An Egyptian mother held her child as she watched thousands of protesters gather at Tahrir Square in Cairo. (Amr Nabil/Associated Press)"Mubarak ally offers talks; military renounces force; Egypt regime appears to weaken" by David D. Kirkpatrick, New York Times / February 1, 2011
CAIRO — The government of Egypt’s authoritarian president, Hosni Mubarak, shook last night, first as the Egyptian Army declared that it would not use force against protesters demanding his ouster, and then as Mubarak’s most trusted adviser offered to talk with the political opposition.
Also see: The Egyptian Example
The two statements, along with the damage to Egypt’s economy, appeared to weaken Mubarak’s grip on power just two weeks after a group of young political organizers posted an appeal on a Facebook page, calling for a day of protest in emulation of the revolution that pushed out another Arab strongman in Tunisia.
See: Tunisians Still in the Streets
Hundreds of thousands have turned out into the streets of Cairo over the last seven days, and organizers called on millions of Egyptians to protest today.
Within hours yesterday, the political landscape of the country shifted as decisively as it had at any moment in Mubarak’s three decades in power. The military seemed to aggressively assert itself as an arbiter between two irreconcilable forces: a popular uprising demanding Mubarak’s fall and his tenacious refusal to relinquish power.
How far Mubarak is offering to bend in negotiations remains to be seen, and given the potential ambiguities of both statements it is too soon to write off the survival of his government.
The dramatic turn of events began at about 9 p.m. when a uniformed military spokesman declared on state television that “the armed forces will not resort to use of force against our great people.’’
The key to a successful revolution, as Mao noted. The military must swim in the water of the people.
Addressing the throngs who took to the streets, he declared that the military understood “the legitimacy of your demands’’ and “affirms that freedom of expression through peaceful means is guaranteed to everybody.’’
A roar of celebration rose up immediately from the crowd of thousands of protesters still lingering in Tahrir, or Liberation, Square, where a television displayed the news. Opposition leaders argued that the phrase “the legitimacy of your demands’’ could only refer to the protests’ central request — Mubarak’s departure to make way for free elections.
About an hour later, Omar Suleiman, Mubarak’s right-hand man and newly named vice president, delivered another address, lasting just two minutes.
“I was assigned by the president today to contact all the political forces to start a dialogue about all the raised issues concerning constitutional and legislative reform,’’ he said, “and to find a way to clearly identify the proposed amendments and specific timings for implementing them.’’
The protesters in the streets took Suleiman’s speech as essentially a capitulation to the army’s refusal to use force against them. “The army and the people want the collapse of the government,’’ they chanted in celebration.
Even some supporters of Mubarak acknowledged that events may have turned decisively against him once the military indicated its support for the protesters, especially given the historical independence of the Egyptian military.
“The army is not a puppet in the hands of anybody,’’ said Mahmoud Shokry, a former Egyptian diplomat and a friend of Suleiman. “It is not a puppet in the hands of Mubarak. It is not a puppet in the hands of Omar Suleiman. It is not a puppet in the hands of the defense secretary.
“The army does not want to confront the youth,’’ Shokry said. “If they think this will make a kind of civil war, they will ask Mr. Mubarak to leave the country, I am sure.’’
Mubarak’s previously unquestioned authority had already eroded deeply over the preceding three days. On Friday, hundreds of thousands of unarmed civilian protesters routed his government’s heavily armed security police in a day of street battles, burning his ruling party’s headquarters to the ground as the police fled the capital. On Saturday, Mubarak deployed the military in their place, only to find the rank-and-file soldiers fraternizing with the protesters and revolutionary slogans being scrawled on their tanks.
And on Sunday, leaders of various opposition groups met to select Mohamed ElBaradei, the Nobel Prize-winning former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, to negotiate for them in anticipation of possible talks with Mubarak about forming a transitional unity government — an idea Mubarak’s surrogate embraced yesterday.
Mubarak’s government came under pressure from another front as well: the swift deterioration of the Egyptian economy....
Ragui Assaad, an economist at the University of Minnesota, said the potential collapse of the economy was like a gun to Mubarak’s head....
Yesterday, foreign embassies scrambled to book charter flights to evacuate their citizens as thousands of people jammed the Cairo airport trying to flee the country. International companies, including those in the vital oil and natural gas industries, closed their operations.
As late as midday, however, Mubarak seemed to be trying to wait out the protesters. He appeared on television soberly shaking the hands of a new roster of Cabinet ministers in a public demonstration that even though protesters may control the streets, he remained head of state.
That's how guys lose their heads.
