Hated security service dismantled in Egypt

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/170324.html

The revolution in Egypt has claimed yet another victory as one of their key demands is met.

The newly appointed Minister of Interior, Mansour al-Asawi announced the creation of a brand new security agency,"National Unity Force" and the dissolution of the widely-hated "Amn El-Dowla" or State Security Investigative Agency.

Hisham Safie Eldin served under the Ministry of Interior for over 15 years and blames much of the past problems on a failed system, not the people in service.

Many people fear the remnants of the old security agency may try to sabotage the post-revolution development and growth. But Safie Eldin has confidence in the future.

Though the move to remove the old state security agency has been widely welcomed, some still remain cautious.

Ahmed Abdul Qawy of the Reform and Development Party plans to keep a close watch on the new agency to prevent it from becoming yet another repressive body.

After Mubarak stepped down on February 11, Egyptians forced their way into the headquarters of the state service in Cairo and other provincial offices and took documents that they say were being shredded or burned to conceal evidence of human rights violations.

Some of those documents have been shown on State TV and posted on the internet.

The former state security agency Amn El Dowla had a poor reputation amongst the population for various mistreatments and human rights abuses. The minister of interior says the new security agency will work in line with the constitution, law and human rights principals.

Egypt army tries to clear Tahrir

Scuffles break out when soldiers try to remove protesters from Cairo's Tahrir Square, days after Mubarak is ousted.

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

Source: Al Jazeera
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/02/201121344230580591.html

Scuffles have broken out in Cairo's Tahrir Square as soldiers tried to remove activists from the epicentre of Egypt's uprising which resulted in the president stepping down.

Hundreds of protesters remained in the square on Sunday and organisers said they would not leave until more of their demands are met.

Meanwhile, normality was slowly returning to the rest of Egypt, at the start of the first working day since Hosni Mubarak was toppled during the weekend.

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

The tents, where protesters camped out during the 18 days of protests, were removed.

Protester Ashraf Ahmed said the military could tear down his tent, but that he was not going to leave "because so much still needs to be done. They haven't implemented anything yet.''

Al Jazeera's James Bays, reporting from Cairo, said the confrontations between troops and protesters was something of a "flashpoint".

"I think it reflects a bigger problem, that the military believes that now Mubarak is out, it's time for stability. But some of the protesters think not enough has been done yet. They don't want to clear that square until the army has handed over to a civilian government."

Protest organisers have threatened more rallies if the ruling Supreme Military Council fails to accept their agenda for reform.

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

Organisers want the dissolution of parliament and the lifting of a 30-year-old state of emergency.

Cabinet to stay

The spokesman for the cabinet, appointed when Mubarak was still in office, said on Sunday that it will not undergo a major reshuffle and will stay to oversee a political transformation in the coming months.

"The shape of the government will stay until the process of transformation is done in a few months, then a new government will be appointed based on the democratic principles in place," the spokesman told Reuters, adding that it was possible some portfolios could change hands in that period.

The Supreme Military Council vowed on Saturday to hand power to an elected, civilian government.

The military will "guarantee the peaceful transition of power in the framework of a free, democratic system which allows an elected, civilian power to govern the country to build a democratic, free state", a senior army officer announced on state television.

The council also pledged to honour its international treaties - in an apparent nod to the country's 1979 peace treaty with Israel.

"The Arab Republic of Egypt is committed to all regional and international obligations and treaties," the military statement read.

Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, welcomed the assurance, saying the "longstanding peace treaty between Israel and Egypt ... is the cornerstone for peace and stability in the entire Middle East".

Later on Saturday, Egyptian state television reported that prosecutors had begun an investigation into three former ministers from Mubarak's government.

Travel bans

Travel bans were imposed on former prime minister Ahmed Nazif and former interior minister Habib al-Adli, who were both sacked by Mubarak before he stepped down from the presidency on Friday.

A travel ban was also imposed on Anas el-Fekky, the information minister, who had been reappointed in a cabinet that had been swiftly sworn in as a concession to protesters. Shortly afterwards, Egypt's current prime minister Ahmed Shafiq told a private Egyptian television station that el-Fekky had resigned and that his resignation had been accepted.

Al Jazeera's Sherine Tadros, reporting from Cairo, said the bans were likely to be welcomed by pro-democracy activists, some of whom vowed to remain in the capital's Tahrir Square until their agenda for democratic reform is fully accepted.

"People out on the streets at the beginning were very much calling for the end of the regime, they were saying they don't want any of these people to remain in Egypt," she said.

"After the step down of President Hosni Mubarak they will be looking for accountability and that is what Egyptian authorities are now providing."

Our correspondent said questions now remain over how the military's transition to civilian rule will take place.

"I’m worried about the future," one Egyptian told Al Jazeera. "Nobody knows what's coming. We need to rebuild our country and economy because we are venturing into the unknown."

Despite the uncertainty, celebrations continued in Cairo and other parts of the country a day after Mubarak stepped down, handing power to the military.

Al Jazeera's online producer, Evan Hill, reported some instances of fighting between the army and protesters in Cairo as the military worked to dismantle barricades that protesters promptly put back in place in their effort to remain in the square.

For the most part, however, the day proceeded without any major incidents, following 18 days of rallies in Tahrir Square that culminated in a mass celebration on Friday at the news that Mubarak had stepped down.

The highest-ranking figure in Egypt is now Field Marshal Mohammed Hussein Tantawi, the country's defence minister and head of the military supreme council.

What next for Egypt?

Analysts, politicians and pro-democracy campaigners outline how they see the future of Egypt developing post-Mubarak.

People celebrating in Tahrir Square after the announcement that Mubarak had stepped down [Reuters]

Source: Al Jazeera
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/02/2011211185822855928.html

After 18 days of persistent protests calling for his resignation, Hosni Mubarak has stepped down as Egypt's president following three decades in power.

For an interim period, power has been handed over to the armed forces. Below, commentators, politicians and pro-democracy campaigners outline how they see the future of the country developing.

Mohamed ElBaradei, Egyptian opposition figure

"What I have been proposing is a transitional period of one year. We will have a provisional constitution. We'll have a transitional government, hopefully a presidential council, including a person from the army and a couple of civilians.

"The main idea is that the army and the Egyptian people will work together in a systematic way for a year to reach the point where we can hold a genuine free and fair election, a parliamentary election and a presidential election. I think the people of Egypt, who have been suppressed for at least 30 years, are ready to wait for a year as they see things are going in the right direction."

Ayman Nour, former presidential candidate, Al Ghad party

"From today, we are going to meet with the National Society for Change to arrive at a final conclusion whereby we can shape and define our demands.

"We want a civil state. We are going to agree on the shape and format of the transitional period of the coming few months. where the landscape of Egypt will change, through reforms, political and economical, whereby we can end by a civil state, free elections for people to chose who will represent them ... We can endure a transitional period for six to nine months, even a year.

"We have been waiting for years, years of struggle against this tyranny."

Adhaf Soueif, Egyptian writer and political commentator

"I imagine that we are going to want to put in place a civilian council that will put in place a civilian technocratic non-political government which will run the country while a constitution is being fixed so that it can serve its purpose of delivering free and fair democratic elections and then that should happen within six months within six months.

"The military has said it will guarantee this process. Obviously the details will have to be worked out but I think the last two weeks have been a crash-course and people have found such join and pleasure in it that the process will be quite smooth."

Catherine Ashton, EU foreign policy chief

"The critical thing for the EU now is to offer our support, to help in this process. It needs to be a process that people can believe in and the people of Egypt need to feel that there's a transition under way and that the people of Europe will be there to help them. We have a lot of experience and we will put resources behind that.

"We're keen to put that at the disposal. It's for the Egyptian people to decide their future but we're willing to help.

"We'll be looking to see whether we can support them in the election process, to help them not only to monitor the elections but also get ready for the elections, to look at whether we can support them in other ways, to build civil society, all the different elements to really build what I call deep democracy."

Hossam El Hamalawy, pro-democracy campaigner

"This is only the beginning. We have a list of demands and the battle is not over yet. We got rid of Mubarak but now it's time to get rid of the Mubarak dictatorship."

