BIOGRAPHY:

"Shaykh Sannuwh B. Y`aquwb Abuw al-Nazzaarah, the celebrated  Egyptian journalist,  was born from Jewish Egyptian parents in Cairo in 1839. He later converted to Islam.  He studied in Egypt, then continued his schooling in Italy, and at the age of sixteen began to contribute articles to Arabic, French, Italian, and English newspapers. After converting to Islam he joined the prestigious al-Azhar University where he graduated as a full fledged `alim (Shaykh) He authored a major work on comparative religion entitled  "The Qur'an and other Sacred Scriptures." Source: Abou Naddara Paris: ACRPP, 1972.

In 1863 he became a professor at the Ecole Polytechnique and examiner of schools under the Egyptian government. In 1870 he introduced the modern Arabic theater in Egypt. He wrote no less than thirty-two pieces, and translated many others from European languages. In 1872 he founded the two societies: Les Amis de la Science and Le Cercle des Progressistes. In 1877 he established "Le Journal d'Abou Naddara," in which he foretold the English invasion of Egypt. A selection of samples of these publication are reproduced below.
 
 

Sannuwh was higly decorated by the `Uthmanliy Sultan several times,  In 1900 the Shah of Iran conferred upon him the title "Sha`ir al-Mulk" (Poet of the Empire)" 

In theory, this set the Egyptians on the road to self-government. Six Ministers of State, all Egyptian, were appointed. The decrees were prepared by the Ministries and became law when endorsed by the Council of Ministers and signed by the Khedive. Experience in democratic method was provided by the Legislative Assembly of thirty members which met in Cairo to discuss the budget and draft decree; and by the National Assembly, which had in theory the right to veto taxation. There were local commissions in twenty towns and fourteen provincial assemblies. The Ministers were inclined to respect the opinions of the Legislative Council  only when the British allowed them to do so. 

Hence, the essence of government was contained in the provision that the decrees were prepared by the Ministries, in which a British Under-Secretary or Adviser exercised effective control and operated under the general direction of the British Consul General. Their plans were imposed through the Khedive and the Ministers who, in accordance with Lord Granville's instruction, either obeyed or ceased to hold office.
 

Compare these measures with the recent ones undertaken by the U.S. occupation of Iraq in 2004 vis a vis the Iraqi interim government in concert with the new appointment of John D. Negroponte to serve as the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq; effectively ruling Iraq behind the scenes through one of the biggest embassies in the world .
 

Similarly to the situation in Iraq, the British occupation of Egypt in 1882 had no legal foundation other than the right of conquest, and as the years passed it was more and more argued in Britain that a protectorate should be declared over Egypt.
 

Britain had no intention of handing the country back to its people, and Lord Cromer himself was soon convinced that early evacuation, whatever the promises given, was impossible and would lead to chaos and failed democracy .

The British Government was not only at pains to disavow any intention of doing so, but several times gave pledges to evacuate that were at once incompatible with Britain's imperial position and, in the eyes of the Powers, the Sultan and the Egyptian people, seemed charged with the intention to deceive.

Because of these promises to evacuate, Lord Lloyd wrote half a century later, the position of the British Consul-General was anomalous, the highest authority in Egypt but possessing no more legal authority than any other Consul-General; the position of the British troops was anomalous, not employed by the government of Egypt, not even invited to assist the government of Egypt - accidentally present, yet supporting the Whole structure.

Abuw al-Nazzaarah in one of his satirical pieces (written in French) in his journal illustrated the situation as follows:
 

Ironically, like in the occupation of  Iraq  today.  It was the French Government, and other Powers such as Russia and Prussia (German state), who thought it necessary to use their rights to obstruct the work of the British in Egypt.

As time passed, the cadre of British officials settled into an established service, offering permanent employment and pension rights to the British, to the detriment of the Egyptians.  In fact, there was less interest than ever in training Egyptians to run their own country. 

Even the fiction of khedivial authority was dispensed with by Lord Cromer after the death of Tawfiyq in 1892. Tawfiyq was succeeded by his eighteen-year-old son, `Abbas Hilmiy, who had been educated in Vienna and had learned at the Court of the Hapsburgs the manners of autocratic princes. His relations with Lord Cromer began well, largely because Lord Cromer had resisted any alteration of the firman governing the succession, which would have deprived him of his khedivial throne.  But this honey moon period was short lived.