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2014

FREE AlJazeera Staff : Since June 2013, Al Jazeera journalists have been beaten, detained and shot while trying to report on Egypt.

As political upheaval continues to grip Egypt, Al Jazeera journalists trying to report on the country have become the targets of an ongoing campaign of harassment and abuse. Read a selection of the fates that have met the reporters, producers and cameramen trying to cover Egypt’s story...
... more in AlJazeera

Revolution Revisited

An insight into how the recent dramatic events in Egypt have affected those who brought about its 2011 revolution.

...more in PEOPLE & POWER at AlJazeera

2013

August/agosto

Murderous coup d'état in Egypt
How some ordinary Egyptians became ‘malicious terrorists’
It’s our dear friends the Saudis whom the Egyptian army and police can count on ...

Disgust, shame, outrage.

All these words apply to the disgrace of Egypt these past six weeks. A military coup, millions of enraged supporters of the democratically elected but deposed dictator – reports that indicate well over 1,000 Muslim Brotherhood sympathisers slaughtered by the security police – and what were we told by the authorities yesterday? That Egypt was subject to “a malicious terrorist plot”.

The language speaks for itself. Not just a common or garden “terrorist” plot – but a “terrorist” plot so terrible that it is “malicious”. Naturally, the government acquired this use of the “terrorist” word from Bush and Blair, another Western contribution to Arab culture. But it goes further. The country, we are now informed, is at the mercy of “extremist forces who want to create war”. You would think, on hearing this, that most of the dead these past six weeks were soldiers and policemen, whereas in fact most were unarmed demonstrators.

... read the excellent articles by ROBERT FISK in The Independent

... more in Democracy Now!

... more in AlJazeera

Read also:
A national tragedy plays out at Cairo’s stinking mortuary
These horrific scenes represent all sides of Egypt’s '‘state of emergency'... [+]

Muslim Brotherhood's spiritual leader arrested - live updates
Mohamed Badie detained in Cairo by security forces
Ex-president Hosni Mubarak 'could be be freed tomorrow'
State-owned paper blames Brotherhood for Sinai attack
US 'secretly suspends military aid' - senator ... [+]

Former dictator Hosni Mubarak released from prison and leaves Tora prison pending further court hearings, but will remain under house arrest... [+]

ElBaradei former vice president accused of betraying his country because of resignation after crackdown on Morsi supporters... [+]

Coup d'Etat by the military power against president Morsi

Army suspends constitution, appoints head of constitutional court as interim leader and calls for early elections.
The Egyptian army has overthrown President Mohamed Morsi, announcing a roadmap for the country’s political future that will be implemented by a national reconciliation committee.
The head of Egypt's armed forces issued a declaration on Wednesday evening suspending the constitution and appointing the head of the Supreme Constitutional Court, Adly al-Mansour, as interim head of state.
Morsi's presidential Facebook page quoted the deposed president as saying he rejected the army statement as a military coup.
In a televised broadcast, flanked by military leaders, religious authorities and political figures, General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi effectively declared the removal of Morsi.
Sisi called for presidential and parliamentary elections, a panel to review the constitution and a national reconciliation committee that would include youth movements. He said the roadmap had been agreed by a range of political groups.
Morsi was believed to be holed up at a Republican Guard barracks in Cairo, surrounded by barbed wire, barriers and troops, but it was not clear whether he was under arrest.

... more in AlJazeera - Haaretz - The Guardian - El Mundo - BBC - The Telegraph - Le Figaro

Read also:
When is a military coup not a military coup? When it happens in Egypt, apparently: Those Western leaders who are telling us Egypt is still on the path to “democracy” have to remember that Morsi was indeed elected in a real, Western-approved election ...read the full article by Robert Fisk in The Independent

2011

November

Egyptian military using 'more dangerous' teargas on Tahrir Square protesters

Doctors report seizures and convulsions as witnesses claim different crowd control teargas being used.
Egyptian security forces are believed to be using a powerful incapacitating gas against civilian protesters in Tahrir Square following multiple cases of unconsciousness and epileptic-like convulsions among those exposed.
The Guardian has collected video footage as well as witness accounts from doctors and victims who have offered strong evidence that at least two other crowd control gases have been used on demonstrators in addition to CS gas.
Suspicion has fallen on two other agents: CN gas, which was the crowd control gas used by the US before CS was brought into use; and CR gas.
Some protesters report having seen canisters marked with the letters "CR" – although the Guardian has not been able to confirm this independently.
Both gases can be more dangerous than CS and can cause unconsciousness and seizures in certain circumstances.
Concern began to emerge over the use of more powerful incapacitating agents after reports of gassed protesters falling unconscious and having attacks of jerking spasms.
Those who have experienced the more powerful gas have described it as smelling different and causing an unusual burning sensation on the skin. Others have complained of rashes.
On Tuesday afternoon al-Jazeera reported that some of the recent deaths in Cairo were believed to have been caused by gas asphyxiation.


...more in The Guardian - AlJazeera - El Mundo - BBC - France 24 - La Repubblica

October

Jailed Egyptian blogger on hunger strike says 'he is ready to die'
Maikel Nabil Sanad declares he would prefer suicide to being tried by military junta for criticising the army in his blog

An Egyptian blogger jailed for criticising the country's military junta has declared himself ready to die, as his hunger strike enters its 57th day.
"If the militarists thought that I would be tired of my hunger strike and accept imprisonment and enslavement, then they are dreamers," said Maikel Nabil Sanad, in a statement announcing that he would boycott the latest court case against him, which began last Thursday. "It's more honourable [for] me to die committing suicide than [it is] allowing a bunch of Nazi criminals to feel that they succeeded in restricting my freedom. I am bigger than that farce."
Sanad, whom Amnesty International has declared to be a prisoner of conscience, was sentenced by a military tribunal in March to three years in jail after publishing a blog post entitled "The people and the army were never on one hand". The online statement, which deliberately inverted a popular pro-military chant, infuriated Egypt's ruling generals who took power after the ousting of former president Hosni Mubarak, and have since been accused of multiple human rights violations in an effort to shut down legitimate protest and stifle revolutionary change.
The 26-year-old was found guilty of "insulting the Egyptian army". The case helped spark a nationwide opposition movement to military trials for civilians, and cast further doubt on the intentions of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (Scaf), whose promises regarding Egypt's post-Mubarak transition to democracy appear increasingly hollow.
...more in The Guardian - Al Jazeera

March

Egyptian military sentenced peaceful activist to five years in prison as rights organisations condemn trials of civilians in military courts.

The arrest and sentencing of Amr Abdallah Elbihiry, 33, an Egyptian activist, has sparked outrage among pro-democracy activists and human rights groups in Egypt.
Elbihiry was convicted and sentenced to five years in military prison on Wednesday by Egypt's Supreme Military Court, after being charged with assaulting a public official on duty and for breaking curfew.
Elbihiry was arrested during the early hours of Saturday morning, in front of the Council of Ministers headquarters, at a peaceful demonstration demanding the resignation of Ahmed Shafiq, the interim prime minister.
He was one of a group of protesters that took part in a peaceful sit-in, which was violently dispersed by the Egyptian armed forces, and military police. Protesters were reportedly beaten with sticks, others with electric shock batons.

