The Eid al-Fitr celebrations occupy much of today's press, with state-owned Al-Gomhurriya announcing that “the revolution will perform the Eid prayers in Tahrir." Independent daily Al-Shorouk reports that the prayers will be held in the square “without politics."
Riot police and army soldiers have been stationed on the square's central grassy island to prevent anyone from congregating there ever since they forcibly broke up a sit-in there on the first day of Ramadan on 1 August.
Otherwise, today's papers are a mixed bag. On its front page, Al-Dostour reports that activist Saad Eddin Ibrahim “sympathizes with the principles of the Muslim Brotherhood."
Ibrahim predicts that the Muslim Brotherhood will be the largest bloc in parliament after the upcoming elections but will not have a majority.
In other front page news, the paper tells us that a female criminal gang raided a pharmacy in Heliopolis, hospital workers in Fayoum went on strike after a patient's relatives assaulted a doctor and that the military police were brought in to Cairo airport after furious Umra pilgrims returning from Saudi Arabia discovered that their luggage had been lost and forced their way into the baggage area.
Al-Shorouk, meanwhile, reports that Israel has deployed extra troops on its border with Egypt. According to Israeli intelligence, an “Islamic jihadist cell” has relocated from Gaza to Sinai. Israel alleges that the perpetrators of an attack in Eilat on 18 August that left eight people dead was carried out by gunmen who crossed into its territory from Sinai coming from Gaza.
Also in Sinai, the paper reports on page three that an intense operation will begin after the Eid holidays to destroy supply tunnels running between Rafah and Gaza, whose residents continue to endure siege-like conditions.
State-owned Al-Ahram runs a headline with the news that Justice Minister Mohamed al-Guindi is preparing a new judicial committee with “full powers” to seek the recovery of money siphoned off by members of the former regime.
Several papers report a call on Facebook for a million-man protest on 9 September under the title “The Friday for Correcting the Path."
Al-Ahram notes two other protests have been called for on 9 September. The “Revolution of the Civil State” Facebook page is calling for a demonstration under the name, “Our Egyptian identity is a red line” while another Facebook group, “The Second Day of Anger” is calling for a protest under the banner, “No to military trials of civilians… No to repression of freedoms… No to military rule."
Businessman Raoof Ghabbour has taken a half page advertisement on page five of Al-Ahram to refute claims of tax dodging between 2006 and 2008 made by the independent daily Al-Tahrir. According to the ad, Ghabbour will take legal action against the paper.
Egypt's papers:
Al-Ahram: Daily, state-run, largest distribution in Egypt
Al-Akhbar: Daily, state-run, second to Al-Ahram in institutional size
Al-Gomhurriya: Daily, state-run
Rose al-Youssef: Daily, state-run
Al-Dostour: Daily, privately owned
Al-Shorouk: Daily, privately owned
Al-Wafd: Daily, published by the liberal Wafd Party
Youm7: Daily, privately owned
Al-Tahrir: Daily, privately owned
Sawt al-Umma: Weekly, privately owned
Al-Arabi: Weekly, published by the Arab Nasserist party
