Live: Al Jazeera coverage of Egypt’s growing revolution

[Joe Hillshoist]

"We" don't yet do we?

Well it doesn't really matter what we have, this isn't about us.

As of yet all the demands haven't been met have they?

(Alice?)

Right now I wouldn't trust the army, well not the top brass anyway.

[vanlose kid]

"We" don't yet do we?

Well it doesn't really matter what we have, this isn't about us.

As of yet all the demands haven't been met have they?

(Alice?)

Right now I wouldn't trust the army, well not the top brass anyway.

agree with you entirely.

if the question is: have the Egyptians shaken off their fears? my answer would be yes.

if the question is: have the Egyptians shaken off their shackles? my answer would be no. at least not yet. not by a long shot.

hence the bears.

*

edit: added link.

*

[AlicetheKurious]

"We do not want any protesters to sit in the square after today," Mohamed Ibrahim Moustafa Ali, the head of military police, told protesters and reporters, as soldiers removed tents from the square, epicenter of the 18-days of protests that toppled President Hosni Mubarak.

It sounds as if the army is clearing Tahrir Square and possibly arresting remaining protest "leaders".

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middl ... 80591.html

No, they haven't arrested anyone, but the army has obviously received its orders from the Mubarak-cronied brass to clear Tahrir Square. The demonstrators are resisting and unless the army is prepared to use violence (which is highly unlikely and would backfire big-time), there's nothing the army can do about that.

About the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces: according to Egypt's illegitimate constitution,

Article 82 Should the President be unable to perform his duties due to any outstanding circumstances, his duties will be performed by the vice-president, or (if there is none) the prime minister. The person performing these duties may not request constitutional amendments, dissolve parliament, or dismiss the cabinet.

Article 84 In case of the vacancy of the presidential office or the permanent disability of the President of the Republic, the Speaker of the People's Assembly shall temporarily assume the presidency. In case the People's Assembly is dissolved at such a time the President of the Supreme Constitutional Court shall take over the presidency on condition that neither one shall nominate himself for the presidency. The People's Assembly shall then proclaim the vacancy of the office of President. The President of the Republic shall be chosen within a maximum period of 60 days from the date of the vacancy of the presidential office.

By taking over from the president, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces has essentially declared the old constitution to be null and void, and thus (willingly or not) aligned itself with the people who are demanding a new constitution.

While fully acknowledging the probability that individuals like Tantawi are planning some monkey business, dawdling and procrastinating before "a peaceful and orderly transition" to a suitably pro-American presidential candidate can be organized, the chances of this succeeding are very low. People are on fire: they paid for their freedom with blood. The army leadership was only forced against its will to align itself with the revolution against its patron and sugar-daddy, and hijacking the revolution will not be tolerated by anybody, under any pretext.

The Supreme Council for the Armed Forces has even less legitimate claim to rule than Mubarak did, and the risk of mutiny within its own ranks should it turn against the people remains very high.

Nobody said it would be easy, least of all the revolutionaries, but now that the revolution's goals have been acknowledged and declared legitimate by even the Mubarak-allied top brass, there's no going back. Especially if the people keep up the pressure, which so far they have.

The revolutionaries still camped out in Tahrir Square issued their own communique yesterday, listing the non-negotiable demands which must be met immediately, which Juan Cole has translated:

* Repeal of the state of emergency, which suspends constitutional protections for human rights, immediately.

* The immediate release of all political prisoners

* The setting aside of the present constitution and its amendments

* Dissolution of the federal parliament, as well as of provincial councils

* Creation of a transitional, collective governing council

* The formation of an interim government comprising independent nationalist trends, which would oversee free and fair elections

* The formation of a working group to draft a new and democratic constitution that resembles the older of the democratic constitutions, on which the Egyptian people would vote in a referendum

*Removal of any restriction on the free formation of political parties, on civil, democratic and peaceful bases.

* Freedom of the press

* Freedom to form unions and non-governmental organizations without government permission

* abolition of all military courts and abrogation of their rulings with regard to civilian accused

So far the Supreme Council has promised much but delivered none of these. Meanwhile, like the universal ignoring of the military curfew, a lot of initiatives have been taking place spontaneously. For example, the old Mubarak-appointed union bosses have been kicked out and workers are organizing themselves into labor strikes. Even the state-owned media has become open to the full range of opinions and information. The so-called "independent" media is bursting forth with information that was previously suppressed. Though the State of Emergency is still technically in force, and it forbids political activity or assembly without state permission, this has become unenforceable. Most prisoners have been released, including most political prisoners. The parliament hasn't even met, and it's hard to see what it could accomplish in the face of universal rejection of its legitimacy. It's the same with the cabinet, which is in fact meeting, even as the charges of corruption and criminal misconduct against many of its members are being issued by the prosecutor-general's office, and the number under investigation keeps mounting.