He reinstated about half of the Cabinet he had dismissed three days ago in a bid to soothe the unrest. Indeed, in a sign that he may be digging in for a prolonged battle, he added the position of deputy prime minister to the duties of his powerful defense minister, Mohammed Tantawi, who will serve under a former general he had appointed as prime minister.
The most notable Cabinet change was the official in charge of suppressing the protests. Mubarak replaced Interior Minister Habib el-Adly, criticized by human rights advocates for tolerating torture and other police abuses and widely reviled here. He was succeeded by Mahmoud Wagdy, a retired general who had been the head of the Cairo criminal investigations division and a former head of prisons.
The VP Suleiman was in charge of receiving prisoners rendered by the U.S.!!
The street protests were gearing up again, but with a notably different face. For the first time the Muslim Brotherhood stepped to the fore as the protest organizers called their most reliable foot soldiers as reinforcements.
They can be part of it, but....
Though outlawed here because of its Islamist ideology, the Brotherhood is the only group in Egypt able to call out a large and disciplined network of experienced organizers, and their presence yesterday was unmistakable.
Several protesters said they were glad the Brotherhood could keep up the momentum and discipline when others might fall away or clash with the police.
“The people are too eager; the people are undisciplined,’’ one marcher said. “But the Brotherhood are very organized, very connected, and they have resources.’’
From who? Some bloggers say CIA and MI6!
But others wanted to step away. “I hate the Brotherhood,’’ said Mohamed Ismail, 23, an engineer. “I hate Islamism. I don’t want an Iranian regime. I want freedom and democracy.’’
The government’s black-clad security police, a special paramilitary force dedicated to preserving order, began to redeploy around Cairo yesterday, and some protesters said they feared new violence.
They are called agent provocateurs.
“I brought my American passport today in case I die today,’’ said Marwan Mossaad, 33, a graduate student of architecture with dual Egyptian-American citizenship. “I want the American people to know that they are supporting one of the most oppressive regimes in the world and Americans are also dying for it.’’
And have for three decades.
But after the surprise announcements from the military and Suleiman, today’s protest, optimistically dubbed the March of Millions and set to take place around the country, began shaping up as a potentially decisive moment. Shokry cautioned that anything could happen.
“What will happen if there is a flare-up, a few bullets shot into the young men, a Molotov cocktail?’’ he asked. “A million people in the streets. How will we keep the peace?’’
--more--"
Related: US hopes leader will exit gracefully
Why is their analysis always wrong?
Globe Editorial Back democracy, not Mubarak; US must help spur change
Globe Editorial Obama should take steps now to help speed Egypt’s transition
Political triage in Egypt
I hate to think of those who are operating.
Mubarak pledges to quit this fall
It's a reedited rewrite from what is in my paper, and pretty much crap looking back on it now.
Time to get back to camp:
"Egyptians stock up on water, food as protests in Cairo rage on; Ordinary life halted by chaos and lawlessness" by Ryan Lucas, Associated Press / February 1, 2011
CAIRO — Like many other residents of the Egyptian capital, they are stocking up on bottled water and essential foodstuffs as chaos engulfs this huge city of some 18 million.
“We just don’t know what is going to happen,’’ said Leila, who, with her husband, was pushing a shopping cart loaded with frozen chicken breasts, fava beans, milk, and other items at a grocery store in central Cairo. “People are terrified to death.’’
Or reveling in their new-found power.
Everyday life in Cairo has been turned upside down by the largest antigovernment protests in decades in Egypt, which began last Tuesday and have surged since. Schools are closed, and businesses boarded up; the usual bumper-to-bumper traffic is now little more than a trickle; and Internet and text message services have been blocked for days.
The overriding concern for almost everyone in Cairo remains lawlessness....
I thought it was Mubarak's ouster.
Gangs of thugs have cleared out supermarkets, shopping malls, and stores, as well as luxury homes and apartments in affluent residential areas in the suburbs. With the police presence greatly reduced, young men have stepped in to fill the vacuum, setting up neighborhood defense committees armed with guns, clubs, and knives to protect their families and property....
Translation: the Egyptians will not stand for government-initiated violence and will defend themselves.
With the protests dragging on and no immediate end in sight, people are scrambling to buy basic supplies to wait things out....
The AmeriKan media tips its hand with the terminology.
Yes, those protests are just "dragging on."
Tahrir (Liberation) Square, the focal point of the protests, looked more like a protest camp every day.
Yeah, let me stay a bit then.
Up to 1,500 demonstrators have remained overnight for the last few nights. There were a few tents in a grassy, muddy plaza in the middle of the traffic circle, one named “Pensione of Freedom.’’ Bags of food were stored near the cluster of tents while activists and a popular fast-food restaurant chain passed out free sandwiches and water.
