ANOTHER TROUBLING SIGN FROM EGYPT – AT 8:18 P.M. ET:  Which way the Egyptian revolution?  That is the question.  Some of the recent answers, such as sectarian clashes in Cairo, have been troubling.  Now we have this, from Reuters:

CAIRO - Egypt has released two prisoners who were jailed for involvement in the 1981 assassination of a former Egyptian president, Anwar Sadat, al-Jazeera television reported on Thursday.

"The Egyptian authorities have released Abboud el-Zomor and Tarek el-Zomor who were accused in the case of Sadat's assasination," al-Jazeera said.

Former Egyptian president Anwar Sadat, in power from 1970, was shot during a military parade by Khaled el-Islambuli, a member of an Islamist group, after Sadat became the first Arab leader to sign a peace treaty with Israel in 1979.

Tarek and Abboud el-Zommor had been imprisoned for participating in the assassination plot.

COMMENT:  Why now?  What's the hurry?  What signal is being sent?  This reminds us of the release of the Lockerbie bomber from a Scottish jail, on corrupt "compassionate" grounds. 

The focus has been off Egypt, but we should realize that there are dangerous forces at work in that country, including forces aligned with Iran. 

I suspect we'll be caught by surprise again.  Why change things?

March 10, 2011