Obamas Dissident Guest List

They are some of the most sought-after tickets in Cairo this week: Tickets for Obamas speech tomorrow at Cairo University.
There was widespread speculation about who would get invites.
Would the audience of 3,000 plus people include members of the Muslim Brotherhood? Would it include political dissidents who have challenged Egyptian President Hosni Mubaraks 27-year rule? Would it include prominent bloggers who have exposed torture in Egypt?
The answer is: Yes.
Among those to receive invites are 10 of the 88 lawmakers associated with the Muslim Brotherhood; Ayman Nour, the Egyptian politician who spent more than three years in prison after challenging Hosni Mubarak for president in 2005; an Egyptian blogger who goes by the name Sand Monkey; Wael Abbas, another human rights blogger who has exposed torture in Egypt by posting shocking videos on his YouTube site, and Gamal Eid, head of the Arabic Network for Human Rights information.
Nour and the Muslim Brotherhood lawmakers are expected to be in the audience. So will Abbas and Sand Monkey.
Even those who oppose Obamas speech are going, said Sand Monkey. No one will miss this.
Well, at least one person is planning to pass up the cherished invite.
Eid said he wont be there. Why? Because another invitee is the Israeli ambassador to Egypt, and Eid said he didnt want to be in the same room as a representative of what he called a criminal government.


