Live: Al Jazeera coverage of Egypt’s growing revolution

[vanlose kid]

some of the players; background; sources.

Ayman Abd El Aziz Nour (Arabic: أيمن عبد العزيز نور‎; born 5 December 1964) is an Egyptian politician, a former member of the Egyptian Parliament and chairman of the El Ghad party.
He became famous around the world following his January 2005 imprisonment by the government of President Hosni Mubarak, which was widely understood as a politically motivated move by the state and caused a lot of internal anger as well as foreign pressure for his release. Ayman was released on health grounds on February 18, 2009.[1]...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayman_Nour

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Kefaya (Egyptian Arabic: كفاية kefāya, IPA: [keˈfæːjæ], “enough”) is the unofficial moniker of the Egyptian Movement for Change (Arabic: الحركة المصرية من أجل التغيير‎ el-Haraka el-Masreyya men agl el-Taghyeer), a grassroots coalition which draws it support from across Egypt’s political spectrum to oppose President Hosni Mubarak’s presidency and the possibility he may seek to transfer power directly to his son Gamal.
While it first came to public attention in the summer of 2004, and achieved a much greater profile during the 2005 constitutional referendum and presidential election campaigns, it has recently lost momentum, suffering from internal dissent, leadership change, and a more general frustration at the apparent inability of Egypt’s political opposition to force the pace of reform.

Origins

While Kefaya first emerged in 2004, its origins can be found in earlier strands of political protest, beginning with the solidarity committees that spread throughout Egypt following the start of the Second Intifada in Palestine in October 2000.[1] The pro-Intifada demonstrations were particularly notable as they involved a new generation of previously non-politicised youth and, as a direct consequence, resulted in a revival of Egyptian street politics.
Following the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003, these protesters formed the backbone of Egypt’s highly vocal anti-war movement,[2] and their protests in turn developed into the first demonstrations against President Mubarak since he had taken office.[3] The anti-war protest of 20 March 2003 – from which the anti-war movement 20 March derived its name – was one of the biggest spontaneous demonstrations in Egypt’s history.[4]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kefaya

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The April 6 Youth Movement is an Egyptian Facebook group started by Ahmad Maher in Spring 2008 to support the workers in El-Mahalla El-Kubra, an industrial town, who were planning to strike on April 6.[1][2][3][4][5][6]
Activists called on participants to wear black and stay home the day of the strike. Bloggers and citizen journalists used Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, blogs and other new media tool to report on the strike, alert their networks about police activity, organize legal protection and draw attention to their efforts.[7]
The New York Times has identified the movement as the political Facebook group in Egypt with the most dynamic debates.[8] As of January 2009, it had 70,000 predominantly young and educated members, most of whom had not been politically active before; their core concerns include free speech, nepotism in government and the country's stagnant economy.[8] Their discussion forum on Facebook features intense and heated discussions, and is constantly updated with new postings.

Public activism and arrests

Aside from discussing the state of the nation online, members of the group have organized public rallies to free imprisoned journalists and engaged in protests concerning the 2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict.[8] In its official pronouncements, the group stresses that it is not a political party. Ahmed Maher the founders of the group, were arrested by the Egyptian authorities in May 2008 in an attempt to shut it down.[9]
In July 2008, Maher was again arrested, along with 14 other members of the group, and charged with "incitement against the regime". He also claimed that Egyptian state security officers threatened to rape him in custody.[10]
On April 6, 2009 the group was subjected to attacks, suspected to have been orchestrated by the Egyptian government. Several websites supporting the group were hacked simultaneously, and protests in Cairo were confronted by plain clothed Egyptian policemen and numerous arrests.[11]
On January 29th, 2011 a wikileaks document was revealed to show how the United States actively supported efforts for regime change in Egypt by secretely assisting members of the movement, foreshadowing public protests developing in the 2011 uprising against the Mubarak regime, a former ally after the U.S. demands for democratic and social reforms were ignored.[12]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_6_Youth_Movement

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[vanlose kid]

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[vanlose kid]

Protests Spread To Saudi Arabia
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 01/29/2011 13:19 -0500

