Why Islamists Thrive in Rural Egypt

Election officials have announced some results of the initial stage of the country’s recent elections — the first democratic poll in 60 years.

They said 62 percent of those eligible had voted in the parliamentary poll — lower than the authorities’ estimates of 70 percent — but the outcome is not yet clear.

Islamists are expected to dominate — chiefly the Muslim Brotherhood, but a more radical group may also do well. The World’s Ben Gilbert traveled south of Cairo earlier this week to find out why.