Links 27 January - 17 February 2014

From the comic strip Luna of Cairo - see link below. 

• Tunisia’s new constitution: progress and challenges to come | openDemocracy
  Zaid al-Ali and Donia Ben Romdhane
• Convince, Coerce, or Compromise? Ennahda’s Approach to Tunisia’s Constitution | Brookings Institution
  Monica Marks on Ennahda's internal politics.
• What was the thinking behind Libya’s transition? | THE DAILY STAR
  Pete Cole urges patience.
• The Strategy of Egypt's Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis
  Long War Journal's David Barnett
• The Egypt Effect: Sharpened Tensions, Reshuffled Alliances - Carnegie
  Regional impact of July 3.
• Qatar’s leadership transition: like father, like son | ECFR
  Andrew Hammond argues Qatar as Ikhwanophile as ever.
• An account of torture from Wadi al-Natrun prison | Mada Masr
• Cairobserver — Review: Ahdaf Soueif's Cairo
• Cairobserver — Second Print Edition of Cairobserver
• Luna of Cairo by Luna and Leela Corman - Narratively
  Cute comic on life of foreign belly dancer in Cairo.
• (No) Dialogue in Bahrain | MERIP
• Egypt blames Muslim Brotherhood for 'expected' electricity crisis
  But of course.
• Are protesters overthrowing a brutal despot, or merely bad losers at the polls? - The Independent
  Patrick Cockburn on Egypt, Thailand, Ukraine, Turkey.
• Sabbahi calls for candidate debate with El-Sisi ahead of Egypt's presidential poll - Ahram Online
• Morocco police block launch of rapper's new album
• The Resurgence of Militant Islamists in Egypt | Middle East Institute
  Khalil Enani
• Political Scientists Are Targets in Egypt’s Crackdown on Islamists
  On the ripples of concern raised by the Emad Shahin case
• New rail freight link could become 'Israel’s Suez Canal’ - Haaretz
  Huge mistake re: MB, but interesting
• Libyan army commander calls for parliament to be suspended | Reuters
  He's no Sisi - http://youtu.be/R5uXd3oGDTw
• "Pourquoi je veux mourir en Syrie" : confession d'un djihadiste français - France 24
• Security Forces in Egypt Detain Employee of American Embassy
  For setting up meetings b/w Embassy and MB. Egyptian government now retroactively criminalizing all contact with the Brothers?
• Pharaohs, Caliphs and Field Marshals - NYTimes.com
  Powerful op-ed by Bahaeddin Hassan.
• Egypt Detains a U.S. Embassy Employee - NYTimes.com
  For talking to MB.
• Hazem Kandil · Sisi’s Turn: What does Sisi want? · LRB
  Scathing on the MB, problematic in many places.
• L’empire DRS contre-attaque.
  Post on political machinations in Algeria.
• Meet Chechclearr, the Web-savvy foreign Islamic militant in Syria - Los Angeles Times
• Commentary: No Iran Deal? No Problem | The National Interest
• Sudan, Egypt officers collude in migrant abuse: rights group
• British company negotiates exporting gas from Israel to Egypt
  Possible that Egypt will become consumer and exporter of Israeli gas...
• The Quest for Cultural Authenticity and the Politics of Identity - LSE
  Lecture by Sami Zubeida
• Massacres in Egypt Report - HRM
• The Brotherhood Withdraws Into Itself
  Nathan Brown
• Letter from the wife of a detainee: A visit to prison - Daily News Egypt
• Turkish police caught in middle of war between PM and ex-ally | The Guardian
  Fascinating on Gulen network penetration.
• From nationalism to resistance and back again | Mada Masr
  Lovely bit of musical history by Sarah Carr
• The motorbike girl gangs of Morocco
• The Crooks Return to Cairo
  On the "reconciliation" deals in the works with Mubarak-era businessmen
• A murder mystery set in post-Saddam Baghdad is as good as it is daring - Reviews - Books - The Independent
  A review of Elliot Colla's Baghdad Central, which is in my daunting to-read stack
• مفاجأة | وقف طبع جريدة الوطن بسبب تقرير «ثروة السيسي» المقدرة بـ 30مليون جنيه
  Issue of El Watan newspaper banned after it reports Sisi's personal fortune is $4 million
• Who’s afraid of a binational state? - Haaretz
  Gideon Levy makes the obvious argument: it's already one state.
• Egypt forecasts gas shortage next fiscal year | Reuters
  And BG just declared Force Majeure...
• Egypt's quick-fix minimum wage hike fails to calm workers | Reuters
• Egypt summons Qatar's charge d'affaires over Egyptian cleric | Reuters
  Qaradawy.
• Mr Blair goes to Cairo
  Fuck you Blair. Bet you miss your vacations with Mubarak.
• The Political Marshal of Egypt | Mada Masr
  Belal Fadl on Nasser, Amer, Montgomery, Heikal and of course Sisi.
• State security charges film-maker with spreading ‘false news’ to foreign countries
  Egyptian film-maker detained for having footage of Rabba dispersal, using term "coup"
• In Egypt, just speaking to Brotherhood is a risk for foreign reporters
  Journalists in Egypt face growing threats
• The Collapse of the Phrase ‘Constitutional Pragmatism’
  Amr Hamzawy
• What are the legal steps before Sisi's candidacy? | Mada Masr
• The Future That We do not want to see in #Egypt
  What is wrong w/ these people?
• Arabic Erotica
  Scholarly blog on "Sex and Erotology in Mediaeval Arabic Literature"
• Syria’s Polio Epidemic: The Suppressed Truth by Annie Sparrow | The New York Review of Books
• Is it time for the west to recognise Cyrenaica? | Nick Butler
  Dangerous and misguided piece.
• Syria Plea: ‘We Are Eating Cat and Donkey Meat, Have Mercy on Us’
  Heartbreaking reporting from Yarmouk.
• The sad story of Amr Hamzawy and Emad Shahin
  Nathan Brown
• Presidential Elections: The Key Step in Egypt’s Roadmap [Part I]
  Nader Bakkar: Sisi running is "akin to gambling" - is that a Salafi diss?
• Influential cleric urges Saudis to stop backing Egypt's dominant military
  Qaradawi sowing fitna in Saudi, says false flag ops in Cairo.
• Letter to Obama From American Detained in Egypt - NYTimes.com
  Gut-wrenching.
• English translation of new Tunisian constitution
• BBC News - Egypt Air Force helicopter 'downing' a major escalation
  New manpad threat
• Refashioning Morocco’s Loyalist Party - Sada
  On the PAM.
• Egypt, reneging on roadmap, to start elections with presidential vote
  So long, July roadmap.
• Latest copy of Cairobserver
  [PDF]
• On Moroccan Hill, Villagers Make Stand Against a Mine - NYTimes.com
• Les enfants fauchés par la révolution égyptienne - Libération
  Portraits of the parents of 2011 "martyrs".