Egypt Revolution Developments

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pmaitra

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News Videos about Egypt:


 
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What Uprising? China Censors News From Egypt

Everybody's talking about a revolution. Except, that is, in China.

As the unrest in Egypt stretches on, China has blocked the country's name from micro-blogs and is scrubbing related comments from the web. Has all this talk of freedom got them on edge?
What's more interesting is what they have said about the protests. On January 30, Global Times, a state-run newspaper, published an editorial warning, essentially, that democracy would fail in Tunisia and Egypt. An excerpt:

"In general, democracy has a strong appeal because of the successful models in the West. But whether the system is applicable in other countries is in question, as more and more unsuccessful examples arise.
In the West, democracy is not only a political system, but a way of life. Yet some emerging democracies in Asia and Africa are taking hit after hit from street-level clamor
Democracy is still far away for Tunisia and Egypt. The success of a democracy takes concrete foundations in economy, education and social issues."

In other words, revolution won't bring democracy. So don't even try
 

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Egypt: How India should respond
Chinmaya R. Gharekhan - Former India's envoy to West Asia North Africa region

It is obviously in our interest to be on the right side of the new forces that will emerge to prominence in Egypt. They will remember who supported them in their hour of history and who sat on the fence.

As a general rule, it is advisable in diplomacy to be cautious in responding to events in foreign countries, especially when they occur in faraway places about which we may not be fully in the picture or where we may not have too many interests. There are occasions, however, when too much caution would not be necessary and might not be helpful in safeguarding and furthering our current and future interests. Silence might indicate not just caution but lack of clarity in our thinking. The evolving situation in Egypt is one such occasion. We ought to have expressed sympathy and support for the people of Egypt in what is undoubtedly their great moment in history.

It has been obvious, certainly from the second day of the protests in Egypt, that this was a genuinely people's movement, not engineered by external elements such as the Al Qaeda, nor by the Muslim Brotherhood, let alone any foreign government. It has also been clear that as and when the revolution reaches its denouement, President Mubarak, if he manages to survive in office, will no longer be able to continue to exercise unfettered power, as he has done for 30 years, that the people will have to be empowered in some way and that it would simply not be possible to restore the status quo ante in the political governance of the country. While the 'jasmine' revolution in Tunisia might have provided the immediate spark, the spontaneity and scale of protests suggest that the Egyptian people have been nursing their grievances and rage for a long time. People from all strata of society, rich and poor, young and old, have been on the streets, demanding reforms and ouster of Mr. Mubarak. Modern means of communication such as facebook, internet and twitter have greatly facilitated the launching and sustaining of the revolution.

India is not, and must not be, in the business of promoting democracy abroad, either by itself or in association with anyone else. We have rightly taken the position that it is not up to us to tell others what type of government they should have; we will deal with whichever government is in power and is able to take decisions on behalf of their people, decisions that the government concerned is able to implement. This does not mean, when genuine democratic impulses propel a people to take to the streets in a peaceful manner that we should not respond to them positively. There would be absolutely no risk in doing so, especially if our assessment suggests, as it ought to have in this case, that there was no question of things going back to what they were earlier and that in the end, Egypt will end up having more democracy.

India is and must remain a strong votary of the principle of non-interference and non-intervention. Expression of support for the demonstrators will not amount to interference in Egypt's internal affairs. In any case, the principle of non-interference has to be superseded by the principle of national interest. It is obviously in our interest to be on the right side of the new forces that will emerge to prominence in Egypt when all this is over. They will remember who supported them in their hour of history and who sat on the fence. This is a good example of a situation when principle and national interest coincide.

