Galloway must distance convoy from Mubarak's torturers

The convoy received a rapturous welcome in Libya
[UPDATE 12noon GMT 4 March - Farid Arada reports that the convoy is now at the Egyptian border and will likely cross tomorrow - more at Viva Palestina site]

The Guardian this morning has caught up with the story on George Galloway's misguided dealings with the dictator-regime in Egypt. In fact the story was broken by Egyptian socialist blogger Hossam el-Hamalawy on his 3arabawy site, with Gaza Solidarity the first to break it in the UK. You can see the story here:
Why is George Galloway loving up to dictator Mubarak?

Unfortunately the position of the convoy in Egypt has now been damaged but it's not too late for George to make amends.

The reaction to the arrests in the UK of convoy volunteers was initially equally disturbing when a spokesman denied they had any 'personal knowledge' of the individuals detained only to later call for an inquiry after they were all released.

The Guardian quotes Sabah el-Mokhtar, a British lawyer, repeating the 'we don't get involved in local politics' mantra, but, as we pointed out yesterday, by meeting with Mubarak's discredited NDP party and not just negotiating with the criminal regime but allowing the convoy to be co-opted by it, the mission risks becoming a vehicle for the dictatorship.

Having said all that, why is it that the Guardian has ignored the convoy up until this point and the first serious report they provide is negative. They just love to hate George Galloway because he stands up to western hypocrisy. But George, you have to be consistent and stand up to the Egyptian tyrant as well and dare them to stop the convoy crossing into Gaza at Rafah. That would win you back the support of the growing Egyptian opposition and workers' movements.

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