a thread about the civil unrest in egypt (& elsewhere in 'the region' if necessary)

Muslim Brotherhood, Baradei under house arrest

would guess that Mubarak's speech is gonna be of the "I am not going to step down, return to your homes, protestors will be shot"

variety

Clinton calling for Mubarak to restrain security forces and for protestors to be peaceful, respect freedom of information/expression. (real message: US not gonna save ya Mubarak)

i wouldn't be so sure. if mubarak survives, well, here we are

right

but he'll have to figure out how to survive on his own

Police firing tear gas into a crowd while they're prostrate for prayers seems like a stupid move. (via aljazeera feed)

Wow that's really fucking dumb. That's the sort of image that goes right round the world.

yeah that's already all over my facebook wall.

When do the neocons swoop in and start taking credit for all this

― strongly recommend. unless you're a bitch (mayor jingleberries), Friday, January 28, 2011 10:41 AM (31 minutes ago) Bookmark

they already have:

http://greatsatansgirlfriend.blogspot.com/2011/01/aflame.html

military armored personnel carriers in Alexandria

Police firing tear gas into a crowd while they're prostrate for prayers seems like a stupid move. (via aljazeera feed)

I think that was just previously fired tear gas floating around...? there was a pretty distinct break in gunfire/noise while the prayers were going on and then as soon as they were over everything erupted again

not surprised about the neocons lol

what i saw/heard was that the police fired tear gas canisters into the prostrate protestors just before prayers ended, whereupon one of the protestors just threw them back at the police...?

Mubarak will no doubt barter with the State Department about getting the Ferdinand Marcos treatment.

AP saying the foreign ministry is occupied/under attack

dudes not to sound too bilderbergy here or anything, but the state department talk about supporting the rights of the egyptian people and the hopes and dreams of the protestors is crafted for your ears, not mubarak's

Which is why the statements pale beside the back channel shit that's no doubt going on.

The 2010 legislative elections vote-rigging has hurt the NDP and Mubarak's legitimacy pretty badly.

eh, we'll see

xp

It looks to me as if Clinton is angling for a negotiated departure by Mubarak, accompanied by an increase in political freedom. I think the US is aiming to structure the solution in a way that would protect its key interests: the peace treaty with Israel, the Suez canal, and co-operation against terrorism.

from the graun

that makes sense

Beeb reporting protestors are trying to break into the main TV and radio building

police van torched

this is terrifying

woman on al-jazeera reporting 3 deaths, incl 14 year old boy

I was in Cairo in 2007 and all I can think right now is that, added to the pollution they always have, with fires now raging and tear gas all over the place, the air must be really awful.

protesters trying to swarm ministry of foreign affairs, apparently

:)

huh Al Jazeera also reporting that protesters have been welcoming of the military in various places - which is a good sign, I think. if the protesters get the military on their side, Mubarak is fucked.

The Egyptian military, famously, haven't fired on the people in generations.

well looks like they're moving in to secure the Foreign Ministry, Ministry of Information, etc so we'll see how this goes

Sky pointing out that the US spends $1.3bn a year on the egyptian military. They can't fire on the people, that ought to mean.

Pretty sure Egypt is the biggest if not second biggest recipient of US foreign aid

(it's second)

Ah yes second biggest. Viva Israel.

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-egypts-day-of-reckoning-2196751.html

hillary right now tellin egypt to TURN THAT INTERNET BACK ON

TEAR THAT FIREWALL DOWN, MR MUBARAK

^^ this will be a headline soon if it isnt yet

haha yes that more what i was reaching for

egypt is gone off the net because of u

de nile of service

interviews on al jazeera seem to pretty much exemplify the state department position here: talking about how we're still besties with mubarak but making really vague remarks about how "our principles" require respect and support for the protesters, and refusing to reconcile or even acknowledge the contradiction while waiting out the crisis to see whom we have to negotiate with at the end.

reporters also keep saying things about the protesters in cairo and suez "welcoming" the military? and shaking hands in the streets? which seems like a really huge deal but which i can't get any details about.

reports are saying tens of thousands of protesters in egypt - in a city the size of cairo tens of thousands is not that big - def needs to grow to be effective

de nile of service

― maurice "baby doc" chevalier (brownie), Friday, January 28, 2011 1:18 PM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

fuckin nailed it

asp.net

Need to leave Mubarak a ladder to climb down xp, he can't be left with ordering fire as his only option. It might look duplicitous but it might work - trying to please a domestic audience shouldn't be a priority here.

Transition also needed or move up the September Presidential elections

curfew being totally ignored, NDP headquarters in cairo apparently firmly occupied by protesters. "no sign of police" in suez--just the army, whom the protesters are cheering. (in cairo they're being more aggressive with the army, at least outside the NDP building.)

Mubarak taking his time with the speech-writing eh

you can't rush inspiration

Polishing his prose with Nile water.