Most policemen haven't returned to work and indeed hundreds of them are currently demonstrating in front of the Ministry of the Interior to express their disgust at their bosses for using them to support the regime and thereby earn them the contempt and hatred of the people.

Right now, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces notwithstanding, Egypt is in a de facto state of anarchy. There is no effective government, for the most part, and it's actually working out quite well, certainly better than before January 25. Even the streets are cleaner and safer. Most companies are back in business (my husband's been back at work with his full staff for over a week, supermarkets and banks and gas stations are open again) and the only ones that are not are the ones with striking workers who, let's face it, have very legitimate demands. Communications are up, traffic is flowing much better than before, hospitals are fine, and schools will be reopened in a few days.

The fact is, you can't force well-informed, unified and determined people to accept something they don't want, unless you're willing to use brute force, something that the army cannot afford to do. Instead, it's procrastinating, but the people are on their backs. The key is to keep pushing to have these demands met immediately, before the dark forces can regroup and come up with a subversive plan of their own.

[Kate]

Alice --

Thanks so much for another stellar post, packed with insightful information for us -- and with such patience, too! It's a real kindness, which I find even more impressive when I try to imagine how hard it would be, were I in your shoes, to write these explanations online when your whole "real" world has become so much more exciting and vibrant. I imagine that most Egyptians (not of the regime and its cronies) are so charged up by what's happened, and full of so many different emotions, and hopes, and trepidations, eager to discuss creative ideas for the future with their families, friends, neighbors -- is anyone actually getting a decent amount of sleep?!?

If you have a moment to respond (and if you don't, I understand!!!) to a question?

My sense, from everything I've watched and read, is that many of the protesters (especially those who've been out in the streets since the very first day) have really thoroughly studied research and case studies of successful nonviolent resistance, and thought of how to tailor methods to the unique Egyptian situation. It all seemed so cohesive, disciplined, unfolding with a plan (such as drawing and inviting into the movement ever-widening circles of segments of society along the way, with each step). And I find it hard to believe that it wasn't a conscious choice for the movement to remain "leaderless" -- the setting aside of "ego" or a desire to be known personally by the public as "leading the charge."

It seems to me (from so far away) that this enabled each new participant joining the protest community to feel equally empowered to contribute, allowing for much creativity! -- and it also prevented the regime from targetting a specific hit-list of leaders. Although I'm aware of how bloggers and others already known to be dissidents were snatched by the Mubarak thugs (and I pray many have survived the brutal treatment and torture) -- but in a more general sense, I never got the feeling that there was any jockeying for position, to make a name for oneself or one's specific group. My hunch is that there was at least an initial group or groups that had already contemplated, long and hard, the wisest methods and approaches.

It's just a hunch of mine, but if it's a mere fantasy I harbor (with me so far away from your country, and so ignorant of so much), I'd be happy for you to set me to rights if you have knowledge -- or even just an opinion -- on the matter.

Thanks again! Your passion and eloquence have inspired me for a while now, long before January 25th -- I lurked for a good bit here at RI before signing up.

[23]

To Kate:

Thank you for surfacing Gene Sharp's name and including a link to his website. Since we live in a visual age, I'm attaching a brief vid of him to encourage visits to his website:



To vanlose kid:

You raise some interesting questions re. authoritarianism and classism. Permit me to add a garnish or two to this delectable stew of yours.

I tend to use the term coercive authoritarianism, instead of just authoritarianism, because it reminds me of the key element of authoritarianism: coercion. The element that makes an authority authoritarian, instead of authoritative.

In parenting, there is a distinction between an authoritative parent and an authoritarian one.
The former places the needs of the children center stage, while the latter places the needs of the parents front and center. You may want to research these two distinct parenting styles to see how they fit in a governmental structure.

The hub of a wheel serves a useful function in relationship to the spokes that are connected to it. Perhaps a more germane issue, instead of whether a wheel should have a hub or not, is which relationship between a hub and its spokes is the best one for the wheel.