While the biggest threat to the Middle East region is the possibility that the population of Saudi Arabia may try to imitate what has been happening in the area, thereby bringing total chaos to the established regional geopolitical and more importantly, energy, structure, the first protests in the Saudi Arabia city of Jeddah are already in the books. The clip below shows the peaceful demonstrations that have taken place recently, which as Fedupmontrealer explains are "taking place in front of the Municipality in protest of the severe lack of infrastructure, and corruption, that led the city to be inundated this week causing billions of dollars of damages for the second time in two years." That this is even occurring in a state where the average wealth is orders of magnitude greater than in Egypt is remarkable. On the other hand, we expect more news such as those from yeserday that Kuwait is paying its citizens $3,500 plus free food for a year to keep calm. Oddly, visions of money dropping helicopters, infinitely extendable unemployment insurance and tax breaks keep dancing in our head. Those who wish to follows the latest developments out of Jedda which appears could be the lightning rod for Saudi riots can do so by tracking #JeddahProtests on Twitter.



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[vanlose kid]

Egypt's Next Strongman
Meet the two men most likely to succeed Egypt’s aging president: His son, Gamal Mubarak, and his spy chief, Omar Suleiman. But does either one really represent desperately needed change?

BY ISSANDR AMRANI | AUGUST 17, 2009

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak arrived in Washington today, bringing with him a large retinue of advisors, ministers, and assorted hangers-on. But only two of them really count, at least for those trying to figure out who will succeed one of the Middle East's longest-serving leaders.

The first is Mubarak's son Gamal, who is accompanying his father even though he has no formal position in the Egyptian government. (He is the assistant secretary-general of the ruling National Democratic Party, or NDP.) A more justified member of the entourage is Omar Suleiman, the head of Egypt's General Intelligence Service (GIS), known as the Mukhabarat.

Each has been touted for most of the past decade as a potential heir to the 81-year-old Mubarak, who has never appointed a vice president or publicly stated his preference for a successor. Most speculation in Egypt focuses on Gamal. His rise to political prominence earlier this decade spurred opposition figures to form the "Kefaya" movement, which rallies against both Mubaraks. But many well-informed Egyptians think the next president will come from the military -- and that the powerful Suleiman is the most likely candidate.

This is not a fringe sentiment. The prolonged fin de régime mood has unnerved many Egyptians, who worry that a Syrian-style inheritance-of-power scenario would usher in an era of instability. Many consider the prospect of such father-to-son nepotism humiliating for a country that has long claimed the mantle of Arab leadership. In this political environment -- in which democratic alternatives are locked out, but the population wants change -- Suleiman appears the only viable alternative to Gamal Mubarak. But who is this once-mysterious power player? And would he really mean a new era for Egypt?

Like the elder Mubarak, Suleiman rose to national prominence through the armed forces. The arc of his career followed the arc of Egypt's political history. He attended the Soviet Union's Frunze Military Academy in the 1960s -- as Mubarak did a few years earlier -- and became an infantryman. He then took part in the 1967 and 1973 Arab-Israeli wars, likely as a staff officer. When Cairo switched its strategic alliance from Moscow to Washington, he received training at the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare School and Center at Fort Bragg, N.C., in the 1980s. Suleiman continues to have privileged contacts with U.S. intelligence and military officials, with whom he has now been dealing for at least a quarter-century.

As the head of the Mukhabarat, Suleiman's political and military portfolio is vast. The GIS combines the intelligence-gathering elements of the CIA, the counterterrorism role of the FBI, the protection duties of the Secret Service, and the high-level diplomacy of the State Department. It also includes some functions unique to authoritarian regimes, such as monitoring Egypt's security apparatus for signs of internal coups. It is an elite institution, with a long reach inside government as well as abroad. It also crosses over the civilian and military worlds: Suleiman is one of a rare group of Egyptian officials who hold both a military rank (lieutenant general) and a civilian office (he is a cabinet minister, though he rarely attends meetings).

Traditionally, the identity of the head of the GIS is kept secret. But after 2001, when Suleiman began to take over key dossiers from the Foreign Ministry, his name and photograph began appearing in Al-Ahram, the staid government-owned daily. He even appeared on the top half of the front page, a space usually reserved for Mubarak. Since then, his high-profile assignments have garnered high-profile coverage. He has intervened in civil wars in Sudan, patched up the tiff between Saudi King Abdullah and Libyan leader Muammar el-Qaddafi over the latter's alleged attempt to assassinate the former, and put pressure on Syria to stop meddling in Lebanon and to dissociate itself from Iran.

