According to Global Voices Advocacy, Al Farhan was arrested on 10 December 2007 for unspecified “violation of non-security regulations.”

Saudi Arabia:

For Saudi Jeans, Al Farhan's release was a good way to start his day. He writes:

I woke up around 5:30 this morning on the beeping of my iPhone which received a short message from the wife of my friend and fellow blogger Fouad al-Farhan telling me that Fouad has been released and that he is back home with his family now. That’s great news and this is just how I wanted to start my morning!

Al Farhan's fellow blogger, Mashi 97 (Ar), from Saudi Arabia, received more than 140 congratulatory comments when he made this announcement:

قبل دقائق قليلة فقط

رجع المدون السعودي فؤاد أحمد الفرحان لمنزله بعد خروجه من السجن .

الحمدلله الحمدلله الحمدلله

A few minutes ago only
Saudi blogger Fouad Ahmed Al Farhan has returned home after being released from prison.
Thank Allah, Thank Allah, Thank Allah.

Another Saudi blogger Ibrahim (Ar) wants an explanation to why Al Farhan was arrested. He writes:

في الأمس كنا فرحين بالإفراج عن فؤاد الفرحان
ولازلنا فرحين
ولكن سؤالي .. ماذا بعد الإفراج عن فؤاد؟
أربعة أشهر قضاها الأخ فؤاد في سجن أو توقيف ( مانختلف ) تحت الإستجواب
وكان السبب في كل هذا هو ” تهمة غير أمنيه” و ” إختراق لبعض اللوائح ”
وأستغرب من هذه الكلمات الفضفاضه
أنا كمدون أحب أن أعرف ماهي اللوائح التي تم اختراقها , ليتم تفاديها
أو ماهي التهم الغير أمنيه ليتم تفاديها أيضاً
هذا في حال أنها تستحق هذا المسمى (اختراق للوائح) فكلنا يجب أن يعرف ماهي اللوائح المخترقه

Yesterday were were happy for Fouad Al Farhan's release.
And we are still happy.
But my question is .. what after Fouad's release?
He spent four months in prison or custody (we won't differ on this), where he was interrogated.
The reason given was “a non-security related accusation” and “breaking some laws.”
I am surprised at those vague words.
As a blogger, I want to know what are the laws he has broken so that we don't commit them and what are the non-security related offences, so that we can overcome them. In case they deserve to be labelled as “breaking laws,” we all need to know what are the laws which have been broken.

Rasheed Abou-Alsamh too has questions in his head and writes:

Fouad was arrested in Jeddah on Dec. 10, 2007, and was held in a detention center for for more than four months because of the various entries on his blog that called for less corruption and more accountability in Saudi Arabia.

Will he continue blogging now that he has been released? That is a question that only Fouad can answer. I'm sure we will find out soon enough. For now, Fouad probably just wants to forget his ordeal and bond with is family.

Egypt:

From Egypt, Al Anany is also excited about Al Farhan's release and shares the following wish:

اليوم فرحة المدونين العرب وبالخصوص السعوديين منهم لا توصف بعد الإفراج اليوم عن المدون السعودي فؤاد الفرحان .. ومن هنا ، من سيناء نهنئ أنفسنا وكل من آزر فؤاد الفرحان بخروجه من السجن وعودته الي منزله ، ونتمنى من الله عز وجل أن يتم الإفراج عن كل المدونين العرب ، وعن مسعد أبو فجر ابن سيناء وصاحب مدونة ودنا نعيش

Today is a happy day for Arab bloggers, and in particular the Saudis, whose happiness cannot be measured after the release of Saudi blogger Fouad Al Farhan. From here, from Sinai, we congratulate ourselves and all those who stood by Fouad until his release from prison and his return home. We ask Allah for the release of all Arab bloggers, especially Musad Abu Fajr, the son of Sinai, who runs the blog, We Want to Live.

