Mohamed Abd El Ghany / Reuters

Supporters of presidential candidate and Egypt's former vice president Omar Suleiman, cheer while carrying banners bearing images of him, as Suleiman presented his documents to become a presidential candidate to the Higher Presidential Elections Commission (HPEC) headquarters in Cairo April 8, 2012.

CAIRO – The battle lines have been drawn in Egypt’s presidential election between two of the major candidates, Muslim Brotherhood Khairat Al-Shater and former intelligence chief Omar Suleiman. 

In his first shot across the bow, financier Al-Shater announced that election fraud would be grounds for a second revolution, a thinly veiled suggestion that a Suleiman victory would imply fraud and that the Muslim Brotherhood would wield their vast power to fill Tahrir Square and topple him.

But it’s not only the Muslim Brotherhood that is opposed to the former confidant of toppled dictator Hosni Mubarak. Many secular parties and candidates also are angry about Suleiman’s candidacy.

Suleiman, briefly a vice president during Mubarak’s last days in office, was the director of the intelligence apparatus that aided in suppressing the opposition from 1993 until the start of the revolution in January 2011. He is widely believed to have the backing of the military, which still wields considerable power.

"Suleiman's Victory is Zero Hour for Civil War," warned a dramatic headline recently on the independent Wafd newspaper.

Many feel the revolution will have failed should the former spymaster triumph. "The sacrifices of the past year and a half will have been in vain," lamented another independent newspaper.

Others have criticized what they consider his past failures. "You … aided Israel, are you coming back to lose it again!?" chided another Wafd headline, referring to his perceived support of the 1979 peace treaty between the two countries.

Amr Abdallah Dalsh / Reuters

People walk past a poster of presidential candidate and Egypt's former Vice President Omar Suleiman with the Star of David on his face, in Cairo on Thursday. The poster, which was created by the Egyptian Islamic Labour Party, reads,

On Thursday, the Muslim Brotherhood took their battle with Suleiman to the halls of parliament and won – sort of. Egypt’s parliament passed a bill that bars senior figures from Mubarak’s regime from competing in elections for the next 10 years, a move specifically intended to stop Suleiman from running in the next election.

However, the law will only come into effect if the military council that took over from Mubarak last year ratifies it, which is unlikely to happen before the election commission issues its final list of presidential candidates later this month. 

In light of this, the Muslim Brotherhood will take their case to the street Friday with more than 40 other revolutionary movements, calling for a million people to fill Cairo’s Tahrir Square under the slogan "Protecting the Revolution."

Security candidate
None of this would matter, of course, if the secretive ex-spy chief did not have demonstrable support.  However, he had no difficulty in raising more than three times the 30,000 signatures needed in order to qualify as a candidate. 

He also has buzz.  In the past week, you could hear little else discussed in shops, restaurants and taxis.  With rare exception, people I have asked on the subway, in taxis and on the street support him.

Why?

"When I drive my taxi these days, anybody can hassle me,” said one disgruntled cabbie. “I need security and he is the only one who can provide it."

Law and order is the first concern on many minds.  The lack of police presence and escape of hardened criminals since the revolution has led to a crime spree in what was once an oasis of safety.  Now, previously unknown threats such as kidnapping, carjacking and house invasions have become commonplace.  Many feel that Suleiman, relic of the old regime though he is, can restore security and with it tourism and investment.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Charlene Gubash / NBC News

Supporters of Egyptian presidential candidate Hazem Abu Ismail pray in Cairo's Tahrir Square during a demonstration in support of his embattled election bid on Friday.

CAIRO – In an ironic twist of fate, the most conservative and anti-American of Egypt’s Islamist presidential candidates may be barred from running because his mother was a U.S. citizen. 

Hazem Abu Ismail is an extremely popular Salafist presidential candidate who has steamrolled the competition in an aggressive campaign that has blanketed Cairo with posters of his beaming and bearded round face.

But his campaign is now fighting for survival against the latest accusations that his deceased mother held U.S. citizenship. Egyptian law prohibits citizens whose parents hold (or held) dual citizenship from running for president.

Abu Ismail maintains his mother only had a green card. Egypt’s election commission announced Thursday that his mother was a U.S. citizen, however they have not officially disqualified him from the race yet. The New York Times also reported earlier this week that California public records and voting records prove she became a U.S. citizen. 

Anti-American Egyptian candidate may be tripped up by mother’s US ties

If Abu Ismail’s candidacy is disqualified, it could seriously shake-up the race that includes former regime officials and Islamists competing in the first presidential election since former President Hosni Mubarak’s ouster. The election is set for the end of May.

A show of support
On Friday thousands of die-hard Abu Ismail supporters marched to Cairo’s Tahrir Square to defend their candidate against what they called lies and forgery. 

“U.S. intelligence said she was a U.S. citizen, but they are lying. So is the military. They are supporters of the old regime,” said Kamel Hussein, a 35-year-old Egyptian TV employee. Hussein, who is a supporter of Abu Ismail but not a Salafist, said his vote would go to liberal former Arab League chief Amr Moussa if Ismail is forced out. 

Cairo math teacher, Mostafa Aly, 28, believes the military and security forces have forged documents so that Abu Ismail, if elected, will not try them for attacks against demonstrators during and after the revolution, as he had promised. 