Which is where the differences between authoritative and authoritarian hub management can come in.

[Kate]

23 --

Thanks for the embedded Gene Sharp video. I didn't even think to look on youtube (duh!), as there are videos available to watch, some of them lengthy with great detailed information, on his website. (I see a "youtube" button as one of the coding options when I reply, something to keep in mind in future. I mean, if it's a simple button, it's got to be easy, right?)

As a newbie to this type of forum, and in many ways still too computer illiterate, I promise to figure out in future how to embed stuff directly and not be such a lazy bones about learning to post video from another (non-youtube) site!

[vanlose kid]

...
To vanlose kid:

You raise some interesting questions re. authoritarianism and classism. Permit me to add a garnish or two to this delectable stew of yours.

I tend to use the term coercive authoritarianism, instead of just authoritarianism, because it reminds me of the key element of authoritarianism: coercion. The element that makes an authority authoritarian, instead of authoritative.

In parenting, there is a distinction between an authoritative parent and an authoritarian one.
The former places the needs of the children center stage, while the latter places the needs of the parents front and center. You may want to research these two distinct parenting styles to see how they fit in a governmental structure...

Which is where the differences between authoritative and authoritarian hub management can come in.

thanks, will do.

*

from February 8, 2011

Illusions About Egyptian Military Can Damage Movement



PAUL JAY, SENIOR EDITOR, TRNN: Welcome to The Real News Network. I'm Paul Jay. This is the beginning of a Real News seven-part series on the current situation and the history of the rise of the military dictatorship in Egypt. The attitude towards the military is a central question facing the democratic movement in Egypt. And now joining us to begin our series on the history of modern Egypt is Gilbert Achcar. He's in London, where he teaches development studies and international relations at the School of Oriental and African Studies. And he's the author of the book The Arabs and the Holocaust: The Arab-Israeli War of Narratives. Thanks very much for joining us, Gilbert.

PROF. GILBERT ACHCAR, SCHOOL OF ORIENTAL AND AFRICAN STUDIES: Thank you, Paul.

JAY: So one of the things that struck me, Gilbert, when I watch these events on television is the interviews with kids, young people in the [Tahrir] Square about the military. This is a military dictatorship at the core of this government. It's essentially a client military, a client state of the United States. It's certainly, at the senior levels of the army, a part of Egyptian crony capitalism, where the top leadership of the army are enriching themselves alongside allies, I guess, Egyptian millionaires and billionaires. Yet when you ask kids in the square what they think of the military, nobody wants to say a critical word. It's they're on our side, they're neutral, they're independent, they want to--they're going to protect us. But we know Mubarak is still the commander-in-chief, so one would think if the military is taking that position, it's because Mubarak has decided it's is in his interest for them to do. Help us understand how Egyptians view the military.

ACHCAR: Yeah. Well, I would say there's one dimension of wishful thinking in the movement that by saying, by making such statements they would defuse any animosity of the army towards them and that would contribute to the army actually even shifting over to the side of the demonstrators. There were some hopes that something like that might happen. And, well, as a matter of fact, if we are speaking of the soldiers, of the rank-and-file of the Egyptian army, I mean, of course they are part of the toiling masses of the country [inaudible] of the poor people. One very likely reason why the army has not been used by the regime to quell the uprising, at least until now, was--is the fear that the soldiers might be very reluctant to carry out such orders and even this might have led to some forms of mutiny. So the regime was cautious not to use the troops in a direct confrontation with the people. So in that sense, speaking of the army, addressing the troops makes sense. But where it gets into something rather dangerous politically is when it turns into sowing illusions about the military as an institution, about the army as an institution. The army as an institution is definitely not on the side of the people and definitely not neutral. It is completely on the side of Mubarak. And Mubarak actually, and the army general staff, were keen on emphasizing this by showing, you know, on the television, on Egyptian television, Mubarak meeting with the general staff and all that. So the army's behind him. The key people that he put, you know, in at the head of the government that he formed after he dismissed the previous one, or the man he named his vice president, are all people from the army. So it's more than ever, if you want, a military--I mean, a rule by the army of the army men, of the military.

JAY: I think it's also a very important point that when the thugs came into the square a few days ago and the soldiers were told to back off and let them in, on the whole they did. The soldiers followed their orders and they did back off, and if I understand it correctly, the thugs came in. And even--there's no--yet any indication for sure that if the soldiers were ordered to shoot that they wouldn't. It's still an open question, I guess.

