"24 dead in worst Cairo riots since Mubarak ouster" by Maggie Michael Associated Press / October 9, 2011
CAIRO—Flames lit up downtown Cairo, where massive clashes raged Sunday, drawing Christians angry over a recent church attack, Muslims and Egyptian security forces. At least 24 people were killed and more than 200 injured in the worst sectarian violence since the uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak in February.
That will be disproved shortly; nothing like the lead paragraph containing a huge distortion.
The rioting lasted late into the night, bringing out a deployment of more than 1,000 security forces and armored vehicles to defend the state television building along the Nile, where the trouble began....
At one point, an armored security van sped into the crowd, striking a half-dozen protesters and throwing some into the air. Protesters retaliated by setting fire to military vehicles, a bus and private cars, sending flames rising into the night sky.
After midnight, mobs roamed downtown streets, attacking cars they suspected had Christian passengers. In many areas, there was no visible police or army presence to confront or stop them.
Christians, who make up about 10 percent of Egypt's 80 million people, blame the country's ruling military council for being too lenient on those behind a spate of anti-Christian attacks since Mubarak's ouster. As Egypt undergoes a chaotic power transition and security vacuum in the wake of the uprising, the Coptic Christian minority is particularly worried about the show of force by ultraconservative Islamists....
The sectarianism simply doesn't make sense given that it was the military slammed into the crowd.
The Christian protesters said their demonstration began as a peaceful attempt to sit in at the television building. But then, they said, they came under attack by thugs in plainclothes who rained stones down on them and fired pellets.
Smells like security forces to me.
"The protest was peaceful. We wanted to hold a sit-in, as usual," said Essam Khalili, a protester wearing a white shirt with a cross on it. "Thugs attacked us and a military vehicle jumped over a sidewalk and ran over at least 10 people. I saw them."
Wael Roufail, another protester, corroborated the account. "I saw the vehicle running over the protesters. Then they opened fired at us," he said.
Khalili said protesters set fire to army vehicles when they saw them hitting the protesters.
Ahmed Yahia, a Muslim resident who lives near the TV building, said he saw the military vehicle plow into protesters. "I saw a man's head split into two halves and a second body flattened when the armored vehicle ran over it. When some Muslims saw the blood they joined the Christians against the army," he said.
Not only is it a classic diversion to divide and conquer, but who steps in when these two groups are fighting? Why, the military that is above it all, blah, blah, blah (cui bono)?
And as I have said for years, I no longer believe in all the agenda-pushing, war-promoting sectarian s*** shoveled out by the supremacist Zionist war media of AmeriKa. It doesn't make sense; I'm a Christian, and there is no reason to have a beef with Muslims. Thus I have come to believe that all the attacks and strife are the result of intelligence agency operations for forces that would benefit. A way of life must be destroyed so Zionist globalists can rule the planet and banks can get their usurious cut (something Islamic finance forbids).
Television footage showed the military vehicle slamming into the crowd. Coptic protesters were shown attacking a soldier, while a priest tried to protect him. One soldier collapsed in tears as ambulances rushed to the scene to take away the injured....
Later in the evening, a crowd of Muslims turned up to challenge the Christian crowds, shouting, "Speak up! An Islamic state until death!"
Why did the web version remove the "ultraconservative Muslims known as Salafis" that is in my paper.
Armed with sticks, the Muslim assailants chased the Christian protesters from the TV building, banging metal street signs to scare them off. It was not immediately clear who the attackers were.
I'll tell you I'm suspicious as hell. Anytime my jewspaper hollers Islamic extremists the antennae go up.
Gunshots rang out at the scene, where lines of riot police with shields tried to hold back hundreds of Christian protesters chanting, "This is our country!"
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Web adders:
Hundreds of curious onlookers gathered at one of the bridges over the Nile to watch the unrest.
After hours of intense clashes, chants of "Muslims, Christians one hand, one hand!" rang out in a call for a truce. The stone-throwing died down briefly, but then began to rage again.