Still in Egypt, Zeinobia awaits the news of the release of another blogger - this time in Syria. She writes:

Congratulations for Fouad and his family.
Hopefully all the other bloggers detained in the Arab world will be free soon and return to other families especially Tarek from Syria.

Bahrain:

Bahraini blogger Mahmood Al Yousif is still scratching his head. He writes:

We don’t know the details of his release and what he had to give up or sign for the authorities to finally let him go, I suspect we will hear his stories quite soon - I hope.
In any case, I am very happy indeed for his release.
Welcome home Fouad!

Bahraini Esra'a wonders if Al Farhan will continue blogging after his release. She writes:

We are really happy to see him safe and free, however I wonder if he will continue blogging after what had happened. Let’s hope that he will never endure what he has gone through these past few months.

Sudan:

The Sudanese Thinker makes the following announcement:

Saudi blogger Fuad alFarhan has finally been released after spending 137 days in jail for simply speaking his mind politely and eloquently. Meanwhile, the Saudi government has no problem whatsoever allowing the shouts and rants of many preachers of death.

Lovely!

Meanwhile, The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (Ar) demands the lifting of the ban on Al Farhan's blog in Saudi Arabia. It says:

من الجيد التراجع عن استمرار اعتقال فؤاد الفرحان ، ولكن رغم سعادتنا بالإفراج عنه ، فنحن ننتظر أن تعلن الحكومة السعودية بوضوح أسباب اعتقاله ، ومن كان صاحب قرار اعتقاله ، و أن يرفع الحجب عن مدونته فورا”.

It is good that Fouad Al Farhan is no longer arrested, but despite our happiness with his release, we are waiting for the Saudi government to announce clearly why he was arrested and who ordered his arrest. We also call for the immediate lift of the ban on his blog.

Jordanian Issues [Ar] says the strike will coincide with a similar event in Egypt on the same day. According to the post:

فيه دعوة متداولة على “الفيس بوك” لإضراب عام في الاردن يوم 4 ايار. منه اعتراض على الوضع في البلاد ومنه عموما تضامن مع اضراب مماثل يجري في مصر في نفس اليوم. وانا اعتبرها صرخة شجاعة ومبادرة ضرورية. الا انني لا اعرف من وراء هذه الدعوة، وما هي نقاط ارتكازها. انا ايضا مع روح التضامن مع الشعب المصري وتوطيد التناغم الشعبي في المنطقة العربية عموما، لكن ليس بالضرورة ان ينسحب الوضع في مصر مكانيكيا على الاردن، لذلك رأيت ان انوه لبعض الاشكالات المرافقة لدعوة على هذا المستوى بالاردن، رغم تعاطفي المبدأي مع اي مبادرة ديمقراطية وسلمية كهذه.

There is an invite being circulated on Facebook for a general strike in Jordan on May 4. It is a protest against the situation in the country in general and in solidarity with a similar strike being held in Egypt on the same day. I consider it a brave and essential move. However, I don't know who is behind the strike and what is it aiming for. I am also supportive of the spirit of solidarity with the people of Egypt and solidifying the relations between people in Arab countries in general. But it isn't necessary for the situation in Jordan to mechanically synchronise with that in Egypt. This is why I would like to draw attention to the problems associated with this call in Jordan, despite my sympathy with any democratic and peaceful initiative.

From Amman, Ibrahim Safa [Ar] writes on Al Jazeera Talk :

كانت المفاجأة عندما رأيت مجموعة على الموقع المشهور فايس بوك (Facebook) مجموعة عنوانها “إضراب النشامى والرجالة”، “التغيير القادم من الشرق: مصري فلسطيني أردني، وهذا الإضراب بحسب ما يقولون ” لعيون الأردن، ولعيون مصر … تضامناً مع أنفسنا ومع أشقائنا المضربين في مصر … دعونا نضرب في الأردن يوم 4 / 5 / 2008م إضراب عام عن العمل وعن الخروج من المنازل حتى الساعة 11:00 صباحا لا حزبية ولا سياسية…شعبية شعبية شعبية” بل وأيضا” .
ويبدو أن الإضراب التضامني بين الشعبين المصري والأردني انضم إليه أيضا إضراب فلسطيني وبالتالي قد أصبح عبارة عن سلسلة إضرابات في المنطقة من أجل كما قلنا الغلاء الذي يتفشى في العالم العربي.