A TRUE PEOPLE'S MOVEMENT!
Fears of a crackdown seemed to be fading yesterday, and the constant chanting of antigovernment slogans was accompanied by the beat of Arabic hand drums that helped create a more festive atmosphere.
But there was also frustration that they have not yet achieved the one goal that unites the men, women, young, old, poor, middle class, secular, and religious demonstrators: President Hosni Mubarak’s departure.
That is JUST ABOUT ALL the PEOPLE, yeah!
Despite the disruptions, fears, and frustrations, residents appear digging in across the city.
“This is the first time we’ve been in a situation like this,’’ said Yassin Gadelhak, 26, a real estate agent. “It’s not totally a question of how long we can hold out, but rather a question of how long they [Mubarak’s government] can hold out.’’
--more--"
Related:
Mubarak backers go on attack
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak struck back at his opponents, unleashing waves of his supporters armed with clubs, rocks, knives, and firebombs in a concerted assault on thousands of antigovernment protesters. (By David D. Kirkpatrick and Kareem Fahim, New York Times)
My printed paper carried an AP piece.
"Three dead, hundreds injured in latest Cairo violence
CAIRO — Supporters of President Hosni Mubarak charged into Cairo's central square on horseback and camels brandishing whips while others rained firebombs from rooftops in what appeared to be an orchestrated assault against anti-government protesters trying to topple Egypt's leader of 30 years.
Three people died and 600 were injured.
The protesters accused Mubarak's regime of unleashing a force of paid thugs and plainclothes police to crush their unprecedented, 9-day-old movement demanding his ouster, a day after the 82-year-old president refused to step down. They showed off police ID badges they said were wrested from their attackers. Some government workers said their employers ordered them into the streets....
The scenes of mayhem were certain to add to the fear that is already running high in this capital of 18 million people after a weekend of rampant looting and lawlessness and the escape of thousands of prisoners from jails in the chaos.
Word on the Internet is Mubarak released them for this very reason.
And I'm not feeling the fear, nor are Egyptians. They are ELATED!
A light army presence that has surrounded Tahrir Square fired shots in the air throughout the day but did appear to otherwise intervene in the fierce clashes and no uniformed police were seen. Most of the troops took shelter behind or inside the armored vehicles and tanks stationed at the entrances to the square.
"Why don't you protect us?" some shouted at soldiers, who replied they did not have orders to do so and told people to go home....
Then the military has turned?
Plainclothes police at the building entrances prevented anti-Mubarak protesters from storming up to stop them.
The two sides pummeled each other with chunks of concrete and bottles at each of the six entrances to the sprawling plaza, where the 10,000 anti-Mubarak protesters tried to fend off the more than 3,000 attackers who besieged them. Some on the pro-government side waved machetes, while the square's defenders filled the air with a ringing battlefield din by banging metal fences with sticks.
In one almost medieval scene, a small contingent of pro-Mubarak forces on horseback and camels rushed into the anti-Mubarak crowds, trampling several and swinging whips and sticks.
I suppose it's better than unloading bullets into the crowds.
Protesters dragged some from their mounts, throwing them to the ground and beating their faces bloody. The horses and camels appeared to be ones used to give tourists rides around Cairo....
Entrances to a subway station under the square were turned into impromptu prisons, with seized attackers tied up and held at the bottom of the stairs.
:-)
Some protesters wept and prayed in the square where only a day before they had held a joyous, peaceful rally of a quarter-million, the largest demonstration so far....
--more--"
And they just keep getting larger:
"Egypt clamps down on protesters; Offers a dialogue with banned group" by Anthony Shadid, New York Times / February 4, 2011
CAIRO — The Egyptian government broadened its crackdown of a 10-day uprising that has shaken its rule yesterday, arresting journalists and human rights advocates across an edgy city, while offering more concessions in a bid to win support from a population growing more frustrated with a devastated economy and scenes of chaos in the streets.
Look at the spin at the end of that paragraph, The people are out in the streets!
The campaign blended the oldest tactics of an authoritarian government — stoking fears of foreigners — with the air of sincerity of a repentant order.
Somehow that seems familiar to me.
Trying to seize the initiative from a revolt that has marked one of the most decisive moments in modern Egyptian history, the government promised that neither President Hosni Mubarak nor his son Gamal, long seen as a contender for power, would run for president and offered dialogue with the banned Muslim Brotherhood, gestures almost unthinkable only weeks ago.
Oh, the kid is now out, too.
