Egypt Live Blog

Retuers reports:

An Egyptian bill that would tighten control over non-governmental organisations could deal a serious blow to human rights and freedoms in the country, the UN human rights chief said on Wednesday.

The draft legislation could undermine the spirit of last year's uprising that ousted long-ruling president Hosni Mubarak, said Navi Pillay, UN high commissioner for human rights. 

Pillay said the move against NGOs had been accompanied by personal attacks, threats and intimidation of activists, particularly women. 

"Women activists in a number of countries are particularly vulnerable to vicious smear campaigns which are often designed to put them out of action," said Pillay.

"Verbal and physical assaults on female members of civil society are one of the first signs that the process of reform is starting to go sour," the former South African judge declared.

The lawyer representing a comedic actor sentenced to jail and fined for the crime of "insulting Islam" tells Reuters that his client, Adel Imam, will appeal the court's decision:

A court found Imam guilty of defaming Islam on February 2 and fined him $170 in absentia. Imam has frequently poked fun at the authorities and politicians during a 40-year career and his more serious films have dealt with the rise of Islamist militancy.

The timing of his case - at a time when Islamists are in the political ascendancy - and his high own profile has raised fears that ultraconservative Muslims, who swept parliamentary elections, are trying to force their views on society.

The Associated Press reports:

An Egyptian security official says border guards shot to death a female African migrant trying to illegally cross into Israel and arrested three others.

He says the slain migrant refused to stop early Wednesday when guards fired warning shots in the air while chasing her south of the Rafah border crossing in the Sinai peninsula.

Separately, three African migrants were arrested while trying to cross borders in the same area, according to the same official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the press.

Migrants mostly from Sudan, Ethiopia and Eritrea make the long and dangerous journey through Egypt to Israel in search for a better life and jobs.

Retuers offers a pretty interesting glimpse of what the Egypt's presidential race looks like now:

Shafiq's removal narrows the options for voters who do not want an Islamist head of state. The other front-runners are the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Mursi and Abdel Moneim Abol Fotouh, a former member of the group who said he was confident of victory.

The few opinion polls that are available have put former Arab League chief Moussa in the lead, suggesting he will make it into the run-off against one of the Islamists. However, many voters are undecided.

'Part of the votes that would have gone to Shafiq would go to Amr Moussa, because he is the only figure with government experience that remains in the race,' said Mustapha Kamel al-Sayyid, a professor of political science at Cairo University.

The first real race for Egypt's presidency had already taken one dramatic turn when earlier this month the authorities disqualified three other front-runners, including Mubarak's former vice-president, Omar Suleiman, and two top Islamists.

The army-led transition has been overshadowed by bursts of  street violence and rising tensions between Islamists and secular-minded politicians at odds over the new constitution. ...

Okay, so the battle seems to be between Islamist and non-Islamist. But what will things look like if the guy who wins the race is an Islamist who does not have a cozy relationship with the Muslim Brotherhood? It could happen...

Abol Fotouh, a member of the Brotherhood for decades, moved back to the heart of the race when his rivals, including the group's first-choice candidate, were disqualified.

The Brotherhood expelled Abol Fotouh last year when he defied its wishes by deciding to run for president. On Tuesday, he said he expected to win outright by securing more than 50 per cent of the vote in the first round.

'God willing, we will take most of the Brotherhood's votes,' he said.

'We are working and organising on the basis that we will win from the first round and not in the run-off,' said the 60-year-old.

'As elections approach, our chances of winning are increasing.'