I was surprised to see a group on Facebook entitled The Strike of Men: Change is coming from the East: Egyptian, Palestinian and Jordanian. This strike is as they say, for the eyes of Jordan and Egypt… in solidarity with ourselves and our brothers in Egypt. Let us strike in Jordan on May 4, 2008. It will be a general strike from work and from leaving our homes until 11am. It isn't a political or party call but a public one. It seems that the solidarity strike between the Jordanians and the Egyptians, has attracted the Palestinians, and has triggered a call for strikes across the region against increasing prices in the Arab world.

ما سبب الإضراب؟
سبب الإضراب هو إيصال رسالة بأن الشعب الأردني لم يعد قادرا على تحمل المزيد.

What is the reason for the strike?
The reason is to send a message that the people of Jordan are not able to withstand more.

From Egypt, which is also gearing up for a strike on May 4, Zeinobia writes:

To my dear Jordanian friends is that true that there is a call for strike in Jordan in the Facebook on the 4th of May 2008 because of the increase in prices ??

wow our President Mubarak's birthday will be a regional one , if this happens it will be a real historical strike in two countries.

I do not know much about the internal affairs of Jordan but I know one thing Egypt is really the leader of the Arab world.

Update : Here is the URL of the Jordanian Facebook group that is calling for a strike

Their demands are :

* The Government put limit for the increase in Prices.
* Fixing the prices of Electricity and Gas.
* To end privatisation of public properties .
* To raise the salaries in the private sector.

As you see there are some similarities between the Egyptian Strike and the Jordanian strike , the main similarity is the economic factor.

They are not calling for protests , just stay at home

It is not Egypt is changing but the rest of the Arab world too

Global Voices is well positioned to follow the nuances of this complex issue with authors tracking citizen media in nearly every country of the planet. This article is an attempt to place an overall narrative on the global food crisis with observations from our authors from around the world. Clicking on the links will take you to all the posts that have been referenced.

Let’s begin in the Caribbean. In Barbados, locals learn to deal with a 30% increase in flour prices, along with gasoline and diesel price jumps. Trinidad and Tobago’s Minister of Agriculture, denies there is a food crisis on the two islands, but locals notice an increase in chicken and flour prices. Cuba is trying a new agriculture policy of providing more land to private farmers.

Prices and shortages of food can be seen across Latin America, as many people are becoming desperate. Blame is being placed on both farmers and governments for their failure to act. Arab bloggers in Lebanon, Syria, Kuwait and Egypt are also feeling the pinch, and writing about it too.

Worries continue to circulate in Cambodia that nearly 500,000 children could start missing meals due to a 20% increase in the price of rice. However, a dramatic increase in rice production may not be beyond hope in this country. Farmers here can cultivate two or three harvests per year on the same piece of land.

The latest riots

Protesters in Cairo lighting fires and throwing rocks at a barricade, April 7, 2008 - Photo by James Buck

Two days of riots broke out on April 6 and 7 in Egypt, where prices of staples have doubled since 2004 (and in some cases quadrupled). At least two people were killed and 111 people – including police – were injured (See our special coverage on Egypt's General Strike).

In Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, protesters blocked roads and burned tires, demanding the government cut taxes on key imports.

Just days later, four people were killed and 25 injured in riots in Haiti, where the prices of rice, beans, and fruit have increased 50% in the past 12 months. Less than a week after the violent demonstrations, Haiti's prime minister was ousted in a vote of no confidence.

