejected the proposed party for its "purely religious" platform, which violates the law on political parties.

Egyptian revolutionaries, political groups and Islamists have called on Egyptians to take to the streets next Friday in a new protest against a recent decision to activate the long-standing Emergency Law, accusing the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) of breaking a promise to cancel the ill-famed law.

While Israel have pitched into contacts with Egypt to prepare arrangements on the return of its Ambassador to Cairo, Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, the biggest fundamentalist bloc in society, are demanding a revision of relations with the Jewish state in connection with the Camp David Accords.

The testimony of Field Marshal Hussein Tantāwī, the head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, as a witness in the trial of former president Husnī Mubārak, has been postponed to September 24, judicial sources said yesterday.

The brother of the assassin of former president Anwār al-Sādāt returned to Egypt from exile in Iran August 28 and surrendered to the authorities.