As protesters battled crowds rallied by the government for a second day, organizers sought to rally even bigger demonstrations for today — dubbed the “Friday of departure’’ — in hopes of keeping the momentum behind a popular uprising that has demanded Mubarak step down after three decades in power.
Voiced often in the tumultuous scenes of defiance and determination in Tahrir Square was a fear that if they lost, the protesters and their organizers would bear the brunt of a withering crackdown.
Yes, they MUST SEE IT THROUGH and Mubarak and his regime MUST GO!
“If we can’t bring this to an end, we’re going to all be in the slammer by June,’’ said Murad Mohsen, a doctor treating the wounded at a makeshift clinic near barricades, where thousands fought off droves of government supporters with rocks and firebombs.
You see, the EGYPTIAN PEOPLE are SMART!
The government’s strategy seems motivated at turning broader opinion in the country against the protests and perhaps wearing down the demonstrators themselves, some of whom seemed exhausted by the clashes.
They get that playbook from the AmeriKans?
Vice President Omar Suleiman, appointed Saturday to a position that Mubarak had until then refused to fill, appealed to Egypt’s sense of decency in allowing Mubarak to serve out his term, and he chronicled the mounting losses that, he said, the uprising had inflicted on a crippled Egyptian economy.
“End your sit-in,’’ he said. “Your demands have been answered.’’
Stay put, Egyptians.
In interviews and statements, the government has increasingly spread an image that foreigners were inciting the uprising, a refrain echoed in the streets. The suggestions are part of a dayslong Egyptian media campaign that has portrayed the protesters as troublemakers and ignored the scope of an uprising with diffuse goals and leadership....
I'm starting to get that feel fom my own newspaper reports.
Even those who lamented the turn to violence blamed Mubarak's supporters for provoking them and vowed not to relinquish the square....
--more--"
Related: US in talks to pave way for Mubarak to step down now
Plans point to gradual Mubarak exit
Also see: Bearing witness to the rebirth of his nation
Blogger active in protests learned media skills at NU
So what's next, Globe?
"Visions of post-Mubarak era differ
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Thanks, "friend."
"Visions of Post-Mubarak Egypt begin to emerge
A new rally Friday by nearly 100,000 protesters in Cairo and behind-the-scenes diplomacy from the Obama administration piled more pressure on President Hosni Mubarak to make a swift exit and allow a temporary government to embark on an immediate path toward democracy.
Two days of wild clashes between protesters and regime supporters that killed 11 people this week seemed to have pushed the United States to the conclusion that an Egypt with Mubarak at the helm is potentially more unstable than one without him.
So we are cutting him loose?
For the first time in the 11-day wave of protests, varying scenarios were being put forward by two opposing camps in Egypt and by the United States on how to usher the country into a post-Mubarak era after nearly 30 years of his authoritarian rule....
The protesters have vowed to continue their rallies until Mubarak goes, and they seemed flush with a sense of victory and recharged determination after repelling pro-regime rioters who attacked Tahrir Square on Wednesday, sparking 48 hours of mayhem and pitched battles.
Nearly 100,000 people packed the downtown plaza, whose name means "Liberation," in a protest dubbed the "Friday of departure" in hopes it would be the day Mubarak goes. It was the biggest showing since a quarter-million people rallied Tuesday.
Crowds that included families with children flowed over bridges across the Nile into Tahrir, a sign the movement was not intimidated by the violence of the previous two days. In that fighting, pro-Mubarak combatants, some on horses and camels, hurled concrete, metal bars and firebombs, and unleashed barrages of automatic gunfire, but were eventually driven away....
Translation: If this was a CIA-initiated regime change it has GOTTEN OUT of CONTROL!!
Unlike those earlier protests, the atmosphere Friday in Tahrir Square was relaxed. Many brought fresh bread, water and fruit, and long lines formed at tables where tea was handed out....
Hoarding supplies so they could share.
In a sign of cracks in some key regime pillars, Mohammed Rafat al-Tahtawi, the spokesman of Al-Azhar Mosque, the country's pre-eminent Islamic institution, announced on Al-Jazeera that he had resigned and was joining the protesters. Al-Azhar is a major source of support for Mubarak, giving his rule religious backing, and its top sheik has called for protesters to go home.
Keep the pressure on, Egyptians!
In a sign that Egypt's most powerful institution was sanctioning the demonstration, soldiers at the entrances to Tahrir checked IDs to keep out police in civilian clothes and ruling party members. The protesters themselves set up another ring of checks inside the army cordon....
The pro-government rioters of the past two days largely disappeared. In the afternoon, small groups of Mubarak supporters tried to move on the square, banging with sticks on metal fences to raise an intimidating clamour. But protesters throwing rocks pushed them back....