“The people who don’t want to be tried are behind this,” insisted Aly. 

Charlene Gubash / NBC News

Pediatrician and father of four, Dr. Mohamed Farouk, attends the Salafist demonstration in Tahrir Square with his two sons on Friday.

Dr. Mohamed Farouk, a pediatrician and father of four, blamed the Muslim Brotherhood, as well as the U.S. and the old guard for spreading false rumors about Abu Ismail. 

“The Muslim Brotherhood are afraid of him,” said Farouk. The Muslim Brotherhood, which recently put forward its own presidential candidate, stands to gain if he is disqualified because they could pick up some of his conservative Islamist votes. The Brotherhood already won nearly have of the seats in Parliament earlier this year.

Muslim Brotherhood shocks Egypt with presidential run

Farouk insisted others were plotting against Abu Ismail, too.

“I believe everything Ismail says. He is always speaking the truth. When they found 160,000 people supporting his candidacy, they became afraid. They are playing a game to prevent his presidency.”

Most supporters said they would stand by their candidate regardless. 

Charlene Gubash / NBC News

Mohamed Kamil, a 23-year-old pharmacist protests in Tahrir is support of embattled Salafist presidential candidate, Hazem Abu Ismail.

“If his mother was an Eskimo, I would still support him,” one young man interjected. 

A few threatened to come to Tahrir Square en masse if he is thrown out of the race.   

“This demonstration is a warning to the military government. If there is forgery of her citizenship, we will have a second revolution,” said Mohammed Khalil, a 23-year-old pharmacist. 

Others said their vote would go to the most liberal Islamist candidate, Abdel Munim Abdel Foutouh, a reform minded doctor who was expelled from the Brotherhood and who has been trying to appeal to both religious and secular Egyptians – rather than the official Brotherhood candidate.

Numbers matter
However, if Friday’s relatively small show of support is any indication, the Salafist’s foiled candidacy may pass quietly into the night.

While his stalwarts showed up, the number of people gathered was not overly impressive. The crowd appeared to be less than 5,000 people, which is small compared to the hundreds of thousands who have professed their support for him.

Many of the people gathered gave ‘the dog ate my homework’-type excuses for low attendance, such as the heat, fasting on a holy day and short notice.

But the absence of more supporters may prove significant.

Gianluigi Guercia / AFP - Getty Images

Pallbearers carry the coffin of Pope Shenouda III out of Saint Mark's cathedral during his funeral service in Cairo on Tuesday.

CAIRO – Thousands of mourners dressed in black gathered in Cairo on Tuesday for the funeral of Egypt's Orthodox Christian Pope Shenouda, who was revered my millions throughout the country as a leader for all Egyptians.

Copts felt like "they were nobodies" after Shenouda's death, mourner Mina Hany Naeem, 17, told NBC News.

"With him I felt like I was wearing white and everyone looked at me, and without him I feel naked and everyone is looking at me," he said. "When he was Pope nobody ever said Muslim and Christian – we were all Egyptians."

Shenouda, who died on Saturday at age 88, promoted religious harmony, winning respect among the Muslim majority, but his last years witnessed a growth in sectarian tension that worsened with the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak last year.

"Pope Shenouda was a father to us all, to all Arabs, a very patriotic person," mourner Saber Farag Saleh, a 50-year-old construction engineer, told NBC News. "He protected us from divisions. He taught us to love the other and all religions."

Taha Belal / NBC News

"The Pope was loved by everyone, we were all nobodies without him," Mina Hany Naeen, a 17-year-old student, told NBC in Cairo on Tuesday.

Religious figures from several countries, including a Catholic delegation from the Vatican, and foreign ambassadors massed in the Orthodox Cathedral as long-bearded Coptic priests wearing bulbous black miters prayed over Shenouda's body lying in an open coffin, a golden miter upon his head and a gold-tipped staff in his hand.

Christians gather to bid farewell to Egypt's Pope Shenouda III

A delegation from the ruling military council and several candidates for Egypt's upcoming presidential elections attended the funeral. Security was tight, with dozens of police and army trucks scattered around the cathedral and plainclothes police posted on bridges and in streets nearby.

The prayers were led by Bishop Bakhomious, head of the church of Bahaira, a district in the Nile Delta north of Cairo, who will temporally hold the post of pope for two months until a new leader is elected.

'Fix all problems with prayer'
Some mourners worried who would follow Shenouda, who spent his final years trying to comfort a community disturbed by the rise of political Islam.

"It's a big loss, he looked after us all, it's a big loss for all Christians and Muslims," teacher Jaqueleen Mikhail, 25, told NBC News. "Nobody will ever be like the Pope Shenouda, he was humble and full of love and wise. He would fix all problems with prayer."

Egypt has seen less of the religious violence and discrimination that prompted members of ancient Christian communities to migrate from Iraq and other Arab countries.

But Coptic Christians, who comprise about a tenth of Egypt's 80 million people, have long complained of discrimination and in the past year stepped up protests, which included calls for new rules that would make it as easy to build a church as a mosque.

Taha Belal / NBC News

"Pope Shenouda was a father to us all, to all Arabs, a very patriotic person," mourner Saber Farag Saleh, a 50-year-old construction engineer, told NBC News in Cairo on Tuesday.