Ali Abdel Wahab, pro-democracy campaigner

"People are ushering in a new era for Egypt. What happens next much depends on how the military handles things from now on.

"What most expect is an interim government and not solely to be ruled by the military council because that would be just taking us back to the era of this horrendous regime that has rule the country not for 30 years but for 60.

"I think all of us have to be involved in creating democratic institutions and a powerful civil society assuring that freedom of expression becomes a trademark of the future Egypt."

Barack Obama, US president

"The people of Egypt have spoken. Their voices have been heard - and Egypt will never be the same. By stepping down, President Mubarak responded to the Egyptian peoples' hunger for change.

"Egyptians have made it clear that nothing less than genuine democracy will carry the day. The armed forces will now have to ensure a political transition that is credible in the eyes of the Egyptian people."

Post-Mubarak era dawns on Egypt

People power has spoken in the biggest Arab nation just four weeks after Tunisians toppled their own ageing ruler.




Source: Al Jazeera
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/02/201121253441731292.html

Egyptians have woken to a new dawn after 30 years of rule under Hosni Mubarak.

As the Muslim call to prayer reverberated across Cairo on Saturday, the sound of horns honking in jubilation could still be heard after a night when millions celebrated the fall of the president, who has handed over power to the military.

After 18 days of rallies at Cairo's Tahrir Square, resisting police assaults and a last-ditch raid by Mubarak supporters, people packed not just the epicentre but, it seemed, every street and neighbourhood of the capital. Similar was the scene in other cities and towns across the country.

Fireworks lit the night sky, cars honked under swathes of red, white and black Egyptian flags and people hoisted children above their heads. Some took souvenir pictures with smiling soldiers atop their tanks on city streets.

Everyone cried, laughed and embraced in the hope of a new era.

Al Jazeera’s Jacky Rowland, reporting from Cairo, said that in the coming days people will have some concerns.

“The obvious thing that is going to be concerning many people is to have some kind of a clear roadmap for the progress towards democratic elections,” she said. “After all this was a revolution not only to overthrow President Mubarak, but also to remove the whole system and install it with one where people would have freedom of choice with [regards to who] who runs the country.”

It all began when Omar Suleiman, the vice-president, said on Friday in a televised address that the president was "waiving" his office, and had handed over authority to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.

Suleiman's 50-word statement was received with a roar of approval and by celebratory chanting and flag-waving from a crowd of hundreds of thousands in Cairo's Tahrir Square, as well as by other pro-democracy campaigners who were attending protests across the country.



The top figure in Egypt is now Field Marshal Mohammed Hussein Tantawi, the country's defence minister and head of the supreme council.

In its third statement to the nation since Thursday, the council said in a televised address that it was examining the situation "in order to materialise the aspirations of our great nation".

The council spokesman said that "resolutions and statements regarding the ... actions to be followed" in order to achieve the demands of the people will be handed down later.

He also extended "greetings and appreciation" to Mubarak for his service to the country, and saluted the "martyrs and those who have fallen" during the protests.

Nezar al Sayyad, a Middle East specialist, told Al Jazeera that Egypt “is in a very critical stage in terms of what is going to happen next.”

“I think it’s extremely important to remember here that although Omar Suleiman made the announcement that Mubarak made the decision to step down, we don’t really know if Mubarak decided to step down or [if] he was forcibly removed by the armed forces and by the supreme council,” Al Sayyad said.

He said the next steps taken by Tantawi and other members of the supreme council, will “be extremely important in pushing the country forward”.

'Dream come true'

The crowd in Tahrir responded to Suleiman's statement by chanting "we have brought down the regime".

Mohamed ElBaradei, a prominent opposition leader, hailed the moment as being "a dream come true".

"I can't tell you how every Egyptian feels today," he said. "We have been able to restore our humanity ... to be free and independent".

ElBaradei reiterated that Egypt now needs to return to stability and proposed that a transition government be put in place for the next year.

The government, he said, would include figures from the army, from the opposition and from other circles.

"We need to go on ... our priority is to make sure the country is restored as a socially cohesive, economically vibrant and ... democratic country," he said.

Ayman Nour, another opposition figure and a former presidential candidate, told Al Jazeera that he would consider running for the presidency again if there was consensus on his candidacy.

He said Februray 11, 2011 is "the greatest day in Egyptian history".

"This nation has been born again. These people have been born again, and this is a new Egypt."

Amr Moussa, the secretary-general of the Arab League, said that he would resign from his post, one that he has headed for about 10 years, "within weeks". Some analysts say he may well run for the Egyptian presidency when elections are held.

Following Mubarak's announcement, our correspondent in Tahrir Square, said: "Tonight, after all of these weeks of frustration, of violence, of intimidation ... today the people of Egypt undoubtedly [feel they] have been heard, not only by the president, but by people all around the world."

'Explosion of emotion'

Our correspondents across the country reported scenes of jubilation and celebration on the streets of major cities.

"The sense of euphoria is simply indescribable," said our correspondent at Mubarak's Heliopolis presidential palace, where at least 10,000 pro-democracy activists had gathered.

"I have waited, I have worked all my adult life to see the power of the people come to the fore and show itself. I am speechless," Dina Magdi, a pro-democracy campaigner in Tahrir Square said.

"The moment is not only about Mubarak stepping down, it is also about people's power to bring about the change that no-one ... thought possible."

In Alexandria, Egypt's second largest city, our correspondent described an "explosion of emotion". He said that hundreds of thousands were celebrating in the streets.

'Farewell Friday'

Suleiman's announcement came after hundreds of thousands of Egyptians took the streets for the 18th consecutive day, marching on presidential palaces, state television buildings and other government installations.

They had dubbed the day 'Farewell Friday', and had called for "millions" to turn out and demand that Mubarak resign.

Hundreds of thousands gathered at Tahrir Square, chanting slogans against the government.

Similar numbers were also reported from Alexandria, where some protesters marched to a presidential palace there.

Protests were also reported from the cities of Mansoura, Mahalla, Suez, Tanta and Ismailia with thousands in attendance.

Violence was reported in the north Sinai town of el-Arish, where protesters attempted to storm a police station.

At least one person was killed, and 20 wounded in that attack, our correspondent said.

Hosni Mubarak resigns as president

Egyptian president stands down and hands over power to the Supreme Council for the Armed Forces.

Pro-democracy protesters in Tahrir Square have vowed to take the protests to a 'last and final stage' [AFP]

Source: Al Jazeera
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/02/201121125158705862.html

Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president, has resigned from his post, handing over power to the armed forces.

Omar Suleiman, the vice-president, announced in a televised address that the president was "waiving" his office, and had handed over authority to the Supreme Council of the armed forces.

Suleiman's short statement was received with a roar of approval and by celebratory chanting and flag-waving from a crowd of hundreds of thousands in Cairo's Tahrir Square, as well by pro-democracy campaigners who attended protests across the country on Friday.

"Tonight, after all of these weeks of frustration, of violence, of intimidation ... today the people of Egypt undoubtedly [feel they] have been heard, not only by the president, but by people all around the world," our correspondent at Tahrir Square reported, following the announcement.

Pro-democracy activists in the Egyptian capital had marched on the presidential palace and state television buildings on Friday, the 18th consecutive day of protests.

Anger at state television

At the state television building, thousands have blocked people from entering or leaving, accusing the broadcaster of supporting the current government and of not truthfully reporting on the protests.

"The military has stood aside and people are flooding through [a gap where barbed wire has been moved aside]," Al Jazeera's correspondent at the state television building reported.

He said that "a lot of anger [was] generated" after Mubarak's speech last night, where he repeated his vow to complete his term as president.

'Gaining momentum'

Outside the palace in Heliopolis, where at least ten thousand protesters had gathered in Cairo, another Al Jazeera correspondent reported that there was a strong military presence, but that there was "no indication that the military wants to crack down on protesters".

She said that army officers had engaged in dialogue with protesters, and that remarks had been largely "friendly".

Tanks and military personnel had been deployed to bolster barricades around the palace.

Our correspondent said the crowd in Heliopolis was "gaining momentum by the moment", and that the crowd had gone into a frenzy when two helicopters were seen in the air around the palace grounds.

