The death threat received by writer raised more questions than answers, reports Rania Khallaf Though the incident took place over five months ago, the mystery remains unsolved. On 15 July, writer received a death threat via e-mail, purportedly from the Al-Jihad terrorist group. Attached to the e-mail was a statement justifying the murder of Ehab El-Sherif, Egypt's envoy to Iraq, and the terse phrase "You're next". Two days later El-Qemni issued a statement in which he declared that he had decided to stop writing. The e-mail, the authenticity of which has not yet been verified by security services, said five members of Al-Jihad had been assigned the task of killing El-Qemni. The incident indicates that society may be witnessing the alarming return of the kind of blackmail and persecution to which writers such as Farag Fouda, Farouk Guweida, and Naguib Mahfouz fell victim in the 1990s. "I denounce everything I have written hitherto, which at the time I never thought of as infidelity," read El-Qemni's statement. A best-selling author in Egypt and several Arab countries, El-Qemni holds a doctorate in the philosophy of religion from Ain Shams University. In his latest articles, he not only criticised the Muslim Brotherhood, but also accused Al-Azhar -- the highest religious authority -- of "failing to shoulder the responsibility of establishing the principles of tolerance and peace". He also reprimanded the establishment for "its candid failure to confront terrorist and extremist groups". For many commentators and writers, El-Qemni's prompt decision to repent and quit writing has cast doubt on his integrity as a writer, and has put the seriousness of the intellectual project in which he had been engaged into question. While the validity of the threat remains unconfirmed, it remains to be seen whether El-Qemni will resume writing. "He does not feel safe," maintains Khaled Zaghloul, owner of Masr Al-Mahrousa Publishing House. "El-Qemni's decision reflects that insecurity. He does have a family to protect, after all."
