November 13th, 2009 by Zack

The Daily News Egypt is reporting that Egypt is among the states attempting to weaken the U.N.’s anti-corruption convention by blocking an agreement on an effective review mechanism.  The Egyptian stance on corruption review is that civil society organizations should be restricted to local information-gathering and barred from contacting the international community directly.  Additionally, Egypt wants in-country reviews to be optional.  According to relevant NGOs, should Egypt win the day the convention will be rendered effectively “toothless.”

Time has published a piece examining the current presidential succession debate, exploring the popular resistance to the idea of Gamal Mubarak’s “pharaonic” succession,the increase in public discourse, and the possibility of presidential runs by Amr Moussa and Muhammad ElBaradei.

Posted in Diplomacy, Egypt, Hamas, Mideast Peace Plan, Palestine, Syria |