• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Protests Sweep Egypt; Military Deploys; El-Baradei Under House Arrest

28.01.2011 18:02

By RFE/RL

Reports from the Egyptian capital say military forces have deployed on the streets as thousands of antigovernment protesters clashed with police in the most violent scenes yet in the challenge to President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule.

State television said Mubarak had asked the army to take charge of security along with the police and to ensure the implementation of a night curfew.

Police in central Cairo fired rubber bullets, tear gas, and water cannon to disperse protesters, who threw stones at police.

Parts of the ruling party headquarters in the capital were on fire, apparently set alight by enraged protesters. Protesters also ransacked the party's headquarters in the cities of Mansoura, north of Cairo, and in Suez, east of the capital. Some of the most serious violence was in Suez.

Reports say there were protests in at least 11 of the country's 28 provinces.

Egyptians frustrated over rising prices, unemployment, and an authoritarian government have been protesting since January 25. Up to seven people have been reported killed.

The government has also shut down the country's mobile phone and Internet systems in an effort to hamper the protest organizers and keep the demonstrations from spreading.

Ehab el-Zelaky, the managing editor of the independent newspaper "Al-Masry Al-Youm," witnessed one downtown clash from his Cairo office.

"[The protesters] are angry and security forces are treating them very hard. They are using everything to combat this demonstration," he said. "Five minutes ago, there was a big demonstration on the street in front of our building and they are bombarding them with tear gas bombs. And we here in the newspaper, regardless of whether we are on the fourth or fifth floor of the building, we are all wearing masks because it is a very heavy bombardment with tear gas."

The Muslim Brotherhood, the country largest and best-organized opposition movement, said today at least five of its leaders and five former members of parliament have been arrested. The Brotherhood has long been officially banned in Egypt but has been tolerated since the movement renounced violence in the 1970s.

As the well-organized Islamists today move into the streets, they will join what so far have been largely spontaneous protests by young people demanding change. The protesters, inspired by this month's toppling of the government in Tunisia, demand Mubarak relinquish his monopoly on power as a step toward solving the country's rampant poverty and unemployment problems.

El-Baradei Arrives

The protest movement was buoyed on January 27 by the arrival of Nobel Peace laureate and pro-democracy campaigner Muhammad El-Baradei from Vienna. El-Baradei said that "if people, in particular young people…want me to lead the transition, I will not let them down."

But El-Baradei was placed under house arrest today immediately after joining demonstrators.

He had said his priority was "to see a new regime" but that "we're still reaching out" to the government to work for peaceful change.

El-Baradei attended a mass prayer in a Cairo square today ahead of the protests.

But Mubarak's government has given no signs it is ready to negotiate with protesters. The secretary of the ruling National Democratic Party, Safwat El-Sherif, said on January 27 it is ready for dialogue with "the public, youth and legal parties" but that a minority party "cannot force its will on the majority."

The showdown in Egypt is being closely watched worldwide as it pits one of the Arab world's longest-lasting regimes against mass demands for change.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on the Egyptian government to "do everything in its power" to hold back the security forces who are battling protesters.

She also called on Egyptian authorities to "allow peaceful protests and reverse the unprecedented steps it has taken to cut off communications."

U.S. President Barack Obama said on January 27 that the antigovernment protests filling the streets show the frustrations of Egypt's citizens.

"There are certain core values that we as Americans believe are universal: freedom of speech, freedom of expression, people being able to use social networking to communicate with each other," Obama said. "That is no less true in the Arab world than it is here in the United States."

He also said "it is very important that people have mechanisms in order to express legitimate grievances" and "that violence is not the answer in solving these problems in Egypt."

The test for Egypt now is whether the government and the protesters can find sufficient common ground for peaceful change or whether the confrontation and clashes will escalate further.

For now, neither side shows any sign of backing down. Today's street protests are likely to add new fuel to the fire.

written by Charles Recknagel, with agency reports

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/egypt_braces_for_bigger_protests/2289911.html

Copyright (c) 2011. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.