Why should we be 'concerned' at what is happening in Egypt? How should it bother us if the people of Egypt want democracy? Are we worried that Muslim Brotherhood will come to power? Even if that were to happen, why should that frighten us in India? Firstly, there is no evidence to suggest that the Brotherhood is behind the protests in the sense of having instigated them. They have been, on available information, cautioning the demonstrators not to indulge in violence. Since the protesters do not appear to have organised leadership, the Brotherhood, with its cadres and well-established cells, will certainly try to fill the vacuum and assume leadership role. However, most analysts, who have a better grasp of the internal situation in Egypt that this writer, suggest that the Brotherhood's support base is not as large as it would like to claim. The Brotherhood has declared itself as being opposed to violence, though it is true that it is an Islamist movement. But is it any more Islamist than the regimes in some countries which have been the source of most of the funding of institutions abroad that have been the single most important breeding ground of extremists? It is not an extremist movement and has many intellectuals and professional among its ranks. In any case, we with our firmly entrenched tradition of democracy, have nothing to fear from such a development. At least we Indians must not make the mistake of shunning whatever government comes to power in Cairo through a peaceful, democratic process. Governments around the world will have to deal with it since it is not Gaza strip that can be ignored.

Hamas won in a free and fair election which was monitored by the international community but was denied legitimacy and was ostracised by the world under pressure from the Americans and Israel. The result was that Hamas, a 100 per cent Sunni movement, was pushed in the embrace of a motivated Shia Iran. It was also not wise to shun the Hizbulla in Lebanon which has now the prime ministership of that country. (When this writer had gone to Beirut after the assassination of Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, he had on his own initiative met Sheikh Hassan Nasrulla; the Israeli embassy in Delhi had protested, but happily the then secretary in MEA, Rajiv Sikri, had dismissed the protest.) Is there any doubt in the minds of our officials that the Americans have their lines of communication with both the Hamas and the Hizbulla (as well as with Iran)?

Egypt is one of the most important Arab countries. Its influence in the region is because of what it is and will not diminish if there is a change of government in Cairo. It is very likely that the emergence of a new dispensation will have at least short term consequences for the peace process between Israel and Palestine. It will be certainly be more representative of the true feelings of the Egyptian people and more supportive of the Palestinian aspirations. In any case, the peace process has long been dead and will not revive until Mr. Obama's second term.

It is natural for us to be concerned about the safety of our nationals in Egypt. But there is no reason to believe that the demonstrators will specifically target the Indians, unless the protesters come to the conclusion that India's government is silently supporting Mr. Mubarak. An expression of support for the people is likely to be remembered by them positively, just as we did when some governments came out on the side of the freedom movement in Bangladesh in 1971-72.

Muhammad Baradai, who seems to be positioning himself as a consensus candidate for presidency, does have some credibility, since he returned to his country to lead a reform movement long before the present unrest exploded. However, responsible Egyptian sources suggest that Mr. Baradai cannot be the answer to the present turmoil, which is likely to continue for some time. General Omar Soleiman, whom this writer has met several times during his visits to Cairo in his capacity as special envoy, was well regarded domestically and is well disposed towards India, but his nomination as Vice-President is too little, too late.

The government should issue another statement in which, at a minimum, we should express understanding for the demands of the protesters for reform and our expectation that there will be no use of harsh measures and that the government in Cairo will respond early and positively to these demands so that the country and the region can become stable once again.
 

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Egypt protesters play down Islamist party's role

Muslim Brotherhood the main opposition party has vowed to 'respect the will of the people' if Mubarak's regime falls

Egypt's Islamist opposition has vowed to "respect the will of the Egyptian people" if Hosni Mubarak's regime falls, amid concern from western leaders that religious extremism might proliferate following the anti-government uprising.

Tony Blair, the Middle East peace envoy, warned that Egypt might take a backward step "into a very reactionary form of religious autocracy". But his words carried limited resonance in Egypt, where the Muslim Brotherhood – the country's largest opposition force – has played little more than a walk-on role in the unprecedented protests that have shaken one of the Middle East's oldest and most entrenched dictatorships.

"There is widespread exaggeration about the role of the Brotherhood in Egyptian society, and I think these demonstrations have exposed that," said Khalil al-Anani, an expert on Egypt's political Islamists at Durham University. "At first the movement showed little interest in the protests and announced they weren't going to participate; later they were overtaken by events and forced to get involved or risk losing all credibility."