ACHCAR: Yes. But, I mean, very clearly the regime didn't want to take that risk, because that would have been--I mean, had this failed, the regime was, you know, completely threatened in its essential structure. So they wouldn't take that risk. That's why they preferred, you know, to [inaudible] they are trying--they are betting on the exhaustion of the movement. That's exactly what they are doing, betting on the exhaustion of the movement. When the new prime minister, Ahmed Nazif, himself a former head of the aviation--I mean, the military air force, when he says, well, we'll turn Tahrir Square into--or we consider it as some kind of Hyde Park, and let--so let these people go on making speeches there, gathering there as long as they want; if they want to, we can even supply them with food and water--that's what he said. I mean, he's just turning almost ironical about that. So they are betting on the exhaustion of the movement, because they prefer, you know, to let it lose its steam, let out all this frustration, and then gradually take control of the situation. That's the [inaudible]

JAY: I was saying at the beginning of this, it's a bit like Muhammad Ali's rope-a-dope trick, where you lean back into the ropes and let your opponent punch you in the stomach until he gets tired, because as long as the protesters weren't really focused on the military as the opposition, then you can keep throwing some politicians down, you know, under the buses, they say, and give the movement a feeling like they keep winning something. But in the end it looks like Mubarak will be there till September, and one way or the other the military isn't--leadership's not going anywhere.

ACHCAR: This is a general lesson of every kind of successful revolution. For revolutions to be successful they--when they are trying to break a regime, they have to break the backbone of the regime, and the backbone of states, of regimes is usually the repressive forces and--well, in some cases could be the civilian security forces, and others, and many others, it's the army. And in Egypt it's the army. Now, a revolutionary movement with, let's say, some kind of revolutionary-minded leadership would focus on winning over the soldiers and winning over the soldiers, splitting them away from their leaders, that is, winning over the soldiers as allies of the revolution, as allies of the uprising against the general staff, against the high-ranking officers, against the elite. This kind of equivalent of the crony capitalism that you have in the private economy, the equivalent is the high-ranking general staff in the army. So if you had a revolutionary movement, that would have been the strategy, would have been this, this one precisely, and maybe, you know, have talks with the lower-rank officers and all that, trying to win over those segments of the army who might really feel solidarity with the uprising. But the fact is that the dominant political forces in the movement--I'm not speaking of some of the radical forces that exist but which are rather--relatively marginal, but the big, well, liberal parties, liberal forces, or liberal figures, or the Muslim Brotherhood, all of them having [inaudible] this kind of, you know, discourse about how glorious and good is the army. And the Muslim Brotherhood, I should say, in particular are very keen on not antagonizing the army. They are not a party with any program of breaking--they want to--I mean, ultimately they dream of seizing power by conquering positions within the state as it is, not breaking the state. And their kind of best scenario would be a Turkish kind of scenario, whereby the army would let real elections be organized in the country, political elections, keep firmly in control of power, but let some legislative form of power be there, which would be obliged to negotiate every [inaudible]step with the army.

JAY: Now, given there isn't that kind of revolutionary leadership that you're talking about, what do you consider the achievements of this movement so far?

ACHCAR: Well, the movement already achieved, I mean, a lot. It changed completely the atmosphere in Egypt. Now, there is a threat that if the regime succeeds in this strategy of exhaustion, of attrition (one could say this is a kind of war of attrition) of the movement, if that succeeds, you can have a backlash. And already we know that the military security and all that have started in the last couple of days a lot of repressive gestures against foreigners, against Egyptian activists.

JAY: Yeah, a lot of people have been arrested in the last few days, which is a story that's not getting that much out in the international media. There's a lot of attention on foreign journalists, but a lot of Egyptian activists are now being picked up.

