Friday, January 28, 2011

Egypt News Bulletin: Nationwide Uprising Continues While Mubarak, U.S. Plead for Calm

Mubarak dismisses government

Embattled Egyptian leader says he will name a new government on Saturday, after days of violent protests.

Last Modified: 29 Jan 2011 03:27 GMT

Tens of thousands of Egyptians have taken to the streets, calling for Mubarak's resignation

The Egyptian president has dismissed his government, saying he will replace it with a new one on Saturday.

"I have asked the government to resign and tomorrow there will be a new government," Hosni Mubarak said in an address to the nation in the early hours of Saturday after four days of deadly protests.

The president said that change can not be achieved through chaos but through dialogue.

Saying he understood that the people of Egypt wanted him to address poverty, employment and democratic reform, he promised to press ahead with social, economic and political reforms.

"We will not backtrack on reforms. We will continue with new steps which will ensure the independence of the judiciary and its rulings, and more freedom for citizens," Mubarak said.

He said new steps will be taken "to contain unemployment, raise living standards, improve services and stand by the poor".

Reacting to the protests that have erupted in the capital and other cities, Mubarak urged calm, adding that only because of his own reforms over the years were people able to protest.

Mona El Tahawy, an Egyptian columnist and author living in the US, dismissed these comments.

"There is no political freedom in Egypt, that's exactly why the protests happened," she said.

"If there were political freedoms, we wouldn't see 12,000 to 14,000 political dissidents in Hosni Mubarak's jails.

"He spoke tonight as a man absolutely out of touch with his people ... He tells them 'I'm going to implement reform and I care about the people.' That's meaningless. He's been in power for 30 years, he knows how poor people are."

'Not enough'

Mubarak's speech is likely to be seen as an attempt to cling to power rather than take concrete steps to solve some of the more pressing problems facing many Egyptians, primarily unemployment and rapidly rising food prices.

Al Jazeera's Ayman Mohyeldin, reporting from Cairo, said many Egyptians calling for change would say the sacking of the government is not enough.

"Ultimately in Egypt, the power lies with the president," he said.

"On paper, you have an independent parliament and an independent judiciary but every Egyptian will tell you that at the end of the day, power is concentrated in the hands of the president.

"Very few institutions can challenge his authority, so the sacking of the cabinet is not going to end the grievances of the people."

A sombre looking Mubarak called anti-government protests "part of a bigger plot to shake the stability and destroy legitimacy" of the political system.

He also defended the security forces' crackdown on protesters, saying he had given them instructions that the protesters be allowed to express their views. But, he said, acts of violence and vandalism left the security forces with no choice but to react to restore order.

Even after Mubarak's speech, protesters defied the night curfew and shouted slogans like "Down with Mubarak" in Cairo and other cities.

"We don't care if the government resigns, we want him to resign," Khaled, a 22-year-old demonstrator, said, in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies


Egypt tense after bloody protests

Army deployed in key cities while curfew fails to deter protesters calling for the president's resignation.

Last Modified: 29 Jan 2011 03:11 GMT

The protests on Friday marked the first time the military was deployed onto the streets of Cairo

Protesters in the Egyptian cities of Cairo, Alexandria and Suez have defied a nighttime curfew and continued with demonstrations demanding an end to Hosni Mubarak's 30-year presidency.

Speaking on national television in the early hours of Saturday, the president said he had ordered the government to step down and that he would name a new cabinet later in the day.

Al Jazeera's Ayman Mohyeldin, reporting from Cairo, said protesters had been "galvanised" by Mubarak's announcement that he was staying in power.

"The streets are definitely still abuzz," he said at 4am local time. "The chants have died down in the last hours but there are still many people out and about in the street despite the fact that there is a curfew supposed to have been imposed, starting from 6pm to 7am.

"The protests and the clashes with police have completely died down as a result of the fact that the police have melted away and the military has taken over."

Military armoured vehicles rolled onto the streets of the capital on Friday night in a bid to quell the protests. People cheered as the army arrived, and hundreds of people thronged around a military vehicle near Cairo's Tahrir square.

"The army is a respected establishment in Egypt, and many feel they need their support against what they see as excessive force by the police and security forces," our correspondent said.

Protesters killed

Friday's demonstrations involving tens of thousands of people were the biggest and bloodiest in four consecutive days of protests against Mubarak's government.

Six people were reported killed in the port city of Alexandria, and at least 11 others were killed in the eastern city of Suez.

At least 1,030 people were wounded during Friday's protests, some in a serious condition with bullet wounds, medical sources said.

Buildings were set alight, and violent clashes continued into the night after a day of unprecedented anger.

A building belonging to the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) was torched, and reports of looting of numerous government buildings also emerged.

The army was also deployed in Suez and Alexandria, where masses also defied the night curfew.

Tanks cordoned off the American and British embassies in the capital in the evening.

