Time to replace Egyptian puzzles with historic advances

8th Sep 2005, 23:55 GMT

The Egyptian presidential election that took place Wednesday adds new layers of enigma and contradiction to an Arab political order already bloated with both. Yes, this was the first time in 5000 years that Egyptians could choose a president from among numerous candidates, but the victory of incumbent Hosni Mubarak was as certain as the rising and setting of the sun that day.