--more--"
And now the West is dragging its feet?
"US, European nations back gradual shift for Egypt; Top aide won’t press Mubarak to resign early" by Kareem Fahim, Mark Landler, and Anthony Shadid, New York Times / February 6, 2011
CAIRO — The United States and leading European nations threw their weight yesterday behind Egypt’s vice president, Omar Suleiman, backing his attempt to defuse a popular uprising without immediately removing President Hosni Mubarak from power.
The US and EU just sided with the dictatorship. What a shock.
US officials said Suleiman had promised them an “orderly transition’’ that would include constitutional changes and outreach to opposition groups.
“That takes some time,’’ Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said, speaking at a Munich security conference. “There are certain things that have to be done in order to prepare.’’
Our next man to take over is what she means.
But the formal endorsement came as Suleiman appeared to reject the protesters’ main demands, including the immediate resignation of Mubarak and the dismantling of a political system built around one-party rule, according to leaders of a small, officially authorized opposition party who spoke with Suleiman yesterday.
Nor has Suleiman, a former general, former intelligence chief, and Mubarak’s longtime confidant, yet reached out to the leaders designated by the protesters to negotiate with the government, opposition groups said.
Yeah, Egypt's "new" man.
Instead of loosening its grip, the existing government appeared to be consolidating its power: The prime minister said police forces were returning to the streets, and an army general urged protesters to scale back their occupation of Tahrir Square.
Protesters interpreted the simultaneous moves by the Western leaders and Suleiman as a rebuff to their demands for an end to the dictatorship led for almost three decades by Mubarak, a pivotal American ally and pillar of the existing order in the Middle East.
That ought to tell you this is not an AmeriKan-backed effort, although they always look to co-opt whenever they can.
Just days after President Obama demanded publicly that change in Egypt must begin right away, many in the streets accused the Obama administration of sacrificing concrete steps toward genuine change in favor of a familiar stability.
“America doesn’t understand,’’ said Ibrahim Mustafa, 42, who was waiting to enter Tahrir Square. “The people know it is supporting an illegitimate regime.’’
Leaders of the Egyptian opposition and rank-and-file protesters have steadfastly rejected any negotiations with Suleiman until after the ouster of Mubarak, arguing that moving toward democracy will require ridding the country of not only its dictator but also his rubber-stamp Parliament and a constitution designed for one-party rule.
Yesterday, Mubarak’s party announced a shake-up that removed its old guard, including his son Gamal, from the party’s leadership while installing younger, more reform-minded figures. But such gestures were quickly dismissed as cosmetic by analysts and opposition figures.
Mubarak and Suleiman “are trying to kill what has happened and to contain and abort the revolution,’’ said Hassan Nafaa, a political science professor at Cairo University. “They want to continue to manage the country like they did while making some concessions.’’
Clinton’s message, echoed by Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain, and reinforced in a flurry of calls by Obama and Vice President Joe Biden to Egyptian and regional leaders, appears to reflect an attempt at balancing calls for systemic change with a semblance of legal order and stability....
--more--"
Related:
"Western powers seek a gradual transition of power in Egypt
The United States and leading European nations on Saturday threw their weight behind a gradual transition in Egypt, backing attempts by Egyptian Vice President Omar Suleiman to negotiate with opposition groups without immediately removing President Hosni Mubarak from power.
The strong endorsement came as Suleiman, a longtime security official and confidante of Mubarak, told opposition leaders that he would not press his boss to resign before September and ruled out any delegation of Mubarak's power, central demands of the opposition.
Mubarak's ruling party then announced a shakeup that removed its old guard, including his son Gamal, while installing younger, more reform-minded figures as a modest gesture to protesters.
The moves amounted to a rebuff to the hundreds of thousands of protesters who have posed the most serious challenge to the nearly three-decade rule of Mubarak, a pillar of the American-backed order in the Middle East.
By emphasizing the need for a gradual transition, only days after emphasizing that change there must begin immediately, the Obama administration was viewed as shifting away from protesters in the streets and toward stronger backing for Mubarak's hand-picked elite.
Protesters who filled Tahrir Square for a 12th straight day and leaders of opposition groups insisted that the genuine change in Egypt required Mubarak's departure as a first step.
"President Obama better put pressure on Mubarak to leave or things are going to get a lot worse here," said Ibrahim Mustafa, 42, who was waiting to enter Tahrir Square in the morning even as the military was tightening restrictions. "He needs to get the army to force him out of here. America is going to create another Iran here. America doesn't understand. The people know it's supporting an illegitimate regime."
Uh-oh.