Shots were heard near parliament earlier in the day as the headquarters of the ruling party were in flames.

Dozens of protesters climbed on the military vehicles in Suez. They talked to soldiers who attempted to wave them off.

As reports of looting emerged, state media said army units secured the Egyptian Museum in the capital, where pharaonic treasures are displayed.

Looters had broken into an NDP building located near the museum and were walking out with furniture, computers and other items.

Protesters often quickly dispersed and regrouped.

As clashes intensified, police waded into the crowds with batons and fired volleys of tear gas.

Government crackdown

Mohamed ElBaradei, the former head of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog and an opposition leader in Egypt, was briefly detained by police after he prayed at a mosque in the Giza area but he later took part in a march with supporters.

The unrest in Egypt was triggered by the overthrow two weeks ago of Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in an uprising that has also inspired anti-government protests in Jordan, Yemen and elsewhere.

The government in Egypt had vowed to crack down on demonstrations and arrest those participating in them. It had blocked internet, mobile phone and SMS services in order to disrupt the planned demonstrations.

Before internet access was shut down on Thursday night, activists were posting and exchanging messages using social networking services such as Facebook and Twitter, listing more than 30 mosques and churches where protesters were to organise on Friday.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies


Egypt supporters rally worldwide

Protests held across globe in a show of solidarity with Egyptian demonstrators attempting to oust president

Last Modified: 28 Jan 2011 15:36 GMT

Several hundred people held a rally outside a mosque in Istanbul reiterating calls for Mubarak to step down

Demonstrations are taking place around the world in a show of unity with protesters fighting for political change in Egypt.

In Turkey between 200 and 400 protesters held a demonstration outside the Fatih Mosque in central Istanbul after Friday prayers to lend their voices to the Egyptian cause.

Anita McNaught, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Turkey, said the mosque had become a focal point for activism since Israeli commandos raided a Turkish ship headed to Gaza last year.

"It is very much the organisations that we saw rise to prominence following the Israeli attack on the Mavi Marmara that have taken on the streets today to lend their voices in solidarity with the Egyptians," she said.

A simultaneous rally of about 50 people was also held in Ankara, the Turkish capital, where up to 50 people gathered outside the Egyptian embassy.

Tunisian solidarity

In London, Britain's capital, around 50 protesters are gathering outside the Egyptian embassy to add their voices to those calling for Hosni Mubarak, the president, and his government, to step down.

Abdullah Ali, a 26-year-old demonstrator at the rally in London, told Al Jazeera they were asking for "free democratic elections".

"I think the Egyptian population have had enough. They've seen what happened in Tunisia and how you can bring about a change. What we are asking for is Mubarak, father and son, to leave."

Many Tunisians, who saw major and violent protests topple the leadership of its president earlier this month, have also expressed solidarity with Egypt, saying that they hoped their revolution would spark events around the Arab world.

Around 50 people are holding a demonstration outside the Egyptian embassy in Tunis, the capital, brandishing placards with slogans reading "Mubarak Out!" and "Freedom".

"We are here to say that the Tunisian people are behind the Egyptian people. They have suffered in the way that we suffered. It's time for change," Monia Mechri, one of the protesters, was quoted by the AFP news agency.

The Progressive Democratic Party, a former opposition group that has now joined Tunisia's interim government, said Egypt had "called in the hour of change for an end to injustice and dictatorship".

"The Egyptian people supported the Tunisian people's revolution. Our heart is with you and our voices never cease to pray for victory," it added in a statement.

Ahmed, a blogger and activist at the rally told Al Jazeera that what has happened in Egypt is "very great".

"Now democracy will be ... one effect in the Arabic world," he said.

He said activists in Tunisia had used Facebook to message people in Egypt with advice on how to tackle police tactics during their protests.

Demonstrations have also been held outside the Egyptian embassy in Doha, the Qatari capital, where political demonstrations are a rare event.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies


Egypt general cuts short US trip

Senior official apparently cutting short defence talks as unrest sweeps his country.

Last Modified: 28 Jan 2011 23:34 GMT

Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets in Egypt calling on President Mubarak to step down

The Pentagon has said that Lieutenant General Sami Enan, the Egyptian army's chief of staff, has departed Washington, cutting short a planned week-long visit as unrest sweeps his country.

The previously scheduled annual defence talks had been adjourned after "the Egyptian delegation was called home by its government," Colonel Dave Lapan, the Pentagon spokesman, said in a statement on Friday.

Sandy Vershbow, the assistant secretary of defence, led the US side for the talks and reiterated the Washington's appeal for restraint in dealing with widespread unrest, Lapan said.

"The current situation in Egypt arose very quickly, but Ambassador Vershbow did have the opportunity to urge restraint to his Egyptian counterpart during the Wednesday and Thursday meetings here in the Pentagon," he said.

Egypt receives about $1.3bn a year in US military aid and hundreds of millions of dollars in economic assistance - second only to Israel.

