A dishful of opinions. (Alaa Hamed in Egyptian prison on blasphemy charges for his book Distance in a Man's Mind)

ALAA HAMED, a tax inspector, has spent the past five weeks in an Egyptian prison awaiting trial on blasphemy charges. His book, "Distance in a Man's Mind", tells of an imaginary journey to paradise, where the hero finds that the prophets are not all they are cracked up to be. The author, who paid for the small printing of the book himself, concludes his work with the proposition that anyone who believes in religion should be put in a sanatorium.

Mr Hamed, who has been referred to in the local press as "a new Salman Rushdie", faces almost certain conviction. A committee…