Shenouda strongly opposed Islamic militancy but strove to quell growing anger among Copts at Islamic extremism, attacks on churches and sectarian clashes often sparked by inter-faith romances and church building permits.

Photo blog: Egypt's Coptic Christians mourn the death of Pope Shenouda III

Many Muslims were among the mourners. He was a familiar figure for generations of Egyptians and Muslim Egyptians respected him as a staunch nationalist, an outspoken critic of Israel and a social conservative.

Dr. Essam Arian,  a member of parliament and the deputy of the Freedom and Justice Party (the Muslim Brotherhood's political party) said that he was planning to attend the funeral. "We hope the next pope can continue in the path of  reconciliation.  History will judge him.”

Sheikh Zachariah Mohammed Marzouq, the second Imam of Al Azhar Mosque, echoed those comments. 

“He was a wise man and a national figure.... He managed by his wisdom to dissolve any kind of conflict between the sects of the nation, the Christians and the masses of Muslims," said Marzouq. "He was a man inviting peace and love and brotherhood.  We send our condolences to our brothers the Copts on the loss of Pope Shenouda."

Thousands have paid their respects at the cathedral since he died. For much of the time, Shenouda's body was put in a seated position on a ceremonial throne dressed in gold and red embroidered vestments.

On Sunday, the cathedral had to close its doors several times in an attempt to contain the crowds. Two mourners died killed in the crush, medical sources said.

The burial is expected to take place at the Wadi el Natrun monastery in the desert northwest of Cairo, where the late pope had requested he be interred.

NBC News' Charlene Gusbash and Taha Belal, msnbc.com staff and Reuters contributed to this report.

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Mohamed Abd El Ghany / Reuters

Women shout slogans against the Egyptian military council before marching with other women to mark International Women's Day in Cairo on Thursday.

CAIRO, Egypt – International Women's Day took on special meaning for the more than 1,000 Egyptian women who braved harassment to march through downtown Cairo Wednesday. 

The demonstration was sparked by the belief of many women that the recent political victories by socially conservative Islamists, who now control over 70 percent of the parliament, will eventually undermine the few hard-fought rights they have won. 

“The situation is going backward,” complained flight attendant Nadia Salim. “The Salafists (conservative Islamists who believe in a strict interpretation of Sharia law and that women should have a limited role in society) and Muslim Brotherhood will bring us back 100 years.”

Their main demand is that women should make up half of the committee that will draft Egypt's new constitution.  Women fear that the Islamist majority will take away their right to divorce and to win custody of their children

"Women are half of society," said Salim. "Why shouldn’t we form half of the constitutional committee?"

Activist Dina Abou El Soud said she had heard that the country’s judges had plans for women to make up only a 10 percent of the panel shaping Egypt's next constitution. She believes women's rights will be the first thing to be sacrificed in order to please the Islamist majority. 

It’s a sea change from the ousted regime of President Hosni Mubarak, when women were guaranteed 64 parliamentary seats.  In the latest post-revolutionary elections, the quota was eliminated and women won only five seats.  "The other seats went to the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafists," said El Soud, co-founder of the Revolutionary Women's Coalition, which has 4,000 members on Facebook.

 "We are going backward, backward and backward," she added as she passed out fliers in English and Arabic. "It is time to make a women's revolution”

Charlene Gubash / NBC News

Mahy al Aref, left, and her mother, Magda al Akkad, right, at the International Women's Day march in Cairo on Wednesday.

El Soud also said that Islamists are trying to discredit existing women's rights by suggesting they were imposed by the Mubarak regime, deriding them as "Suzanne Mubarak's Laws,” the name of the former first lady.

"It’s ridiculous. They are international women's rights that we have gained,” she said.  

Ready for drastic measures
Considering what Egypt's roughly 40 million women stand to lose, Wednesday's turnout was miniscule. Mahy al Aref, a well-dressed pharmacy graduate, said the small crowd was probably due “a lack of educational awareness.”

She said she is worried about putting her German university degree to good use in an increasingly conservative society, a concern shared by her mother, Magda al Akkad, who runs an NGO. "I am worried because of the Islamist direction,” she said. “They have their ideas. I don't know where it will go, but I don't think they will be fair to women in general."

Al Akkad said she said she can foresee a day when Egypt would become unlivable for her and her daughter.  "If fanatics rule, I will leave this country,” she declared.

Ed Ou / The New York Times via AP, file

In this Feb. 2, 2011 photo provided by The New York Times, Times journalist Anthony Shadid, middle right, interviews residents of Embaba, a lower class Cairo neighborhood, during the Egyptian revolution.

Anthony Shadid, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter who covered nearly two decades of Middle East conflict, including long stints at the Washington Post and the New York Times, died on Thursday, apparently of an asthma attack, while on an assignment in Syria.

Ayman Mohyeldin, an NBC News correspondent currently based in Cairo, Egypt, offers this appreciation of Shadid, a mentor, colleague and friend.  Prior to joining NBC News Mohyeldin was a Middle East a correspondent for Al Jazeera and CNN, covering events including the Iraq War, the Arab Spring in Egypt, and Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

CAIRO – To many, Anthony Shadid was a notable byline, a name that you knew would capture a story like no one else. His accolades and body of work speak volumes about his skills as a journalist.

