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Source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,251-1654542,00.html
Egypt, the Sleeping Giant of the Arab World, Awakes to Democracy
(Times-UK) Richard Beeston - Mubarak will be easily re-elected to a fifth presidential term in September, yet everyone agrees that something has changed in the Arab world's largest and most influential nation. Half a dozen independent newspapers feel free to criticize Mubarak, his government, and even his family, when once that could have meant prison. Where the ruling National Democratic Party had a monopoly on power for three decades, now dozens of parties and political movements are springing to life. Egypt's version of the "Arab Spring," as the democratic changes sweeping the region are known, is particularly significant because it has the strong encouragement of Washington.