As several people have noted, this comes at a very suspicious time, considering that the extension of the State of Emergency (in place since the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, with a brief break during Sadat’s presidency) was just about to be considered once again.  Mubarak’s government has been promising for years to come forth with an anti-terrorism law to replace martial law, which would at least give citizens some protection under Egypt’s constitution.  The regime is currently able to invoke the Emergency Law to do whatever it wants, which is what readers here will recognize in the abuction of Philip Rizk and Diaa Gad, among many others.  With the changes afoot in US and Israeli administrations—along with increasingly vocal, powerful and interconnected resistance groups, domestically and across the border in Gaza—it seems the aging Mubarak regime is getting nervous and finds little option to maintain its grip on power but to resort to a strategy of tension.  I think the recent release of celebrated political prisoner Ayman Nour should be considered as evidence of the panic roiling the upper echelons of this dictatorship.  For developing news on this event, check this delicious feed.