Lumbering warily towards the first anjniversary of their January 25th revolution, Egyptians seem uncharacteristically uncertain what to think of it all. Some claim success, pointing to such gains as a freely elected parliament, soon to be installed, a vibrant press, improving security and firm promises by the country's military rulers to step aside by July, once a fresh constitution is in force and a new president voted in. Anyone fearing for the spirit of the revolution may take heart from the sight, outside the courtroom where Egypt's ousted president, Hosni Mubarak, is being tried, of hawkers selling flip-flops impudently imprinted with the image of the fallen pharaoh's face. Yet after the most turbulent year in Egypt's recent history, many see a gloomier picture. The economy is frozen and sinking. The intentions of the Islamists who look set to secure a legislative lockhold remain disturbingly unclear. And the oppressive "deep state" built up by the security services and politicians over 60 years of veiled dictatorship shows signs of resurfacing with a vengeance. Not only is it lashing out viciously with killings, beatings and midnight arrests of dissidents. Its agents in the armed forces, the secret police, the judiciary and the state-influenced media are up to their old tricks, infiltrating provocateurs into protests and spreading a smokescreen of xenophobic innuendo designed to persuade struggling citizens to blame their woes on the very troublemakers who made the revolution possible.
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