Egypt's ongoing intifada or uprising has been largely leaderless, planned initially by secular online activist groups and quickly gathering a momentum of its own, as protesters managed to beat riot police off the streets and inspire belief that Mubarak's security forces could be overcome.

Even on Friday, when the Brotherhood finally threw its weight behind efforts to bring down the government – a stance its leadership initially held back from – Islamist slogans were noticeable by their absence, and the formal contribution of the movement remained limited.

"Like many others, I participated in these protests not as a Brotherhood member but as an Egyptian, even though both labels apply to me," said Mohamed al-Assas, a 35-year-old media production worker in Cairo. "Many of the older political leaders, not just of the Brotherhood, but of other formal parties as well, were not so enthusiastic about the demonstrations. But that doesn't matter because this is a youth revolution – we don't need leaders to tell us what to do."

The group was formed in 1928 and is still officially outlawed. Hundreds of Brotherhood members have been jailed in periodic crackdowns, yet it is from the existence of the Brotherhood, and the regime's perceived ability to suppress its influence, that Mubarak has derived much of his legitimacy in international circles.

This, combined with the fact that the Brotherhood's current leadership has often devoted more of its energies to "dawa", or social evangelism, than overtly political projects, has led many analysts to accuse it of a symbiotic relationship with the government it claims to resist. At crucial moments of popular public tension with the Mubarak regime in recent years, such as the killing of three people in the Delta town of El Mahalla El Kubra in April 2008, and during an attempted general strike one year later, the Brotherhood has opted to take a relatively non-combative stand towards the authorities.

"The Mubarak regime was adept at inflating the influence of the Brotherhood and painting them as a threat to Egyptian society and to the west," said Anani. "It was the pretext for Mubarak's rule, and it was a lie. I think that if Egypt held free and fair elections tomorrow the Brotherhood would not get a majority; it would enjoy a significant presence in parliament, but the overall makeup of seats would be pluralistic."

Mindful of the limitations of their popular support, and the danger of their involvement in protests being used as an excuse for the west to maintain support for Mubarak, the leadership of the Brotherhood therefore stood back as the past week's revolt unfolded.

Only in the past two days have senior figures begun publicly taking part in the jockeying for position in a post-Mubarak Egypt, and they have done so as unobtrusively as possible, mandating the non-Islamist Nobel peace laureate Mohamed ElBaradei to help lead any transitional government and promising a "populist stance" in the future.

"The Brotherhood realises the sensitivities, especially in the west, towards the Islamists, and we're not keen to be at the forefront," announced Mohamed el-Beltagui, a senior Brotherhood leader, on Monday. "We're trying to build a democratic arena before we start playing in it," said Essam El Arian, a reformist leader, and one of dozens of Brotherhood members who have escaped from jail in recent days following the disappearance of the country's police force. "The Brotherhood does not take decisions on its own," he insisted.

The Brotherhood's leadership continues to claim it does not aim to take control. "We are not for governing, we have no ambitions in this area," media coordinator Waleed Shalabi told the Guardian today.

"What the Brotherhood really want to get out of this revolution is official recognition, the end of legal prohibition," said Anani. "That's its minimum demand, but beyond that, if a post-Mubarak Egypt offers genuine avenues of political participation and a fair electoral system, then the movement will be happy."

But amid all the discussion about the impact the Muslim Brotherhood is having on Egypt's uprising, another story of these remarkable few days might be about the impact the uprising is having on the Brotherhood. Anani believes the protests have shifted the balance of power within the organisation, boosting the influence of younger reformists and weakening the more conservative old guard.

"Egypt is witnessing the creation of a new regime, and is reconfiguring all its internal political structures - obviously the Muslim Brotherhood will not be immune to that process," Anani said.

"The revolution has brought us into much closer contact with other secular protest groups with whom we're working now on a regular basis. The elder leadership respects those new links, because they have to," confirmed Assas, the 35 year olde Brotherhood member. Indeed many believe the triumphant surge of youth activism seen in Egypt this past week could have as significant effecti on the Brotherhood as on Mubarak's beleaguered National Democratic Party.