"By all accounts this is a highly civilised gathering. people are separated from the palace by merely a barbed wire ... but nobody has even attempted to cross that wire," she said.

As crowds grew outside the palace, Mubarak left Cairo on Friday for the Red Sea resort of Sharm al-Shaikh, according to sources who spoke to Al Jazeera.

In Tahrir Square, hundreds of thousands of protesters gathered, chanting slogans against Mubarak and calling for the military to join them in their demands.

Our correspondent at the square said the "masses" of pro-democracy campaigners there appeared to have "clear resolution" and "bigger resolve" to achieve their goals than ever before.

However, he also said that protesters were "confused by mixed messages" coming from the army, which has at times told them that their demands will be met, yet in communiques and other statements supported Mubarak's staying in power until at least September.

Army statement

In a statement read out on state television at midday, the military announced that it would lift a 30-year-old emergency law but only "as soon as the current circumstances end".

The military said it would also guarantee changes to the constitution as well as a free and fair election, and it called for normal business activity to resume.

Many protesters, hoping for Mubarak's resignation, had anticipated a much stronger statement.

Al Jazeera's correspondent in Tahrir Square said people there were hugely disappointed and vowed to take the protests to "a last and final stage".

"They're frustrated, they're angry, and they say protests need to go beyond Liberation [Tahrir] Square, to the doorstep of political institutions," she said.

Protest organisers have called for 20 million people to come out on "Farewell Friday" in a final attempt to force Mubarak to step down.

Alexandria protests

Hossam El Hamalawy, a pro-democracy organiser and member of the Socialist Studies Centre, said protesters were heading towards the presidential palace from multiple directions, calling on the army to side with them and remove Mubarak.

"People are extremely angry after yesterday's speech," he told Al Jazeera. "Anything can happen at the moment. There is self-restraint all over but at the same time I honestly can't tell you what the next step will be ... At this time, we don't trust them [the army commanders] at all."

An Al Jazeera reporter overlooking Tahrir said the side streets leading into the square were filling up with crowds.

"It's an incredible scene. From what I can judge, there are more people here today than yesterday night," she said.

"The military has not gone into the square except some top commanders, one asking people to go home ... I don't see any kind of tensions between the people and the army but all of this might change very soon if the army is seen as not being on the side of the people."

Hundreds of thousands were participating in Friday prayers outside a mosque in downtown Alexandria, Egypt's second biggest city.

Thousands of pro-democracy campaigners also gathered outside a presidential palace in Alexandria.

Egyptian television reported that large angry crowds were heading from Giza, adjacent to Cairo, towards Tahrir Square and some would march on the presidential palace.

Protests are also being held in the cities of Mansoura, Mahala, Tanta, Ismailia, and Suez, with thousands in attendance.

Violence was reported in the north Sinai town of el-Arish, where protesters attempted to storm a police station. At least one person was killed, and 20 wounded in that attack, our correspondent said.

Anger at Mubarak statement

In a televised address to the nation on Thursday, Mubarak said he was handing "the functions of the president" to Vice-President Omar Suleiman. But the move means he retains his title of president.

Halfway through his much-awaited speech late at night, anticipation turned into anger among protesters camped in Tahrir Square who began taking off their shoes and waving them in the air.

Immediately after Mubarak's speech, Suleiman called on the protesters to "go home" and asked Egyptians to "unite and look to the future."

Union workers have joined the protests over the past few days, effectively crippling transportation and several industries, and dealing a sharper blow to Mubarak’s embattled regime.

Egypt braces for massive protest

Thousands of protesters are expected to march on the streets demanding his resignation after Mubarak remained defiant.



Source: Al Jazeera
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/02/201121125158705862.html

Hundreds of thousands of pro-democracy protesters are expected to march on the streets of Cairo and other Egyptian cities on Friday, in what could become the largest - and some fear the most violent - protests thus far.

The demonstrators’ hopes for the resignation of the President were dashed on Thursday as Hosni Mubarak, in a 17-minute address on television, said he was determined to stay in power until September, when his current term ends.

Mubarak said he was handing "the functions of the president" to Vice-President Omar Suleiman and that he would oversee an "exit" from the current crisis, and "realise the demands voiced by the youth and citizens ... without undermining the constitution in a manner that ensures the stability of our society".

Before he finished his anticlimactic speech, protesters camped in Tahrir Square, the epicentre of Egypt’s revolution, shouted "donkey, leave!"

Rabab Al Mahdi, a professor at the American University in Cairo, told Al Jazeera that the level of anger and frustration at the square was "unprecedented".

"This is putting us into a messy situation that can turn bloody at any moment," she said, adding that the fact that Mubarak "for more than 10 minutes, was talking about himself - very narcissistic, again, giving the message that he's still in control, and this, in and by itself, offended people."

Egyptian state television did not broadcast the scenes of anger after Mubarak's speech.

'People in tears'

Al Jazeera's Rawya Rageh, reporting from Cairo, said that halfway through Mubarak's speech, when the president spoke of his years in public service, people began taking off their shoes and waving them in the air in a dramatic Arab show of contempt.

"You could also see tears in some of the people's eyes ... a lot of screams of anger, people just breaking down in tears, people just breaking down in pain," our correspondent said.

Immediately after Mubarak's speech, Vice-President Suleiman called on the protesters to "go home" and asked Egyptians to "unite and look to the future."

"Youth of Egypt, heroes of Egypt, go back to your homes and businesses. The country needs you so that we build, develop and create," Suleiman said.

"Do not listen to tendentious radios and satellite televisions which have no aim but ignite disorder, weaken Egypt and distort its image."

But the demonstrators were undeterred by his appeal and began to immediately mobilise for fresh protests on Friday in response to Mubarak's speech.

Protesters had previously planned "Friday of martyrs" to memorialise the 300 or more who have been killed during pro-democracy protests, which now have entered a third week.

More than 1,000 protesters moved overnight nearer to the presidential palace in the upscale neighbourhood of Heliopolis in central Cairo but only a few of them were still there on Friday morning.

In addition to occupying Tahrir Square, pro-democracy protests blocked access to the parliament building near the square.

Thousands of protesters were also surrounding the radio and television building in Cairo, which they see as a mouthpiece for Mubarak's regime.

"This marks a new front in our struggle against this illegitimate regime," wrote one protesters on the microblogging site Twitter. "Now that Mubarak has refused to quit, gracefully, he'll pay the price."

Workers on strike

Union workers have joined the protests over the past few days, effectively crippling transportation and several industries, and dealing a sharper blow to Mubarak’s embattled regime. Outraged by Mubarak’s defiance, many more workers vowed to join the planned protests on Friday.

The people's anger was not restricted to Cairo. In Alexandria, Egypt's second largest city, crowds began roaring and shouting and headed toward the military base of the northern command.

Al Jazeera's Jamal Elshayyal, reporting from that city, said pro-democracy protesters were "more offended than ever" at hearing that Mubarak's intention to remain in power until September.

"They really do not understand how President Mubarak cannot comprehend the strong sentiments which they have been expressing over the past two weeks," he said.

The US and EU said the announcement to transfer some powers to the vice-president was grossly insufficient and falls short of genuine reforms demanded by the people.

"The Egyptian people have been told that there was a transition of authority, but it is not yet clear that this transition is immediate, meaningful or sufficient," Barack Obama, the US president, said in a statement.

Mohamed ElBaradei, a leading opposition figure, said Egypt "will explode" as a result of Mubarak's defiance and called on the Egyptian army to intervene "to save the country."

Egypt military to issue statement

State media reports that Egyptian military leaders held an important meeting as protesters plan new demonstrations.

Defence Minister Tantawi visited Tahrir Square, the focal point for the protests, last week [AFP]

Source: Al Jazeera
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/02/201121161511674298.html

Egyptian state news agency MENA has reported that Egyptian military leaders held an "important" meeting and plan to issue a response as protesters enraged by President Hosni Mubarak's latest refusal to step down gather for new demonstrations.

According to MENA, Hussein Tantawi, the chief commander and defence minister, chaired a meeting on Friday of the Armed Forces Supreme Council and it is expected that the military will issue an important statement to the people afterwards.

Protesters, streaming into Cairo's central Tahrir Square on Friday, have stepped up calls for the army to intervene against Mubarak, a former air force commander and one of its own.

