Rabaa Today

Ruled by fear: Egypt 'disappears' 1,840 people in just 12 months “I was asleep when they came,” says Nour Khalil, a 22-year-old lawyer and activist. “I woke up to one of them pulling away my bed sheet and pointing a gun in my face. I was handcuffed and blindfolded immediately. I was put into solitary confinement for four days.”

| Going Once, Going Twice: Egypt’s Sisi Was For Sale on eBay
On Wednesday morning, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said he is so committed to solving Egypt’s debt crisis that he would go so far as to sell himself if he thought it would help.Quick tip for Sisi: Don’t make promises you can’t keep. Within hours, the Egyptian leader was up for sale on eBay. Within a few hours, the bidding was at more than $100,000 — not too bad for an embattled head of state. The seller, whose username on the online auction site is “dr_motown,” listed Sisi as a “slightly used” field marshal and doctor of philosophers with a military background. That was a stab at Sisi’s claim last year that God anointed him as a doctor who advises “world leaders, politicians…and the greatest philosophers.” When one interested buyer asked for more information about the product, dr_motown — who has been an eBay member since 2004 and was rated positively by other users for quick delivery times — said Sisi had been used by “his previous owners (Gulf royals).” eBay didn’t find the posting too funny — it was removed early Wednesday afternoon.But Foreign Policy screenshot the post before the company took it down:

|| Egypt plane crash: 'Fake' bomb detectors being used by hotel security guards searching for explosives

As British and Egyptian authorities continue to assure tourists trapped in Sharm el-Sheikh that all possible measures are being taken to ensure their safety, bomb detectors being used by some hotel staff have been exposed as fake.
Security guards at hotels in the Red Sea resort have been seen using gadgets believed to be based on those sold around the world by jailed British conmen and women.
The sightings came as thousands of tourists continue to be stranded amid increased security measures following the Russian plane crash that killed all 224 people on board on 31 October.

Wilayat Sinai, Isis’ affiliate in the region, immediately claimed it had downed Metrojet flight 9628 and Britain is among the countries believing a bomb hidden in the hold was the most likely cause of the disaster.

| Bomb theory spells disaster for Egyptian tourism.

Egypt's tourism industry is reeling from suggestions that a bomb may have brought down a Russian plane shortly after it took off from the popular holiday resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
British Prime Minister David Cameron said Thursday the crash of Metrojet Flight 9268 was "more likely than not" caused by a bomb. U.S. officials have suggested that terror group ISIS or its affiliates were to blame.The U.K. government has barred airlines from taking passengers to Sharm el-Sheikh because of concerns about security at the resort's airport, and is working to help bring at least 9,000 travelers home. France has also stopped flights to the airport while the Netherlands and Germany have issued warnings about travel to the area.
This week's developments could prove to be "catastrophic" for Egyptian tourism, said Nadejda Popova, a senior travel analyst at Euromonitor International.
Britain is the second biggest market for Egyptian tourism, behind Russia. Roughly 2.8 million Russians, one million Brits and nearly 600,000 Germans visited Egypt last year, according to Euromonitor data.
U.S. carriers do not fly to Sharm el-Sheikh after a March notice from the Federal Aviation Administration warned about "hazards associated with extremist activities."
Egypt has been trying to rebuild its tourism industry since political turmoil sparked by the Arab Spring protests in early 2011 scared millions of tourists away.
Annual visitor numbers slumped from a record 14.7 million in 2010 to around 10 million since then, according to the UN's World Tourism Organization.
But the industry has proven resilient in the past to acts of terrorism and bloodshed. Tourists stopped to visit the country since President Mohamed Morsywas overthrown in July 2013.

Hundreds of people are expected to join protests outside Downing Street against the visit of the Egyptian president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, who is accused of a catalogue of human rights abuses.

A broad coalition of Egyptian and British groups has called for demonstrations on Wednesday night and Thursday morning, when the former army chief will hold talks at No 10. Sisi set off for his visit on early on Wednesday morning, Egyptian state media said.

|| Why did Esraa El-Taweel weep? Her father answers.

“Why did Esraa today weep and make us weep?” It was with this question that the father of detained Egyptian activist Esraa El-Taweel started his long blog which was shared and exchanged by many activists. On Monday, the hashtag (Esraa El-Taweel) topped all hashtags shared in Egypt today with significant human rights and media interaction.

On Facebook Esraa's father, Mahfouz El-Taweel, said that his daughter wept today because of oppression and tyranny after her imprisonment was extended by 45 more days for the tenth time after she’d already spent 155 days in detention.

He said: “Let everyone know that Esraa El-Taweel did not weep today or ever before out of fear of prison. Esraa El-Taweel wept today because the gentleman, the prosecuting officer – whose name I shall not disclose - told her in the first court appearance following her forced disappearance, and I quote: ‘There is no charge and you shall be released during the next court session.’ Yet, the prosecutor disappeared and did not reappear until the session before last at the supreme state security prosecution. When Esraa saw him she wept heavily to the extent that the gentleman, the prosecutor, wept because she was weeping. He promised her that she would be free the following session, the tenth and last court appearance according to him. Yet, he failed to come to the prosecution department and she was imprisoned once more in order to appear before a judge in a court of law instead of before a prosecution judge.”

El-Taweel added: “All the lawyers said she would be ordered free as soon as she arrived at the court. Yet, suddenly and without prior warning, and without even informing the lawyers, the cowards decided that she should be paraded in court today before one of the executions judges, Mu'tazz Khafaji. For this reason Esraa wept, thinking that her parents, friends and all the free people of Egypt would not be watching or that they would not be able to join her and be with her.”

He concluded his blog by saying: “Esraa, who is sick, was given 45 more days of detention. Esraa wept out of oppression and tyranny. Esraa wept because of the weakness and incapacity that may afflict her legs should she miss her physiotherapy. Your tears are dear, Esraa.”

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