"Ongoing internal debate within the MB leadership oddly mirrors claims of an old-guard/new-guard clash within the ruling NDP," observed the US ambassador to Cairo, Margaret Scobey, in a secret cable in 2009. "The concern expressed by the current leadership of both the NDP and the MB about the impact of rapid or aggressive reform is a common thread.

"All of Egypt is changing, and of course the Brotherhood is part of that," said Assas. "The youth is leading the way, and leaders are heeding our call."
 

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Egypt could become a greater threat than Pakistan, say analysts​


Egypt has the potential to take Pakistan's place as the country posing the greatest threat to Britain's security, intelligence analysts said today.

Political turmoil in a state western counter-terrorism agencies have been able to rely on would also have "far-reaching consequences for the Arab-Israel relationship and regional instability", a former senior intelligence official said.

There would also be serious implications for European security, yet neither Europe nor the US could influence events in Egypt now, analysts warned.

EU countries, including Britain, have been promoting the cause of political and judicial reform as they have in other countries, including Afghanistan.

But European governments, and their security and intelligence agencies in particular, have wanted stability above all. "They have to talk the talk, but don't expect [reform] to happen," is how one observer described their attitude.

Now some more acute officials say reform is needed but not too quickly. John Sawers, head of MI6 and a former British ambassador to Egypt, in the first public speech of a serving head of Britain's foreign intelligence service, referring to the "Islamic world", said: "Over time moving to a more open system of government in these countries, one more responsive to people's grievances, will help.

"But if we demand an abrupt move to the pluralism that we in the west enjoy, we may undermine the controls that are now in place. Terrorists would end up with new opportunities."

Rosemary Hollis, professor of Middle East policy studies at City University, London, suggested the view of western intelligence officials or diplomats would be: "Senior military people should quietly tell him [Mubarak], 'We need a more benign version of you.'"
 

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King Tut Artifact Damaged During Egypt Protests


A statue in the King Tutankhamun galleries was broken over the weekend as throngs of protesters jumped over the wall in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo and entered the facility, prompting swift action from the Egyptian military.

Around 50 people were detained Monday at the museum, which holds many of Egypt's national treasures that date back to the time of the pharaohs, according to The Associated Press.

Around 1,000 people scaled the walls on the museum's eastern side on Friday, according to Zahi Hawass, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities.

"They went into the Late Period gallery, but when they found no gold, they broke thirteen vitrines and threw the antiquities on the floor," Hawass said on his blog.

The looters then entered Tutankhamun's galleries and opened one case.

"The criminals found a statue of the king on a panther, broke it, and threw it on the floor," he said.

Hawass added that all of the damage can be restored.

As a result, as reported by AP, Egypt deployed police and soldiers to the museum to secure its artifacts. Snipers positioned themselves on the roof and troops patrolled its grounds as protests and riots continue to unfold across the North African nation.


On Sunday, an anonymous official told AP that around three dozen men attempted to break into the museum and 15 more attempted to do so on Monday.

Hawass walked through the museum on Monday. "If the museum is safe, Egypt is safe," Hawass told AP.

Tutankhamun, a boy king who ruled from 1333 to 1324 B.C., has received worldwide attention since Englishmen Howard Carter and George Herbert discovered Tutankhamun's nearly intact tomb in 1922 in Egypt's Valley of Kings. The king died at age 18 of malaria.
 