The armed forces apologised the following day on their official Facebook page wall claiming that it was a mistake due to unintended clashes between the military police and the protesters.
Dr Laila Mustafa Soueif, a lecturer at Cairo University was present at the sit-in and witnessed first hand the clashes and the initial arrest of Elbihiry.
"I was in the sit-in on Kasr el Aini street, when it was dispersed forcibly by police and military elements. As we were leaving, military elements took Amr Abdallah ElBihiry.
"They [military police] ruthlessly beat him up, my friends and I refused to leave without Amr. A high ranking officer calmed us down, and ordered a lower rank officer to release Amr, his face was severely injured. We all walked away together. But after we parted, we later found out that Amr and five others were arrested.
"Everyone was later released except Amr, he was accused of possessing a pistol. I can affirm that Amr had no weapon in his possession , otherwise military officials would not have released him in the first place," she said. The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights and Amnesty International have condemned the sentence and have called on the Egyptian authorities to immediately release ElBihiry.
"The excessive use of force against the protesters on Saturday cannot be justified. An apology cannot replace an investigation. The use of electric shock batons and the allegations of torture or other ill-treatment should be fully and impartially investigated and those responsible brought to justice," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, the deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International.
Many Egyptians fear that the latest crackdown on political activists could be the start of a trend of quick military trials in Egypt without the chance for a fair hearing.
...more in Al Jazeera - Amnesty International - Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights - Reporting Live - Free Amr - Human Rights Watch

February

Army and citizens disagree over Egypt's path to democracy.

Activists reject army appeal to leave Tahrir Square as new leadership resists pressure to hand power to civilian administration.
Egypt's new military administration and the pro-democracy protesters who brought down Hosni Mubarak are at odds over the path to democratic rule.
The army sought to stave off pressure from jubilant protesters to swiftly hand power to a civilian-led administration by saying that it was committed to a "free democratic state". The military leadership gave no timetable for the political transition, and many of the demonstrators who filled Cairo's Tahrir Square for 18 days rejected the military's appeal to dismantle the barricades and go home.
They said they were waiting for specific commitments from the military on their demand for a civilian-controlled interim administration, the lifting of the oppressive state of emergency and other steps toward liberalisation.

The shockwaves of Mubarak's fall were felt across the region, particularly in Algeria and Yemen. Thousands of anti-government protesters, apparently inspired by events in Cairo, turned out in Algiers to confront the police. There were reports that hundreds had been arrested. In Sanaa, a protest by about 2,000 people to demand political reform was broken up by armed government supporters.
Some of the organisers of Egypt's revolution announced they had formed a council to negotiate with the military and to oversee future demonstrations to keep up pressure on the army to meet demands for democratic change.
"The council will have the authority to call for protests or call them off depending on how the situation develops," said Khaled Abdel Qader Ouda, one of the organisers.

...more in Al Jazeera - The Guardian - BBC - The Independent - France 24 - Le Monde - Público - EL Mundo - El País - La Repubblica - Die Spiegel - Haaretz - Andy Worthington web
Read also:
Robert Fisk: Cairo's 50,000 street children were abused by this regime.
Cairo's street kids were duped into resisting the revolution, then shot by police in the chaos that ensued.
The cops shot 16-year-old Mariam in the back on 28 January, a live round fired from the roof of the Saida Zeinab police station in the slums of Cairo's old city at the height of the government violence aimed at quelling the revolution, a pot shot of contempt by Mubarak's forces for the homeless street children of Egypt.
She had gone to the police with up to a hundred other beggar boys and girls to demand the release of her friend, 16-year-old Ismail Yassin, who had already been dragged inside the station. Some of the kids outside were only nine years old. Maybe that's why the first policeman on the roof fired warning bullets into the air.
Then he shot Mariam. She was taking pictures of the police on her mobile phone, but fell to the ground with a bullet in her back. The other children carried her to the nearby Mounira hospital – where the staff apparently refused to admit her – and then to the Ahmed Maher hospital, where the bullet was removed. Ismail was freed and made his way to Tahrir Square, where the pro-democracy protesters were under attack by armed men. He was wandering up Khairat Street – drawn towards violence like all the homeless of Cairo – when an unknown gunmen shot him in the head and killed him.
read the complete article by Robert Fisk in The Independent

La justicia amenaza a Mubarak y su fabulosa fortuna: Activistas de derechos humanos exigen que se procese al dictador por crímenes contra la humanidad.
WikiLeaks cables: Egyptian military head is 'old and resistant to change'...
ElBaradei keeps watchful eye over transition...

A new dawn for Egypt
Who will be tasked with rebuilding the nation and what challenges will the people of Egypt face?

Saturday in Cairo saw people back in Tahrir Square - still celebrating Hosni Mubarak's Friday departure. After 30 years in power, it took only 18 days of nationwide demonstrations to force him out.
The military has stepped in saying that the current cabinet will stay in place as a caretaker government before democratic elections.
As the nation celebrates, the first steps on a long journey of reform are being taken.
With plenty of challenges along the way, and no clear leadership ready to step up, what is in store for the people of Egypt?
Joining the programme to discuss these issues are Ezzedine Choukri, a professor of international politics at the American University in Cairo; Wael Khalil, a blogger and activist; and Samir Shehata, an assistant professor of Arab politics at Georgetown University's Center for Contemporary Arab Studies.

...more in Al Jazeera's Inside Story

Friday 11th (18th day of revolt)

Dictator Mubarak has resigned forced by millions of angry Egyptians, and left Cairo with family and billions of stolen funds over 30 years of brutality

The youth of Tahrir Square.

Al Jazeera meets the newly formed "youth coalition" who are speaking on behalf of a broad array of voices in the square.
...Near the centre of the square on Monday night, behind a stage with a full soundsystem where a man played protest songs on an acoustic guitar to a crowd of hundreds, members of the newly formed Coalition of the Youth of the Revolution gathered. Their new headquarters lies in a large green tent 100 metres to the north, underneath a stuffed and lynched effigy of Mubarak, but many hang around the stage to talk and keep easy access to the microphone.
Here we met Nasser Abdel Hamid, a well-connected 28-year-old from Cairo who is affiliated with Mohamed ElBaradei’s National Association for Change. Abdel Hamid is a busy man; with a phone call from the al-Arabiya news network in one hand, he greeted friends and associates with the other. During a lull, we moved away from the packed street the runs through the middle of the square and stepped onto the wide, circular patch of dirt and muddy turf where most of the protesters have set up their tent city.
...more in Al Jazeera - Read the Youth's Manifesto in CounterFire / and in the blog of Ahdaf Soueif

Egypt: Seeds of change.

People & Power reveals the story behind the unprecedented political protests in Egypt.
It is widely accepted that the spark for the recent dramatic events in Egypt came from last month's uprising in Tunisia. If people power could bring down one regime perhaps it could do the same elsewhere.
Many of the necessary conditions were already in place: public fury at years of political repression, an economy that rewarded a corrupt elite and kept a majority in poverty, and widespread loathing for a leader clinging to office.
Could Egyptians be persuaded to overcome 30 years of fear and apathy and take to the streets?
It is no accident that this question has been answered, emphatically. Over the course of a remarkable fortnight, People & Power has been filming exclusively behind the scenes with a core group of young activists from the April 6th opposition movement.
As Elizabeth Jones reveals, they have spent a long time planning and organising for these momentous days, taking lessons from other revolutions about how to mobilise popular support.

...more in Al Jazeera

18th Day of Revolt against dictatorship, for Justice & Democracy
The fury of a people whose hopes were raised and then dashed...

Robert Fisk: As Mubarak clings on... What now for Egypt?
To the horror of Egyptians and the world, President Hosni Mubarak – haggard and apparently disoriented – appeared on state television last night to refuse every demand of his opponents by staying in power for at least another five months. The Egyptian army, which had already initiated a virtual coup d'état, was nonplussed by the President's speech which had been widely advertised – by both his friends and his enemies – as a farewell address after 30 years of dictatorship. The vast crowds in Tahrir Square were almost insane with anger and resentment.

Mubarak tried – unbelievably – to placate his infuriated people with a promise to investigate the killings of his opponents in what he called "the unfortunate, tragic events", apparently unaware of the mass fury directed at his dictatorship for his three decades of corruption, brutality and repression.
The old man had originally appeared ready to give up, faced at last with the rage of millions of Egyptians and the power of history, sealed off from his ministers like a bacillus, only grudgingly permitted by his own army from saying goodbye to the people who hated him.