But for me, it was as much about Anthony the person, who inspired by his example and came with a  professional and personal kindness possessed by no one else.

Over the past decade of wars, sieges and revolutions in the Middle East, our paths crossed numerous times. It started in the spring of 2003 when I arrived in Baghdad as a journalist with very little international experience, let alone time in a war zone. I knew very few journalists there, but there was one I was determined to meet: Anthony Shadid.
 
The first time I spotted him, I quickly walked over to introduce myself. “Mr. Shadid, my name is Ayman.…”  “Call me Anthony,” he said, smiling. It was a simple exchange but very telling of the type of person Anthony was. 

In 2005, a few years after Baghdad, I was covering my first tumultuous Cairo protest when I bumped into Anthony again. It was my first time among thousands of  Egyptian demonstrators and I was flat-out nervous.

Anthony sensed it, called out my name and told me to stay close. He graciously and protectively let me shadow him as he navigated his way between protesters, police and thugs, never losing  focus on his reporting task.

In doing so, he took the time and care to show me that even in the most acute moments of tensions and work, there is always time for humanity. It was a profound moment of selfless collegiality in an industry often characterized by hyper-competitiveness.

Over the years, as Anthony’s successes grew and his work received more and more of the accolades it deserved, he never became inaccessible to those he mentored along the way, always offering us advice and wisdom. He raised the bar for journalists the world over, and particularly for Arab-American journalists.

We looked up to Anthony as the highest example of what hard work and humility achieve. He became an inspiration and role model for cadres of aspiring Arab-American journalists wanting to make a difference in their country and communities. He made it possible for us to tell our parents that we, too, wanted to be journalists, just like Anthony.  And he made it possible for us to believe that one day we, too, could work for the New York Times, the Washington Post and other major American media outlets.

A few days before his death, Anthony was featured in an article about Arab-American journalists. That evening, after reading the article, my dad called me in Egypt to talk about it. “I hope one day to see you like Anthony,” he said at the end of the conversation.

On his last trip to Egypt, just a few weeks ago, I missed the chance to see Anthony one last time. It is something I will always regret.

That’s what he meant to so many of us.

NYTimes Correspondent Anthony Shadid dies in Syria
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Police react as chaos erupts at a soccer stadium in Port Said, Egypt on Wednesday.

News Analysis

CAIRO – Tragedy. Conspiracy. Massacre.

However you decide to describe Wednesday's deadly melee at an Egyptian soccer game that left 74 dead, one thing is for certain. It is being described as a blemish on Egypt and Egyptians.

In merely a few hours, more Egyptians were killed than in any single day in Egypt's nascent revolution.

The incident cuts across much deeper issues in a country where soccer and politics intersect at all levels of society and social classes. Wednesday's violence highlights shortcomings in the country's sporting culture, free-speech psychology and politics. It exposes mistrust that defines the transforming relationship between the state's security and its citizens: failing to define each other’s responsibility to the other. And it sheds light on the country's past, while offering a glimpse into its democratic future, where officials are held to account and the public also must hold itself responsible for violating its own set of values and morals.

Those responsible for the violence at Wednesday’s game were Egyptians. Period.

Now, they could have been instigated, motivated and, even more sinisterly, hired to carry out these attacks on each other.  But in the end, they were all fellow countrymen representing broader groups of society, whether they be pro-revolutionary, pro-military, remnants of the old regime or simply thugs. Today the country had to face up to that fact.

Culture of insults
I have been attending soccer games in Egypt since I was a little boy. I and the millions of other Egyptians who attend these games are always somewhat entertained by the verbal abuse leveled at officials, opposing teams' fans and their players. From derogatory chants to straight-up provocative curses, nothing is off limits at these games.

And although I did not attend the game between Al Ahly and Al Masry on Wednesday, the run-up to the game and the chants heard during the game itself reflect a culture in which insults, taunting and provocation are not the exception, but the norm.

Such a culture demeans the very sport. And in a country where tensions are already high, the notion that fans can demean each other along political lines reflects the growing fragmentation in Egypt's post-revolutionary transition. It was reported that Ahly fans repeatedly taunted the home crowds, unfurling insulting posters and accusing them of not supporting the populist revolution that "liberated the country.”

Your soccer team is political statement
At the forefront of sports and politics are the die-hard fans of prominent clubs like Al Ahly and Al Zamalek, known in Egypt as the Ultras. The very name Ultra is meant to connote the most extreme level of loyalty by the fans.

Egypt's sporting clubs reflect complex layers of the country's past and current power structure. Al Ahly was founded by staunchly anti-British republicans. Al Zamalek drew its support from the country's colonial British administrators and their monarchist allies. Even Egypt's security apparatuses field top-flight teams from the army, police, military industry and border guards.

Str / AP

Egyptians sit on a sidewalk in front of the Al-Ahly sporting club in Cairo, Egypt, Thursday. A network of soccer fans known as Ultras vowed vengeance, accusing the police of intentionally letting rivals attack them because they have been at the forefront of protests over the past year, first against former leader Hosni Mubarak and now the military.

Who you support makes a difference in Egypt. Why you support them matters even more. When teams reflect such historical and cultural differences, it’s not surprising to find tension and violence at sporting events. At a time when sport could be a healing and unifying factor in the country, it has emerged as divisive theater.