ajtr

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Flip side of social media

February 01, 2011 5:25:44 AM

It can help mobilise crowds, but that's about all

You know something is not quite right when even the self-proclaimed media experts and pundits on television do not have anything to offer by way of an explanation — this is currently the situation in Egypt, where no one quite knows what will happen the next hour or what to expect, either from President Hosni Mubarak, the powerful Egyptian military, or the protesters. As the initial jubilation over a people-power 'revolution' gives away to lawlessness and helplessness in Egypt, it is time to take a hard look at the situation which is fast slipping into anarchy and chaos. Several jailbreaks have been reported and convicts are out on the streets, arsonists and looters are running amok, local businesses haven't opened their shutters in days, banks are closed and food prices are at an all time high. The Tunisia-inspired protests that began last week were coordinated largely through social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter. A Facebook group called the 'April 6 Youth Movement', which has existed since 2008, has been particularly active in organising groups of protesters. Its efforts have obviously met with unexpected success: Several thousands of young men and women have responded to the group's call and come out on the streets of Cairo, more specifically, Tahrir Square, Alexandria and Suez, and are now pressing for Mr Hosni Mubarak's exit from office. They want good governance and jobs — a large part of Egypt's population is educated but unemployed — and lower prices for food items, apart from free and fair elections. All this is very fine. But the problem is that this rag-tag 'coalition' of a few thousand youths seems to have no idea about how to achieve these goals, or more specifically, who they think can deliver their demands. And herein lies the crux of the problem: Political mobilisation with the help of social media sounds a great idea and has a certain appeal given its novelty, but this does not necessarily lead to a solution. Movements need organised leadership and designated individuals who can negotiate with those in power. Merely demanding the ouster of the incumbent regime without offering a replacement regime makes little or no sense.

In other words, the mass upsurge in Egypt faces a crisis of leadership although it may be high on enthusiasm and energy. On Sunday night, Mr Mohamed ElBaradei, who is keen to play a role in resolving the crisis (and possibly sees himself as an interim President to facilitate a regime change) visited Tahrir Square. But there was little or no response to either his presence among the crowds or his impassioned plea for change. That would suggest he is not seen as a leader by all. The leaders of the traditional Opposition parties, especially the Wafd Party, are at best trying to remain on the margins lest they be pushed into the dustbin of history along with the NDP. This leaves the Muslim Brotherhood which appears to be playing its cards well. The Ikhwan has been egging on protesters in Alexandria and Suez, where global media attention is low, while remaining on the fringe of the uprising in Cairo. Is the Muslim Brotherhood then keen to see the situation drift and deteriorate to a point where it shall be seen as the only alternative as it can use faith to enforce order? That is a possibility which should not be ignored just because the protesters are in jeans and T-shirts.
 

Tshering22

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India is not, and must not be, in the business of promoting democracy abroad, either by itself or in association with anyone else. We have rightly taken the position that it is not up to us to tell others what type of government they should have; we will deal with whichever government is in power and is able to take decisions on behalf of their people, decisions that the government concerned is able to implement. This does not mean, when genuine democratic impulses propel a people to take to the streets in a peaceful manner that we should not respond to them positively. There would be absolutely no risk in doing so, especially if our assessment suggests, as it ought to have in this case, that there was no question of things going back to what they were earlier and that in the end, Egypt will end up having more democracy.

India is and must remain a strong votary of the principle of non-interference and non-intervention.
At last! sense prevails in our government after causing havoc in Nepal and Burma. Glad to see that the GOI has mustered enough grey matter to stay put rather than play the US democracy puppy boy that caused our ties with Nepal and Burma to go spiraling downwards. We must stop being worried about democracy and start looking at things more practically like CCP. They deal with all sorts of government with 1 priority: How to make more money for China. THAT is pragmatism.
 

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Misconceptions about the Egyptian crisis: WashingtonPost

EGYPT ON Monday continued to teeter between a popular revolution that would remove President Hosni Mubarak and a forcible restoration of order by the police and Army. The opposition called for mass demonstrations on Tuesday; the regime did its best to impede them by canceling trains and other transportation and continuing to block the Internet.

While Washington and the world anxiously awaited the outcome of that test of strength, debate continued on the stakes and the dangers of the Egyptian revolt. Unfortunately, the discussion has been infected by considerable misinformation. Several common but mistaken notions are in particular need of correction: that the protesters have no leaders or platform; that radical Islamists are likely to assume power in a post-Mubarak Egypt; and that the United States has little ability to influence the outcome of the crisis.

Though they surprised many in Washington - including the Obama administration - the Jan. 25 demonstrations that touched off Egypt's rebellion were anything but spontaneous. They were carefully organized by an opposition coalition, led by the April 6 movement - a secular organization dominated by young people. The movement originated three years ago, when it organized a day of protests and strikes; its Facebook group has nearly 90,000 members. April 6 is one of several broad secular coalitions that formed in recent years to promote democracy in Egypt. Another, led by former U.N. nuclear energy official Mohamed ElBaradei, has more than 240,000 Facebook members.