Yet the very moment that Hosni Mubarak embarked on what was supposed to be his final speech, he made it clear that he intended to cling to power. To the end, the President's Information Minister insisted he would not leave. There were those who, to the very last moment, feared that Mubarak's departure would be cosmetic – even though his presidency had evaporated in the face of his army's decision to take power earlier in the evening.
History may later decide that the army's lack of faith in Mubarak effectively lost his presidency after three decades of dictatorship, secret police torture and government corruption. Confronted by even greater demonstrations on the streets of Egypt today, even the army could not guarantee the safety of the nation. Yet for Mubarak's opponents, today will not be a day of joy and rejoicing and victory but a potential bloodbath.

...read the article by Robert Fisk in The Independent / More information in Al Jazeera - MSNBC - BBC - CNN - France 24 - Haaretz - The New York Times - The Washington Post - Le Monde - The Guardian - Publico - El País - El Mundo - La Repubblica - Die Spiegel - Democracy Now!
Read also:
For Egypt, this is the miracle of Tahrir Square.
Mohamed ElBaradei: 'Egypt will explode'
The Pharaoh Refuses to Go

Mad dictator Mubarak refuses to leave angering millions of Egyptians revolting against his corrupt and abusive reign

...more in Al Jazeera - BBC - MSNBC - CNN - France 24 - Publico - La Repubblica - Die Spiegel

Thursday the 10th: Lawyers, doctors, unions join the citizens' revolt and forced dictator to leave the country

Defying increasing government threats of a military crackdown, doctors in white lab coats and lawyers in black robes streamed into Cairo's Tahrir Square Thursday and labor unrest spread across the country.
The strikes gave powerful momentum to Egypt's wave of anti-government protests — now in their 17th day — and with its efforts to manage the crisis failing, the government threatened the army could impose martial law.
The protests, which have focused on demanding President Hosni Mubarak's ouster, have tapped into the even deeper well of anger over economic woes, including inflation, unemployment, corruption, low wages and wide economic disparities between rich and poor.
For the second day, crowds angry over lack of housing rioted in the Suez Canal city of Port Said.
On Thursday, they set fire to the local headquarters of state security, the main post office and the governor's offices, which had already been partially burned the day before. It appeared police and soldiers were not intervening.

...more in MSNBC - Al Jazeera - BBC - France 24 - El País - Haaretz - Die Spiegel - El Mundo - La Repubblica - The Guardian - The Independent - Interviú - El Confidencial - CNN

Egypt protests stronger and extending to other public spaces and to Parliament.

Demonstrations enter sixteenth day, following the largest gathering so far in Cairo's Tahrir Square.
Protests in Egypt have entered their sixteenth day, following probably the biggest number of pro-democracy demonstrators in Cairo's Tahrir [Liberation] Square yet.
The square resembled a tented city on Wednesday, with protesters refusing to budge until their demands for Hosni Mubarak's resignation were met.
The president's message has thus far been that he will not leave until his term expires in September.
Hoda Abdel-Hamid, Al Jazeera's correspondent in the Egyptian capital, said the crowd at Tahrir Square grew rapidly on Tuesday afternoon, with many first-timers joining the demonstrations.
Many feel this showed that the movement, now in its third week, still has momentum.

Protesters are "more emboldened by the day and more determined by the day", Ahmad Salah, an Egyptian activist, told Al Jazeera from Cairo on Wednesday. "This is a growing movement, it's not shrinking."
"People feel very strongly here," Al Jazeera's Stefanie Dekker reported from Cairo. She said people in Tahrir Square were angered by a visit from Tamer Hosni, a famous Arab pop star, on Wednesday morning.
Hosni previously made statements telling the demonstrators to leave the square, saying that Mubarak had offered them concessions. "His comments really did not go down very well," our correspondent said. The crowd reacted angrily and the military had to intervene to keep them away from him.
Another Al Jazeera correspondent, reporting from Cairo, said there was also renewed international element to the demonstrations, with Egyptians from abroad returning to join the pro-democracy camp.
Tens of thousands of protesters also come out on the streets in Alexandria, Egypt's second largest city.

...more in Al Jazeera - Democracy Now! - The Guardian - Die Spiegel - El Mundo - BBC - ABC - Público - France 24 - Le Monde - Le Figaro - La Repubblica - El País - The Telegraph
Read also:
Robert Fisk: Week 3, day 16, and with every passing hour, the regime digs in deeper.
Zustimmung zu Mubarak-Aufnahme wächst.
Human Rights calcula 297 muertos en las revueltas en Egipto: La organización hace hincapié en la violencia de la policía contra los manifestantes en las últimas dos semanas...
¿Es Mubarak el hombre más rico del mundo?: La fortuna del 'rais' puede llegar hasta los 51.000 millones de euros...
Suleiman: The CIA's man in Cairo and reported torturer...

Google executive Wael Ghonim speaks after release from 12 days in prison, sparking outpouring of support from protesters.

Egyptian anti-government protesters have welcomed the release of a Google executive who disappeared in Cairo last month after playing a key role in helping demonstrators organise.

Wael Ghonim was released on Monday by Egyptian authorities, sparking a fast and explosive response from supporters, bloggers and pro-democracy activists on the internet.
Ghonim's release came nearly two weeks after he was reported missing on January 28 during protests against Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak.
"Freedom is a bless[ing] that deserves fighting for it," Ghonim, Google's head of marketing for the Middle East and North Africa, wrote in a message posted on his Twitter account shortly after his release.
He said he was seized in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, late last month as he joined tens of thousands of protesters in the city's Tahrir Square, the focal point of protests aimed at calling on Mubarak to step down from his 30-year-rule in Egypt.
Ghonim said he was picked up by three plainclothes men on the street, pushed into a car and taken off for interrogation by state security members.

...more in Al Jazeera - The Independent - The Guardian - BBC - Le Monde - France 24 - El Mundo - Público - MSNBC - The New York Times - Die Spiegel - Twitter - ABC News - Los Anges Times - Global Voices - Egyptian Chronicles - La Repubblica
Read also:
Rallying cry from freed online activist galvanises crowds.

On Saturday 5th Democracy Now! aired a two-hour special "Uprising in Eygpt."

more in Democracy Now! - Al Jazeera - The Independent - The New York Times - The Guardian - El Mundo - France 24 - Le Monde - La Repubblica - Die Spiegel - MSNBC - The Huffington Post / Sharif Kouddous in Twitter

Read also:
Taking on Pharoah's hired hooligans.
Mubarak's third force terror tactic: Israel backed dictator Mubarak unleashed his 'personal' thugs in a failed attempt to silence protestors seeking an end to his regime.
Egypt and the Palestinian question The Mubarak regime has been a tool with which Israel and the US have pressured Palestinians.
Clinton warns of 'perfect storm' US secretary of state says rulers in Middle East must enforce political and social reforms or face backlash.
Robert Fisk: The wrong Mubarak quits. Soon the right one will go. Protesters in Tahrir Square are right to be sceptical despite the apparent shake-up in Egypt's ruling party

Friday 4th: Mubarak's Day of Departure?

Since January 25, the Egyptian popular protest movement has continued to grow. With violent clashes in Cairo's Tahrir Square threatening to embroil thousands more from the pro- and anti-government camps, the world awaits one man's decision.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak spoke to his countrymen on February 1, just hours after a "million-man march", and swore that he would not abdicate his throne, as the Tunisian president had done just weeks before.
While Mubarak did promise that he would not run in the elections to be held later in 2011, most protesters were not satisfied that the 30-year president had met their simple demand - that he resign.

The new vice-president, Omar Suleiman, said on Thursday that the government is willing to hold talks with the Muslim Brotherhood. Yet Suleiman warned that continued calls for Mubarak's immediate departure would cause chaos in Egypt.
Anti-regime groups are calling for Friday to be Mubarak's "day of departure" and speculation abounds that new protests could rival last Friday's, which erupted soon after midday prayers.