In recent weeks, the Ultras of both Al Ahly and Al Zamalek have made reconciliatory efforts to each other. But it’s a small drop in the bucket following years of deep animosity. It was up to the moral conscience of the storming fans to realize that they were committing murder.

In the absence of security or riot police and in the presence of instigators or saboteurs, where was the moral conscience of Egyptians at the stadium to realize that storming the field in celebration is one thing, committing murder with weapons is another? Have Egyptians become that immune to violence to no longer draw the line of distinction? Are they so easily manipulated to carry out such attacks by larger societal powers?

Ultras Ahly carry even more political baggage, because they were at the forefront of 18-day street protests against the Mubarak regime and the military council that inherited power after the revolution. The Ultras Ahly have drawn on their past years of battle-hardened stadium experience with riot police in their ongoing confrontations with the military and the security forces. That has drawn them admiration and support from pro-revolutionary movements in the country for sustaining pressure on the military rulers despite "revolution fatigue" in some corridors of the country. It has also drawn anger from parts of the country that see sustained street protests as undermining the country's stability, democratic transition and economic recovery.

Police complicit or just ill-prepared?
But unlike in previous soccer-related violence, Wednesday's incident had a suspiciously high death toll. Despite the presence of security and riot police in visibly large numbers, the rampaging crowds were pretty much unhindered as they stormed the field. This has led many to question whether a sinister plot could have been tacitly in place to allow for such violence.

Many speculate the military council and its backers gain by exploiting such acts of “chaos.” Others simply say that this is an example of the incompetence of poorly trained security forces that are incapable of dealing with large crowds without brute force.

Mahmud Hams / AFP - Getty Images

An Egyptian man cries as he joins others in prayer outside Al-Ahly club in Cairo on Thursday.

I wonder what the public reaction would have been if police had used overwhelming force to subdue the on charging crowds and prevent the fan-on-fan violence. There surely would have been public outcry against the security forces for suppressing rowdy crowds.

It’s a lose-lose situation for the security forces. Act and suppress the crowds, and the police will be condemned for cracking down on what would surely have been described as a "post-victory celebration.” Stand by and do nothing and they are accused of complicity in the killing of fans. Therein lays the dilemma that Egypt's security apparatus faces: a crisis of confidence and credibility. But above all just poor technical capabilities in crowd control.

Even when the state is expected to uphold its responsibilities and preserve law and order it is handicapped by the lack of trust the general public has in those forces. Perhaps the police were ordered to avoid direct confrontation to precisely avoid the risk of injuring disorderly fan. Is there a solution where by the police are allowed to use force to subdue disorderly conduct that is disruptive to the public good. When and who gets to make the distinction between civil disobedience and free-speech protests where police are expected to keep a distance; and disorderly conduct where police must preserve law and order?

New political theater
Enter Egypt's new parliament. This trying experience has been baptism by fire for the new parliamentarians who spent the better part of Thursday debating what they as a body can and should do. As the only democratically elected state institution in the country, it has been among the most responsive so far.

Members of parliament took to the airwaves on Wednesday evening condemning those responsible, while vowing to hold them responsible. On Thursday the entire body took up the matter. They summoned the prime minister and five other ministers to an emergency session to discuss the matter. Feeling the heat, the prime minister walked into the People's Assembly by saying the governor of Port Said had resigned and top security officials were suspended

Parliamentarians did not hold back their criticism of the government's handling of the situation – they put the blame squarely on the military, its prime minister and the security forces for failing to preserve the public order. The proceedings happened live on television as millions of Egyptians and Arabs across the world watched hours of uninterrupted debate.

In the end, it was decided that the minister of interior will be investigated for his handling of the situation, many called for his sacking.

Nasser Nasser / AP

Egyptian protesters fly their national flag and the flag of the Al-Ahly sporting club while they rally in solidarity and support for the club and chanting anti-ruling military council slogans on their way to Tahrir Square, Cairo, Egypt on Thursday.

It was an example of a budding democratic body attempting to hold officials accountable. In the long run, it may prove to be fruitless, and the parliament may lose the zeal it demonstrated Thursday, but it does for now meet the immediate expectations of many citizens. How far the parliament can push its accountability will be tested in the coming days and weeks.

But the violence in Wednesday's tragedy also teaches one more important lesson, as one Egyptian Ahly fan told me, "We as a country must learn to share the blame for what we do, not just simply get used to assigning blame.”

Ayman Mohyeldin is an NBC News Correspondent currently based in Cairo, Egypt. He was born in Cairo and lived there until age 5. He spent a lot of timing visiting family there as a young adult and has been working on and off in Egypt since 2005 for CNN, Al Jazeera and now NBC News. He has attended both club and national soccer team games since he was a child.

Jeff J Mitchell / Getty Images

Temporary monuments are erected in Tahrir Square on Wednesday as thousands of Egyptians gather to mark the one year anniversary of the uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak.

They are scenes reminiscent of Egypt's 18-day revolution that toppled the 30-year rule of Hosni Mubarak.

Men and women, young and old, Muslim and Christian, rich and poor, secular and conservative … all back in the symbolic heart of Egypt’s revolution, Tahrir Square. They are also in cities all across the country.

But the unity seen during Egypt's revolution in 2011 has been replaced by widening differences over where the country stands one year later.