For Natifnatal, a Haitian currently in Abu Dhabi, the food crisis offers simple math:

For those who don't even know the basics can present the equation: hunger + poverty + rising prices = demonstrations + the Prime Minister's resignation + violence, and argue that an increase in food aid would suffice to reduce hunger.

Even as a cargo plane crashed in Kinshasa on April 15 killing 75 people, Congolese blogger Du Cabiau à Kinshasa, ruminated on a more silent, less telegenic disaster facing the country: the doubling of food prices in the same week.

The effects on trade

So many countries of the developing world import a large percentage of the foodstuffs necessary to feed their populations. Rising prices means problems grow quickly. Even for food exporters, rising prices has touched a nerve. In Korea, one of the world’s most prolific rice producers, a Netizen argues that rice should be withheld from free trade talks, allowing the country to do as it seems fit with its strategic commodity.

Sometimes protectionism won’t be enough, however. As the price of rice has increased throughout Southeast Asia’s rice growing nations, governments were forced to plea for calm and pray that domestic prices would soon begin to fall. The situation is doubly bad for rice importers like the Philippines, where the poor have felt the brunt of the price increase. Indonesia, another importer, has canceled its imports due to high prices. Cambodia and Vietnam have abandoned exports. Bloggers in Malaysia report rumors of rice shortages. The Government of Brunei could move to subsidize food staples like cooking oil, flour, milk, eggs and chicken.

Milk in Japanese supermarket

For decades food prices in Japan have been in stasis, which is strange for a country that imports almost every staple other than rice. Not any longer. Price increased for the first time in more than two decades. The same goes for milk products, which consumers been paying for at the same rate for three decades. Beer, cooking oil, and soy sauce also experienced increases.

A silent killer

In Bangladesh, where people spend as much as 80% of their salaries on food, high prices for rice have hit the middle class. It’s much worse for the poor, as media reports confirm several hunger deaths. The country’s military chief raised the ire of many when he suggested people replace rice by eating potatoes.

In Tajikistan, where people already faced a winter-long energy shortage, it looks like more than 260,000 people are in need of immediate food assistance. Worries persist that this number could grow to 2 million by winter.

Talk about globalization. In Yemen, the prices of staples have risen while the cost of certain electronic goods have dropped. Kuwait has also seen price increases, no thanks to the falling U.S. dollar.

In Burkina Faso, where people felt the government sat on its hands as prices in some sectors increased more than 40% since the beginning of the year, riots sparked in several cities throughout the country in late February, resulting in plenty of property damage and more than 300 arrests.

At about the same time in Cameroon, anger over rising prices and falling wages sparked three days of violent confrontation with the military. Anger was also fed by President Paul Biya's attempt to change the constitution so he could sit for a third term.

The story is far from over. We’ll keep posting updates – so please check our Special Coverage page on the Global Food Crisis 2008 often.

Lebanon:

In a post on the trail of death left behind from the cluster bombs still claiming lives today from the Lebanese-Israeli war of 2006, M Bashir, from Lebanon, accuses the government of turning a blind eye to increasing food prices. He says:

The same government that is so busy NOT caring for the spikes in food and gasoline prices, it does NOT have time to clean the leftover cluster bomblets.

Still in Lebanon, Rami Zurayk links to a petition by Avaaz to “stop the food crisis.”

In another post, Zurayk asks:

The Arab World is one of the most food insecure regions in the world, with the least biophysical and human potential. I believe it will be the hardest hit from the food crisis. Oil producing countries will be able to buy food, but what about the others?

Syria:

Sursock, Reporting Lebanon, sheds light on the food crisis in Syria. He explains:

Syrians are concerned that sharp price increases in basic foods like bread will have a major impact on an economy that is already in poor shape. The economics ministry recently announced that 15 million Syrians—or about three-quarters of the population—have been affected by rising food prices. Bread has reached 40 lira [80 US cents] for a kilogram sold on the open market, compared with 25 lira at the end of last year. The government also offers subsidised bread, of poorer quality.
The rising prices have been widely covered in the media, and many Syrians see the cost of bread in particular as the latest and most serious example of rising inflation. While the government has downplayed the issue, many people say they fear hungry days lie ahead.