In the past weeks, riots have broken out at two churches in southern Egypt, prompted by Muslim crowds angry over church construction. One riot broke out near the city of Aswan, even after church officials agreed to a demand by ultraconservative Muslims known as Salafis that a cross and bells be removed from the building.
There ya go!
Aswan's governor, Gen. Mustafa Kamel al-Sayyed, further raised tensions by suggesting to the media that the church construction was illegal.
Protesters said the Copts are demanding the ouster of the governor, reconstruction of the church, compensation for people whose houses were set on fire and prosecution of those behind the riots and attacks on the church.
Last week, the military used force to disperse a similar protest in front of the state television building. Christians were angered by the treatment of the protesters and vowed to renew their demonstrations until their demands are met.
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"Violence erupts after Christians protest in Cairo; 24 killed in post-Mubarak era’s worst riots" October 10, 2011|By Maggie Michael, Associated Press
CAIRO - A demonstration by Christians angry about a recent attack on a church touched off a night of violent protests against the military council ruling Egypt, leaving 24 people dead and more than 200 wounded in the worst spasm of violence since the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak in February.
It was the military plowing into the crowd that did it, dammit!!!
Witnesses said several protesters were crushed under military vehicles, and the Health Ministry said that about 20 were having surgery for bullet wounds.
The sectarian protest appeared to catch fire because it was aimed squarely at the military council that has ruled Egypt since the revolution, at a moment when the military’s latest delay for ceding power has led to a spike in public distrust of its authority.
This is looking more and more like a planned event to divide the people and reestablish control.
When the clashes broke out, some Muslims ran into the streets to help defend the Christians against the police, while others said they had come out to help the army quell the protests in the name of stability, turning what started as a march about a church into a chaotic battle over military rule and Egypt’s future.
Nada el-Shazly, 27, who was wearing a surgical mask to block the tear gas, said she came out because she heard state television urge “honest Egyptians’’ to turn out to protect the soldiers from Christian protesters, even though she knew some of her fellow Muslims had marched with the Christians to protest the military’s continued hold on power.
“Muslims get what is happening,’’ she said, adding that the government was “trying to start a civil war.’’
It SURE LOOKS THAT WAY to ME!!!!
The protest took place against a backdrop of escalating tensions between Muslims and Coptic Christians, who make up about 10 percent of the population. Mubarak’s exit emboldened previously suppressed Islamists and unnerved the Christian minority. Christians had joined the prodemocracy protests in large numbers, hoping for the protections of a pluralistic, democratic state, but the surge in power of the Islamists has raised fears of how much tolerance majority rule will allow.
Now I begin to wonder who the Islamists really work for.
The most common refrain of yesterday’s protests was, “The people want to bring down the field marshal,’’ adapting the signature chant of the revolution to call for the resignation of the military’s top officer, Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi.
“Muslim and Christians are one hand,’’ some chanted.
So many mixed messages in my newspaper. Maybe that's the point since it leaves nothing but confusion.
The military and riot police, on the other hand, appeared at some points to be working in tandem with Muslims who were lashing out at the Coptic Christians.
Didn't I voice such a suspicion above?
As security forces cleared the streets about 10 p.m., police officers in riot gear marched back and forth through the streets of downtown alongside a swarm of hundreds of men armed with clubs and stones chanting, “The people want to bring down the Christians,’’ and, later, “Islamic state, Islamic state.’’
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!
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By the end of the night, as clouds of tear gas floated through the dark streets and the crosses carried by the original Christian demonstrators had disappeared, it became increasingly difficult to tell who was fighting whom.
At one point, groups of riot police officers were seen beating Muslim protesters, who were shouting, in Arabic, “God is Great!’’ while just a few yards away other Muslims were breaking pavement into rocks to hurl in the direction of a group of Christians....
Must have been with the Christians and against the cops, while the ones hucking rocks are working for the cops. That's why the police ignored them and allowed them to carry on. They knew 'em.
