Date: Sun, 2 Jul 2000 14:31:44 -0600 (MDT)
Subject: Growing Tensions in Egypt's Cultural Landscape  



Professor at American University in Cairo Arrested

CAIRO (July 1) XINHUA - Egypt's Higher State Security Prosecution on
Saturday arrested Saad Eddin Ibrahim, director of Ibn Khaldoun Center for
Human Rights, and remanded him for 15 days in custody pending interrogation.
Ibrahim was accused of collecting funds without prior permission from the
authorities and taking money from foreign sources to draft reports on the
internal situation in Egypt and produce a film tarnishing the country's
image, Egypt's Middle East News Agency reported.

Prosecutors also charged him with exploiting the Ibn Khaldoun Center at
the American University in Cairo to get into contact with a number of
countries and to foment internal problems that could threaten Egypt's
stability, the news agency said. The professor, a United States citizen,
was accused of obtaining several million Egyptian pounds from foreign
parties on the pretext of conducting research work in various fields. He
could be sentenced to 15 years in prison if convicted, prosecutors were
quoted as saying.

Copyright XINHUA NEWS AGENCY

Authorities Arrest Leading Egyptian Liberal Professor

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) -- Police have arrested a well-known liberal sociologist
who holds dual U.S.-Egyptian citizenship, accusing him of working to harm
Egypt's image. Saad Eddin Ibrahim, professor of sociology at the American
University in Cairo, said police detained him and three assistants on
Friday night. Ibrahim spoke Saturday by mobile telephone to The Associated
Press from a prosecutor's office in Cairo where he was being held.

Prosecutors had charged him with preparing a documentary about elections
that harms Egypt's image, receiving foreign funds without government
permission and forging an election ballot, Ibrahim said. He said the
ballot was a dummy made expressly for the film. "This is the price of
freedom and working for the benefit of the public that we have to pay," he
said. "May all of you pray for me in this predicament." The call was
abruptly terminated. Ibrahim was using the mobile phone of his lawyer,
Hafez abu Saada, who is secretary general of the Egyptian Human Rights
Organization.

Abu Saada said the prosecutors had claimed that the documentary about
parliamentary elections says the government rigged previous polls. The
charges carry long prison sentences, abu Saada added. While the
authorities often detain rights actitivists, it is rare that an academic
of Ibrahim's standing is arrested. A quiet-spoken champion of human
rights, he runs the Ibn Khaldoun Center, a Cairo think tank, and is often
interviewed and quoted by foreign journalists. He has long criticized Arab
governments for their lack of democracy and discrimination against
minorities. In Egypt, he has spoken for greater opportunities for Coptic
Christians, who comprise about 10 percent of the population of 64 million.

The Egyptian government denies any discrimination against the Copts,
saying all Egyptians are treated equally. Security officials said Ibrahim
was also being questioned about his allegedly receiving more than $290,000
from abroad. Yussef Sidhom, the editor of the Coptic weekly Watani, said
he was amazed to hear of the detention. "Knowing the man closely, I do not
expect anything he would have done to have harmed national security," said
Sidhom.

Sidhom added that Ibn Khaldoun Center had acknowledged receiving funds
from abroad: "They have their own auditors and everything is published."
Ibrahim, who received his doctorate from the University of Washington, is
the author of several books, including "Sects, Orders and Ethnicities in
the Arab World." He is a member of the board of directors of the Al Ahram
Center for Political and Strategic Studies, a government-funded think
tank.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------



     --- from list postcolonial-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---