...more in Al Jazeera - The Guardian - The Independent - France 24 - Le Monde - Público - The New York Times - El Mundo - El País - The Economist- The Huffington Post
Read also:

Guardian reporters have hair-raising encounters with the Egyptian security forces and an angry mob.
Al-Jazeera office attacked in Egypt protests.
Thugs beat protesters at Egypt vigil in Syria.
Egyptian Government Figures Join Protesters.
El mafioso Berlusconi llama a Mubarak 'hombre sabio' [como se considera él mismo].
Cristianos y musulmanes rezan simultáneamente en la plaza de la Liberación.
Egypt rises up.

The sky was filled with rocks. The fighting around me was so terrible we could smell the blood.
"President" Hosni Mubarak's counter-revolution smashed into his opponents yesterday in a barrage of stones, cudgels, iron bars and clubs, an all-day battle in the very centre of the capital he claims to rule between tens of thousands of young men, both – and here lies the most dangerous of all weapons – brandishing in each other's faces the banner of Egypt. It was vicious and ruthless and bloody and well planned, a final vindication of all Mubarak's critics and a shameful indictment of the Obamas and Clintons who failed to denounce this faithful ally of America and Israel.
The fighting around me in the square called Tahrir was so terrible that we could smell the blood. The men and women who are demanding the end of Mubarak's 30-year dictatorship – and I saw young women in scarves and long skirts on their knees, breaking up the paving stones as rocks fell around them – fought back with an immense courage which later turned into a kind of terrible cruelty.
Some dragged Mubarak's security men across the square, beating them until blood broke from their heads and splashed down their clothes. The Egyptian Third Army, famous in legend and song for crossing the Suez Canal in 1973, couldn't – or wouldn't – even cross Tahrir Square to help the wounded.

...more in The Independent - The Guardian - Democracy Now - MSNBC - France 24 - BBC - Publico - EL Mundo

Dictator's thugs, including plain clothes police, attack pro democracy protesters -with guns, rocks, bombs, sticks, knives, etc -to disrupt and terrify citizen revolt, as did China and Iran dictatorships...

At least 300 persons have been killed and another 1500 injured in continuing clashes between pro- and anti-government demonstrators in the Egyptian capital Cairo and around the country.

Al Jazeera correspondents, reporting from the scene, said clashes were still raging and that petrol bombs were being hurled.
"Someone - a few people actually - are dropping homemade bombs into the square from the buildings surrounding it," our online producer said.

Gunshots are also regularly ringing out of the square.
Earlier, witnesses said the military allowed thousands of pro-Mubarak supporters, armed with sticks and knives, to enter the square. Opposition groups said Dictator Mubarak had sent in thugs to suppress anti-government protests.
One of our correspondents said the army seemed to be standing by and facilitating the clashes. Latest reports suggest that the centre of the square is still in control of the protesters, despite the pro-Mubarak supporters gaining ground.

...more in Al Jazeera - MSNBC - The Guardian - BBC - France 24 - Le Monde - Publico - El Mundo - El País - La Repubblica - Die Spiegel - Democracy Now - ABC - RTVE

At least a million citizens flood Egypt streets in civil revolt against dictator Mubarak, staged across country.

About 1,000,000 people have gathered for the planned "march of a million" in the Egyptian capital, calling for Hosni Mubarak, the embattled Egyptian president, to step down.
Meanwhile, one of Egypt's oldest parties, Wafd, announced on Tuesday that a number of opposition groups have agreed to form "a national front" to deal with the volatile situation there. In a statement, Wafd said that president Mubarak "has lost legitimacy."
Also on Tuesday, the Muslim Brotherhood, an officially banned but tolerated movement, said it will not negotiate with president Mubarak or his government.
Earlier, some opposition parties have called for Mubarak to delegate responsibilities to newly appointed vice-president Omar Suleiman, who they are prepared to negotiate with.
...Thousands of demonstrators began gathering from early on Tuesday morning in Cairo's Tahrir Square, which has been the focal point of protests in the capital and served as the meeting area for the march to begin on the eighth day of an uprising that has so far claimed more than 125 lives.
Another protest in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria attracted tens of thousands of protesters, as national train services were cancelled in an apparent bid to stymie protests. Protests were also reported in the city of Suez.
Protest organisers have also called for an indefinite strike to be observed across the country.
Soldiers at Tahrir Square have formed a human chain around protesters, and are checking people as they enter for weapons. Tanks have been positioned near the square, and officers have been checking identity papers.

...more in Al Jazeera - The Guardian - The Independent - BBC - France 24 - Le Monde - Publico - El Mundo - La Repubblica - Die Spiegel - Democracy Now
Read also:
Mohamed ElBaradei: The man who would be President [interview by Robert Fisk]
Defiant Mubarak defies people's will daring to bet to finish term: Violence erupts in Alexandria shortly after Egyptian president's announcement that he will stay to the end.

January

Opposition movement calls for "march of millions" on Tuesday in a bid to topple president Hosni Mubarak.

Egyptian protesters have called for a massive demonstration and a rolling general strike on Tuesday in a bid to force out president Hosni Mubarak from power.
The so-called April 6 Youth Movement -founded by Ahmed Maher- said it plans to have more than one million people on the streets of the capital Cairo, as anti-government sentiment reaches a fever pitch.
The call came as Mubarak swore in a new cabinet in an attempt to defuse ongoing demonstrations across the country.
But opposition groups say personnel changes will not placate them and have said they will continue until the president steps down.
"The whole regime must come down," Hassan, a construction worker and protester told the Reuters news agency.
"We do not want anyone from Mubarak's retinue in the new government, which the people will choose. We want a civil government run by the people themselves."

...more in Al Jazeera - The Guardian - BBC - The Independent - MSNBC - France 24 - Público - El Mundo - El País - La Repubblica - Die Spiegel - Le Monde - Global Voices Advocacy - Haaretz - Democracy Now - RTVE
Read also:
The triviality of US Mideast policy: US Mideast policy has been irrelevant and fails to accommodate the current movement that is sweeping across the region.
The hidden roots of Egypt's despair: The economic crisis is driving political protests sparked in part by US financial speculation.
Egypt army vows not to use force: Explicit confirmation comes before Tuesday's "march of millions" to force President Hosni Mubarak to step down.
Corrupta burocracia europea preocupada por el dictador egipcio.

Opposition leader Elbaradei addresses defiant Cairo crowd: one key demand, the regime must step down to start a new era

Mohamed Elbaradei, a leading opposition figure, has joined thousands of protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square, in continued demonstrations demanding an end to President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule.
The former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency told the crowd on Sunday night that "what we have begun cannot go back" referring to days of anti-government protests.
The National Coalition for Change, which groups several opposition movements including the Muslim Brotherhood, wants ElBaradei to negotiate with the Mubarak government.
The show of continued defiance by the people came on a day when air force fighter planes flew low over Cairo along with helicopters and extra troop lorries appeared in the central square.
As the protests continue, security is said to be deteriorating and reports have emerged of several prisons across the country being attacked and of fresh protests being staged in cities like Alexandria and Suez.
Thirty-four leaders from the Muslim Brotherhood were freed from the Wadi Natroun jail after guards abandoned their posts.
The protesters in Cairo, joined by hundreds of judges, had collected again in Tahrir Square in the afternoon to demand the resignation of Hosni Mubarak.
Al Jazeera's correspondent, reporting from the scene, said that demonstrators confronted a fire truck, at which point army troops fired into the air in a bid to disperse them.
He said the protesters did not move back, and a tank commander then ordered the fire truck to leave. When the truck moved away from the square, the thousands of protesters erupted into applause and climbed onto the tank in celebration, hugging soldiers.
Main roads in Cairo have been blocked by military tanks and armoured personnel carriers, and large numbers of army personnel have been seen in other cities as well.
Reporting from Cairo earlier on Sunday, an Al Jazeera correspondent said it was a "long way from business as usual" in the Egyptian capital on the first working day since protests peaked on Friday
...more in Al Jazeera
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Facist Israel backs Egypt's dictator: As US and EU leaders urge Egypt to reform in face of popular uprising, Israel voices support for Mubarak's government.
Al Jazeera journalists detained in Egypt, have been released; however, their camera equipment remains confiscated by the military.