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"Egypt’s military vows crackdown on protesters" October 11, 2011|By Hamza Hendawi, Associated Press
CAIRO - Egypt’s ruling military condemned a surge in deadly violence yesterday as an attempt to undermine the state and warned it will act to safeguard the peace following a night of clashes that drew in Christians, Muslims, and security forces.
Un-flipping-believable!
THEY are the ones RESPONSIBLE for the VIOLENCE!!!
And the whole thing GAVE THEM JUSTIFICATION to ACT in the FUTURE!
Oh, STINK!!!!
The generals’ strong words signaled the governing military council will tighten its grip on power, further infuriating activists who have demanded an end to army rule and a transition to democracy.
And CUI BONO?
Egypt’s Coptic church harshly criticized the government for its actions in crushing the protests and accused it of allowing repeated attacks on Christians to go unpunished.
The clashes Sunday night were the worst sectarian violence since the uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak as president eight months ago.
Except sectarianism had nothing to do with it.
The riots laid bare the volatility of Egyptian society a month before the start of parliamentary elections that will help define the country’s future political landscape.
At least 26 people, mostly Christians, were killed in Sunday’s rioting.
Much smaller skirmishes broke out again yesterday outside the Coptic hospital where many of the Christian victims were taken the night before. Several hundred Christians pelted police with rocks outside while the screams of grieving women rang out from inside the hospital....
In a statement the Coptic Church reflected the growing fears of Egypt’s Copts, the largest Christian community in the Middle East, at a time when a security vacuum has left them vulnerable to a growing Islamist movement in the post-Mubarak era.
The military issued a stern warning that it intended to crack down on future protests.
In a statement, the military council said it will take the “necessary precautions to stabilize security’’ and use the full weight of the law to prosecute individuals involved in violence, whether by participation or incitement.
In an apparent response to concerns it will use the violence as an excuse to prolong its rule, the council pledged to make good on its promise to hand over power. Many activists say the generals are likely to take advantage of the nation’s tenuous security to stay in power long enough to find a candidate they support to run for the presidency.
A timetable floated by the military has slated presidential elections for late next year. If that holds true, then the military will have been in power for almost two years before it steps down.
“We all know the military council is trying to sow religious strife to stay in power and extend emergency law,’’ said Maha Adel Qasim, 28, a Muslim who joined Christians demonstrating outside the hospital yesterday.
Oh, there were MUSLIMS in the CHRISTIAN CROWD outside the hospital?
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Folks, as in most places, it is the PEOPLE against the POLICE!
"Egyptian finance minister resigns" October 12, 2011|By David D. Kirkpatrick, New York Times
CAIRO - Egypt’s finance minister resigned yesterday, becoming the first high-level official to leave in the aftermath of the deadly clashes between Coptic Christian demonstrators and military forces on Sunday that appeared to signify a turning point in the revolution that toppled Hosni Mubarak eight months ago.
Keep that thought in mind. This resignation was a turning point.
The finance minister, Hazem el-Beblawi, who is also a deputy prime minister, quit after only three months in office. He was the second finance minister to leave in post-Mubarak Egypt. The country’s official Middle East News Agency, which reported Beblawi’s departure, did not offer an explanation. and he was not immediately reachable for comment.
His resignation came a day after thousands of Coptic Christian mourners gathered at the country’s largest cathedral to commemorate the two dozen killed in fighting with Egypt’s military forces, which have ruled the country since Mubarak was forced from office in February and which have increasingly shown unwillingness to share power.
In another sign that the military’s killing of unarmed protesters was shaking the Egyptian government, Essam Sharaf, the interim prime minister, responded to Beblawi’s resignation by offering the ruling military council his resignation and the breakup of the government, the state-run newspaper Al Ahram said yesterday.
I don't recall any US criticism like that leveled at Syria, do you?
Many Egyptian political leaders had called for Sharaf’s resignation, faulting him for failing to assert civilian power against the control of the military council or taking responsibility for the killings of the Coptic Christians.
Other news reports carried military denials of a mass resignation but did not appear to dispute the offer to put the resignation of the government at the hands of the military. Reuters quoted a Cabinet spokesman as saying the government was continuing to work.