And as Brig. Gen. Hassan El-Rueini negotiated with protesters outside a barricade near the Egyptian Museum, urging them to bring down the fortifications, allow traffic to return and move their protest to the heart of Tahrir Square, a protester shouted, "General, we're not going to walk way from here until Hosni Mubarak leaves."
Speaking to a security conference in Munich on Saturday, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said it was important to support Suleiman as he sought to defuse street protests.
At the same Munich meeting on Saturday, Frank G. Wisner, the former ambassador President Barack Obama sent to Cairo to negotiate with Mubarak, suggested that the United States should not rush to push Mubarak out the door. He said Mubarak had a "critical" role to play through the end of his presidential term in September.
If he lives that long; he is 82 and sick.
"You need to get a national consensus around the preconditions of the next step forward, and the president must stay in office in order to steer those changes through," Wisner said of Mubarak. "I therefore believe that President Mubarak's continued leadership is critical — it's his opportunity to write his own legacy."
So WTF has he been doing the last 30 years then?
Isn't that time enough to revise his dictatorship?
American officials have said that they are seeking privately to nudge Mubarak out of his executive role ahead of September elections, though they have also said that they do not view his departure as an essential first step toward a transition to a new democratic system in the country.
Whereas the PEOPLE DO!
But Mohamed ElBaradei, the Nobel laureate who has been chosen to negotiate on behalf of the protesters and other opposition groups, said the American-backed plan for a gradual transition was a nonstarter. "I do not think it's adequate," he said in an interview. "I'm not talking about myself. It's not adequate for the people. "Mubarak needs to go," he said. "It has become an emotional issue. They need to see his back, there's no question about it."
Clinton suggested that the United States was increasingly concerned about an abrupt shift of power in Egypt. She said Mubarak, having taken himself and his son Gamal out of the September elections, was already effectively sidelined. She emphasized the need for Egypt to reform its constitution to make a vote credible....
A credible vote! You will have to go to Iran or Palestine for one of those!
--more--"
More on ElBaradei:
"An unlikely populist steps into key role" by Farah Stockman, Globe Staff / February 1, 2011
WASHINGTON — He had no speechwriter, no entourage, no fund-raising machine.
That's a good start.
But the bald, bespectacled former Egyptian diplomat stood in a Marriott conference room in Boston last April, urging an audience of Egyptian-Americans to join a new movement to bring democracy to their homeland.
“He was not very charismatic, and I remember thinking that this guy doesn’t have what it takes,’’ said one of those who attended, Tarek Masoud, assistant professor of public policy at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. “But I was completely wrong.’’
Mohamed ElBaradei, a 68-year-old former head of the United Nations body that enforces a key nuclear arms treaty, is emerging as an unlikely pivotal figure in the bid to force President Hosni Mubarak to resign. On Sunday, in Cairo, as protesters gathered for the sixth day, ElBaradei, sporting his signature clunky glasses and gray mustache, yelled slogans through a bullhorn.
ElBaradei’s history of standing up to the United States on issues such as the Iraq war during his tenure at the UN agency earned him respect in Egypt and across the Middle East.
AND HERE in the good old U.S. of A amongst the GOOD PEOPLE of our nation.
“It may be that his track record of being independent of the United States, and willingness to be critical of the US, might help him now in Egypt,’’ said R. Nicholas Burns, under secretary of state for political affairs from 2005 to 2008.
The massive protests have taken the Egyptian government and the Obama administration by surprise. Yet for more than a year, a loose federation of intellectuals and opposition figures have been organizing a campaign to ease Mubarak’s grip on power.
How come this is the first I've read of it?
About 18 months ago, some of them sought to draft ElBaradei as their candidate for president.
Oh, there was some talk of that.
Last weekend, key political parties — including the Muslim Brotherhood, the largest opposition bloc — said they also backed him as a temporary leader during their attempts to negotiate an end to the Mubarak regime....
ElBaradei became a major figure on the international stage in the run-up to the US war against Iraq in 2003. He was widely applauded, but also criticized, for undermining the US case for war in Iraq by exposing a key document as a forgery. The document, which had been cited by US officials as part of their justification for war against Iraq, said Saddam Hussein had tried to obtain fuel for a nuclear weapon.
Criticized? By who?
John Bolton, former US ambassador to the United Nations, said in an interview that ElBaradei also undermined the US push for sanctions against Iran by removing statements in the atomic agency’s reports that he viewed as damaging to Iran.
That is who the Globe turns to for "expert" advice?
“He was constantly trying to undercut our sanctions efforts with his own loose-cannon negotiations,’’ Bolton said in an interview, describing ElBaradei as “anti-American.’’
Is that like being anti-German for hating Hitler?