ACHCAR: Yes, and a lot of harassment and threats, all kind of threats, and people are feeling the threat. So the regime is getting more and more threatening. It's using the security, military security, which actually were headed by Omar Suleiman. So the present figurehead of the regime after Mubarak just went on the backstage for--at least for a while. And that's the situation in which we are. This is in a sense a dangerous moment. But until now, the movement had--was on the rise in its mass dimension, in its popular dimension. We have seen absolutely gigantic mobilizations all over Egypt. This is completely unprecedented. So this has created something which I think is--will be very, very hard to reverse. So in that sense the balance of forces between the mass movement and the regime is very much altered. But what will be the final outcome of all that it's still early to say. But what is clear is what the army wants to do, that is, this attrition, this exhaustion of the movement--as they say also in Washington, actually, an "orderly transition". An "orderly transition" means a transition with the army firmly in control of the situation and letting political steam out, letting some degree, you know, of political reforms and all that, which have already been promised by Mubarak, but all that with the army in control. And of course this is a far cry from what the most radical sections of the movement are demanding, and which includes the dissolution of all the key institutions of--I mean, the political institutions of the regime (they haven't said anything about the army in that regard) and the election of a constituent assembly. Well, that's a very radical democratic demand, but, I mean, this would take--in order to implement such a demand, you would need a movement on the offensive, not only a movement in Tahrir Square, but a movement able--but with a leadership which is absent for the time being--able really to lead into an incursion in the realm of the real power in the country, and as I said, to be able to break the control of the general staff over the soldiers, over the army. This is the--I mean, one of the key conditions for revolution. In Tunisia, if they were able to get rid of the president, it's--well, one of the key reasons, one of the key factors behind that was that the army abandoned him, the Tunisian army abandoned him. So you had a kind of split between the security forces, the civilian security forces, and the--I mean, not the military, and the military. And this situation became too dangerous for Ben Ali. He had to flee to the Saudi kingdom, as you know.

JAY: In the next segment of our interview, let's talk about the current leadership, [Mohamed] ElBaradei, and the Muslim Brotherhood, and just what kind of leadership is there and might be emerging. Please join us for the next segment of our interview with Gilbert Achcar on The Real News Network.
End of Transcript

DISCLAIMER: Please note that transcripts for The Real News Network are typed from a recording of the program. TRNN cannot guarantee their complete accuracy.

[JackRiddler]

Top story on Al Jazeera:

Egypt's army dissolves parliament

Military rulers say they will remain in charge for six months until elections are held as some protesters vow to remain.
Last Modified: 13 Feb 2011 14:56 GMT


Soldiers have moved to try and clear pro-democracy protesters from Tahrir Square in Cairo [Reuters]


Egypt's military has dissolved parliament and suspended the constitution, two days after Hosni Mubarak, the long-serving president, stepped down in the wake of a popular uprising.

The country's Supreme Council of Armed Forces announced on Sunday that it would remain in charge of the country for six months until a new government is formed.

The military council announced the move in a statement on state television, adding that it would form a panel to amend the constitution before submitting the changes to a popular referendum.

The announcement came shortly after Egypt's prime minister announced that the cabinet appointed by Mubarak shortly before he stepped down, would stay in place.

Ahmed Shafiq, speaking after his first cabinet meeting since Mubarak left on Friday, said Egypt's caretaker government will remain for the country's transition towards democracy.

He said that security would remain a priority and pledged to fight corruption and restore peace in the country, following 18 days of pro-democracy protests.

"The first priority for this government is to restore security and to facilitate daily life for its citizens," he said. "I guarantee that this [cabinet] will return rights to the people and fight corruption."

Military in charge

Al Jazeera's James Bays, reporting from Cairo, said the two announcements do not indicate that the prime minister and military council are talking against each other.
Click here for more of Al Jazeera's special coverage


But it is "quite clear that the power now rests entirely" with the military council, he said.

"They've taken on the role of the presidency and the prime minister and the other ministers carry out their orders.

"The key point is the military is saying they are only in power for a temporary basis, for six months or they'll go earlier if elections are called before six months.

But our correspondent noted that "one thing that wasn't in that communique that protesters have asked for, was the repeal of emergency laws".

Protest organisers had called for both the dissolution of parliament and the lifting of a 30-year-old state of emergency.

Some protesters have vowed to remain in Cairo's Tahrir Square - the epicentre of the uprising - until all of their demands are met

Scuffles broke out early on Sunday as soldiers tried to remove activists from the square.

Soldiers shoved pro-democracy protesters aside to force a path for traffic to start flowing through Tahrir Square for the first time in more than two weeks.

Our correspondent in Cairo said the confrontations between troops and protesters was something of a "flashpoint".

"I think it reflects a bigger problem, that the military believes that now Mubarak is out, it's time for stability," he said.

"But some of the protesters think not enough has been done yet. They don't want to clear that square until the army has handed over to a civilian government."