The role of the military is seen as key in the outcome of the crisis.

An Egyptian army officer who has joined the protesters said 15 other middle-ranking officers had also gone over to the demonstrators.

"The armed forces' solidarity movement with the people has begun," Major Ahmed Ali Shouman told Reuters news agency on Friday. "Our goals and the people's are one."

Shouman said the officers would address the crowd after Friday midday prayers.

The army, sent onto the streets after police withdrew following their failure to crush protesters on January 28, has promised not to fire on demonstrators.

Pressure mounting

While refusing to resign or leave the country, Mubarak gave most of his powers to his vice-president late on Thursday, hours after the military made moves that had all the markings of a coup.

"We are waiting for a strong reaction from the army to Mubarak's speech," said Mohammed Mustapha, a protest spokesman. He said "huge numbers" of protesters were expected on Friday.

Organisers said protesters were already camped outside the presidential palace and buildings housing the cabinet, parliament and state TV. They planned rallies at six separate protest locations, in addition to Tahrir Square, the centre of the mass rallies that began on January 25.

"We are going to camp everywhere to put more pressure on the regime," said Abdel-Rahman Samir, an organiser.

Prominent reform advocate Mohamed ElBaradei, whose supporters were among the organisers of the 18-day-old wave of protests, warned in a Twitter message that "Egypt will explode".

"The army must save the country now," the Nobel Peace laureate said. "I call on the Egyptian army to immediately interfere to rescue Egypt. The credibility of the army is on the line."

Protesters' hopes that Mubarak would resign had been raised on Thursday when a council of the military's top generals announced it had stepped in to secure the country, and a senior commander told protesters in Tahrir Square that all their demands would soon be met.

Hints of rift

The military's Supreme Council said earlier on state TV that it was in permanent session, a status that it takes only in times of war.

It said it was exploring "what measures and arrangements could be made to safeguard the nation, its achievements and the ambitions of its great people." That suggested Tantawi and his generals were in charge of the country.

The statement was labelled "Communique No. 1," language that also suggests a military coup.

State TV showed Tantawi chairing the council with around two dozen top stern-faced army officers seated around a table.

Mubarak and Vice-President Omar Suleiman, a former army general and intelligence chief named to his post after the protests erupted, were not present, the strongest indication during the day of a rift

Mubarak refuses to leave office

Egyptian leader vows to cling to power until his term ends in September, putting to rest speculation that he will quit



Source: Al Jazeera
http://english.aljazeera.net/video/middleeast/2011/02/2011210215024957458.html

President Hosni Mubarak provoked rage on Egypt's streets when he said he would hand some powers to his deputy but disappointed protesters who had been expecting him to step down immediately after two weeks of demonstrations.

"Leave! Leave!" chanted thousands who had gathered in Cairo's Tahrir Square in anticipation that a televised speech would be the moment their demands for an end to Mubarak's 30 years of authoritarian, one-man rule were met.

Instead, the 82-year-old former general portrayed himself as a patriot overseeing an orderly transition until elections in September. He praised the young people who have stunned the Arab world with unprecedented demonstrations, offering constitutional change and a bigger role for Omar Suleiman, the vice-president

Defiant Mubarak refuses to resign

Egyptian president vows he will stay in office until September, and will not bow down to 'foreign pressure'

Thousands thronged Tahrir Square after the army's statement, in anticipation of Mubarak possibly resigning [EPA]

Source: Al Jazeera
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/02/2011210172519776830.html

Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president, has refused to step down from his post, saying that he will not bow to "foreign pressure" in a televised address to the nation.

Mubarak announced that he had put into place a framework that would lead to the amendment of six constitutional articles in the address late on Thursday night.

"I can not and will not accept to be dictated orders from outside, no matter what the source is," Mubarak said.

He said he was addressing his people with a "speech from the heart".

Mubarak said that he is "totally committed to fulfilling all the promises" that he has earlier made regarding constituional and political reform.

"I have laid down a vision ... to exit the current crisis, and to realise the demands voiced by the youth and citizens ... without undermining the constitution in a manner that ensures the stability of our society," he said.

He said he would stick by his earlier announcment of not seeking re-election in September, though he did delegate some powers to Omar Suleiman, the vice-president.

"I will remain adamant to shoulder my responsibility, protecting the constitution and safeguarding the interests of Egyptians [until the next elections].

"This is the oath I have taken before God and the nation, and I will continue to keep this oath," he said.

Mubarak said the current "moment was not against my personality, against Hosni Mubarak", and concluded by saying that he would not leave Egyptian soil until he was "buried under it".

Mubarak's comments were not well-received by hundreds of thousands gathered at Cairo's Tahrir Square and in other cities, who erupted into angry chants against him. Pro-democracy protesters had been expecting Mubarak to resign, and their mood of celebration quickly turned to extreme anger as they heard the president's speech.

Army meeting

Earlier, the Supreme Council of Egyptian Armed Forces had met to discuss the ongoing protests against Mubarak's government.

In a statement entitled 'Communique Number One', televised on state television, the army said it had convened the meeting response to the current political turmoil, and that it would continue to convene such meetings.

Thurday's meeting was chaired by Mohamed Tantawi, the defence minister, rather than Mubarak, who, as president, would normally have headed the meeting.

"Based on the responsibility of the armed forces and its commitment to protect the people and its keenness to protect the nation... and in support of the legitimate demands of the people [the army] will continue meeting on a continuous basis to examine measures to be taken to protect the nation and its gains and the ambitions of the great Egyptian people," the statement.

Tens of thousands poured into Tahrir Square after the army statement was televised. Thousands also gathered in Alexandria, Egypt's second city, our correspondent said.

Earlier, Hassan al-Roweni, an Egyptian army commander, told protesters in the square that "everything you want will be realised".

Hassam Badrawi, the secretary general of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), told the BBC and Channel 4 News earlier on that he expected Mubarak to hand over his powers to Omar Suleiman, the vice-president.

"I think the right thing to do now is to take the action that would satisfy ... protesters," Badrawi told BBC television in a live interview.

Ahmed Shafiq, the country's prime minister, also told the BBC that the president may step down on Thursday evening, and that the situation would be "clarified soon". He told the Reuters news agency, however, that Mubarak remained in control, and that "everything is still in the hands of the president".

However, Anas el-Fekky, Egypt's information minister, denied all reports of Mubarak resigning from early in the day.

"The president is still in power and he is not stepping down," el-Fekky told Reuters. "The president is not stepping down and everything you heard in the media is a rumour."

Mubarak met with Omar Suleiman, the vice-president, at the presidential palace ahead of his address.

'Witnessing history unfold'

Mahmoud Zaher, a retired general in the Egyptian army, said that Mubarak's absence from the army meeting was a "clear and strong indication that [Mubarak] is no longer present", implying that the Egyptian president was not playing a role in governance any longer.

In short comments ahead of a scheduled speech at Northern Michigan University, Barack Obama, the US president, said the US was watching the situation in Egypt "very closely". Mubarak had not spoken at that time.

"What is absolutely clear is that we are witnessing history unfold," he said, adding that this was a "moment of transformation" for Egypt.

"Going forward, we want ... all Egyptians to know that America will continue to do everything that we can to support an orderly and genuine transition to democracy."

Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, responded to reports that Mubarak may resign by saying that he hoped whoever replaced him would uphold Egypt's peace treaty with Israel, according to an Israeli radio report.

Catherine Ashton, the European Union's foriegn affairs chief, said that the 27-nation bloc is ready to help Egypt build a "deep democracy".

"I reiterated that no matter what happens in the next hours and days, the European Union stands ready to hep build the deep democracy that will underpin stability for the people of Egypt," she said in a statement, referring to a conversation she had with Aboul Gheit, the Egyptian foreign minister, earlier in the day.

Protesters had earlier responded to statements from political leaders as indicating that they had been successful in their key demand of wanting Mubarak to step down.

Wael Ghonim, the Google executive who has played a key role in helping protesters get organised, said on the microblogging site Twitter on Thursday evening: "Mission accomplished. Thanks to all the brave young Egyptians."