--more--"
Related: US reaches out to Egypt opposition
Then Israel said no and we shelved 'em.
Also see: ElBaradei's Final Plea
"First meeting in Egypt produces mostly dispute; Movement says concessions are not enough" by David D. Kirkpatrick and David E. Sanger, New York Times / February 7, 2011
Coptic Christians and Muslims raised crosses and Korans in Cairo’s Tahrir Square yesterday during the 13th day of protests. (Khaled Desouki/AFP/Getty Images)
Excuse me?
So much for the sectarian violence, 'eh?
CAIRO — Leaders of the Egyptian democracy movement vowed yesterday to escalate their pressure for the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak even as his government portrayed itself as already in the midst of US-approved negotiations to end the uprising, in its 13th day.
The government announced that the transition had begun with an unprecedented meeting between Vice President Omar Suleiman and two representatives of the Muslim Brotherhood, the outlawed Islamist group the Egyptian government has sought to repress for many years as a threat to stability. They met as part of a group of about 50 prominent Egyptians and opposition figures, including officials of the small, recognized opposition parties, along with a handful of young people who helped initiate the protest movement.
While both sides acknowledged the meeting as unprecedented, its significance quickly became another skirmish in the battle between the president and the protesters. Suleiman released a statement — widely reported on state television and instantly a focal point in Washington — declaring that the meeting had produced a “consensus’’ about a path to reform, including the promise to form a committee to recommend constitutional changes by early March. The other elements echoed pledges Mubarak had already made, including a limit on how many terms a president can serve.
Leaders of the protest movement, including both its youthful members and Brotherhood officials, immediately denounced Suleiman’s portrayal of the meeting as a political ploy intended to suggest that some in their ranks were collaborating.
Though the movement has only a loose leadership, it has coalesced around a unified set of demands centered on Mubarak’s resignation but also including the dissolution of one-party rule and revamping the constitution that protected it. Suleiman gave no ground on any of those demands.
To rebut Suleiman’s claims of consensus, a group of young organizers whose Facebook page fomented the revolt — a half-dozen scruffy-looking doctors, lawyers, and other professionals in their early 30s — stepped forward publicly for the first time.
Scruffy-looking -- as opposed to the nice, clean-cut look of, say, bankers?
At least three had been released just the night before from three days of extralegal detention at the hands of Mubarak’s police, and they vowed to escalate their movement. “The government played all the dirty games that they had, and the people persisted,’’ said Shady el-Ghazaly Harb, a 32-year-old surgeon. “We are betting on the people.’’
More than 100,000 turned out again yesterday in the capital’s central Tahrir Square — more than expected as the workweek resumed here. And some of the movement’s young organizers, who were busy meeting to turn their many small groups into a unified structure, said they were considering more large-scale demonstrations in other cities, strikes, or acts of civil disobedience like surrounding the state television headquarters.
Zyad Elelaiwy, 32, a lawyer who is one of the online organizers and a member of the umbrella opposition group founded by Mohamed ElBaradei, the Nobel laureate, acknowledged a generational divide in the movement. Older leaders — especially from the recognized parties — were tempted to negotiate with Suleiman, he said, but the young organizers were determined to hold out for sweeping change.
Some in Washington, however, said they welcomed Suleiman’s statement, arguing that it echoed points Vice President Joe Biden has pressed for: a clear road map and timetable of reforms, starting with the end of one-party rule and protections for political opponents and media.
Though Mubarak’s government has often made similar pledges without delivering, US officials pursuing a strategy of slow and steady motion toward a few clear goals suggested they were gratified.
Is it the typical glacial pace?
In an interview with NPR yesterday, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said that she and Biden had held many conversations with Suleiman about steps toward democracy. “We hear that they are committed to this,’’ she said, “and when we press on concrete steps and timelines, we are given assurance that that will happen.’’
In an appearance on ABC, Suleiman said little to suggest that he was ready to move Egypt toward democracy or that he even took its youth-led democracy movement seriously.
Insisting that a transition had already begun with his meeting with members of the opposition, he reiterated Mubarak would stay in power. If he left, Suleiman argued, “other people who have their own agenda will make instability in our country.’’
Brushing aside the secular character of the youth revolt shaking the Arab world, Suleiman suggested conspiratorially that unspecified “other people’’ and “an Islamic current’’ were pushing the young people forward. “It’s not their idea,’’ he said. “It comes from abroad.’’
Ooooooooh!
And when asked about progress toward democracy, he asserted that Egypt was not ready, and would not be until “the people here will have the culture of democracy.’’
ElBaradei, who has been delegated as a negotiator for the protest movement, rejected Suleiman’s arguments in his own Sunday talk show appearance.