Police protest

At one point a group of several dozen police officers marched into the square bearing flowers, proclaiming their solidarity with the uprising and chanting: "The police and the people! With one hand!"

But they were soon chased away by protesters, who accuse the police of decades of arbitrary arrests, torture and extortion, as well as a heavy-handed attempt to crush the revolt that left hundreds dead.

Meanwhile, normality began to return to other parts of Egypt. The tents, where protesters camped out during the 18 days of protests, were removed from Tahrir Square.

In the northern city of Alexandria, Al Jazeera's Jamal ElShayyal said people had also begun to get back to work, adding that Sunday's military announcement was likely to reassure activists in the city.

"Alexandria didn't have the same amount of sit-in protesters that we've seen in Tahrir, however those that have said they will continue their demonstrations have been assured a lot more by this time frame given by the military."

But Ashraf Ahmed, a protester in Cairo, vowed that he was not going to leave "because so much still needs to be done. They haven't implemented anything yet".

Protest organisers have threatened more rallies if the governing military council fails to accept their agenda for reform.

"If the army does not fulfil our demands, our uprising and its measures will return stronger," Safwat Hegazi, a protest leader, said.


Source:
Al Jazeera and agencies

Original
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middl ... 27713.html

...................................................



Top Story on BBC:

Middle East

13 February 2011 Last updated at 05:43 ET
Egypt army struggles to clear Tahrir Square protesters

There is a stand-off in Cairo's Tahrir Square as protesters who have camped there for 20 days thwart army efforts to clear the area.



Thousands more people have made their way to the square, the focal point of the uprising that led to President Hosni Mubarak's departure on Friday.

The army seems undecided on how to respond to the fresh influx, reports the BBC's Jon Leyne from the scene.

The military police chief has called for tents to be cleared from the area.

"We do not want any protesters to sit in the square after today," said Mohamed Ibrahim Moustafa Ali, the head of military police.

US President Obama earlier welcomed the new military leadership's pledge to work towards civilian rule.

It has reaffirmed Egypt's commitment to all its international treaties, and asked the current government to stay on until a new one was formed.
Die-hard protesters

Tempers frayed on Sunday morning as protesters realised hundreds of policeman - who had become hugely unpopular for their violent attempts to suppress the uprising - had entered the square.

The police chanted: "It's a new Egypt, the people and the police are one," echoing a popular chant by the anti-Mubarak groups in support of the army during the height of the demonstrations.

The crowd chanted back: "Get out, get out!"

For a few minutes there was a tense stand-off as the two sides confronted each other, before the police march peeled away and left the square.

Although there were reports of scuffles between soldiers and die-hard protesters in the square on Sunday morning, our correspondent said the operation to clear the area had previously been conducted unprovocatively.

A hardcore of several hundred protesters had remained marooned on a traffic island in the heart of the square, saying they would not move until a full timetable of reform was drawn up.

Throughout the weekend, an army of volunteers and municipal workers has cleared away debris from the streets.

Meanwhile, it has emerged that 18 antiquities - including statues of King Tutankhamun - have been stolen from the Egyptian Museum during the unrest.

Earlier, Mr Obama welcomed the new military leadership's statement aired on state TV on Saturday, which implicitly confirms that the country's 1979 peace treaty with Israel will remain intact.

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu also welcomed the announcement, saying the treaty was a cornerstone of Middle East stability.

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair - and current Middle East envoy - has said Mr Mubarak's departure could be a "pivotal moment".

"I think the single most important thing now is to accept that this is a moment of huge opportunity, not just for Egypt," Mr Blair told the BBC.

"This is a moment when the Middle East could pivot and face towards change and modernisation and democracy and that would be a huge benefit for all of us.
'Return to normal'

Saturday's military statement said the current government and regional governors would "act as caretakers", looking to guarantee "a peaceful transition of authority in a free democratic framework which allows an elected civilian authority to rule the country, to build a free democratic country".

Later state media reported that the high command's leader, Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, had discussed with Interior Minister Mahmoud Wagdy the rapid return to duty of the police, who left the streets in the early days of the protests, reports said.

The police force in Egypt was widely perceived as an instrument of repression under Mr Mubarak.

The military has managed to give the impression of being above politics, a unifying force for the nation, but the opposition wants an early and clear indication that this country is heading in a new direction and not simply swapping one dictatorship for another, says our correspondent.

The demonstrations were triggered by widespread unrest over unemployment, poverty and corruption.