A Nation in Waiting.
A special programme looking at Egypt under Hosni Mubarak.

Having ruled Egypt for 30 years, President Hosni Mubarak is now 83 years old.
Mubarak, then vice-president, was the only candidate to succeed Anwar al-Sadat after the then Egyptian president was assasinated in 1981. He became the fourth president of the Republic; a president who would remain in power for over a quarter of a century.
But during this period in Egypt, an important question had started to be asked: What has happened to the Egyptians?
With escalating prices, record levels of unemployment and a year of unprecedented labour unrest in 2007, the government has its hands full trying to quell the public's growing unease. Promises of economic growth and a brighter future are no longer believed.

...more in Al Jazeera

USA and Israel backed dictator Mubarack shuts down Al Jazeera bureau. Network's licences cancelled and accreditation of staff in Cairo withdrawn by order of information minister.

The Egyptian authorities are revoking the Al Jazeera Network's licence to broadcast from the country, and will be shutting down its bureau office in Cairo, state television has said.

"The information minister [Anas al-Fikki] ordered ... suspension of operations of Al Jazeera, cancelling of its licences and withdrawing accreditation to all its staff as of today," a statement on the official Mena news agency said on Sunday.
In a statement, Al Jazeera said it strongly denounces and condemns the closure of its bureau in Cairo by the Egyptian government. The network received notification from the Egyptian authorities on Sunday morning.
"Al Jazeera has received widespread global acclaim for their coverage on the ground across the length and breadth of Egypt," the statement said.
An Al Jazeera spokesman said that the company would continue its strong coverage regardless.
...more in Al Jazeera - The Guardian - MSNBC - France 24 - El Mundo - Público - La Repubblica - The New York Times - Le Monde
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Protesters in Cairo standoff

Protests continue as world leaders keep up pressure, urging Mubarak for sweeping reforms in Egypt

The United States and other leading European nations have urged Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president, to refrain from violence against unarmed protesters and work to create conditions for free and fair elections.
Washington told Mubarak on Saturday that it was not enough simply to "reshuffle the deck" with a shake-up of his government and pressed him to make good on his promise of genuine reform.
"The Egyptian government can't reshuffle the deck and then stand pat," State Department spokesman PJ Crowley said in a message on Twitter after Mubarak fired his government but made clear he had no intention of stepping down.
"President Mubarak's words pledging reform must be followed by action," Crowley said, echoing Obama's appeal on Friday for Mubarak to embrace a new political dynamic.

...Tens of thousands of people continued to rally in the capital Cairo on Saturday, demanding an end to Mubarak's presidency.
The demonstrations continued in defiance of an extended curfew, which state television reported would be in place from 4pm to 8am local time.
A military presence also remained, and the army warned the crowds in Tahrir Square in Cairo that if they defied the curfew, they would be in danger.
...But the protesters in Tahrir Square demonstrated in full view of the army, which had been deployed in the city to quell the popular unrest sweeping the Middle East's most populous Muslim country since January 25.
...Al Jazeera's Ayman Mohyeldin, reporting from the capital, said that soldiers deployed to central Cairo did not intervene in the protests.
"Some of the soldiers here have said that the only way for peace to come to the streets of Cairo is for Mubarak to step down," he said.
...Mohamed ElBaradei, a leading opposition figure, told Al Jazeera that protests would continue until the president steps down.
He also stressed that the political "system" will have to change in Egypt before the country can move forward.
The former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) also expressed "disappointment" with the US reaction to the protests, though he stressed that any change would have to come from "inside Egypt".
He said Mubarak should put in place an interim government that would arrange free and fair elections.

...more in Al Jazeera - The Guardian - The New York Times - BBC - France 24 - Le Monde - La Repubblica - Die Spiegel - El Mundo - Público - The Independent - MSNBC
Read also:
Egypt's security apparatus
Robert Fisk: Egypt: Death throes of a dictatorship.

5th Day of people's revolt against the USA backed dictatorship of Mubarak

Tens of thousands of people in the Egyptian capital Cairo have gathered on the streets, in continued protests demanding an end to Hosni Mubaraks's 30-year reign of corruption and terror.
The demonstrations continue in defiance of an extended cufew on Saturday, where state television reported will be in place from 4pm to 8am local time.
A military presence also remains, and the army warned the crowds in Tahrir Square that if they defy the curfew, they would be in danger.
Al Jazeera's Ayman Mohyeldin, reporting from Cairo, said that soldiers deployed to central Cairo are not intervening in the protests.
"Some of the soldiers here have said that the only way for peace to come to the streets of Cairo is for Mubarak to step down," he said.
Similar crowds were gathering in the cities of Alexandria and Suez, Al Jazeera's correspondents reported.
Reports have also emerged that at least three people have been killed, as protesters attempted to storm the interior ministry in Cairo.
Fears of looting have also risen, and the army on Saturday warned local residents to "protect their property and possessions".
In the city of Alexandria, residents called on the army to protect them against looting, as well as organising their own committees in defence.

...The Egyptian cabinet meanwhile have formally resigned in response to the protests, and Ahmed Ezz, a businessman and senior figure in the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) also resigned from his post as chairman of the Planning and Budget Committee.
Protesters ransacked and burned one of his company's main offices in Mohandiseen, an area of Cairo.
State media reported on Saturday that some protesters held up posters with a cross marked over the face of Ezz, who is chairman of Ezz Steel.
Political reshuffling is also said to be continuing within the government, as Omar Suleiman, the former head of Egyptian intelligence, has reportedly been sworn in as vice-president.

...more in Al Jazeera - The Guardian - MSNBC - El Mundo - Publico - France 24 - Le Monde - Haaretz - BBC - La Repubblica - Die Spiegel
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"Moglie e figli di Mubarak fuggiti a Londra"
The Muslim Brotherhood

Protesters across Egypt defy again dictatorship's curfew.

Buildings and vehicles set alight across the country as anti-government protests continue.
Mohamed ElBaradei has been detained. Teargas and rubber bullets used in crackdown. Internet access and mobile phone networks shut down.

A nighttime curfew has begun in the Egyptian cities of Cairo, Alexandria and Suez, after a day where thousands of protesters took the streets, demanding an end to Husni Mubarak's 30-year presidency. The curfew was implemented on Friday on the orders of the president, along with an order that the military take charge of security, amid violent clashes occurred between police and protesters.
Mubarak, "as commander in chief, has declared a curfew in the governorates of Greater Cairo, Alexandria and Suez from 6pm to 7am starting on Friday until further notice," state television announced.
The president "has asked the armed forces, in cooperation with the police, to implement the decision, and maintain security and secure public establishments and private property," it said.

Al Jazeera's Ayman Mohyeldin, reporting from Cairo said that a building belonging to the ruling National Democratic Party was set ablaze along with several police vehicles. Firefighters did not appear to be on the streets, and the buildings continue to remain torched.
Rawya Rageh, reporting from the port city of Alexandria, said that protesters were defying the curfew.
"The situation remains very tense, and many are still out here, openly defying this curfew."
According to the Associated Press, thousands of protesters have stormed the foreign ministry, and state television building in Cairo.
At least 870 people were wounded during Friday's protests some in a serious condition with bullet wounds, medical sources said.
Police officers were also wounded, but numbers were not immediately clear, the sources told Reuters news agency. There was no official confirmation of the figures.
In the city of Suez, at least two people killed during ongoing demonstrations, and armoured vehicles were reportedly set alight. Correspondent Jamal Elshayyal also said that police stations were also set alight during protests.

...more in Al Jazeera - The Guardian - France 24 - Público - El Mundo - El País - La Repubblica - Die Speigel - Democracy Now - MSNBC - Le Monde - Le Figaro - BBC - The Independent - RTVE - The Huffington Post - The New York Times - MSNBC
Read also:
Robert Fisk: Egypt's day of reckoning: Mubarak regime may not survive new protests as flames of anger spread through Middle East
Mubarak does not listen but dismisses government
Egypt's Gaza Blockade

Egyptians ready for biggest day of protests yet.

