EGYPT - Oct 1 - Egyptian Editor Accuses Government Of 'Ambush Against Journalists'.

A newspaper editor who faces criminal charges for reporting that Egypt's president has ill accused the government of launching an organised campaign to silence the press and said it would take a miracle to escape going to prison. Ebrahim Eisa, an outspoken critic of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and editor of the independent daily Al Dustour, didn't attend Oct 1 opening session but was represented by lawyers from across the political spectrum amid a recent crackdown on the country's opposition press. "The regime is taking this case as too personal. I'm very surprised by a state that is insisting on considering the president's health as a military secret, while this case will set up a political circus at the court that will keep talking about the president's health", Eisa said in an interview at his newspaper offices Sept 30. Political society "The whole political society feels the danger of a state who is laying an ambush against journalists and freedom of expression", he added. Eisa is on trial after a pro-government lawyer filed a lawsuit against the editor for his paper's recent reports questioning the health of 79-year-old Mubarak. The lawyer, Samir Al Shishtawi, said he filed the lawsuit for the "pain, sadness and depression I felt because of what Eisa published about false rumours about Mubarak's health". Egyptian law allows private citizens to file lawsuits against individuals for alleging damages to the society, and the lawsuits can carry criminal convictions.