Arabisc: Arrested Blogger Released and the Civilisation of Terrorism · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Egyptian blogger Ramy Siyam – aka Ayoub –   is out of jail, after spending an eventful 108 hours being moved from one detention centre to the other.
According to fellow blogger Alaa Abdelfattah: “He was arrested in a sweep in downtown while securing the area for the President's visit to Parliament. He was arrested with four friends (all bloggers), three of whom were released immediately after performing a routine check. Ramy it turned out had an old law case that was settled outside court but not properly registered so from the prespective of the police he had a pending case that required his transfer to the local prosecutor.”
His recollection of the few days he spent behind bars come with a warning:
Rami's experience wasn't a pleasant one to say the least. I will leave him to describe some of the horrors he had experienced while in detention.
Let's start with the ground rules in an Egyptian detention centre:
If this is terrible wait and see what awaited Rami the next morning, when he was transfered from one detention centre to the next.
Rami's turmoil and agony was interrupted by some shreds of light in the form of the support he got from fellow bloggers, who camped outside the detention centres he was transfered between until his release.
They included Sharqawi, who was also held in Egypt's prisons for political activism and who tells us how Rami's release was celebrated by a group of bloggers with cold beer.
Needless to say, Rami answered the call of duty and the Egyptian bloggers celebrated his freedom.
Meanwhile, away from Egypt to Jordan, where blogger Sha3teely, is left in a state of confusion after catching part of the Press conference between US President George Bush and his Iraqi counterpart Nouri Al Maliki on TV.
ربما لم يكن يقصد نوري المالكي وصف الإرهاب بهذه الصفة، ولكن في ظل الموقف الذي صدرت منه هذه المقولة وعلى مسمع من مؤسسة نظريات الإرهاب “الرئيس” جورج بوش.. فإن هذا التعبير يستحق أن نتوقف عنده.
السؤال هنا.. متى أصبح الإرهاب حضارة؟ أين تقع حدود هذه الحضارة؟ لأي أمة تنتمي؟ ما حدودها؟ تعريفها.. وإن كانت حضارة فهي لم تكن يالتأكيد وليدة لحظة الحادي عشر من سبتمبر!! فما أصلها وتاريخها… هل كان يقصد بها الحضارة الإسلامية باعتبار أن الإرهاب منسوب للأصولية الإسلامية!! أم أني قد سرحت كثيراً ولم يكن يقصد المالكي أي شيء من ذلك…
While we are at the topic of fundamentalism, let's make a quick stop in Saudi Arabia, where a group of religious extremists attacked a university theatre, in Riyadh, forcing the curtains to prematurely fall.
Magic Kingdom, blogging in Arabic, says the attack on the theatre signifies an attack on culture and art in the kingdom.