Al-Ahram and Al-Akhbar both lead Tuesday’s front pages with statements of defiance from the Foreign Ministry, which vows that the Egyptian consulate in Baghdad will not close despite Sunday’s bombing attack with left six Iraqi guards dead and four Egyptian citizens injured.
Al-Ahram’s story kicks off with details of an Iraqi army campaign launched around the city of Baqouba, allegedly to hunt down the insurgent cells responsible for Sunday’s bombing spree–which also targeted the Syrian, Iranian and German embassies. Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hossam Zaki tells the paper that closing the Baghdad consulate isn’t being discussed at the ministry and that the remaining employees at the consulate all have ”high morale.”
Al-Dostour continues to out-Baradei other Egyptian newspapers. Tuesday’s bright-red front-page headline reports on Mohamed ElBaradei’s meeting with Coptic church and community leaders during Easter celebrations. The headline declares: “ElBaradei: I’m am saddened by the complaints of Copts that they are oppressed.”
Another front-page story carries a warning from Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated parliament member Abdel Hamid Zaghloul directed at Egypt’s security forces. Zaghloul warns against any improper or aggressive actions toward female university students during inspections or protests. Zaghloul, according to the headline, declares: “Women are a redline, and the response to any violations with be harsh.”
Al-Shorouq leads with another Brotherhood official, Secretary General Mohamed Hussein, speculating about the possibility of a partnership with ElBaradei’s National Association for Change. Hussein said that the Brotherhood is open to the possibility. However he warns that any agreement with ElBaradei’s association will have to be on terms that give the Brotherhood its due credit as Egypt’s most powerful opposition force. “The Brotherhood will participate as an organization and a political entity, but not just as individuals,” the story says.
Egypt’s newspapers:
: Daily, state-run, largest distribution in Egypt
: Daily, state-run, second to Al-Ahram in institutional size
: Daily, state-run
Daily, state-run, close to the National Democratic Party’s Policies Secretariat
Daily, privately owned
Daily, privately owned
Daily, published by the liberal Wafd Party
Weekly, published by the Arab Nasserist party
Weekly, privately owned
Weekly, privately owned
