Word: egypt
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...struggle in its goal to spread democracy as a defense against terrorism. Some democracy activists give Bush credit for giving a jump start to limited reforms in closed Arab regimes such as Saudi Arabia. But the White House was premature, at best, in its hopes for dramatic change. In Egypt, which the Administration has praised in the past for opening its political process, the government of Hosni Mubarak has launched a renewed crackdown against its political opponents. Lebanon, another onetime success story championed by Bush, has witnessed an unraveling of the coalition of parties that led to Syria's withdrawal...
...kidnapping in Milan of Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, a radical Egyptian cleric suspected of ties to terrorism; in Milan. Italian prosecutors are also seeking the arrest of 26 Americans--most of them believed to be CIA operatives--in connection with the abduction of Nasr, who was spirited to Egypt, imprisoned and, he says, tortured under interrogation by U.S. agents about his terrorist ties...
...road to paradise in mind, think again. This is a glitzy fashion show specifically catering to Muslim women who wear the veil, or hijab, an Arabic term referring to a headscarf and loose-fitting clothes that cover all but a woman's face, hands and feet. In Egypt, the largest Arab country, with a population of 72 million, the hijab has become decidedly mainstream. Designers, stylists, boutiques and fashion magazines make up a booming new industry serving the growing percentage of Egyptian women who choose to dress the Islamic way. Foreign brands have begun to cash in on the trend...
...veil has become contagious," explains Nabila el-Hakim, a local haute couture designer who estimates that 60% of her customers are now veiled. "I am adding sleeves and closing cleavage." Experts say the trend is part of an Islamic cultural wave traced back to Israel's humiliating defeat of Egypt in the 1967 war. More recently, they say, the quest for a stronger Islamic identity led more women to take up the veil after the Sept. 11 attacks set off Muslim-Western tensions. As often as not, the pressure to veil is as much social as religious, with unveiled women...
...when professional duty calls, of course. "I love revealing clothes," she explains, before squeezing back into her own tight jeans, skimpy top and 2-inch heels. As she struts outside to hail a taxi, her short brown hair blows free in the wind, marking her as a member of Egypt's shrinking, unveiled minority...