Meanwhile the authorities banned three senior officials close to Mr Mubarak - former Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, former Interior Minister Habib al-Adli and current Information Minister Anas al-Fekky - from foreign travel, saying they were under investigation.

Mr Mubarak resigned on Friday after 18 days of protests, and was flown to his luxury residence in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

He handed power to the high command, a body composed of high-ranking generals.


Are you going to Tahrir Square? Are you already in the area? Are you in a town or village in Egypt which hasn't seen protests? Send us your comments using the form below:

More Middle East stories
Egypt's army dissolves parliament
[/news/world-middle-east-12443678]

Egypt's military authorities say they are dissolving the country's parliament and suspending the constitution, two days after taking power.

BBC © MMXI The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.



Original
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle- ... print=true

[2012 Countdown]

It remains the center of publishing and Egyptian writers are widely read throughout the region and even the world. (I was shocked at how much Paolo Cuelho's The Alchemist "borrowed" from Egyptian writing, just to name one example). And there's so much more.

Thanks for that bit. I've read this book and when you revealed he had borrowed some of his story from Egypt, I am completely believing it. Aside from most of it being set in Egypt, some of the detail and specifics seemed very genuine and convincing, like a native would have written it and not someone from South America.

[Plutonia]

Sandmonkey Mahmoud Salem
Great work happening on the google spreadsheet documenting Mubarak's wealth. The wiki-page will be up tonite! #jan25

https://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key ... utput=html

[Plutonia]

Egyptian prosecution investigates the Mubaraks' wealth


The Egyptian lawyers syndicate said on Sunday that general prosecution will on Monday investigate reports about the wealth of former President Hosni Mubarak and his family.

Assaad Heikal, the syndicate’s freedoms committee coordinator, said it submitted reports to the general prosecutor on Wednesday. It included a report by Britain's Guardian newspaper on the fortune of Mubarak and his family, estimated at between US$40-70 billion.

In a statement, the committee noted that article 80 of the Constitution states the law should specify the president’s salary. Moreover, article 81 states that the president should not exercise any other profession or undertake any commercial, financial or industrial activity. He should not buy or rent anything using the country’s money.

The committee called on members, lawyers and Egyptians to follow up investigations and announced it will hold a press conference tomorrow after investigations conclude.

[Plutonia]

AalamWassef Aalam Wassef
by Sandmonkey
@sandmonkey New & Safe Link for Suggestions For Transition Government. http://bit.ly/ii0t0f Non-Gmail users be patient, please spread #jan25

Open to everyone!

http://www.google.com/moderator/#15/e=588ca&t=588ca.40

Egypt

[norton ash]

Canadian Prime Minister Totally Fucking Stupid on Egypt
Implies Revolution is Bad, Messy Thing

CTV.ca News Staff

Date: Sun. Feb. 13 2011 12:57 PM ET

Prime Minister Stephen Harper's analogy on Hosni Mubarak's resignation -- that Egyptians are "not going to put the toothpaste back in the tube" -- showed the government is out of touch on foreign affairs, opposition MPs said Sunday.

Mubarak stepped down Friday after three weeks of protests on the streets of Egypt, and world leaders hailed Egyptians for effecting change in their country.

Speaking in St. John's, N.L., moments before Mubarak's resignation was confirmed, Harper told reporters that "transition is taking place in Egypt."

"I think the old expression is: ‘They're not going to put the toothpaste back in the tube on this one,'" he said.

NDP foreign affairs critic Paul Dewar said Sunday that the toothpaste comment "was so tone deaf and out of touch with what was going on."

http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Politics/2011 ... ks-110213/

[bks]

No source named for this story.

Egypt's New Military Rulers To Ban Unions, Strikes
by Marwa Awad and Alistair Lyon

February 13, 2011

(Reuters) - Egypt's new military rulers will issue a warning against anyone who creates "chaos and disorder," an army source said Sunday.

The source said the military statement was now expected to appear Monday, not Sunday as the source had said earlier.

The Higher Military Council will also ban meetings by labour unions or professional syndicates, effectively forbidding strikes, and tell all Egyptians to get back to work after the unrest that toppled Hosni Mubarak.

The army will also say it acknowledges and protects the right of people to protest, the source said.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/02/1 ... OG20110213

[JackRiddler]

.

