Al-Dustour (Egypt)

Al-Dostor (also Al-Dostour and Al-Dustour) (Arabic: الدستور‎‎, meaning "The Constitution", Egyptian Arabic: [eldosˈtuːr, edːosˈtuːr]), is an independent Daily Egyptian opposition newspaper.

Al Dustour was first published in December 1995 and is published weekly in Arabic. The paper was originally published with a registration in Cyprus in order to get around the restrictive newspaper publication laws in Egypt during the Mubarak era. It was financed by Essam Fahmy Ismail, who chose its original editor in chief, Ibrahim Eissa. In 2010, Essam Fahmy agreed to sell the newspaper to Reda Edouard, a businessman with alleged connections to the ruling regime, who remains at the head of the newspaper's board today. Edouard replaced Eissa with Esam Nabawy.

It started as a weekly newspaper published on Wednesdays. It later came to be issued both daily and weekly. Al-Dostour's popularity grew quickly after its founding. It became known for its colloquial style and wide use of cartoons. The paper published articles on current affairs written by various leading figures of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Since the day of its first issue, Al-Dustour has been harshly critical of the government, formerly that of the Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, his family, and the former ruling party, The National Democratic Party (NDP). It was one of Egypt’s top critics of Mubarak’s 30-year rule. It introduced unprecedented cartoons of Mubarak and showed sharp opposition to his son Gamal Mubarak's likely succession to power.

In 1998, Al-Dustour published a statement attributed to the al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya militant group in 1998, that threatened the lives of three Christian businessmen. The Egyptian Ministry of Information closed down the paper. It considered the statement unacceptable and a potential cause of sectarian strife. Seven years later, on March 23, 2005, the paper was revived, initially being published every Wednesday, and since 31 March 2007 it has been issued both daily and weekly.

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