Egypt's opposition calls for 'revolt day'

Egypt's leading opposition figure and former IAEA chief, Mohamed ElBaradei

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/161829.html

Egypt's opposition groups have launched a nationwide call for protests in the hope of having a popular uprising similar to Tunisia's recent revolution.

Organizers of such would-be rallies urged Egyptians to join the Tuesday (Jan. 25) protest dubbed "the day of revolt against torture, poverty, corruption and unemployment."

They were inspired by a wave of street riots that ended the rule of the ousted president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

At least 87,000 people said they will participate on a specially created page on the social networking site Facebook, despite interior ministry warnings that it will deal "firmly" with people behaving illegally.

Egypt's leading opposition figure Mohamed ElBaradei expressed his support for the protest.

"If the Tunisians have done it, Egyptians should get there too," the former chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) told Germany's Der Spiegel in an interview.

A statement by ElBaradei's National Association for Change said that several of its members had been summoned by security services in the run-up to Tuesday's demonstrations.

The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest and most organized opposition movement, and the liberal Wafd -- the country's oldest opposition party -- have not formally endorsed the street protests, but have said many of their members will take part.

Meanwhile, Amnesty International has expressed concern over Cairo's poor human rights record and urged Egyptian authorities not to crack down on the planned protests.

"Egypt needs to allow peaceful protests, and stop arresting and intimidating peaceful opposition activists," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, deputy director for Amnesy's Middle East and North Africa program.

"The country's security forces have a worrying record when dealing with demonstrators, and we urge them to refrain from excessive and disproportionate force tomorrow," she went on to say.

In December, the self-immolation of 26-year-old Tunisian street vendor Mohammed Bouazizi unleashed a wave of street protests across the North African country that culminated in the ouster of Ben Ali after 23 years in power.

Bouazizi's attempt to draw attention to economic hardship and repression sparked a series of copycat public torching in Egypt, Algeria, Mauritania, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Sudan.

Tunisian grievances have been echoed throughout the Arab world, whose predominantly autocratic leaders were left unnerved by events in Tunisia.

Egyptians have long complained of economic difficulties, and Cairo has come under constant criticism for failing to lift an emergency law in place over the past three decades.