Jacky Rowland, our correspondent in Tahrir Square, described the atmosphere as "electric", with "standing room only" in the central Cairo area. She said that thousands gathered there were "celebrating a victory which has been anticipated, rather than actually achieved".

In Alexandria, Jamal ElShayyal, our correspondent, said the atmosphere had turned "from joyous to now furious".

Labour union strikes

The developments came as the 17th day of pro-democracy protests continued across the country on Thursday, with labour unions joining pro-democracy protesters.

Egyptian labour unions held nationwide strikes for a second day, adding momentum to the pro-democracy demonstrations in Cairo and other cities.

Al Jazeera correspondents in Cairo reported that thousands of doctors, medical students and lawyers, the doctors dressed in white coats and the lawyers in black robes, marched in central Cairo earlier on Thursday and were hailed by pro-democracy protesters as they entered Tahrir [Liberation] Square.

The artists syndicate and public transport workers, including bus drivers, also joined the strikes, our correspondents reported.

Pro-democracy supporters across the country had early on Thursday called for a ten-million strong demonstration to take place after this week's Friday prayers.

Hosni Mubarak 'may step down'

Ruling party officials suggest Egypt's president may 'meet protesters demands', as army continues to monitor situation.

Ruling party officials have said that the embattled president may resign [GALLO/GETTY]

Source: Al Jazeera
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/02/20112101653445426.html

The Supreme Council of Egyptian Armed Forces has met to discuss the ongoing protests against the government of Hosni Mubarak, the president.

In a statement entitled 'Communique Number One', televised on state television, the army said it had convened the meeting response to the current political turmoil, and that it would continue to convene such meetings.

Thurday's meeting was chaired by Mohamed Tantawi, the defence minister, rather than Mubarak, who, as president, would normally have headed the meeting.

"Based on the responsibility of the armed forces and its commitment to protect the people and its keenness to protect the nation... and in support of the legitimate demands of the people [the army] will continue meeting on a continuous basis to examine measures to be taken to protect the nation and its gains and the ambitions of the great Egyptian people," the statement.

The army's statement was met with a roar of approval from protesters in Tahrir Square as vast crowds poured into the area.

Earlier, Hassan al-Roweni, an Egyptian army commander, told protesters in the square that "everything you want will be realised".

Protesters have demanded that Mubarak immediately stand down as president.

Hassam Badrawi, the secretary general of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), told the BBC and Channel 4 News on that he expected Mubarak to hand over his powers to Omar Suleiman, the vice-president.

"I think the right thing to do now is to take the action that would satisfy ... protesters," Badrawi told BBC television in a live interview.

Ahmed Shafiq, the country's prime minister, also told the BBC that the president may step down on Thursday evening, and that the situation would be "clarified soon". He told the Reuters news agency, however, that Mubarak remained in control, and that "everything is still in the hands of the president".

However, Anas el-Fekky, Egypt's information minister, denied all reports of Mubarak resigning.

"The president is still in power and he is not stepping down," el-Fekky told Reuters. "The president is not stepping down and everything you heard in the media is a rumour."

State television has announced that Mubarak is due to deliver an address to the nation on Thursday night.

Mahmoud Zaher, a retired general in the Egyptian army, said that Mubarak's absence from the army meeting was a "clear and strong indication that [Mubarak] is no longer present", implying that the Egyptian president was not playing a role in governance any longer.

Robert Gibbs, the White House spokesman, said the US was closely watching a "very fluid situation".

Wael Ghonim, the Google executive who has played a key role in helping protesters get organised, said on the microblogging site Twitter on Thursday evening: "Mission accomplished. Thanks to all the brave young Egyptians."

He added shortly after, however, that protesters should "wait and see" before reaching any conclusions.

Jacky Rowland, our correspondent in Tahrir Square, described the atmosphere as "electric", with "standing room only" in the central Cairo area. She said that thousands gathered there were "celebrating a victory which has been anticipated, rather than actually achieved".

Labour union strikes

The developments come as the 17th day of pro-democracy protests continued across the country on Thursday, with labour unions joining pro-democracy protesters.

Egyptian labour unions held nationwide strikes for a second day, adding momentum to the pro-democracy demonstrations in Cairo and other cities.

Al Jazeera correspondents in Cairo reported that thousands of doctors, medical students and lawyers, the doctors dressed in white coats and the lawyers in black robes, marched in central Cairo and were hailed by pro-democracy protesters as they entered Tahrir [Liberation] Square.

The artists syndicate and public transport workers, including bus drivers, also joined the strikes, our correspondents reported.

"It's certainly increasing the pressure on the government here," Al Jazeera's Steffanie Dekker, reporting from Cairo, said.

"I think it's worth making the distinction that the strikes going on are more of an economic nature, they are not necessarily jumping on the bandwagon of the protesters in Tahrir Square.

"Many of them are not actually calling for the president to step down, but fighting for better wages, for better working conditions."

Pro-democracy supporters across the country have meanwhile called for a ten-million strong demonstration to take place after this week's Friday prayers.

Hoda Hamid, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Cairo, said that the mood in Liberation Square was "one of defiance, and if we judge by what is happening today, then I think ... many more people will heed that call and turn up".

She reported that some protesters had drawn up a list of demands beyond simply the exit of Mubarak. They included the formation of a transition government, which would include a council of presidents, representation from the army and well-respected judges, for the period of one year.

They demanded that parliament be dissolved and that a temporary constitution be put in place while a new one was drawn up by legal experts.

Al Jazeera's Ayman Mohyeldin in Cairo reported that at least five government buildings, including the governor's office and the office for public housing, were set alight in two straight days of riots in the northeastern town of Port Said. The situation in the city had calmed by Thursday evening, he said.

Protest investigation

Meanwhile, an immediate investigation has been launched and possible criminal charges could be brought against the senior officer who ordered the firing on protesters during protests on January 28 protests, Moyheldin said.

The ministry of interior also announced the sacking of the head of security in the New Valley governorate, Moyheldin said.

Also on Thursday, Mahmoud Wagdy, the interior minister, announced that the police were back at work on the streets of the capital.

Meanwhile, Suleiman, the country's vice-president, said on Thursday that his comments to American television station ABC had been taken out of context.

In his interview, Suleiman suggested that Egyptians were "not ready" for democracy. He had also earlier said that if protesters did not enter into dialogue with the Mubarak government, the army may be forced into carrying out a coup.

According to a statement released to a government news agency, Suleiman "emphasised that some sentences in his remarks ... were understood in the wrong way, especially his remarks regarding democratic transition in Egypt".

Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch said the death toll from violent clashes during protests has reached 302 since January 28.

Egypt's health ministry has denied the figures, saying official statistics would be released shortly.

Workers to continue Egypt strikes

Thousands of doctors are among those expected to join workers' strike as anti-Mubarak demonstration enters its 17th day.



Source: Al Jazeera
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/02/20112107944393156.html

Egyptian labour unions plan to hold more nationwide strikes for a second day, adding momentum to the pro-democracy demonstrations in Cairo and other cities.

The move comes as the demonstrations calling for President Hosni Mubarak's immediate ouster enters its 17th day.

Al Jazeera's Stefanie Dekker, reporting from Cairo, said about 5,000 doctors and medical students were expected to come out on Thursday.

"It's certainly increasing the pressure on the government here. I think it's worth making the distinction that the strikes going on are more of an economic nature, they are not necessarily jumping on the bandwagon of the protesters in Tahrir Square, ...many of them are not actually calling for the president to step down, but fighting for better wages, for better working conditions."

Our correspondents, reporting from across Egypyt, said around 20,000 factory workers had stayed away from work on Wednesday.

"[Strikers] were saying that they want better salaries, they want an end to the disparity in the pay, and they want the 15 per cent increase in pay that was promised to them by the state," Shirine Tadros, reported from Cairo.

Some workers were also calling for Mubarak to step down, she said.

Culture minister quits

Meanwhile, Gaber Asfour, the recently appointed culture minister, resigned from Mubarak's cabinet on Wednesday for health reasons, a member of his family told Reuters.

But the website of Egypt's main daily newspaper Al-Ahram said Asfour, a writer, was under pressure from literary colleagues over the post.

Asfour was sworn in following the start of the protests on January 31, and believed it would be a national unity government, al-Ahram said.