The country's armed forces - the world's 10th biggest with more than 468,000 members - have been at the heart of power since army officers staged an overthrow of the monarchy in 1952.

All four Egyptian presidents since then have come from the military, which is now led by Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, 75, who is both defence minister and commander-in-chief.

Enan, in Washington, ranks below him but is one of the top military officers in Egypt.

A Middle East military expert in Washington, speaking on condition of anonymity, described Enan as someone who appeared to have the respect of the US.

Source: Agencies


Egyptian youth and new dawn hopes

For young Egyptians, long-dormant patriotism and pride have been finally awakened

Firas Al-Atraqchi
Last Modified: 29 Jan 2011 00:30 GMT

For the first time in their lives, young men and women feel that they may actually be able to determine their own destinies

As police stations and ministry of interior installations continue to burn through the night in many of Egypt’s cities, the Arab World is waking up to a new dawn.

In more than 18 years of living in Cairo, I have never felt the sense of cautious hope that exists in Egypt now, particularly among young men and women who feel that for the first time in their lives they may actually be able to determine their own destinies.

Young Egyptians that say that despite the number of teargas canisters fired at protesters and the number of those who have been beaten and detained, long-dormant patriotism and pride have been finally awakened.

They feel emboldened by the positive changes in Tunisia and believe they share common cause and aspiration.

Many of the students I teach at the American University in Cairo have taken part in the protests, avoiding tear gas, seeking refuge in shops and alleyways. They have been reporting and participating in the protests. Some have been beaten only to return the next day and face off with riot police.

To them, they have known no other president, no other ruling party and no other political system. They have for years been groomed on the government’s realpolitik on the one hand, and the empty rhetoric of opposition groups on the other.

They have made it clear to me that these opposition parties, long defunct and impotent, have been replaced by grassroots social action. Their fears of detention and torture have been supplanted by the need for better living conditions and better wages.

The protests have drawn Egyptians from all walks of life, many of whom have never participated in demonstrations and feel that the time has come for them to voice their resentment.

What started with a few dozen protesters on January 25 quickly mushroomed as passers-by and ordinary citizens joined in.

This was the Arab Street – the silent majority which has finally found a voice to express palpable anger.

Listening to the protesters, one gets the feeling that they have not been deterred by the severity of the beatings; rather, their resolve has been hardened.

In an unprecedented show of civil disobedience and open revolt, young Egyptians have clearly and forcibly delivered a message that is still resonating in the Middle East and North Africa: Authoritarian rule in the region is over.

The common yet indigenous, denominators – political and economic disenfranchisement and disdain at rampant corruption – between the two countries were conveyed through social media networks, helping to create a momentum that seized popular anger and provided it with a dynamic that produced mass mobilisation on the streets of Tunis and Cairo.

By calling for the ouster of Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president, and persevering in the face of tear gas, water cannons and baton beatings, young Egyptian men and women have beat back decades of one-party rule, brutal repression against civil liberties, iron-clad control of the media, and corrupt economic policies.

The protesters have been dismantling archaic forms of governance in which the ruler is considered to be beyond reproach and economic policies are determined by his self-preserving business elite allies.

They are demanding equity in the distribution of wealth, an end to state corruption, greater employment opportunities and a curb to rampant inflation.

They want to be able to express themselves freely – both in mainstream media and online – without the specter of arrest, torture and imprisonment looming overhead.

Just three months ago, Egyptian authorities released Kareem Amer, a blogger jailed in 2007 for defaming Islam and the presidency. His release came just a few weeks after several stations were taken off the air by the national satellite carrier NileSat for allegedly failing to abide by their contracts and/or failure to pay licensing fees.

They are not interested in a change of government – as Mubarak promised on January 28 - and they will not be dissuaded by repeated promises of economic reform and prosperity. They believe that Egypt’s current socio-economic malaise is rooted in the political system itself, a system which has not evolved since the first revolution overthrew the King of Egypt in 1952.

When the ruling National Democratic Party swept Parliamentary elections amid allegations of widespread fraud last November, Egyptian youth said that they felt their votes had been stolen and the entire process of political reform hijacked.

Some observers at the time warned that the government would likely suffer a backlash. The young protesters that we now see on the streets of Cairo, Ismailiya, Suez, Alexandria and Mahala want a political process that safeguards their democratic participation.

Few in Egypt have a desire – or expectation – to see Gamal Mubarak, the president’s son, inherit the presidency in a contrived political gimmick to convince the public that there was a democratic transfer of power.

Among my students, Copts and Muslims alike, there is a call for social cohesion. In the aftermath of the bombing at the Two Saints Church in Alexandria, many Egyptians blamed the government for failing to adequately protect minorities and allowing sectarian strife to fester.

Now, the momentum – and history - is on the protesters’ side.

Firas Al-Atraqchi is an associate professor of practice at department of journalism and mass communication at the American University in Cairo.

Source: Al Jazeera

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