Over the weekend, most of the secular opposition groups and the banned Muslim Brotherhood met to form a joint platform. They called for Tuesday's mass demonstration and worked toward consensus on a platform. This probably will call for a transitional government, possibly headed by Mr. ElBaradei, that would lift political restrictions and lay the groundwork for free and fair elections. The coalition contains business owners, former members of parliament and defectors from the regime, and it has the capacity to oversee a political transition.
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The Muslim Brotherhood remains Egypt's best-organized opposition movement, but so far it has played a marginal role in the demonstrations. Its long-term aim of establishing an Islamic government in Egypt is at odds with what the mostly secular and middle-class demonstrators have been calling for: the democratization and modernization of the country. The Brotherhood, unlike its Palestinian offshoot Hamas, abandoned violence decades ago.

No one knows how the Islamists would fare in a free election, since one has not been held in Egypt during the past half-century. But many Egyptian analysts believe an Islamist party would attract a minority of voters and would be unlikely, in the short term, to come to power. In the longer term, the best defense against it is well-organized and dynamic secular parties - which will only be possible if the current authoritarian regime is dismantled.

The most misguided assertion in Washington holds that the United States lacks the capacity to influence the outcome of the Egyptian crisis. In fact, both sides in Egypt have been aggressively appealing for support from the Obama administration, and for good reason - the United States supplies $1.5 billion in annual aid to Egypt, including well more than $1 billion for the Egyptian military. The White House has rightly hinted that that aid is now at stake, and on Sunday Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton finally announced U.S. support for a "transition" to "real democracy." Both in public and in every other communications channel, the administration should be making explicit the connection between future funding for the Egyptian military and that democratic transition.
 

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What is the possibility of the Army taking over?
 

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^^ Egyptian want democracy, no way they will lets army take over Egypt.
 

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^^ Egyptian want democracy, no way they will lets army take over Egypt.
so far only thing coming out clearly is "Mubarak out" the rest of the motives is still murky, attitude is like Mubarak out first then comes every thing else.......
 

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Well the army has supported the pro democracy protests thats why they have not taken any action against them. But we never know with Armed forces. Mubarak too is an air force guy.
 

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Well the army has supported the pro democracy protests thats why they have not taken any action against them. But we never know with Armed forces. Mubarak too is an air force guy.
Army has already released statement that they will not do anything against common citizen.
 

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Well the army has supported the pro democracy protests thats why they have not taken any action against them. But we never know with Armed forces. Mubarak too is an air force guy.
Their views on democracy are unclear as of now.......
So far they have not got in their way for they realize now is not the time to talk reason there is really nothing much they can do, any thing to stop protesters will only result in protesters turning on them, we will wait for some time before we know what the Army thinks of this whole fiasco.....
 

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I saw a TV clip stating that ElBaradei, the Nobel Prize winner is leading the protests and Muslim Brotherhood. How far is that correct?
 

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I saw a TV clip stating that ElBaradei, the Nobel Prize winner is leading the protests and Muslim Brotherhood. How far is that correct?
any one and every one who hates Mubarak is out there but that does not imply that the people protesting against Mubarak like each others company???
 

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So did you know that the entire top brass of the Egyptian militray was sitting in the pentagon when the riots broke out?
did you know that Suez canal handles 10% of the worlds maritime traffic? and that US warships get premier access to it , as in they do not need to wait in line, in those heavily sailed canals? I just learned that yesterday that part of giving them 2 billion dollars also means unfettered access and the US gets to jump the line and go first. Now that's how India will negotiate in the future and will have the clout to do so ' more' in a few years.
 

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A quarter-million flood into Cairo, demand Mubarak's ouster


CAIRO: More than a quarter-million people flooded into the heart of Cairo Tuesday, filling the city's main square in by far the largest demonstration in a week of unceasing demands for President Hosni Mubarak to leave after nearly 30 years in power.

