The situation in Cairo is getting worse and worse. For us in the UK the gradual slide of another Middle Eastern country into civil war is a disaster: Egypt is the most populous Arab nation and violence has flared again: the news comes on the back of 2 years of civil war in Syria. Recently there have been 24 policemen loyal to the military regime gunned down execution-style by Islamist militants in the Sinai desert and counter allegations concerning 36 Islamist prisoners suffocated when teargas was fired into their van as they were being moved out of the capital in a convoy. At the same time former President Mubarak is to be freed and the army continue to control having ousted the Islamist government of Mohammad Morsi.
William Hague put it well recently when he said:
‘There may be years of turbulence in Egypt and other countries going through this profound debate about the nature of democracy and the role of religion in their society. Whats happening now in the Middle East is the most important event so far of the 21st century, even compared to the financial crisis we’ve been through in terms of its impact on world affairs and I think it will take years and maybe decades for it to play out."
