Ashraf Khalil is a Cairo-based independent journalist who has covered the Middle East since 1997. He is a former Los Angeles Times correspondent in Baghdad and Jerusalem, and a former editor in chief (along with the Arabist himself) of the Cairo Times weekly newsmagazine. Khalil's work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle and the Economist. He is currently a contributor to the Times of London, Foreign Policy and the Middle East Edition of Rolling Stone. His first book, "Liberation Square:Inside the Egyptian Revolution and the Rebirth of a Nation", will be published in early 2012. 

He tweets at @Ashrafkhalil.