This interview of Wael Abbas sheds some light on the legal and political climate for bloggers in Egypt. While Wael has not been detained by the Egyptian security forces for his blogging, the government has put him under surveillance and harassed him and his family, both electronically and otherwise. He says that one of his biggest fears is "somebody filing a lawsuit against [him], accusing [him] of defaming Egypt or spreading false rumors -- the usual stuff that is used against journalists in Egypt."

The interview also gives a sense of how important the burgeoning Egyptian blogger community has become in terms of breaking stories on police brutality, torture, mass sexual harassment, and fraudulent election practices. (Thanks to Hossam Al-Hamalawy for the tip.)