Kuwait:

Charts and Numbers zooms into Kuwait and writes:

Annual inflation in Kuwait has reached an all time high of 9.5% spurred by strong housing and food costs. Inflation is on the rise across the Gulf region with Saudi Arabia and Qatar at all-time highs. In Kuwait, the recent parliamentary regulations and central bank reforms created to aid the economy’s inflationary dillema has yet to show progress. In the December 2007 index, housing was a major factor effecting the figures.

Egypt:

Inflation and rising food costs, particularly bread, has resulted in a stand off between workers and the authorities in Egypt, culminating with a much publicised face off with the government on April 6 and 7. Elijah Zarwan sheds more light on the situation here, warning of dire consequences:

The riots followed marginally successful calls for a general strike and months of escalating unrest over inflation, especially in the price of bread and other basic foodstuffs. Bread prices rose by almost 50 percent last year, driving more Egyptians into ever-longer breadlines at government-subsidized bakeries. Fatal violence erupted in some of the breadlines, and the president ordered the army to begin baking bread.

In the days after the strike, as the country’s security apparatus arrested young girls who had publicized the strike on Facebook and hundreds of protesters detained in Mahalla dropped off the face of the Earth, the question on everyone’s mind was, “How serious is this? What next?”

He further explains:

The Mahalla unrest was apparently sparked by more fundamental problems. The government cannot order world grain prices down, and thousands of riot police cannot increase wages.

If it’s dangerous to dismiss what’s happened in Egypt as mere agitating on the part of a few left-wing activists, it’s equally dangerous to imagine that Facebook and Twitter are going to usher in a Gucci Revolution in Egypt. Food shortages and breadlines might, but the people who depend on government bakeries to survive don’t have Facebook accounts, they have never heard of Twitter, and if they take to the streets, they’re not going to be wearing tube tops with cute little Egyptian eagles painted on their boobs. They’re going to be carrying Molotov cocktails and bricks.

Still in Egypt, D B Shobrawy paints another picture - blaming rising gas prices and the greed of the Arab oil barons for the current food crisis. He explains:

The cost of living has risen drastically around the world from increasing real-estate, gasoline, education and now food. But its not fillet mignon or sauteed lobster tail that have risen in cost, it’s the basic essentials of developing nations. Take Egypt for example and the increase in simple staples of nourishment, rice, bread, beans, onions even vegetable oil. Foods such as these have increased more than double since 2004 and some cases quadrupled in only a few months. We’ve all heard of the massive bread shortages in Egypt due to the increased cost of wheat but now what used to cost 2 EGP for vegetable oil now costs 15 EGP. Fava beans, the most basic food, afforded by the poorest of the poor costs 8 EGP per Kg, something that cost a quarter of that a year ago.

[…]

Ironically the increase in the cost of beans, grains and oil’s have come from developed nations and their response to increased oil costs. Governmental policies within the U.S. and E.U. have caused an increased demand on beans and grains to be used for bio-fuel, a supplement of petroleum.

[…]

Do I blame the U.S. like every Osama bin Laden loving Arab will once this news reaches the mainstream? No, no, no, quite the contrary. I blame Arabs! You heard me. As always Arabs manage to shoot themselves in the foot out of their own greed and their inability to see past their own nose. Do you happen to notice something here?

Bahrain:

After checking her statistics, and seeing who was accessing her blog, Silly Bahraini Girl goes on a rampage in a post entitled Arab Perverts.
She explains:

It really is a shame that some of us - yes - I happen to be an Arab too - have access to the Internet.

Curiosity may have killed the cat - but it certainly made my stomach turn - and I sure do have one of the most colourful vocabularies out there. Anyway, I just had a look at what leads the majority of clicks to this blog, and here's the result. These are the 250 top keywords which drew traffic to my blog. Makes me think if I should hang up my boots and open a brothel. Why am I even bothering myself blogging, promoting blogging and lecturing to people about how it gives them a voice?

