An unresolved legacy

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HALF a century after the March 1954 crisis Galal Nassar spoke with Khaled Mohieddin -- a key figure in the July 1952 Revolution and a member of the Free Officers -- about the failure of attempts to persuade his colleagues on the Revolutionary Command Council -- among them Gamal Abdel- Nasser and General Mohamed Naguib, pictured above -- to move towards democracy and restore parliamentary life.

Attitudes towards democracy, he argues, were among the July Revolution's weak points, and Egypt continues to pay the price for shortcomings that could have been tackled early on.

"My main focus," says Mohieddin, "was that the revolution should come first but then be reinforced by democracy."