Most importantly, Suleiman has mediated in the Israel-Palestine conflict, Egypt's most pressing national security priority. Since the June 2007 Hamas takeover of Gaza, Cairo has acted as an interlocutor and mediator between Hamas and Fatah. Although its attempts to reconcile the two groups have led to few clear victories -- in part, perhaps, because Egypt is clearly hostile to the Islamists -- its foreign policy has won the approval of the United States and the European Union.

Hamas' taking control of Gaza was a major setback for Suleiman, whose agents had, until that point, played an important role in the territory. His attempts at Palestinian reconciliation, which petered out by December 2008, were also unsuccessful, prompting some diplomats to wonder if his reputation was undeserved. But since last winter's Gaza war, Suleiman has regained standing. Egypt emerged out of that conflict once again with its role confirmed as an essential mediator in the Middle East peace process. Indeed, Suleiman is now arguably the region's most important troubleshooter -- Foreign Policy recently listed him as one of the most powerful spooks in the Middle East.

It isn't surprising, then, that he is so often described as a likely successor to Mubarak, who is showing increasingly signs of frailty. Every president of Egypt since 1952 has been a senior military officer, and the military remains, by most measures, the most powerful institution in Egypt.

Publicly, Suleiman has started to gain endorsements for the job from Egyptians across the political spectrum as the increasingly public discussion plays out of who will follow Mubarak. A leftist leader of the Kefaya movement, Abdel Halim Qandil, has urged the military to save the country from a Mubarak dynasty. The liberal intellectual Osama Ghazali Harb -- a former Gamal acolyte who turned to the opposition and founded the National Democratic Front party -- has openly advocated a military takeover followed by a period of "democratic transition." Hisham Kassem, head of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, also has stated that a Suleiman presidency would be vastly preferable to another Mubarak one. On Facebook, Twitter, and blogs, partisans of a Suleiman presidency make the same argument, often seemingly driven as much by animosity toward the Mubaraks as admiration for the military man.

But amendments made in 2005 and 2007 to the Egyptian Constitution's provisions for presidential elections might have rendered Suleiman's candidacy moot. Active-duty military officers are not allowed membership in political parties, meaning Suleiman would have to retire before running. Then, candidates must be members of their party's highest internal body for at least one year before the election, a significant obstacle for Suleiman. Plus, it is virtually impossible for independent candidates to run; to get on the ballot, candidates must garner the support of numerous elected officials, most of whom are NDP members and presumably loyal to Gamal Mubarak. And, finally, the NDP is a powerful electoral machine, closely connected to security services at the local and national level.

In other words, most Suleiman supporters recognize that to gain the presidency he would most likely have to carry out a coup -- perhaps a soft, constitutional one, but a coup nonetheless. (It is possible, one analyst told me, that "the day Mubarak dies there will be tanks on the street.") Strange though it sounds, many Egyptians would find such a coup acceptable. The amendments to the Constitution were broadly viewed as illegitimate, and the regime's standing may be at an all-time low.

Such a coup would prove more problematic for Egypt's foreign allies. Washington would likely be embarrassed by the rise of a new strongman, particularly after nearly a decade of fanfare around democracy promotion in Egypt. But what would the United States do about it, particularly if the plotters were pro-American and the strongman broadly supported?

Other scenarios are possible, of course. Gamal Mubarak could successfully make his bid for the presidency and keep Suleiman in place -- perhaps as the power behind the throne, or simply a guarantor of the military's corporate interests. Some previously unknown military figure could emerge as a contender. Or Hosni Mubarak could hang on to power, running again in 2011 at the ripe old age of 83. (Suleiman will be 75.)

Lost in this Egyptian Kremlinology is the fact that neither Gamal Mubarak nor Omar Suleiman presents a clear departure from the present state of affairs. Neither offers the new social contract that so many of Egypt's 80 million citizens are demanding in strikes and protests. The prevalence of the Gamal vs. Omar debate, more than anything, highlights the low expectations ordinary Egyptians have for a democratic succession to Hosni Mubarak's 28-year reign. Those low expectations come with their own quiet tyranny, too.

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2 ... _strongman

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[bks]

Thanks, vanlose kid. Really appreciate the effort!