She then goes on to list the 250 most searched for words on her blog.

Saudi Arabia:

From Saudi, American Bedu also shares her thoughts on how she reacts to readers. She explains:

In addition to simply sharing the realities and experiences of day-to-day life in the Kingdom, I also rely on an analysis of the search terms that led readers to my blog in the first place. This is one of the advantages in using Wordpress as a blog platform. For a non-techie like me it is quite easy to use and manage. Plus it provides you routinely with daily, weekly, monthly and even yearly statistics. I not only know how many individuals have viewed my blog each day but what posts they are reading. In addition, as I stated in the beginning of this post, I also receive a log of daily search terms which lead readers to my blog. Sometimes I will view the search terms and realize especially with repeated terms searched, I should do a post on a particular subject due to the ongoing level of interest. At other times I may see a search term and wonder what on earth made the search engine come up with a reference to my blog for that term!

Lebanon:

After discovering that 20 per cent of his readers were attracted by a post on Lebanese pop star Haifa Wehbe, Antoun, from Lebanon, decided to fight fire with fire, adding more pictures of Lebanon's hottest stars to his blog. He explains:

It has occurred to me that at least 20% of the hits I get a day, thus far, are from horny individuals (men, and surely some women) looking for pictures of Haifa Wehbe, due to this post I made last week about Haifa Wehbe and political Islam. I will share with you some of the word strings used on Google that allowed these horndogs to stumble upon my blog:

* haifa wahbi, sex
* f****d pics for haifa wehbe
* best photo of haifa
* picture sex haifa

Well, you get the picture. But rather than to be discouraged about my blog becoming a portal for those eager to find pictures of haifa+wehbe+sex rather than a meeting point for informed insight about Lebanon and regional issues, I've decided to put up a few more pictures of Haifa. I've also added a picture of Nancy Ajram and Elissa. Sometimes, the means justify the ends. If I can attract readers with these theatrics, maybe they'll stay a while to do some browsing.

Egypt:

D B Shobrawy from Egypt too was looking at what attracts readers to his blog and after seeing that his most ‘delicious' post to date has been snubbed, decides to publish it again. Shobrawy explains his move as follows:

Sometimes I will go through my sites visitor statistics to see what people are reading and how they got to the site. Today I was glancing around and I saw the usual, recent posts, The Battle for Hummus and Falafel, Hot Egyptian Girls and any post involving Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. I spotted another post that hadnt been that hot of a search topic but one of my favorite posts, dare I say one of the best? I read it today as if someone else wrote it and I loved it. I’m reposting it again for those who might have missed it.

Banners from Egyptian Facebook groups calling for the May 4 Strike.

After little less than a month following the April 6 strike in support of the textile workers in Mahalla City, during which a number of prominent Egyptian bloggers and internet activists were arrested, preparations for the next round of a planned general strike to mark the 80th birthday of President Hosni Mubarak, on May 4, 2008, are currently spreading all over the blogosphere and the Internet. And like the preparation for the April 6 strike, the internet has a vital role to play in mobilizing for the upcoming protest. SMS, email, blogs, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter: almost all of these outlets are used by Egyptian Internet activists in their campaign the May 4 event. We've even seen a Facebookist Movement to Overthrow Mubarak being created. Another group entitled “We don't want Muslim Brothers” is calling for the strike but without participation of the Muslim Brotherhood, who recently decided to join May 4 protest.