Determined protesters continue to rally in Cairo's Tahrir [Liberation] Square, and other cities across the country. They say they will not end the protests until Mubarak, who has been at the country's helm since 1981, steps down.

Protesters with blankets gathered outside the parliament building in Cairo on Wednesday, with no plan to move, our correspondent reported. The demonstrators had put up a sign that read: "Closed until the fall of the regime".

There was also a renewed international element to the demonstrations, with Egyptians from abroad returning to join the pro-democracy camp.

Our correspondent said an internet campaign is currently on to mobilise expatriates to return and support the uprising.

Protesters are "more emboldened by the day and more determined by the day", Ahmad Salah, an Egyptian activist, told Al Jazeera from Cairo. "This is a growing movement, it's not shrinking."

Meanwhile, 34 political prisoners, including members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood opposition group, were reportedly released over the past two days.

Our correspondent said that there are still an unknown number of people missing, including activists thought to be detained during the recent unrest.

Human Rights Watch said the death toll has reached 302 since January 28. However, Egypt's health ministry denied the figures, saying official statistics would be released shortly.

Egypt army to shoot commanders?

Protesters sit inside the tracks of Egyptian Army tanks both to prevent them from moving and to shield themselves from the rain, as a soldier, talks to one of them at the protest site opposite the Egyptian Museum near Liberation Square in downtown Cairo.

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/164525.html

An Egyptian activist says several Egyptian army officers and soldiers have warned the military that they will no longer shoot protesters, instead they will shoot the commanders.

"I think some of them (the army personnel) might join protesters. We have heard some of the officers and soldiers saying if we receive an order to shoot people, we would shoot whoever issued the order," Wael Abbas, a member of the opposition Egypt Revolution Youth Movement, told Press TV in a phone interview on Thursday.

Egypt Revolution Youth Movement has been one of the active rights groups in 17 days of revolution which has rocked the North African country.

"I have no confirmation if the army is going to intervene in favor of the protesters or in favor of the regime," Abbas added.

Revolution has entered its 17th consecutive day in crisis-hit Egypt, despite massive crackdown on demonstrators in the past two days, which left more than a hundred people killed or wounded.

Thousands of pro-democracy protesters camped overnight in the streets in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, near parliament building, the site of a massive march on Wednesday.

The angry protesters blocked roads and railways connecting the northern part of the country to the south on Thursday.

Reports say the protesters set fire to tires placed across the main motorway that goes from Cairo to Assiut, 350 kilometers south of Cairo.

Around 8,000 protesters, mainly farmers, took to the streets in Assiut, and used wooden planks and bricks to block the railway line. More than 3,000 railway workers went on strike to put more pressure on Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to resign.

Meanwhile, the army has been deployed in force in the capital Cairo. Security is reportedly tight in the streets leading to Nasr City and New Egypt districts.

Egypt's main opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, earlier revealed that the regime of the embattled Mubarak intends to crack down on Friday's "Day of Massive Protest March."

The Muslim Brotherhood says some 30,000 security forces will be deployed to prevent any pro-democracy protests in Cairo's Liberation Square.

The group added that it has called 800,000 of its members for the Friday demonstrations.

Egypt has been rocked by millions-strong nationwide protests against beleaguered Mubarak over the past 17 days. The protesters want Mubarak to step down.

Hundreds of protesters were killed and wounded in Kharga in southern Egypt, on Wednesday.

Empire: Pax Americana

Empire looks at the dramatic changes taking place in the Arab world and their strategic implications.






Source: Al Jazeera
http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/empire/2011/02/20112875931593543.html

The fear factor has been broken, the genie is out of the bottle. Arabs have taken to the streets demanding freedom. As the winds of change blew across the Arab world, the US, the power that has long dominated the region, has been particularly absent.

With all its allies crumbling one after another, what will the US do to maintain its influence in the region? And what can be expected of Israel, the country's closest ally in the region?

Will the spread of democracy lead to a peaceful end to decades of autocratic rule in the Middle East or will the fear of Islamist extremism galvinise Washington's resolve to reinforce Pax Americana?

Our guests today are: Rashid Khalidi, a professor of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University; Seymour Hersh, a Pulitzer-winning author; and Thomas Pickering, the former US under secretary of state.

Our interviewees are: Clovis Maksoud, the director of the Center for the Global South; and Rob Malley, the Middle East director of International Crisis Group.

This special episode of Empire aired from Monday, February 7, 2011

Egypt VP: Protests must end soon

A day after offering sweeping concessions, Omar Suleiman expresses impatience with burgeoning pro-democracy protests










Egyptian vice-president said the alternative to dialogue is a coup. [EPA]

Source: Al Jazeera
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/02/201128225410121154.html

Omar Suleiman, the Egyptian vice-president, warned on Tuesday that his government "can't put up with continued protests" for a long time, as tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters rallied in Cairo's Tahrir Square for the sixteenth day in a row.

In a sharply worded statement reflecting the regime's impatience and frustration with the mass demonstrations, the newly appointed Suleiman said the crisis must be ended as soon as possible.

Increasingly the public face of the embattled government, Suleiman said there will be "no ending of the regime" and no immediate departure for President Hosni Mubarak, according to the state news agency MENA, reporting on a meeting between the vice-president and independent newspapers.

The immediate departure of Mubarak is a key demand for the pro-democracy demonstrators. Mubarak's pledge to not seek another term later this year didn't tame the angry protests.

Meanwhile, the UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon added his voice to host of countries calling for "an orderly transition" in Egypt.

Speaking at the United Nations headquarters in New York, Moon said Egyptian government must heed the call from its people for greater reform immediately.

Subtle threat

Suleiman reportedly told the editors of the newspapers that the regime wants dialogue to resolve protesters' demands for democratic reform, adding, in a veiled warning, that the government doesn't "want to deal with Egyptian society with police tools."

At one point in the roundtable meeting, Suleiman warned that the alternative to dialogue "is that a coup happens, which would mean uncalculated and hasty steps, including lots of irrationalities. We don't want to reach that point, to protect Egypt."

Pressed by the editors to explain the comment, he said he did not mean a military coup but that "a force that is unprepared for rule" could overturn state institutions, said Amr Khafagi, editor-in-chief of the privately-owned Shorouk daily, who attended the briefing.

"He doesn't mean it in the classical way."

"The presence of the protesters in Tahrir Square and some satellite stations insulting Egypt and belittling it makes citizens hesitant to go to work," he said.

Egyptian military, widely hailed for professionalism and restraint, has vowed not to use force against peaceful protesters. President Mubarak, his deputy and the new prime minister, Ahmed Shafiq, are all retired military officers with deep links to the institution.

Sticks and carrots

Suleiman warned that calls by some protesters for a campaign of civil disobedience are "very dangerous for society and we can't put up with this at all."

This comes a day after Suleiman announced a slew of constitutional reforms, to be undertaken by yet to be formed committees.

Suleiman said that one committee would carry out constitutional and legislative amendments to enable a shift of power while a separate committee will be set up to monitor the implementation of all proposed reforms. The two committees will start working immediately, he said.

Suleiman stressed that demonstrators will not be prosecuted and that a separate independent fact-finding committee would be established to probe the violence on February 2.

Protests swell at Tahrir Square

Tens of thousands pour into central Cairo seeking president Mubarak's ouster, despite a slew of government concessions.




Source: Al Jazeera
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/02/201128123235508653.html

Thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators have poured into Cairo's Tahrir (Liberation) Square as protests against Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president, entered their 15th day despite a slew of concessions announced by the government.

Tens of thousands of protesters have also come out on the streets in Alexandria, Egypt's second largest city.

There were also reports of a protest outside the parliament building in the capital. Witnesses said protesters had pitched a tent in front of the building and are likely to stay there.

According to Hoda Abdel-Hamid, Al Jazeera's correspondent in the Egyptian capital, the crowd at Tahrir Square grew rapidly on Tuesday afternoon, with many first-timers joining protesters seeking Mubarak's immediate ouster.

The newcomers said they had been inspired in part by the release of Wael Ghonim, the Google executive, after what he said was two weeks of detention by state security authorities.