Pressure builds on the president, Hosni Mubarak, as banned Muslim Brotherhood backs protests.
president, Hosni Mubarak, will face escalating challenges on all fronts tomorrow, with Cairo expecting the biggest day yet of street protests and Mohamed ElBaradei, one of his fiercest critics, calling explicitly for a "new regime" on his return to Cairo.
Redoubling the sense of crisis for 82-year-old Mubarak, who has ruled for the past three decades, the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's most potent opposition force, said it was backing the latest call for demonstrations scheduled to follow Friday prayers.
ElBaradei, the former UN nuclear inspector who plans to join tomorrow's marches, arrived tonight at Cairo's airport to a media scrum and a heavy presence from the country's state security. He said he had come because "this is a critical time in the life of Egypt and I have come to participate with the Egyptian people".
Dozens of barriers manned by plainclothes state security officers had been erected in the airport to stop the public from mobbing ElBaradei, but they proved no match for the media scrum as the 68-year-old emerged with his wife. "Will you be on the streets tomorrow?" screamed one journalist. "Doctor ElBaradei, the people of Egypt need you tomorrow," shouted a bystander in Arabic.
Speaking to reporters earlier as he set off from Vienna, ElBaradei said he was seeking regime change and was ready to lead the opposition movement.
"The regime has not been listening," he said. "If people, in particular young people – if they want me to lead the transition, I will not let them down. My priority … is to see a new regime and to see a new Egypt through peaceful transition.
"I advise the government to listen to the people and not to use violence. There's no going back. I hope the regime stops violence, stops detaining people, stops torturing people. This will be completely counterproductive."

...more in The Guardian - Al Jazeera - Haaretz - RTVE - Público - France 24 - Le Monde - El País - El Mundo
And in the website of: Muslim Brotherhood - Human Rights in Egypt - National Association for Change (chair by ElBaradei)
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Is Mubarak's rule threatened?

Democracy advocate returns to country to join revolt against dictator Mubarak.

Mohamed ElBaradei, the former head of the UN nuclear watchdog turned democracy advocate, has arrived in Egypt amid escalating political unrest in the country.
ElBaradei, 68, returned to the country on Thursday from the Austrian city of Vienna, where he lives, to join a growing wave of protests against Hosni Mubarak, Egypt's president of 30 years, inspired by Tunisia's overthrow of their long-time president, Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali.
Violence erupted in Cairo and in the flashpoint city of Suez, east of the Egyptian capital, while in the northern Sinai area of Sheikh Zuweid, several hundred bedouins and police exchanged live gunfire, killing a 17-year-old man.
Social networking sites were abuzz with talk that Friday's planned anti-government rallies could be some of the biggest so far calling for the overthrow of the 82-year-old president.
Millions gather at mosques across the city for Friday prayers, providing organisers with a huge number of people already out on the streets to tap into.
"It is a critical time in the life of Egypt. I have come to participate with the Egyptian people," ElBaradei said as he left Cairo airport, where he was greeted by a small group of supporters.
"The desire for change must be respected. The regime must not use violence in the demonstrations."
Earlier ElBaradei, a Nobel peace laureate, said he was ready to "lead the transition" in Egypt if asked.

...more in Al Jazeera - France 24 - The Guardian - El País - Público - El Mundo - Le Monde - The Hub-Witness

Protests in Egypt and unrest in Middle East

Live updates: Cairo a 'war zone' as demonstrators demand president quit. Protests continue in Tunisia and Lebanon.
An Egyptian interior ministry official has confirmed reports that two protesters and one policeman have been killed in demonstrations in Cairo and Suez.
The unnamed official, speaking to AP, said the two protesters were killed in Suez. The official said one of them had respiratory problems and died as a result of tear gas inhalation, while the other was killed by a rock thrown during the protest.
The policeman died during the protest in Cairo after being hit on the head by a rock, the official said.
...housands of Egyptians took to the streets on Tuesday in what were reportedly the largest demonstrations in years, and which they explicitly tied to the successful uprising in nearby Tunisia.
On Tuesday night, hours after the countrywide protests began, the interior ministry issued a statement blaming the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's technically banned but largest opposition party, for fomenting the unrest.
Inspired by events in Tunisia, thousands of protesters gathered in Cairo and elsewhere, calling for reforms and demanding an end to the presidency of Hosni Mubarak, which has now lasted for nearly three decades.
The demonstrations prompted US secretary of state Hillary Clinton to assert during a press conference that "Egypt's government is stable."
...more in The Guardian - Al Jazeera - El Mundo - Público - France 24

NEWS : Africa : EGYPT

2010

'Vote rigging' mars Egypt election.

Low turnout, isolated protests, clashes and claims of vote rigging mark country's parliamentary election as polls close.
Slow voting, isolated protests, clashes and claims of vote rigging have marked Egypt's parliamentary election, the result of which is expected to strengthen the ruling National Democratic Party's (NDP) grip on power and further weaken the opposition.
Polls closed at 1900 (1700 GMT) on Sunday, with the NDP is expected to win a solid majority of the 508 elected seats and to make further gains when Hosni Mubarak, the president, fills the 10 remaining seats with his appointees.
The Muslim Brotherhood- the only serious organised opposition, is predicted to win far fewer seats than the fifth of parliament it secured in the last election in 2005.

The group, which registers its candidates as independents to avoid a ban on religious parties, has 130 members on ballots after more than a dozen were disqualified.
First results are expected on Monday.
...more in Al Jazeera - The Guardian - El País - France 24 - BBC

Elections without Democracy: Eid Mubarak, Egypt!.
As Gamal Mubarak seeks his father's throne, will hereditary succession again restrict democratisation in an Arab state?

Since the advent of Islam nearly 1400 years ago, Eid is celebrated twice a year to mark the end of fasting and the day of sacrifice.
For thirty years, it has literally been 'Eid Mubarak' in Egypt, whether or not it will be 'Eid Mubarak' for another thirty years in Egypt is uncertain, as the next generation of the Mubarak clan seeks to step into the political arena. The phrase has the sound of a neat political slogan as Egypt’s political and civil societies are whipped up by the current moment of transition or more aptly in-transition.
'Eid Mubarak' in these days of the Eid of sacrifice somewhat carries a different meaning: literally,'return Mubarak'. Which Mubarak? Does it really matter?
Egypt's First Lady Suzanne Mubarak is a dynamic and successful champion of books and literacy, however it is Gamal Mubarak's quest for the Holy Grail: rule of Egypt, which garners the most attention.
Eid Mubarak qua Gamal Mubarak may prove challenging for Egypt, Egyptians, Gamal and the Mubaraks. Gamal lacks his father's legitimacy: a jet-fighter pilot who fought against Israel, commander-in-chief of Egypt's might armed forces, and, in Western estimation, a peace-maker and a respected global statesman.
Returning the 'Mubaraks' may not fully hinge on the 2010 and the 2011 elections. This is at the core of democratic anomaly in the Arab Middle East: Elections distribute power, making it diffuse not unitary. The Arab world may be one noted exception.
Gamal may think playing electoral charades is sufficient to dupe the local and international publics. External endorsement - even American and Israeli - is not enough for Gamal's political inexperience to be rewarded with perhaps one of the most powerful seats of power in the entire Middle East.
Only one gap term after President Mubarak's departure and popular endorsement via free and fair elections afterwards should land Gamal Egypt's highest office, however that might be an ideal that requires the clause 'if all else being equal...'
...more in Al Jazeera

How to win power in Egypt's 'Sham-ocracy'

Al Jazeera's Ayman Mohyeldin examines the key to controlling Egypt ahead of a parliamentary election.
It is that time again when Egyptians will head to the polls to drive the democratic engine of the Arab world's most populous country.
But if anyone is expecting that engine to send the country into a fiery jumpstart, do not hold your breath.
Sad to say, the engine is puttering along and could use a kick-start, but the question on everyone's mind, both inside and outside government, is when, how and who exactly will begin the process.
Most Egyptians agree on one thing, though - they are all tired of being kicked around.