The difference revolves around the transition to democracy. Is it on the right path? Led by the right people? Genuine or simply cosmetic? Actions versus promises. Accomplishments versus rhetoric.

Wednesday marked the one-year anniversary of the beginning of the uprising that ousted Mubarak.

Some gathered in the square to celebrate that revolution. They said the past year had been one of transformation. They cited a newly elected lower house of parliament, new individual freedoms and an explosion of political parties running the gamut.

Those gathered Wednesday celebrated the accomplishments of the revolution. Those accomplishments cannot simply be dismissed. The pace of reform may be slow, but change has been tangible.

Those here commemorating the revolution argued change has been cosmetic. One regime has simply been replaced by another.

"We have changed the driver in the car, but you have not changed the car or its direction," one protester told me. "Only when the direction of the car changes will the revolution be considered successful," he added.

Related: Obama wants to boost Egypt aid quickly

Those commemorating the revolution said the anniversary should serve as a reminder of what Egyptians can accomplish when they are united. The past year has not lived up to its potential. They cited thousands of civilians in military trials as evidence that the ruling military council -- all appointed by Mubarak coincidentally -- has resorted to the same draconian measures as its predecessor. They said that in the past year, not a single senior officer of the internal security forces or minister has been convicted in the killings of around 800 protesters. So for them, Wednesday was about renewing demonstrations against the ruling military council.

The military council said it's holding the ship steady on the course to democracy. And while it has changed the timetable to elections a few times, it has done so only when events on the ground rapidly deteriorated and protests flared up. On one hand that showed it had been responsive to public sentiments and street protests; but on the other hand, it continued to act unilaterally when it came to fundamental issues concerning the process of reform. It retained exclusive power over the security services and the judiciary. It has refused to delegate powers and authority to the military-appointed prime minister or the newly elected lower house of parliament. At the same time, the military has issued a declaration of constitutional principles that many interpret as an attempt to retain powers after a new government is directly elected.

Related: Huge crowd in Cairo

And of course… there are the new democratic realities that have emerged in post-revolution Egypt. New political parties, but not necessarily new political voices. The loudest so far has been that of the Muslim Brotherhood and the ultra-conservative Salafist movement. Between the two of them, they overwhelmingly won the majority of seats in parliament. Will their mandate from the people be seen as a direct order to challenge the military? Some argue the Islamists are content with the democratic process undertaken by the military because it has paved their way to power. They fear the two have cut backroom deals. The military will move the democratic process at a pace and under conditions favorable to Islamist parties at the expense of the lesser and weaker secular and liberal forces. In exchange, the Islamists will not mobilize their massive street support against the military or hold them accountable for past misdoings going forward.

So whether Egyptians celebrate, commemorate or reinvigorate their January 25 Revolution, one thing is for certain, it has been a remarkable year in the history of this country.

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Jeff J Mitchell / Getty Images

Demonstrations continue next to the Egyptian Parliament as they hold their first session since the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak on Monday in Cairo, Egypt.

CAIRO – Egyptians were greeted by a series of firsts Monday:  Egypt's first democratically elected parliament and first predominantly Islamist parliament convened for their first session.  

New lawmakers were greeted by a now familiar sight.  Roughly 1,000 chanting demonstrators greeted them – despite being kept at a distance from the parliament building by riot police, metal barriers and sharp shooters mounted on roofs. 

They had come to hold lawmakers accountable for a wide variety of promises they believe are essential for the new Egypt.

From labor laws to honoring martyrs
Shima'a Sa'ib, a 28-year-old engineeer from Cairo, stopped chanting for a minute to explain why she came to protest. “We want them to hear our voice, to give us rights and to give rights to the families of the martyrs,” she said, referring to those killed in the revolution.  

Mahmoud Hussein held a poster filled with photos of people who were killed when police opened fire on them near a police station during the revolution. He pointed to the picture of a father of two who was killed.

"He was my neighbor.  His family was never compensated by the government,” said Hussein. “Now their landlord lets them stay for free. They can't afford to pay rent.” He fears that the new politicians will also ignore their needs.  "They are in power now, they will forget those in need."

Charlene Gubash / NBC News

Mahmoud Hussein holds a poster showing people killed during the revolution.

Ahmed Desouki, a lanky university student, explained in perfect English why he had come.  "I am here for worker's rights because workers have been suffering from this capitalist government. We need better wages, stop privatization and make the labor unions stronger."  Asked if he thought the new parliament would meet his demands, his reply was swift.  "No. I don't have hope.”

Desouki also expressed distrust about the cozy relationship between the military government known as the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, or SCAF, and the Islamists.

Hazdem Mohammed, a 25-year-old computer system administrator from Cairo and a member of the April 6 Youth Movement, the main organization behind the revolution, agreed.

“The people in parliament stole the revolution. The Muslim Brotherhood stole it in order to come to power,” said Mohammed. “The Brotherhood is like Hamas in Gaza, once they come to power, they will never leave.  If the revolution was on the right track, those in the military would be in prison for killing protesters."  He said the April 6 Youth Movement plans to continue organizing opposition to the government. 

Pediatrician Hazem Nasser said he was there to remind lawmakers that they are accountable for upholding some of the larger goals of the revolution. "Nothing has changed in Egypt since the revolution. Maybe they will be dictators, too, if people don’t stand up and tell them right from wrong.  If we don't do that, maybe 500 Mubaraks will arise." 