Many of the Copt mourners on Monday had harsh words for the Army, which just eight months ago was regarded as a savior for its refusal to use force against civilians demanding the ouster of Mubarak as president. Confidence in the military had been eroded by its repeated deferrals in handing over power to civilian rule, now set to take place perhaps as much as two years after parliamentary elections, set to begin next month.
Now political liberals as well as Copts said the brutal crackdown had finally extinguished the public’s faith in the ruling military council as the guardian of a peaceful transition to democracy.
“The credit that the military received from the people in Tahrir Square just ran out yesterday,’’ party leader Ayman Nour said at a press conference of prominent parties and political leaders denouncing the military. “There is no partnership between us and the council now that the blood of our brothers stands between us.’’
Others took a darker view, saying that the violence suggested that the military might hold an even tighter grip on power than Mr. Mubarak did.
The generals subverted the revolution.
“Cairo yesterday was a part of Syria,’’ said Shady el-Ghazaly Harb, a liberal activist who helped set off the revolution, invoking the violent crackdown against that country’s uprising. “This is a threat not just to the Copts, but to all of the people. We saw what would happen if we rose up against the Army.’’
The EGYPTIAN PEOPLE KNOW what I am typing about.
Witnesses, victims, and doctors said Monday that demonstrators were killed when military-led security forces drove armored vehicles over as many as six people and fired live ammunition into the crowds.
Doctors at a Coptic hospital showed journalists 17 bodies, including one with a crushed skull and others with mangled limbs.
Doctors and Interior Ministry officials said bullet wounds accounted for most of the deaths, including that of Mina Daniel, a young political activist who, a doctor said, had been shot in the shoulder and leg. More than 300 others were wounded in four hours of street fights, the Health Ministry said.
If this had been Iran the AmeriKan media would have been screaming about it.
The military council did not explain Monday why shots were fired or why military vehicles ran over demonstrators.
In a statement on state television, it appeared to distance its officers from any responsibility for the deadly clashes.
The statement referred only to unspecified “unfortunate events’’ that “transformed peaceful protests to bloody ones.’’ Expressing “deepest condolences to the families of the victims,’’ the military reiterated its determination to refuse “attempts to cause a rift between the armed forces and the Egyptian people.’’
The military also sought to appease the Coptic Christians, about 10 percent of the population.
Although the Copts had embraced the revolution’s promise of a tolerant and pluralistic democracy, many have been uneasy as the removal of Mubarak’s iron fist has unleashed suppressed rivalries, as in the recent dispute over the construction of a church near the southern city of Aswan that inspired the march in Cairo on Sunday.
The military asked its civilian prime minister to begin an investigation into the violence.
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And this next piece I couldn't believe:
"Egypt denies military killed protesters" October 13, 2011|By Ingy Hassieb and Leila Fadel, Washington Post
CAIRO - Egypt’s military leaders denied yesterday that soldiers had purposely killed Christian protesters in the capital last weekend, saying in their first public statement since the deadly event that troops had opened fire in response to attacks by rock-throwing demonstrators.
“It is a fact that citizens lost their lives, but the military did not fire at them, because of the principles that we’ve instilled,’’ Major General Mahmoud Hegazy, a member of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, said at a news conference. “Those principles are that the armed forces can never fire at its people and that there is no circumstance that can justify that.’’
Just ignore all the eyewitnesses and video.
At least 25 people died and hundreds were injured in the violence that erupted Sunday night after a group of Coptic Christians took to the streets, along with Muslim supporters, to demand their rights and protest the burning of a church in the south.
I can't imagine who would want to burn a church.
According to witnesses and video footage, soldiers plowed their vehicles into the crowd when protesters refused to disperse and opened fire after several vehicles were torched.
The episode has become the most significant challenge to the military council’s reputation since it took power Feb. 11, and many Egyptians view it as a massacre.
I think I see it that way, too.
At the news conference yesterday, the generals showed videos of demonstrators throwing rocks and chasing and beating a soldier. The dead included three soldiers, according to state television.