Sure, the democratic processes in Egypt are there, well written on paper for all to see. Yes, pluralism exists in the political parties. Indeed, civil society is robust, holding workshops to train cadres of election monitors and observers. True, the media has been emboldened to be more daring in issue-driven coverage of the country.
So what is missing in Egypt's democracy or, as it is often called, "sham-ocracy"?
The short answer is: belief. Nobody in Egypt believes they can make a difference, and more importantly no one in Egypt is entitled to believe they can make a difference.
Everyone believes it is someone else's responsibility rather than his or her own. Neither the individual voters, nor election monitors, opposition papers or political parties believe they can make a difference. That lack of belief stems from the systematic and deliberate marginalisation of a people for nearly half a century.

There are three loose groupings in Egypt: the guns, the banks and the people.
Control any two out of the three and you can control the country. The question is, which two are the most important to control? You can learn a little from each of Egypt's presidents, what each opted to control during their terms in office.
In the 1950s, a popular revolution brought to power a young Egyptian military officer. Gamal Abdel Nasser was a military man, but he was also emboldened by massive popular support that extended beyond the borders of his country.
Controlling the military, and with the support of the people, Nasser ruled Egypt untill his last breath, through a tumultuous period of independence, industrial prosperity and crises that earned Egypt its place in the international community.
...more in Al Jazeera - The Guardian
Read also:
The Muslim Brotherhood in flux. As Egypt's vote nears, the largest opposition group has ignored allies' boycott calls and will run candidates.
Has Egypt's ruling party grown fat? The NDP's decision to field multiple candidates in some districts in the upcoming election may backfire.

Inside story: Political change in Egypt?

Mohammed el-Baradei, a former Egyptian diplomat, is demanding political reform and a boycott of the upcoming elections. But he transform Egypt into a genuine democracy? How far will he be able to go? And is Egypt about to enter a new phase in its democratic transformation?

Egypt opposition activists arrested:
Egyptian authorities have arrested about 50 members of the Muslim Brotherhood, the outlawed opposition group, as they put up posters ahead of elections in November.
A security official, who wished to remain anonymous, said the political activists were rounded up in and around the coastal city of Alexandria on Tuesday because the posters bore religious slogans in violation of electoral laws.
Police arrested the members "at dawn as they were hanging posters for a woman candidate in various parts of the Alexandria governorate," Hussein Ibrahim, a Muslim Brotherhood politician and candidate, said.
The Brotherhood, which fields candidates as independents to get around the ban on it standing, won a fifth of the seats in the last election in 2005, despite a police crackdown.
Ibrahim, who will be standing for re-election in the November 28 parliamentary poll, said the posters carried the Quranic phrase "Allahu akbar" (God is greater).
..."The streets of Alexandria are rife with campaign posters for candidates from the National Democratic Party (NDP) which carry Quranic verses," Ibrahim said of the ruling party of Hosni Mubarak, the president.
The latest arrests bring to 260 the number of Brotherhood supporters who have been detained over the past 10 days, the security official said. Most of them have now been released.
A total of 508 seats are up for election in the legislature, which is currently dominated by the NDP.
Another 10 seats are presidential appointees.
...more in Al Jazeera

Inside Story - Egyptian-Israeli relations

Three decades after a peace treaty was signed between Egypt and Israel, Egypt's supreme court has upheld a ruling that strips Egyptian men married to Jewish Israeli women of their Egyptian citizenship. On this episode of Inside Story, we ask if relations between the two countries will ever truly be normalised.

...more in Al Jazeera

Protests over case against Egyptian blogger Wael Abbas

A human rights organisation in Egypt has accused the interior ministry of manipulating the legal system to target a blogger who exposed police brutality.
The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information said Wael Abbas had been sentenced to six months in jail in a case that had already been closed.
A Cairo appeals court cleared him last month of damaging an internet cable.
But he was then convicted of "providing a telecommunications service to the public without permission".
The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information said it would take legal action against Mr Abbas's neighbour, the brother of a police officer, whom it suspects of helping the authorities to persecute the blogger.
Mr Abbas's new conviction and sentence were also condemned by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
The CPJ quoted Mr Abbas's lawyer, Rawda Ahmed, as saying that neither he nor his client had been informed of the new legal action, and his client remained a free man on Friday.
...more in BBC - Al Jazeera - The Guardian - CNN / And in the webs: http://misrdigital.blogspirit.com/

Egypt tyranny extends "Emergency laws":
The Egyptian parliament has just given the go-ahead for some of the country's emergency laws to be extended.
The decades-old regulations were put in place after the assasination of Anwar Sadat, the former Egyptian president, almost 30 years ago.
Now the government has decided to lift some of those original restrictions - the changes state that the law would only apply to terror and drugs cases. Analysts argue that the latest step is a legal ploy that masks the law's violation of basic human rights. Al Jazeera's Amr El-Kahky reports.
...more in Al Jazeera - The Guardian

2008

El estado de emergencia, renovado cada tres años, signica que el régimen de Mubarak ha convertido la república en un estado policial / The state of emergency in Egypt has turned the country into a police state:

Egyptian parliament approved a request by the government to extend the country's emergency law, in place for the last 27 years. The extension comes despite promises made in 2005 by President Hosni Mubarak to abolish this law. The emergency law gives the Egyptian government broad powers to arrest and detain suspects without charges, refer civilians to military courts, close dissident publications and thwart demonstrations. It was introduced after the assassination of President Anwar Sadat during a military parade in 1981 and has been renewed every two years since. In 2005 Mubarak promised to pass an anti-terror act to replace the emergency law. The act, obviously, has not been passed and the Egyptian government has used that fact to extend the emergency law. ...more in AL JAZEERA

Dos peluqueros de los faraones, iconos gays: La cripta, ubicada en Saqara, es conocida con el nombre de 'Los Dos Hermanos'. Nyankh Khnom y Khom Hotep atendían al faraón Nyuserra (2500-2350 a.C.). Una discreta tumba de dos peluqueros de la época faraónica retratados en posturas equívocas en Saqara comienza a atraer a turistas gays de todo el mundo, pese a que los egipcios aseguran que son simplemente amigos. La cripta, ubicada en la zona arqueológica de Saqara, a unos 35 kilómetros al suroeste del centro de El Cairo, es conocida con el nombre de 'Los Dos Hermanos', aunque en realidad no lo eran. Nyankh Khnom y Khom Hotep eran los peluqueros y encargados de la manicura del faraón Nyuserra (2500-2350 a.C.), y fue la tumba común lo que hizo pensar en un principio que eran hermanos, hasta que se demostró que lo que les unía era una profunda amistad, explica el arqueólogo Ahsraf Mohiedin, uno de los responsables del conjunto de Saqara. El mausoleo adquirió relativa fama en los últimos años, después de que en una conferencia celebrada en la Universidad de Gales los peritos afirmasen que las escenas esculpidas en sus muros confirman que la homosexualidad era una conducta tolerada en el antiguo Egipto. "Los extranjeros creen que los dos peluqueros eran homosexuales porque en algunas escenas aparecen abrazados y como si se fueran a besarse, y eso en Occidente lo consideran una actitud propia de gays", dice Mohiedin, indignado porque esa idea "errónea" esté incluso atrayendo discretamente a un turismo gay. ...más en El País