[Joe Hillshoist]

If you know anyone in Egypt, please pass this on to them. To bypass government blocking of websites, use numerical IP addresses: Twitter ”128.242.240.52” Fb ”69.63.189.34” Google ”172.14.204.99”. A French ISP offers free dial up internet access ~ +33 1 72 89 01 50 Login password: toto. Please pass this on and share.

http://carpe-cerevisi.tumblr.com/post/2 ... e-in-egypt

(Sorry for spamming, but its probably worth it in this case.)

[23]

I'm sure that this is causing some angst amongst pro-Israel factions:

http://www.haaretz.com/news/internation ... k-1.340168
Muslim Brotherhood announces plan to form new Egyptian government without Mubarak
The banned opposition group is conducting talks with Mohammed ElBaradei, the former UN nuclear watchdog chief, about the formation of a unity government.

The banned Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest opposition group, told the German Press Agency DPA Sunday that they are in talks with other anti-government figures to form a national unity government without President Hosni Mubarak and his ruling party.

Although the Muslim Brotherhood is officially banned from running for elections for parliament, some movement members have presented candidacy for parliament as independents.

amal Nasser, a spokesman for the Brotherhood, told DPA that his group was in talks with Mohammed ElBaradei - the former UN nuclear watchdog chief - to form a national unity government without the National Democratic Party of Mubarak.

The group is also demanding an end to the draconian Emergency Laws, which grant police wide-ranging powers The laws have been used often to arrest and harass the Islamist group.

Nasser said his group would not accept any new government with Mubarak. On Saturday the Brotherhood called on President Mubarak to relinquish power in a peaceful manner following the resignation of the Egyptian cabinet.

The Egyptian cabinet formally resigned Saturday at the command of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, following violent anti-government protests that have now reached their sixth day unabated.

Mubarak has yet to comment on the cabinet's resignation. The embattled president addressed the country on Saturday for the fist time since the riots began, saying that he had no intention to resign.

The protests are the most serious challenge to Mubarak's 30-year authoritarian rule. The embattled president defended the security forces' crackdown on protesters, but said that he will press ahead with social, economic and political reforms in the country.

Mubarak has not said yet whether he will stand for another six-year term as president in elections this year. He has never appointed a deputy and is thought to be grooming his son Gamal to succeed him despite popular opposition.

And in a related matter:

http://af.reuters.com/article/egyptNews ... B020110130
Egypt opposition backs ElBaradei as negotiator - Brotherhood

CAIRO Jan 30 (Reuters) - Egyptian opposition forces have agreed to support opposition figure Mohamed ElBaradei to negotiate with the government, a leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood said on Sunday.

"Political groups support ElBaradei to negotiate with the regime," Essam el-Eryan told Al Jazeera television.

Al Arabiya television carried the same report on screen but did not attribute it directly to Eryan.

ElBaradei, the former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, came back to Egypt on Thursday night, just in time for the "Day of Anger" protests which have left President Hosni Mubarak clinging to power with the army in the streets. ARAB TV CHANNELS QUOTES EGYPT'S BROTHERHOOD FIGURE ESSAM EL-ERYAN SUPPORTING ELBARADEI TO "NEGOTIATE WITH REGIME"

[nathan28]

I may not be quite caught up with this thread, but I wanted to ask a question: How much credence to lend AlJeezera.com?

You want http://english.aljazeera.NET. Aljeezera-dot-COM is a KWH, literally.

[DoYouEverWonder]

Supposedly ElBaradei is on his way to Tahrir Square to make an announcement.

[23]

He's there now.

It will be interesting to see, to what degree, the people will consign him with the authority to speak for them.

And I wonder how long we'll be able to see the AJ feed, given the following:

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/01/egyp ... aljazeera/
Egypt shuts down al-Jazeera; 100 dead in protests

CAIRO — Egypt moved on Sunday to shut down Al Jazeera's coverage of mass protests against President Hosni Mubarak's regime, but the pan-Arab broadcaster vowed that it would not be silenced.

Outgoing information minister Anas al-Fikki has "ordered the closure of all activities by Al Jazeera in the Arab republic of Egypt and the annulment of its licenses," Egypt's official MENA news agency reported.

The press cards of all Al Jazeera staff in Egypt were also being withdrawn, it added.

Egyptian satellite operator Nilesat meanwhile halted its relays of Al Jazeera programming, although the Qatar-based television channel could still be viewed in Cairo via Arabsat.

On Twitter, an Al Jazeera correspondent, Dan Nolan, wrote: "Aljazeera Cairo bureau has been shut down. Just visited by plain clothes govt security, TV uplink is now closed."

