Two weeks before the scheduled May 23 start of the election to choose the first president since the ouster of Hosni Mubarak, Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, a former leader of the Muslim Brotherhood campaigning as a liberal Islamist, faced Amr Moussa, a popular former diplomat campaigning as the stable alternative to an "experiment" in Islamist rule.
Erdogan, an Islamist facing the most volatile public backlash since he rose to power more than a decade ago, has characterized the protesters as extremists "running wild" and poured scorn on social media as a "troublemaker in societies".
Islamists faced imprisonment and death in the nineties.
France's Islamists, faced with the kidnapping of French journalists by other Islamists, were clearly worried about reprisals, given the kidnappers' demand.
Under Ben Ali, dissidents and Islamists faced brutal repression, including torture, Foreign Policy reported.
Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, a former leader of the Muslim Brotherhood campaigning as a liberal Islamist, will face off against Amr Moussa, a former diplomat under Mr. Mubarak campaigning as the secular alternative to an "experiment" in Islamist democracy.
Many of his interviews highlight what he calls the growing Islamist threat facing charities.
Islamists also face little if any legal blowback for astounding bigotry and incitement against Egypt's Christians.
AHMED KABANY, an engineer, on the upcoming Egyptian election for president, in which a hardline Islamist is facing off against an authoritarian former general.
With the voting moving to rural areas where religious conservatives are strong, however, the Islamists may face more opposition from members of the former ruling party competing again for their old parliamentary seats under new party flags.