Protesters streamed into Tahrir, or Liberation, Square, among them people defying a government transportation shutdown to make their way from rural provinces in the Nile Delta. The peaceful crowd was jammed in shoulder to shoulder — schoolteachers, farmers, unemployed university graduates, women in conservative headscarves and women in high heels, men in suits and working-class men in scuffed shoes.

They sang nationalist songs and chanted the anti-Mubarak ``Leave! Leave! Leave!'' as military helicopters buzzed overhead. Organizers said the aim was to intensify marches to get the president out of power by Friday, and similar demonstrations erupted in at least five other cities around Egypt.

Soldiers at checkpoints set up the entrances of the square did nothing to stop the crowds from entering.

The military promised on state TV Monday night that it would not fire on protesters answering a call for a million to demonstrate, a sign that army support for Mubarak may be unraveling as momentum builds for an extraordinary eruption of discontent and demands for democracy in the United States' most important Arab ally.

``This is the end for him. It's time,'' said Musab Galal, a 23-year-old unemployed university graduate who came by minibus with his friends from the Nile Delta city of Menoufiya.

Mubarak, 82, would be the second Arab leader pushed from office by a popular uprising in the history of the modern Middle East.

The loosely organized and disparate movement to drive him out is fueled by deep frustration with an autocratic regime blamed for ignoring the needs of the poor and allowing corruption and official abuse to run rampant. After years of tight state control, protesters emboldened by the overthrow of Tunisia's president last month took to the streets on Jan. 25 and mounted a once-unimaginable, relentless series of protests across this nation of 80 million people — the region's most populous country and the center of Arabic-language film-making, music and literature.

Mubarak's weakening hold on power has forced the world to plan for the end of a regime that maintained three decades of peace with Israel and relative stability despite a powerful domestic Islamist terrorist threat, even as its human rights record was constantly criticized the gap between rich and poor widened.

Nearly half of Egypt's 80 million people live under or just above the poverty line set by the World Bank at $2 a day.

Troops and Soviet-era and newer U.S.-made Abrams tanks stood at the roads leading into Tahrir Square, a plaza overlooked by the headquarters of the Arab League, the campus of the American University in Cairo, the famed Egyptian Museum and the Mugammma, an enormous winged building housing dozens of departments of the country's notoriously corrupt and inefficient bureaucracy.

The protesters were more organized than on previous days. Volunteers wearing tags reading ``the People's Security'' circulated through the crowds, saying they were watching for government infiltrators who might try to instigate violence.

``We will throw out anyone who tries to create trouble,'' one announced over a loudspeaker. Other volunteers joined the soldiers at the checkpoints, searching bags of those entering for weapons. Organizers said the protest would remain in the square and not attempt to march to avoid frictions with the military.

Two dummies representing Mubarak were hung from traffic lights. On their chests was written: ``We want to put the murderous president on trial.'' Their faces were scrawled with the Star of David, an allusion to many protesters' feeling that Mubarak is a friend of Israel, still seen by most Egyptians as their country's archenemy more than 30 years after the two nations signed a peace treaty.

Every protester had their own story of why they came — with a shared theme of frustration with a life pinned in by corruption, low wages, crushed opportunites and abuse by authorities.

Sahar Ahmad, a 41-year-old school teacher and mother of one, said she has taught for 22 years and still only makes about $70 a month.

``There are 120 students in my classroom. That's more than any teacher can handle,'' said Ahmad. ``For me, change would mean a better education system I can teach in and one that guarantees my students a good life after school. If there is democracy in my country, then I can ask for democracy in my own home.''

Tamer Adly, a driver of one of the thousands of minibuses that ferry commuters around Cairo, said he was sick of the daily humiliation he felt from police who demand free rides and send him on petty errands, reflecting the widespread public anger at police high-handedness.

``They would force me to share my breakfast with them ... force me to go fetch them a newspaper. This country should not just be about one person,'' the 30-year-old lamented, referring to Mubarak.

Among the older protesters there was also a sense of amazement after three decades of unquestioned control by Mubarak's security forces over the streets.