“We need to abolish the present constitution,’’ ElBaradei said in an interview on CNN. “We need to dissolve the current Parliament. These are all elements of the dictatorship regime.’’
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"Cairo struggles for normalcy in face of protests; Leaders look to wait out opposition" by Anthony Shadid, New York Times / February 8, 2011
CAIRO — As Egypt’s revolt entered its third week, the government of President Hosni Mubarak sought to seize the initiative yesterday from protesters still crowding Tahrir Square, offering a pay raise for public employees, announcing a date for opening the stock market, and projecting an air of normalcy in a city reeling just days ago.
The confidence, echoed by state-controlled media that have begun acknowledging the protests after days of the crudest propaganda, suggested both sides believed the uprising’s vitality may depend on their ability to sway a population still divided over events that represent the most fundamental realignment of politics here in nearly three decades.
I know the feeling regarding the media and propaganda. They toss it at me shortly thereafter.
“Now it feels like Hosni Mubarak is playing a game of who has the longest breath,’’ said Amur el-Etrebi, who joined tens of thousands in Tahrir Square yesterday.
In a sign of the tension, US officials described as “unacceptable’’ statements by Vice President Omar Suleiman that the country was not ready for democracy, but they showed no sign that they had shifted away from supporting Suleiman, a man widely viewed here as an heir to Mubarak.
After demonstrating an ability to bring hundreds of thousands to downtown Cairo, protest organizers have sought this week to broaden their movement, acknowledging that simple numbers are not enough to force Mubarak’s departure.
The government — by trying to divide the opposition, offering limited concessions, and remaining patient — appears to believe it can weather the biggest challenge to its rule....
Aren't self-delusional governments a thing to behold?
Cairo’s chronic traffic jams returned yesterday as the city began to adapt to the sprawling protests in Tahrir Square as well as the tanks, armored personnel carriers, and soldiers who continued to block some streets....
The government has sought to cultivate that image of the ordinary, mobilizing its newspapers and television to insist that it was reexerting control over the capital after its police utterly collapsed Jan. 28....
I wonder if the pot AmeriKan media ever tires of hollering kettle.
In scenes yesterday that were most remarkable for having become so familiar, tens of thousands returned to Tahrir Square, where vendors sold cigarettes, coffee, and sweet potatoes.
But the population is divided, sigh.
The very joviality has seemed to worry some organizers, who have sought to recapture the initiative from a government determined to wait them out.
Only in the agenda-pushing media is success failure.
Protest leaders have called for a general strike today as part of a “Week of Steadfastness.’’
Some protesters have contended that their very presence in Tahrir Square, where crowds have surged past 100,000 several times, is enough....
Well, they HAVE to STICK and STAY NOW!
--more--"
And it looks as if they are:
Antigovernment protests in Cairo’s Tahrir Square yesterday were the largest in two weeks and organizers appeared to have settled in for a long standoff. Demonstrations and strikes were also reported in several other cities. (Tara Todras-Whitehill/Associated Press)I expect this is when U.S. press coverage will begin to wane.
"Pressure on Mubarak grows; Cairo protests expand again; US specifies its demands" by David D. Kirkpatrick, New York Times / February 9, 2011
CAIRO — Pressure intensified on President Hosni Mubarak’s government yesterday as the largest crowd of protesters in two weeks flooded Cairo’s streets....
Protesters occupied Tahrir Square, surrounded the Egyptian Parliament, and staged sporadic demonstrations and strikes in several Egyptian cities.
At the same time, in a war of attrition with protesters for public opinion, Egyptian officials sought again to declare the revolt a thing of the past.
The media spin is really disgusting.
Vice President Omar Suleiman is leading a US-endorsed “orderly transition.’’
Should be rejected out of hand.
*********
On the 15th day of the protests, young organizers guiding the movement from a tent city inside Tahrir Square, or Liberation Square, showed the discipline and stamina that they say will help them outlast Mubarak and Suleiman, even if their revolt devolves into a war of attrition....
AmeriKa's tent cities are filled with foreclosed-upon folk.
Some protesters said they saw it as a potential turning point in a propaganda war that has gone badly against them, with the state-run television network and newspapers portraying the crowds in Tahrir Square as a dwindling band of obstructionists doing the bidding of foreign interests....
Wouldn't that last crew be the CURRENT GOVERNMENT?
And spinning the coverage as if the protesters have lost?
Shame on you, AmeriKan media!
--more--"
Oh, it was a New York Times PoS. That explains everything.
Also see: Oil prices waver over Egypt concerns
EMC monitoring safety of employees in Egypt