Major General Adel Emara said that deliberately driving into people was not in the military’s “dictionary.’’
“History never saw us run anyone over, not even fighting our enemies,’’ he said.
(Blog editor is speechless)
Emara blamed the violence on persisting chaos in Egypt and on forces working to reverse the country’s revolution, a reference to the 18-day uprising that ousted President Hosni Mubarak, but he said that soldiers might have run over some people accidentally.
(Now blog editor is just shaking his head)
Asked who shot unarmed demonstrators, Hegazy said that the government was still searching for the answer but that “the military definitely did not.’’
(Blog editor again shaking head)
The generals reiterated Prime Minister Essam Sharaf’s pledge for an investigation that would reveal those responsible for the killings.
Hegazy called for unity and assured the public that the military’s role is to “protect and not to confront the people.’’
You guys are disgusting filth.
There is unity, and it is against you.
Also yesterday, Finance Minister Hazem Beblawi reversed his decision to step down in protest against the killings, a day after the military council had rejected his tendered resignation.
Oh, so THAT HEADLINE STORY was just a PIECE of POOH!
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Looks like the Egyptians feel just as I do:
"Activist’s death drives new wave of anger in Egypt" October 23, 2011|By Leila Fadel, Washington Post
CAIRO - Mina Daniel, a 20-year-old Coptic Christian, protested for more than a year against poverty, human rights abuses, and discrimination. He became one of the young leaders of the revolution that toppled Egypt’s president in February.
His courage earned him respect from fellow revolutionaries and cost him two bullet wounds. His revolutionary spirit prompted him to grow a beard like Argentine Marxist icon Che Guevara.
On Oct. 9, the 44th anniversary of Guevara’s death, Daniel was facing Egyptian security forces in downtown Cairo when he died like his hero, as a bullet apparently fired by a soldier pierced his chest.
Oh, the military killed him, huh?
The death has given a name and a face to what activists describe as the second wind of a revolution. The target is the country’s military leadership, which assumed power after Hosni Mubarak was forced to step down and, in the ensuing months, has resorted to many of the loathed tactics of the police state Egyptians are trying to dismantle.
“Mina’s death is a way of exposing the lies of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces,’’ said Heba Morayef, an Egypt researcher at Human Rights Watch.
The military was cheered when it promised to help with the country’s transition to democracy. But since then, it has faced criticism for arresting and trying thousands of people in hasty military tribunals, using force to disperse protesters, and censoring the media.
Human rights advocates say the violent clash that took Daniel’s life and at least 24 others is final proof that the military leadership has hijacked the revolution....
Recent polls showed that the military rulers had a more than 80 percent approval rating. But the deaths have swayed Egyptians who were on the fence about the military and hardened those who were souring on military rule, analysts said.
At a vigil for those killed, some said they had come to call for the end of military rule only after seeing the images of the dead on television.
“I believe people were in a peaceful march and met with violence,’’ said Atef Shukri, a protester and Muslim movie director. “Before I was unsure about military rule, and now I’m angry.’’
Members of the Coptic community say they think they’re under a deeper threat than at any time in recent memory. A string of church attacks since the uprising has plagued them, instilling fear among Copts, who make up about 10 percent of the population. The clashes have also turned some Egyptians against Coptic Christians, after state television and officials blamed them for the violence and deepened the historic sectarian divide....
I'm so sick of the same old tired narratives.
Daniel, raised in a poor Coptic family in southern Cairo, was moved to activism after a drive-by shooting in 2010 that killed six Christians and a Muslim. He began to advocate for minority rights, then for the poor and democratic socialism. When the demonstrations flared up in Cairo’s Tahrir Square at the end of January, Daniel became a leading figure in the youth Freedom and Justice movement and developed a reputation as a bridge between Muslims and Christians.
And now he is dead, huh?
At Daniel’s apartment, his mother, Nadia Feltes, 55, swathed in black, received guests paying their condolences. His two sisters wore mass-produced black T-shirts with his face on them and scanned the Internet for new YouTube videos and posts about their brother on social media sites....
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