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Ian Birrell

Columnist & Foreign Correspondent

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Africa / Arts / Books / Egypt / Iran / Iraq

Dreams, despair and dictators

Published by The Observer (24th August, 2015) Shifting Sands: The Unravelling of the Old Order in the Middle East (Profile) Khaled Fahmy trudged down to Tahrir Square in […]

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Africa / Egypt

One among many, snared by a brutal regime

Published by The Independent on Sunday (29th June, 2014) Yara Sallam was one of the most inspirational activists I met amid the Arab Spring uprisings. As Tahrir Square […]

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Africa / Egypt

Spinning for Sisi? Blair and Campbell accused of links to regime

Published by The Mail on Sunday (1st June, 2013) Victims of last year’s military coup in Egypt have accused Tony Blair and his former spin doctor Alastair Campbell […]

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Africa / Egypt

Saviour of his nation or brutal opportunist?

Published by The Mail on Sunday (25th May, 2014) The frenetic streets  of Cairo are once again plastered with posters for another presidential election. But this time there are […]

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Africa / Bahrain / Egypt / Libya / Politics

A coup, contortions and a confused foreign policy

Published in The Independent on Sunday (August 18th, 2013) As rivers of blood flowed in Egypt this week, the frightening crisis in a wounded nation turned even more […]

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Africa / Egypt

Feeble leader who lit the fuse for massacre

Published in The Daily Mail (August 15th, 2013) What’s happened since the Arab Spring? Those heady days of early 2011 feel a long way off now. After the […]

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Africa / Egypt / Politics

Some protests suit Blair more than others

Published in The Independent (July 9th, 2013) There was always something Tiggerish about Tony Blair, with that irrepressible ability to overcome setbacks unabashed and bounce back unconstrained by […]

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Africa / Egypt

We should not fear a Muslim Brotherhood win

Published in The Independent (November 29th, 2011) The resurgence of Egypt’s revolution has overshadowed the start of the country’s convoluted election, so long awaited after nearly six decades […]

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Africa / Egypt

Does democracy stand a chance?

Published in the Daily Mail (November 28th, 2011) As I entered Tahrir Square in Cairo one night last week, a  motorbike sped out of the clouds of tear […]

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Africa / Economics / Egypt / General / Tunisia

We help the big men steal

Published in The Guardian (February 14th, 2011) I lived for the sake of this country, Hosni Mubarak told Egyptians as he desperately clung to power last week. But in […]

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Africa / Egypt

The flowering of democracy, or the birth of another Iran?

Published in The Mail on Sunday (January 30th, 2011) For the fifth day in a row, Egypt was consumed with rage, fear and hope yesterday. The streets of […]

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Ian Birrell is an award-winning columnist, foreign correspondent, feature writer and investigative journalist. He is contributing editor of The Mail on Sunday, a weekly columnist in The i Paper and writes frequently for other papers and platforms. He is also co-founder with Damon Albarn of Africa Express, the acclaimed collaborative music project. (Pictured: Talking to refugees in Iraq fleeing Islamic State)... Read More.

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