Radio FM4

Kate Farmer

Cutting to the chase

Alle Stories

Erstellt am: 1. 2. 2013 - 14:41 Uhr

Light at the end of the tunnel

Reality Check: progress in Egypt, "Be a Man" campaign in Croatia, solar energy' potential for Africa, community balls, Cape Verde

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At the beginning of the week, I was losing hope for Egypt. Violent protests, a state of emergency and curfews in cities in the Suez area, and the opposition refusing President Morsi's offer of talks. The opposition were demanding a unity government, but if they weren't prepared to talk to the elected president, what hope was there for a remotely democratic solution?

Cairo was seeing unrest as well, including violence stirred up by the so called "Black Bloc" - young men dressed in black, who seemed hell bent on causing chaos but with no particular agenda.

EPA/AHMED SADA

Violent clashes in Tahrir Square, Cairo have continued throughout the week

Today, there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel. Muslim Brotherhood and opposition leaders met yesterday and came up with an agreement intended to stop (or at least reduce) the violence and to start addressing the concerns of the opposition.

A main demand of the opposition is a re-write of the constitution, which they say does not protect the freedoms the fought for in the revolution, and panders too much to the Islamic conservatives. It's been agreed that a committee will be appointed to review certain points of the constitution, and come up with alternative formulations. Whether these amendments satisfy the opposition remains to be seen. As our Cairo correspondent, Karim El Gawhary, says "the devil is in the detail."