Miles de palestinos cruzan la frontera hacia Egipto en busca de comida y medicamentos: Hombres armados hacen agujeros en el muro con explosivos. Las fuerzas de seguridad egipcias no contienen el paso masivo. Decenas de miles de palestinos de la Franja de Gaza han comenzado a colarse hoy en Egipto por el paso de Rafah, al sur del territorio palestino, en busca de comida y medicamentos ante el bloqueo de Israel. Un flujo humano, constante y masivo, que se produce sin violencia y sin que las fuerzas de seguridad egipcias, encargadas del control del paso fronterizo, hayan mostrado oposición. Según el diario Yedioth News, varios hombres armados enmascarados han hecho detonar esta noche varios explosivos junto a la valla fronteriza que separa Gaza del país vecino, lo que dejó abiertos varios agujeros por donde empezaron a pasar decenas de personas. A primera hora de la mañana de hoy, en cambio, milicianos palestinos han utilizado excavadoras para derrumbar parte del muro y han echado abajo la barrera sin que los gendarmes egipcios trataran de impedirlo. Ante el descontrol, el presidente egipcio, Hosni Mubarak, ha terminado por dar la orden de dejar pasar por la frontera “a todo habitante de Gaza que quiera comprar comida, medicinas o gasolina”. Mientras el Ministerio israelí de Asuntos Exteriores ha responsabilizado a las fuerzas de seguridad egipcias del éxodo palestino. Egipto se hizo cargo del paso de Rafah tras el repliegue del Ejército israelí de la Franja de Gaza, en septiembre de 2005, después de desalojar y desmantelar 21 asentamientos judíos. ...más en El País - El Mundo - Perfil

Encarcelados, torturados y encadenados por tener el virus del sida: Egipto maltrata a sus enfermos de VIH por superstición, creyendo que sólo siendo gays se atrapa la enfermedad (aunque la constitución no condena la homesexualidad). Dos de los chicos fueron arrestados en el centro de El Cairo en octubre, tras mantener una discusión. Uno explicó a los agentes que era seropositivo, suficiente para que fueran desplazados a la oficina de la Policía de la Moralidad, donde se les abrió una investigación por "conducta homosexual". Durante cuatro días fueron humillados y golpeados, esposados a un escritorio, obligados a dormir en el suelo y sometidos forzosamente a exámenes anales y análisis del VIH, pero los chicos se negaron a firmar las confesiones redactadas por la policía. Entonces fueron desplazados a un hospital, donde les encadenaron a sus camas mientras los agentes proseguían su persecución. Dos amigos cuyas fotografías o números de teléfono fueron hallados en posesión de los jóvenes también fueron arrestados y sometidos a análisis de sida sin su consentimiento. Mientras, el apartamento de uno de los primeros fue puesto bajo vigilancia: el 20 de noviembre, dos días después de que otra persona lo alquilase, el inquilino y otros tres hombres fueron detenidos. Según Human Rights Watch (HRW), la organización que ha realizado toda la investigación, el informe policial aclara que los cuatro estaban vestidos y que no mantenían ninguna actividad ilegal en el momento del arresto: sin embargo, fueron acusados de mantener una conducta homosexual por el hecho de vivir en la antigua casa de un seropositivo. También se les realizaron análisis, y uno resultó tener el VIH. Los cuatro han sido condenados a prisión asumiendo que sólo los homosexuales contraen el virus de la inmunodeficiencia adquirida. "Lo curioso es que la legislación egipcia no condena explícitamente la homosexualidad, pero dada la creciente popularidad de los islamistas y la necesidad del régimen de hacer concesiones hacia ellos para ganar cierto apoyo social la presión es enorme", explica George Azzi, presidente de la organización Helem, la única del mundo árabe que representa a gays, lesbianas, bisexuales y transexuales. De ahí que a Azzi no le sorprendiese la evolución del caso de los ocho jóvenes egipcios. ...más en El Mundo

2007

El cruel bloqueo israelí convierte Gaza en un nuevo Auschwitz: Israel corta el suministro de luz y de combustible a la franja palestina. La leucemia de Fadel, de seis años, requiere análisis imposibles de practicar en el hospital de pediatría Al Nasser de Gaza. Sameg, madre del niño, solicitó hace tres meses permiso al Gobierno israelí para su ingreso urgente en un centro de Tel Aviv. Aún espera la respuesta. Mientras, el sistema sanitario de la franja, habitada por 1,5 millones de personas, sigue degradándose: la escasez de anestesia y otros fármacos es alarmante, los equipos médicos no pueden ser reparados, y cientos de enfermos como Fadel necesitan urgentemente viajar para recibir tratamiento. Desde Israel llegó ayer una pésima noticia: el Ministerio de Defensa aprobó el corte del suministro eléctrico y de combustibles al territorio ocupado -habitado por millón y medio de personas-, que dependerá de la frecuencia del lanzamiento de cohetes kassam contra suelo hebreo. Los efectos del bloqueo impuesto desde febrero de 2006 son bestiales. La escasez de anestesia es alarmante, los equipos médicos no pueden ser reparados, la carestía de fármacos angustia a los médicos... El Gobierno de Ehud Olmert no distingue entre civiles y milicianos. "Si se disparan cohetes, los palestinos pagarán el precio", declaró ayer el viceministro de Defensa, el laborista Matan Vilnai. Como si no pagaran desde la victoria de Hamás en las elecciones, hace 21 meses. El deterioro económico es brutal. El 70% de los palestinos de Gaza recibe ayudas alimentarias de agencias internacionales. Ya lo dijo Dov Weisglass, asesor de Ariel Sharon y por unas semanas de Olmert, ante las sonrisas de los miembros del Gabinete: "Hay que hacer que adelgacen". La anemia se extiende. Y el sistema sanitario roza el colapso. ...más en diarios El País - El Mundo - ABC

Huelga de 20 diarios egipcios por las condenas contra cuatro directores: Los periódicos publicaron noticias sobre una supuesta enfermedad de Mubarak. Veinte diarios y páginas web de Egipto decidieron ayer no salir a la calle en protesta por las penas de cárcel impuestas a cuatro directores de periódicos que publicaron noticias sobre una supuesta enfermedad del presidente, Hosni Mubarak, de 79 años y en el poder por el terror y la corrupción y el apoyo de EEUU desde hace un cuarto de siglo. Mientras, el régimen de El Cairo se endurece, los editores prometen no dar un paso atrás en la defensa de sus intereses. El mensaje del Gobierno egipcio fue claro: con la salud del presidente no se juega. Pero la réplica de los medios de comunicación independientes, que se manejan con sumo tiento en el país árabe, también ha sido nítida. Los huelguistas no parecen dispuestos a aceptar nuevas cortapisas a la libertad de prensa ni van a amilanarse.
"Los periódicos independientes habían ganado cierto espacio en los últimos años, pero el tirano Mubarak está intentando revertir la situación", aseguró a la agencia Reuters Hisham Kassem, ex editor del periódico Al Masri al Yum y del Cairo Times, editado en inglés. "Los periódicos independientes han adoptado una posición firme y no aceptarán una vuelta atrás", añadió tajante Kassem. Ayer sólo se imprimieron los rotativos afines al régimen. ...más en diario El País

Cuatro años de cárcel y trabajos forzados para un egipcio por editar un blog con críticas en favor de la democracia en su país: ALEJANDRÍA (EGIPTO).- Un tribunal de la ciudad egipcia de Alejandría ha condenado a cuatro años de cárcel al blogger Abdelkarim Suleimán, de 22 años, por haber criticado públicamente al islam y al presidente Hosni Mubarak en su blog. La pena de cárcel irá además acompañada por la obligación de trabajos forzosos, según el veredicto leído por el presidente de la Sala Cuarta del Tribunal de lo Penal de Muharram Bek. A la vista han acudido una veintena de amigos y blogueros egipcios en solidaridad con él, algunos de los cuales se echaron a llorar al oír la sentencia. Un blogger que se identificó solo como Mohamed aseguró que los padres de Abdelkarim Suleimán fueron visitados por la policía, que les conminó a que no acudieran al juicio. El caso de Suleimán será todavía tratado por el Tribunal de Casación de Alejandría el próximo día 26, pero sus abogados ya han mostrado públicamente su pesimismo. ...más en diario El Mundo - El País - ABC - y el blog en árabe.

Mona Eltahawy blog

History of Egyptian Civilization

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