Looking for more man-friendly family law
Still others, like Salah Hassan and Ahmed Ibrahim, were there for very personal reasons: to protest some of the more female-friendly divorce laws introduced under former President Hosni Mubarak that give mothers preference in child custody disputes.

Charlene Gubash / NBC News

Salah Hassan, left, and Ahmed Ibrahim, right, demonstrate for change in family law to favor men.

Both men said their divorced wives had prevented them from seeing their children for the past 10 years, so they were hopeful that the majority Islamist parliament would uphold religious Muslim laws that are more favorable to men. 

Under the current law, women gain child custody in divorce cases until the children are 15 years old, at which time the child can decide who he or she wants to live with. Mothers are also allowed to stay in their homes while they have custody.

But under Islamic law, the father would get the child and the home when boys reach the age of 7 and girls reach the age of 9. 

"I may not agree with the Muslim Brotherhood in other things but for this reason, I voted for them," said Ibrahim, a civil engineer. “I have not seen my child for 10 years."  He also wants to revoke a woman’s right to divorce with ease.  "She just called and told me, I am divorcing you and taking your child and your house.”

Ibrahim reckoned there were as many as 300 others there who were also protesting to overturn Egypt's moderate family laws.

With all of the diverse issues, it will be a wonder what the parliament can get done, but the protesters seem determined to at least make their demands heard.

See Photoblog: Egypt parliament opens for the first time following the fall of Mubarak

By Ayman Mohyeldin, NBC News
CAIRO -- The trial of former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, his two sons, the former minister of interior and six senior security officials resumed in a Cairo court on Wednesday after nearly a three-month recess.

Egyptian TV showed 83-year-old Mubarak, covered by a green blanket and lying on a hospital gurney as he was brought from a helicopter and taken to an ambulance for the short ride to the courthouse.

The men are all facing murder charges for ordering security forces to kill demonstrators while trying to suppress an 18-day popular uprising against the 30-year rule of Mubarak that began on Jan 25, 2011.

The trial was in recess for close to three months because a separate petition had been filed to replace the presiding judge. That petition was not granted and the same judge will continue to preside over the trial.

On Wednesday, defense attorneys asked the judge to call senior members of the intelligence services and other branches of Egypt's Armed Forces who were serving during the revolution and since then to testify.

The defense is arguing the security forces were acting within the law to contain the uprising but were never given specific orders to "kill" demonstrators.

Nile TV via AFP - Getty Images

A still image taken from Egypt's Nile TV shows Hosni Mubarak being wheeled on a hospital stretcher into court for the resumption of his trial on Wednesday.

So far, the most critical testimony of the trial has come from Field Marshall Mohammed Hussien Tantawi, the Commander of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, the ruling military council. His testimony has been sealed for security reasons. The defense has also requested the judge hear the testimony of SCAF second-in-command Field Marshall Sami Annan, Chief-of-Staff of the Armed Forces.

The defense believes the two men and other senior officials will testify that they were never given orders by the former president to kill protestors.

The trial has been adjourned until Monday, Jan. 2.

Journalist are allowed to attend the trial under very strict rules as to what they can publish. Egyptian State TV, which was originally allowed to broadcast the trial, has since been barred from broadcasting the trial live.

Revolutionary groups have had a long-standing demand that Mubarak and his aides stand trial for the killing of protestors. The delay in the start of trial and it's lack of transparency has led many to criticize the SCAF that it was never serious about bringing the former president to justice.

The plight of women in Egyptian society has been well documented over the years. From enduring daily sexual harassment to being marginalized from politics … being a woman in Egypt has been and is tough.

But there was something about the video of soldiers stripping and dragging women in the street and ferociously attacking them that has triggered public outrage here. Even as their bodies lay motionless on the concrete, the soldiers repeatedly beat them over and over …

On Tuesday, Egyptian women fought back and by doing so, pro-democracy activists say, they lifted the spirit of their cause and their country.

Thousands of women took to the streets of downtown Cairo, walking on the same Tahrir streets where days earlier they had been beaten, arrested and dragged.

PhotoBlog: Egyptians rally to protest treatment of women 

They wore black and held signs that read “mourning.” They were protesting abuse by soldiers, not just over the past few days but over the past several months, which included alleged “virginity tests” against female detainees, sexual intimidation and harassment.

The women were from all walks of life. Young and old, Muslim and Christian, rich and poor walked shoulder to shoulder.

Niveen Redha, an Egyptian woman living in Canada and visiting Egypt, joined the march to denounce the military crackdown on protesters and women over the past few weeks.

Others called on people watching the march wind through the streets to join them, shouting, “It could be your sisters and mothers that will be attacked next.”

'True protectors'
As the women marched around central Cairo, men formed a human chain around them, making sure no one could disrupt their march.

On more than one occasion men came up to me and said of the obviously peaceful protesters, “look at these thugs” -- a sarcastic rebuke to the ruling military council, which has tried to paint the pro-democracy protesters as lawless thugs.

One man said the “noble women of Egypt are the true protectors of the revolution” and called on the men of Egypt to “shave their mustaches” – telling someone to shave his mustache is often considered an insult in this patriarchal society.