``We could never say no to Mubarak when we were young, but our young people today proved that they can say no, and I'm here to support them,'' said Yusra Mahmoud, a 46-year-old school principal who said she had been sleeping in the square alongside other protesters for the past two nights.

Authorities shut down all roads and public transportation to Cairo, security officials said. Train services nationwide were suspended for a second day and all bus services between cities were halted.

All roads in and out of the flashpoint cities of Alexandria, Suez, Mansoura and Fayoum were also closed.

The officials said thousands of protesters gathered in Alexandria, Suez, the southern province of Assiut, the city of Mansoura north of Cairo, and Luxor, the southern city where some 5,000 people protested outside its iconic Ancient Egyptian temple on the east bank of the Nile.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Normally bustling, Cairo's streets outside Tahrir Square had a fraction of their normal weekday traffic.

Banks, schools and the stock market in Cairo were closed for the third working day, making cash tight. Long lines formed outside bakeries as people tried to replenish their stores of bread, for which prices were spiraling.

An unprecedented shutdown of the Internet was in its fifth day after the last of the service providers abruptly stopped shuttling Internet traffic into and out of the country.

Cairo's international airport remained a scene of chaos as thousands of foreigners sought to flee.

The official death toll from the crisis stood at 97, with thousands injured, but reports from witnesses across the country indicated the actual toll was far higher.

The protesters — and the Obama administration — roundly rejected Mubarak's appointment of a new government Monday afternoon that dropped his highly unpopular interior minister, who heads police forces and has been widely denounced by the protesters. Mubarak was shown making the appointment on state television but made no comment.

Then, hours after the army's evening announcement said it would not use force on the protesters, Vice President Omar Suleiman — appointed by Mubarak only two days earlier in what could be a sucession plan — went on state TV to announce the offer of a dialogue with ``political forces'' for constitutional and legislative reforms.

Suleiman did not say what the changes would entail or which groups the government would speak with. Opposition forces have long demanded the lifting of restrictions on who is eligible to run for president to allow a real challenge to the ruling party, as well as measures to ensure elections are fair. A presidential election is scheduled for September.

Unity was far from certain among the array of movements involved in the protests, with sometimes conflicting agendas — including students, online activists, grass-roots organizers, old-school opposition politicians and the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood, along with everyday citizens drawn by the exhilaration of marching against the government.

The various protesters have little in common beyond the demand that Mubarak go. Perhaps the most significant tensions among them is between young secular activists and the Muslim Brotherhood, which wants to form a state governed by Islamic law but renounced violence in the 1970s unlike other Islamist groups that waged a violent campaign against the government in the 1980s and 1990s. The more secular are deeply suspicious the Brotherhood aims to co-opt what they contend is a spontaneous, popular movement. American officials have suggested they have similar fears.

A second day of talks among opposition groups at the headquarters of the liberal Wafd party fell apart after many of the youth groups boycotted the meeting over charges that some of the traditional political parties have agreed to start a dialogue with Suleiman.

Nasser Abdel-Hamid, who represents pro-democracy advocate Mohamed ElBaradei, said: ``We were supposed to hold talks today to finalize formation of a salvation front, but we decided to hold back after they are arranging meetings with Sulieman.''

The U.S. State Department said that a retired senior diplomat — former ambassador to Egypt Frank Wisner — was now on the ground in Cairo and will meet Egyptian officials to urge them to embrace broad economic and political changes that can pave the way for free and fair elections.

ElBaradei, the former head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog, invigorated anti-Mubarak feeling with his return to Egypt last year, but the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood remains Egypt's largest opposition movement.

In a nod to the suspicions, Brotherhood figures insist they are not seeking a leadership role.

Still, Brotherhood members appeared to be joining the protest in greater numbers and more openly. During the first few days of protests, the crowd in Tahrir Square was composed of mostly young men in jeans and T-shirts.

Many of the volunteers handing out food and water to protesters were men in long traditional dress with the trademark Brotherhood appearance — a closely cropped haircut and bushy beards.



 
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