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Following deadly clashes during the elections, on the day the new Egyptian parliament meets for the first time: 'better to play it safe'. By Mustafa Hussein of Egypt's daily Al-Akhbar From right: the world when looking for terrorism, then when looking for the reasons. The Saudi daily Asharq Al-Awsat, by Amgad Rasmi

"This event [the elections] must not pass quietly. Everyone feels humiliated. We want to know exactly what rights we have in this nation or are we mere slaves in the stables of the National Democratic Party and its government?" --Mustafa Bakri, Al-Osbou

"The biggest danger is that the ruling party compete with the religious opposition on the grounds of religious discourse so that it [the party] appears more Islamic than the Brotherhood." -- Emadeddin Adib, Rose El-Youssef newspaper

"All of the indications and facts confirm that Egypt is moving from bad to worse. If we want to brighten this darkness we can say Egypt is moving towards the unknown." -- Abbas El-Tarabili, Al-Wafd

"The play is being directed by the defendant and not the prosecutor, as is usually the case." -- Abdul-Rahman Al-Rashed, Asharq Al-Awsat

"Having started as a tragic-comic TV show last month, Saddam's trial resumed this week in a fashion that makes a mockery of what should have been something historic." -- Ghida Fakhri, Asharq Al-Awsat

"The utmost manifestation of bitter irony is for Saddam Hussein to wonder in the hall of his tribunal: 'where is justice?"' -- Zouheir Kseibati, Al-Hayat