Images of a veiled woman being beaten and stripped on the street, exposing her upper body down to her bra, have fueled the determination of pro-democracy activists calling on the military council to hand power immediately to a civilian government. The video and the images from Saturday’s crackdown have drawn strong condemnation from the UN and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

"This systematic degradation of Egyptian women dishonors the revolution, disgraces the state and its uniform, and is not worthy of a great people," she said Monday.

Sexual threats
Ghada Kamal was one of the women assaulted on Friday. For three weeks she was part of an “Occupy Cabinet” protest outside the prime minister’s office. The protesters there wanted to prevent the military-appointed prime minister from entering his office. On Friday, the military entered the encampment and attempted to break up the protest.

The 28-year-old pharmacist was dragged away by soldiers who kicked her in the face, groped her and clubbed her head with a baton. While she was in military custody, she said, a soldier taunted her by saying, “We will have a party with you today and show you how much of a man I am.”

Such accounts are common among women who are detained by the military. Human rights organizations also have documented cases of women being given forced virginity tests.

In the face of mounting domestic and international criticism, the military said in a statement Tuesday on the Supreme Council of Armed Forces Facebook page that it apologizes to the women of Egypt and said it had the deepest respect for them and their right to protest and to participate in political life during Egypt's transition to democracy. It added that the military would investigate and hold to account all of those responsible for these violations.

The recent military crackdown has united Egypt’s political forces in demanding a quick transfer of power to a civilian government. The closest thing to a civilian government taking shape in Egypt is the lower house of parliament. Two-thirds of that body has been elected, and the final round of elections is expected in early 2012.

But the military says that until then, it has no plans to concede power.

When Egypt's uprising began 10 months, pro-democracy activists trusted the military would protect the revolution. Now that trust is all but gone.

CAIRO -- The echo from the microphones in the room where the prime minister had just finished his press conference on Saturday morning was still ringing in everyone's ears.

Could he have been right?

Prime Minister Kamal Ghanzoury looked journalists, and by extension the Egyptian people, square in the eye and told them the military and the police were not involved in the clashes on Friday -- and if they were, they were only acting in self-defense.

He went on to add that the military exercised restraint and did not fire on the crowds.

But even more surprising to many activists, Ghanzoury said the people involved in Friday's clashes were not revolutionaries.

The three-weeklong peaceful protests outside his office turned violent Friday when, according to him, troublemakers attacked the military.

• Violence flares after Egypt tries to crush protest

His depiction was an attempt, protesters felt, to taint them and their sit-in.

Ghanzoury's comments contradicted widespread reports and eyewitness accounts from journalists and activists.

Regardless of the moment that precipitated the initial clash between the military and the protesters, the military's conduct over the past 48 hours has many Egyptians questioning its competence and intentions.

In fact, videos made by eyewitnesses show the military engaged in all kinds of behavior, originally denied by the prime minister, including taunting protesters with rude gestures, lobbing stones at them, chasing them with sticks, beating and dragging them while they are on the ground and in more than one instance, opening fire with pistols.

In the video above, posted on the website of Mosireen, an Egyptian non-profit organization that helps citizen journalists by running a media center in downtown Cairo, alleged members of Egypt's military are seen taunting protesters with rude hand gestures. They can also be seen throwing stones at the protesters in this video.

In another video, aired by a private Egyptian satellite channel, a soldier can be seen aiming a pistol at people who were coming to recover a wounded protester being attacked by a crowd in military riot gear.

In his press conference the prime minister reiterated a point made earlier in a statement by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. All of the families of those killed would be compensated. Those injured would be treated at the state's expense. An independent civilian advisory council created after last month's deadly fighting between security forces and protesters recommended all those arrested during the clashes be released.

But on Saturday, the PM said they were not revolutionaries. In fact, Egypt's general prosecutor ordered 16 people detained for four days pending investigation into their involvement in instigating the clashes and the killings -- and none were members of the military or police. And despite widespread complaints by protesters and human rights organizations, no investigations into alleged military misconduct have been launched by prosecutors.

So why would the military offer to treat those injured and compensate victims if it felt they were behaving illegally? It seems odd for the state to treat so-called martyrs if it viewed them as vandals and agents of foreign hands.

For its part, the military has posted video http://youtu.be/8grDc-iz5wg) on its Facebook page showing what it claims were vandals destroying government buildings. Egypt's historic Geographic Society building was set on fire on Saturday. It was not clear how the fire started in the building, home to some of Egypt's most important historic documents.

 After last month's deadly clashes, the Supreme Council accepted the previous prime minister's resignation and promised to empower his replacement with the full authority he needs to run the country. The new prime minister pledged that force would not be used against demonstrators. But some analysts say that the new clashes raise questions about his ability to reign in the security forces and about the degree of cooperation between the military and the civilians supposedly running the country.  

In a post on his Twitter page, prominent opposition figure Mohammed El Baradei said that if the PM had all of the executive authority of the president, which includes security in the country, then in what capacity did the military police act against the protesters?

So did Prime Minister Ghanzoury know that within minutes of concluding his press conference, the military would unleash an assault against the protesters? If he did, then he purposely put a civilian facade on a military crackdown, some say. If he didn't know, then, as El Baradei pointed out, how can he restore law and order in the country if he is not in charge of the one institution that has all the guns?