Logo of the Egyptian Facebook group “Facebookist Movement to Overthrow Mubarak“

This approach of politicising the internet is not taking place without concerns being raised not only by pro-government and state-run newspapers (who recently waged a campaign against web 2.0 services like Youtube, Blogger and Facebook used by online activists) but even by opponents of Mubarak's regime and outspoken bloggers. And while the Al-Gomhuriya daily called for a “boycott [of] Youtube and Facebook websites” and the weekly Rose El-Youssef portrayed the former website as “a secret room aimed at running Egypt”, blogger Hossam el-Hamalawy, an outspoken Egyptian blogger, wrote, in a blog post titled “I do NOT endorse the May 4th General Strike Call” criticizing what he described as a call “coming from the cyberspace by bloggers, “Facebook activists” and the Islamist-leaning Labor Party whose leaders have declared themselves more or less as some “provisional govt” in cyber-exile”, that:

We, the Egyptian bloggers, have always prided ourselves on the fact that we have one foot on the ground and the other in the cyberspace… But this time, it seems some have thrown both their feet as well as brains in the cyberspace and are living some virtual reality, mistakenly believing (helped by the media sensationalist coverage of the “facebook activism“) that they are the ones behind the events in Mahalla…

Blogger and activist Nora Younis was kind enough to agree to this interview over email. Nora shares some of her ideas with us about the role of Internet in Egypt as a platform for political activism.

Sami Ben Gharbia: What was the role of internet in mobilizing Egyptian citizens to participate in the April 6 strike and do you believe that the kind of Facebook Group, with its 71,200 members, has an effect on the street?

Nora Younis: Internet was the main tool in mobilizing for the 6 April strike. It's true a tiny fringe of Egyptians have access to Facebook but the 70,000+ members of the group acted as strike advocates in the society and took the debate from PC screens to taxis, workplaces, dinner tables and breadlines. This forced the topic on the independent main stream media. The second tool in mobilizing for the strike was SMS. People I have known for years with no relation to politics or public participation were circulating messages advocating the strike. The word “strike” has never been uttered and repeated that much in Egypt during my lifetime. However, we should not forget that what gave April 6 its weight was the labor movement uprising and their struggle for a dignified minimum wage. Internet alone, without the popular base, wouldn't have led to the successful strike we witnessed April 6.

Sami: we've seen an anti-strike Facebook group formed to counter the pro-strike group and it seems that the political battle is taking place on blogs and on social networking websites. How do you describe this new development and do you believe that the Egyptian government or the ruling party is behind the aforementioned group?

Nora: Young members of the ruling party have initiated blogs and Facebook groups to polish the regime's image and counter the call for dissent. Such pages are probably encouraged by party officials, because when it comes to content they lack the passion. Furthermore, they remain unable to attract members and visitors.

Sami: It seems that the Egyptian regime is trying to calm down the situation. During the last week many of the previously arrested activist and bloggers have been released such as Khaled Hamza Salam the editor-in chief of Ikhwanweb, and blogger Mohamed Sharkawy and Esraa Abdul Fattah. How do you assess the situation in Egypt at this stage?

Nora: The Egyptian regime took preemptive measures to abort the April 6 strike by arresting activists early morning from their homes, and taping their calls days before. After the day was over and with the rising riots in Mahalla measures were taken to contain and calm the situation, as a way to weaken the planned May 4 strike. A government delegation headed to Mahalla, met some 2000 textile workers, and promised bonuses and privileges. Government statements have alienated Mahalla workers from the riots. Popular bloggers-activists have been released. All seems to be in attempt to calm the situation before May 4 - the president's 80th birthday.

Sami: The use of web tools has caused the arrest of some of those activists, but it also helped release the American student James Karl Buck who was arrested while photographing the 6 April demonstration. His Twittered message ‘ARRESTED‘ through his cell phone alerted the world about his arrest. Who do you believe is going to win this new kind of battle of information?

Nora: On April 5 the number of my Twitter update followers was 90. On April 6 it was 130, and today it is 180. Only because I was Twittering strike and detainees updates. James Buck gained wide support through his Twitter SMS. More people are joining the blogsphere, Facebook, and Twitter by the hour. I don't think this could ever be reversed. There is a techie, passionate, frustrated generation now on the playground….and one could only expect more to come. In few years time there will be no need for registration of political parties. Like-minded people will organise and will be heard.