Ghonim was the person behind a page called "We are all Khaled Said" on the social networking site Facebook, which is being credited for helping spark the uprising in Egypt.

"I came here for the first time today because this cabinet is a failure, Mubarak is still meeting the same ugly faces ... he can't believe it is over. He is a very stubborn man," Afaf Naged, a former member of the board of directors of the state-owned National Bank of Egypt, said.

"I am also here because of Wael Ghonim. He was right when he said the NDP [ruling National Democratic Party] is finished. There is no party left, but they don't want to admit it," she said.

Amr Fatouh, a surgeon, said he had joined the protests for the first time as well.

"I hope people will continue and more people will come. At first, people did not believe the regime would fall but that is changing," he said.

Another Al Jazeera journalist, reporting from the square, said the protesters' resolve seemed very high. Many said they would not leave until their demands are met.

The determined protesters have reportedly composed a 'revolution anthem' to boost morale.

Meanwhile, about 20 lawyers have petitioned Abdel Meguid Mahmoud, the country's prosecutor general, to try Mubarak and his family for allegedly stealing state wealth.

Ibrahim Yosri, a lawyer and a former deputy foreign minister, has drafted the petition.

Constitutional reforms

But Mubarak's message has thus far been that he will not leave until his term expires in September.

However in a statement made on Egyptian state television on Tuesday, Omar Suleiman, the country's vice-president, said that a plan was in place for the peaceful transfer of power.

He announced formation of two independent committees for political and constitutional reforms.

Suleiman said that one committee would carry out constitutional and legislative amendments to enable a shift of power while a separate committee will be set up to monitor the implementation of all proposed reforms. The two committees will start working immediately, he said.

Suleiman stressed that demonstrators will not be prosecuted and that a separate independent fact-finding committee would be established to probe the violence on February 2.

The government had offered on Monday a pay rise to public-sector workers, but the pro-democracy camp said the government had conceded little ground in trying to end the current crisis.

"[The pay rise] doesn't mean anything," Sherif Zein, a protester at Tahrir Square told Al Jazeera on Tuesday.

"Maybe it will be a short-term release for the workers ... but most of the people will realise what this is, it's just a tablet of asprin, but it's nothing meaningful."

Beyond Tahrir Square, life has been slowly getting back to normal in other parts of Cairo with some shops and banks reopening.

Tourism sector affected

However, the country's tourism sector is still suffering, with the area around the famed pyramids remaining closed. The Credit Agricole bank says the protests are costing Egypt more than $300m a day.

"There is a lot of popular public sentiments in Cairo and wider Egypt regarding what those protesters are trying to achieve but at the same time, people are trying to get back to live as normal lives as possible," our correspondent said.

Another correspondent, also in Cairo, said: "There are divisions. On one side, people do agree with the messages coming out of Tahrir Square, but on the other, Egypt is a country where about 40 per cent of the population lives on daily wages."

Al Jazeera's Andrew Simmons, reporting from Cairo, said that a so-called battle for hearts and minds is going on.

"Anti-government demonstrators are pushing to convince the country that Mubarak needs to go, but some also don't want the country to plunge into chaos," he said.

"There is also a struggle to get back to normality. Many want to get back to normal lives, but at the same time want this campaign to continue."

Tanks continue to guard government buildings, embassies and other important institutions in the capital.

Blogger's release 'reignites' Egypt

Google executive Wael Ghonim speaks after release from Egyptian custody, sparking outpouring of support from protesters




Egypt's demonstrations have been ongoing since January 25 as protesters call for Mubarak to resign

Source: Al Jazeera
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/02/20112722535988460.html

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.

'Not a hero'

The prominent blogger spoke to Egypt's On TV after his release on Monday, pleading with reporters not to call him a hero.

"Please don't make me a hero. I'm not a hero. I have been asleep for 12 days," he said.

"I hope that we would be able to put an end to all the rubbish in this country. The rubbish really needs to be cleaned up."

Ghonim gave a subsequent, emotional interview to the privately owned Egyptian channel Dream TV later on Monday.

"I am not a symbol or a hero or anything like that, but what happened to me is a crime," he told Dream TV.

"If you want to arrest me, that's your right. But there are laws and I am not a terrorist or a drug-dealer. We have to tear down this system based on not being able to speak out."

Ghonim said he was blindfolded during his 12 days in the custody of state security so that he could not identify his interrogators, but he said that he was not physically tortured.

He described his abduction as a "crime which we are fighting", adding that the law that allows such actions such be changed - a reference to the country's emergency laws.

Al Jazeera's correspondent in the northern Egyptian city of Alexandria said the interview will "no doubt have a massive impact on the number of pro-democracy protesters" in the country.

"I expect their numbers to increase dramatically tomorrow and Friday because of this show," our correspondent said.

"The show also included an interview with a former state TV presenter who dismissed her previous employers as liars and propaganda artists for Mubarak.

"The show ended with a plea from her: 'To all the children watching this show, go to your parents, tell them: mum, dad, if you want me to have a brighter future, a good education, then take me to Tahrir square tomorrow'."

Sparking the uprising

Activists said Ghonim was the person behind a page on the social networking site Facebook that is credited for helping spark the uprising in Egypt.

The "We are all Khaled Said" page and Facebook group was named after an Egyptian activist who rights groups said was beaten to death by police in the northern port city of Alexandria. Two officers are now facing trial in the case.

Pro-democracy protesters have continued their sit-in in Cairo's Tahrir Square since mass protests began on January 25. The demonstrations showed no signs of being appeased on Tuesday by talks between the government and opposition groups on Sunday.

But the number of protesters in the streets has decreased since the height of the protests on January 28, a day demonstrators billed the Day of Wrath.

However, immediately after Ghonim's interview on Dream TV on Monday, activists asserted that the blogger had breathed new life into the protests.

"Left breathless by Wael Ghonim. InshaAllah his sincerity & patriotism, beamed into Egypt's living rooms, will ignite this revolution #Jan25," Twitter user Desert_Dals wrote.

"My aunt called me crying after Ghonim's interview saying "I'm going to Tahrir tomorrow! God Bless him! He made us proud!" Twitter user MennaGamal wrote on her account.

"Ghonim just became the mayor of Tahrir Square!" Twitter user AngelSavant wrote.

DFMorrison, another Twitter user wrote, "If you feel recharged by #Ghonim for the Egyptian Revolution to reach its goals, Retweet! #Tahrir #Egypt #25Jan."

The UN says at least 300 people have been killed in the violence since the demonstrations began, with Human Rights Watch, the international rights group, putting the number killed in the cities of Cairo, Alexandria and Suez at 297 on Monday.

Ghonim, in his interview on Monday, paid tribute to those killed.

"I want to say to every mother and every father that lost his child, I am sorry, but this is not our fault.

"I swear to God, this is not our fault. It is the fault of everyone who was holding on to power greedily and would not let it go."

Suleiman: The CIA's man in Cairo

Suleiman, a friend to the US and reported torturer, has long been touted as a presidential successor.

Lisa Hajjar



Suleiman meets with Israeli president Shimon Peres in Tel Aviv, November 2010 [Getty]

Source: Al Jazeera
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/02/201127114827382865.html

On January 29, Omar Suleiman, Egypt’s top spy chief, was anointed vice president by tottering dictator, Hosni Mubarak. By appointing Suleiman, part of a shake-up of the cabinet in an attempt to appease the masses of protesters and retain his own grip on the presidency, Mubarak has once again shown his knack for devilish shrewdness. Suleiman has long been favoured by the US government for his ardent anti-Islamism, his willingness to talk and act tough on Iran - and he has long been the CIA’s main man in Cairo.

Mubarak knew that Suleiman would command an instant lobby of supporters at Langley and among 'Iran nexters' in Washington - not to mention among other authoritarian mukhabarat-dependent regimes in the region. Suleiman is a favourite of Israel too; he held the Israel dossier and directed Egypt’s efforts to crush Hamas by demolishing the tunnels that have functioned as a smuggling conduit for both weapons and foodstuffs into Gaza.