Tahrir Square protesters defy army to keep Egypt's revolution alive

Focus now on push for a civilian-led interim government and removal of emergency laws that permit detention without trial

Chris McGreal in Cairo and Julian Borger
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 13 February 2011 18.46 GMT


Protesters sit on the ground in front of soldiers in Tahrir Square, Cairo. Photograph: Hussein Malla/AP

This time they asked Amr Shalkami nicely. But still he refused to go.

Shalkami has not left Cairo's Tahrir Square in the nearly three weeks since the beginning of the popular revolution that toppled Hosni Mubarak on Friday.

He withstood an assault by police officers, beating and shooting as they tried to drive the protesters out. And he survived an attack by pro-Mubarak thugs on camels. On Sunday it was the army's turn to try to force him home.

The soldiers politely urged the pharmacist to pack up his things and go. The revolution was won, they said. There was nothing left to protest about. The new ruling military council had promised there would be democracy. Egypt must return to normal. Time to leave Tahrir Square.

Shalkami was having none of it.

"The rest of the revolution is not complete. Since the beginning of the revolution we have trusted our army but if we leave the square our revolution will die. We must keep the revolution alive so that we get the 100% freedom we are asking for," he said.

Shalkami is among a few hundred protesters who have remained in Tahrir Square to keep pressure on the military to meet the demands of the demonstrators, which went beyond Mubarak's removal.

The army has promised free elections in a few months and said it will lift the hated state of emergency when the security situation allows.

I guess Egyptians have heard that about 114 times in the last 30 years!

It has also dismissed the widely discredited parliament elected last year in a tainted ballot.

For most Egyptians that would appear to be enough. But Shalkami is among those continuing to press for the installation of a civilian-led interim government and the immediate lifting of the emergency laws, which permit detention without trial. Instead the army has said a military council will rule by decree.

As troops moved in to Tahrir Square shortly after dawn, some of the protesters quietly packed up their belongings or helped with the cleanup. Others began chanting: "We're not leaving, we're not leaving."

Soldiers tore down the tents and the plastic makeshift shelters that hundreds of demonstrators have been living in for nearly three weeks. A hard core of activists stood their ground and chanted "peacefully, peacefully" as the military police tried to disperse them. The soldiers lashed out with sticks.

One of the remaining protesters, Adel el-Ghendy, a 54-year-old building contractor, said the soldiers had torn his shelter down but he would stay and sleep in the open.

"The soldiers told us to go. They removed our tents but we will stay. We want another government. We need civilian government. They want to steal our revolution," he said.

After the army tried to force the demonstrators out of the square, a call went out over loudspeakers and via text message and social media for people to return and make a stand. By the afternoon, a 1,000 or more had arrived. They were confronted by small groups of counter-demonstrators who told the protesters to accept the military's assurances and leave.

The demonstrators said about 30 were arrested and taken to a military compound at the nearby Egyptian museum where detained protesters have previously been beaten and interrogated.

All around Tahrir Square, life was getting back to normal. Banks, schools and colleges opened. Traffic was flowing again, although it ground to a halt on the main roundabout when the demonstrators launched a sit-down protest in front of the military police.

Then word came that the much-hated civil police were demonstrating outside the interior ministry for a pay rise, an unthinkable act of defiance just a few weeks ago.

Many Egyptians are prepared to take the army's word that it is committed to free elections. Some opposition leaders say the protest genie is out of the bottle and the military will not dare go against the will of the people.

But just to remind the army, a victory celebration is planned for Tahrir Square on Friday at which organisers of the protests plan to announce a "council of trustees" to – as Ronald Reagan put it in negotiating nuclear missile treaties with the Soviets – trust but verify.

Nothing Egypt's military council has done in its past suggests it has the capacity or inclination to introduce speedy and radical change. Guaranteed its $1.3bn annual grant from the US – a dividend from the Camp David peace accord with Israel – it has gained a reputation as a hidebound institution with little appetite for reform.

The frustration of the military's US benefactors shines through in leaked embassy cables, in which the criticism is focused mostly on the man at the top, 75-year-old Field Marshal Mohamed Tantawi. A March 2008 cable described Tantawi as "aged and change-resistant".

It said: "Charming and courtly, he is nonetheless mired in a post-Camp David military paradigm that has served his cohort's narrow interests for the last three decades. He and Mubarak are focused on regime stability and maintaining the status quo through the end of their time. They simply do not have the energy, inclination or world view to do anything differently."

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2011

link
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/fe ... tion/print