In a statement, Al Jazeera said the shutdown -- on day six of unprecedented and often violent street protests -- was aimed at "censoring and silencing the voices of the Egyptian people."

"Al Jazeera sees this as an act designed to stifle and repress the freedom of reporting by the network and its journalists," it said.

"Al Jazeera assures its audiences in Egypt and across the world that it will continue its in-depth and comprehensive reporting on the events unfolding in Egypt," it said.

It added: "In this time of deep turmoil and unrest in Egyptian society, it is imperative that voices from all sides be heard.

"The closing of our bureau by the Egyptian government is aimed at censoring and silencing the voices of the Egyptian people.

"The Al Jazeera Network is appalled at this latest attack by the Egyptian regime to strike at its freedom to report independently on the unprecedented events in Egypt," it added.

More than 100 people have been killed since mass protests against Mubarak's regime -- ignited by popular unrest in Tunisia -- erupted last Tuesday. While moving to change his government, the president is defying calls to stand down.

Al Jazeera has revolutionized the Arabic-language media and reporting on the Middle East since its foundation in 1996.

Media analysts have credited its blanket coverage of this month's unrest in Tunisia with contributing to the ouster of the North African state's longtime ruler Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

Last week Al Jazeera angered the Palestinian Authority when it began releasing the first of 1,600 files detailing more than a decade of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

The files alleged that Palestinian negotiators offered unprecedented concessions on such sensitive subjects as Jerusalem and refugees.

They also claim that of members of the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority cooperated closely with Israel in confronting Hamas, Fatah's more militant rival, which controls the Gaza strip.

In December, Kuwait shut down Al Jazeera's bureau in Kuwait City over its coverage of the use of police force at a public gathering. Al Jazeera denied meddling in Kuwaiti affairs, saying it was just doing its job.

[Jeff]

When Egypt cuts off Al Jazeera it's censorship. When US cable providers refuse to show it in the first place it's "just business."

[Luther Blissett]

Fareed Zakaria just had an interview with El Baradai on his GPS show on CNN. Now having a CFR-heavy panel, though it seems very pro-protestor. Zakaria's take echoed many sentiments of this board.

[barracuda]

Al Jazeera might get shut down, but thank god Fox News is all over this story:

[23]

Interesting development on AJ.

Reports that the police have been ordered to return to a public presence.

[vanlose kid]

Manipulation
By Issandr El Amrani January 30, 2011 at 10:51 AM Share

Something very fishy is taking place — the Egyptian people are being manipulated and terrified by the withdrawal of the police yesterday, reports (some of them perhaps untrue) of widespread looting, and yesterday's (during the day) relatively low military presence in the city. I can only speak about central Cairo, I suspect the situation is much worse in the Suez Canal cities, Alexandria and the Delta, and perhaps most of all the Sinai. I spoke to my former bawaab (doorman) who is near Aswan, where is he the police is still out and there is no military, although the local NDP office was ransacked and set on fire. So the situation is different from place to place, and there is very little national-level visibility.

There is a discourse of army vs. police that is emerging. I don't fully buy it — the police was pulled out to create this situation of chaos, and it's very probable that agent provocateurs are operating among the looters, although of course there is also real criminal gangs and neighborhoods toughs operating too.

For me, Omar Suleiman being appointed VP means that he's in charge. This means the old regime is trying to salvage the situation. Chafiq's appointment as PM also confirms a military in charge. These people are part of the way Egypt was run for decades and are responsible for the current situation. I suspect more and more people, especially among the activists, are realizing this.

I hope to have more steady internet access later. For now, the questions are:

- Why was the NPD building fire not put out even though it risks spreading to the Egyptian Museum?

- Why is Egyptian state TV terrifying people with constant pictures of criminal gangs?

- Why was there such a small military deployment during the day yesterday?

- Why were all police forces pulled out, and who made that decision?

- What is the chain of command today in the military? Is Armed Forces Chief of Staff Sami Enan still in position?

- If the reports about prison breakouts are true, how come these facilities have not been secured?

- Why are we getting reports of intelligence offices burning documents, CDs and tapes?

The situation is obviously very confusing at the moment. All I can say is that I have a hard time believing that Mubarak is still in charge, and that the hard core of the regime is using extreme means to salvage its position.

http://www.arabist.net/blog/2011/1/30/manipulation.html

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