According to a WikiLeak(ed) US diplomatic cable, titled 'Presidential Succession in Egypt', dated May 14, 2007:

"Egyptian intelligence chief and Mubarak consigliere, in past years Soliman was often cited as likely to be named to the long-vacant vice-presidential post. In the past two years, Soliman has stepped out of the shadows, and allowed himself to be photographed, and his meetings with foreign leaders reported. Many of our contacts believe that Soliman, because of his military background, would at least have to figure in any succession scenario."

From 1993 until Saturday, Suleiman was chief of Egypt’s General Intelligence Service. He remained largely in the shadows until 2001, when he started taking over powerful dossiers in the foreign ministry; he has since become a public figure, as the WikiLeak document attests. In 2009, he was touted by the London Telegraph and Foreign Policy as the most powerful spook in the region, topping even the head of Mossad.

In the mid-1990s, Suleiman worked closely with the Clinton administration in devising and implementing its rendition program; back then, rendition involved kidnapping suspected terrorists and transferring them to a third country for trial. In The Dark Side, Jane Mayer describes how the rendition program began:

"Each rendition was authorised at the very top levels of both governments [the US and Egypt] ... The long-serving chief of the Egyptian central intelligence agency, Omar Suleiman, negotiated directly with top [CIA] officials. [Former US Ambassador to Egypt Edward] Walker described the Egyptian counterpart, Suleiman, as 'very bright, very realistic', adding that he was cognisant that there was a downside to 'some of the negative things that the Egyptians engaged in, of torture and so on. But he was not squeamish, by the way'. (p. 113).

"Technically, US law required the CIA to seek 'assurances' from Egypt that rendered suspects wouldn't face torture. But under Suleiman's reign at the EGIS, such assurances were considered close to worthless. As Michael Scheuer, a former CIA officer [head of the al-Qaeda desk], who helped set up the practise of rendition, later testified, even if such 'assurances' were written in indelible ink, 'they weren't worth a bucket of warm spit'."

Under the Bush administration, in the context of "the global war on terror", US renditions became "extraordinary", meaning the objective of kidnapping and extra-legal transfer was no longer to bring a suspect to trial - but rather for interrogation to seek actionable intelligence. The extraordinary rendition program landed some people in CIA black sites - and others were turned over for torture-by-proxy to other regimes. Egypt figured large as a torture destination of choice, as did Suleiman as Egypt’s torturer-in-chief. At least one person extraordinarily rendered by the CIA to Egypt — Egyptian-born Australian citizen Mamdouh Habib — was reportedly tortured by Suleiman himself.

Suleiman the torturer

In October 2001, Habib was seized from a bus by Pakistani security forces. While detained in Pakistan, at the behest of American agents, he was suspended from a hook and electrocuted repeatedly. He was then turned over to the CIA, and in the process of transporting him to Egypt he endured the usual treatment: his clothes were cut off, a suppository was stuffed in his anus, he was put into a diaper - and 'wrapped up like a spring roll'.

In Egypt, as Habib recounts in his memoir, My Story: The Tale of a Terrorist Who Wasn’t, he was repeatedly subjected to electric shocks, immersed in water up to his nostrils and beaten. His fingers were broken and he was hung from metal hooks. At one point, his interrogator slapped him so hard that his blindfold was dislodged, revealing the identity of his tormentor: Suleiman.

Frustrated that Habib was not providing useful information or confessing to involvement in terrorism, Suleiman ordered a guard to murder a shackled prisoner in front of Habib, which he did with a vicious karate kick. In April 2002, after five months in Egypt, Habib was rendered to American custody at Bagram prison in Afghanistan - and then transported to Guantanamo. On January 11, 2005, the day before he was scheduled to be charged, Dana Priest of the Washington Post published an exposé about Habib’s torture. The US government immediately announced that he would not be charged and would be repatriated to Australia.

A far more infamous torture case, in which Suleiman also is directly implicated, is that of Ibn al-Sheikh al-Libi. Unlike Habib, who was innocent of any ties to terror or militancy, al-Libi was allegedly a trainer at al-Khaldan camp in Afghanistan. He was captured by the Pakistanis while fleeing across the border in November 2001. He was sent to Bagram, and questioned by the FBI. But the CIA wanted to take over, which they did, and he was transported to a black site on the USS Bataan in the Arabian Sea, then extraordinarily rendered to Egypt. Under torture there, al-Libi "confessed" knowledge about an al-Qaeda–Saddam connection, claiming that two al-Qaeda operatives had received training in Iraq for use in chemical and biological weapons. In early 2003, this was exactly the kind of information that the Bush administration was seeking to justify attacking Iraq and to persuade reluctant allies to go along. Indeed, al-Libi’s "confession" was one the central pieces of "evidence" presented at the United Nations by then-Secretary of State Colin Powell to make the case for war.

As it turns out, that confession was a lie tortured out of him by Egyptians. Here is how former CIA chief George Tenet describes the whole al-Libi situation in his 2007 memoir, At The Center Of The Storm:

"We believed that al-Libi was withholding critical threat information at the time, so we transferred him to a third country for further debriefing. Allegations were made that we did so knowing that he would be tortured, but this is false. The country in question [Egypt] understood and agreed that they would hold al-Libi for a limited period. In the course of questioning while he was in US custody in Afghanistan, al-Libi made initial references to possible al-Qa'ida training in Iraq. He offered up information that a militant known as Abu Abdullah had told him that at least three times between 1997 and 2000, the now-deceased al-Qa'ida leader Mohammad Atef had sent Abu Abdullah to Iraq to seek training in poisons and mustard gas.

"Another senior al-Qa'ida detainee told us that Mohammad Atef was interested in expanding al-Qa'ida's ties to Iraq, which, in our eyes, added credibility to the reporting. Then, shortly after the Iraq war got under way, al-Libi recanted his story. Now, suddenly, he was saying that there was no such cooperative training. Inside the CIA, there was sharp division on his recantation. It led us to recall his reporting, and here is where the mystery begins.

"Al-Libi's story will no doubt be that he decided to fabricate in order to get better treatment and avoid harsh punishment. He clearly lied. We just don't know when. Did he lie when he first said that al-Qa'ida members received training in Iraq - or did he lie when he said they did not? In my mind, either case might still be true. Perhaps, early on, he was under pressure, assumed his interrogators already knew the story, and sang away. After time passed and it became clear that he would not be harmed, he might have changed his story to cloud the minds of his captors. Al-Qa'ida operatives are trained to do just that. A recantation would restore his stature as someone who had successfully confounded the enemy. The fact is, we don't know which story is true, and since we don't know, we can assume nothing. (pp. 353-354)"

Al-Libi was eventually sent off, quietly, to Libya - though he reportedly made a few other stops along the way - where he was imprisoned. The use of al-Libi’s statement in the build-up to the Iraq war made him a huge American liability once it became clear that the purported al-Qaeda–Saddam connection was a tortured lie. His whereabouts were, in fact, a secret for years, until April 2009 when Human Rights Watch researchers investigating the treatment of Libyan prisoners encountered him in the courtyard of a prison. Two weeks later, on May 10, al-Libi was dead, and the Gaddafi regime claimed it was a suicide.

According to Evan Kohlmann, who enjoys favoured status among US officials as an 'al-Qaeda expert', citing a classified source: 'Al-Libi’s death coincided with the first visit by Egypt’s spymaster Omar Suleiman to Tripoli.'

Kohlmann surmises and opines that, after al-Libi recounted his story about about an al-Qaeda–Saddam-WMD connection, "The Egyptians were embarassed by this admission - and the Bush government found itself in hot water internationally. Then, in May 2009, Omar Suleiman saw an opportunity to get even with al-Libi and travelled to Tripoli. By the time Omar Suleiman’s plane left Tripoli, Ibn al-Sheikh al-Libi had committed 'suicide'."

As people in Egypt and around the world speculate about the fate of the Mubarak regime, one thing should be very clear: Omar Suleiman is not the man to bring democracy to the country. His hands are too dirty, and any 'stability' he might be imagined to bring to the country and the region comes at way too high a price. Hopefully, the Egyptians who are thronging the streets and demanding a new era of freedom will make his removal from power part of their demands, too.

Lisa Hajjar teaches sociology at the Uiversity of California - Santa Barbara and is a co-editor of Jadaliyya.

This article first appeared on Jadaliyya.
http://www.jadaliyya.com/

The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial policy