Mubarak Masih Bertahan di Mesir Karena AS Ragu-ragu

Jakarta - Lebih dari sepekan demonstrasi antipemerintah Hosni Mubarak di Mesir berlangsung. Mubarak berjanji tidak akan maju dalam pemilihan presiden mendatang dan tidak akan mendukung keluarganya yang ikut pemilu. Tapi janji itu tidak cukup bagi rakyat Negara Piramid. Mereka kukuh Mubarak harus angkat kaki.

Mubarak tetap bertahan dengan alasan tidak ingin terjadi kekacauan di Tanah Airnya. Namun lebih dari 300 orang tewas akibat bentrok yang menjadi buntut dari demonstrasi anti Mubarak. Kendati AS menyerukan transisi teroganisir di Bumi Firaun itu, namun AS tidak tegas meminta Mubarak memenuhi tuntutan rakyat. AS terkesan ragu-ragu.

"AS saya lihat ragu-ragu. Barack Obama masih mencari kata-kata. Mesir di-back up oleh negara Barat. Kalau Mubarak mundur dan penggantinya adalah dari kalangan Ikhwanul Muslimin, AS tidak mau," ujar pengamat Timur Tengah dari UGM Siti Mutiah Setiawati.

Berikut ini wawancara detikcom dengan staf pengajar UGM yang pernah menempuh pendidikan di Universitas London, Inggris, ini pada Jumat (4/2/2011):

Unjuk rasa terjadi di sejumlah negara Timur Tengah. Mengapa demonstrasi Tunisia bisa melebar ke negara-negara lainnya?

Sebetulnya negara di Afrika bagian Utara sebagian besar merupakan republik. Mesir, Tunisia, Aljazair, Yaman merupakan Republik namun berakting seperti raja. Mereka umumnya berkuasa terlalu lama atau kendali pemerintahan kemudian diturunkan kepada anaknya. Yang seperti itu kan model kerajaan, dan itu rupanya tidak diinginkan oleh rakyat.

Apalagi kemudian parlemen tidak berfungsi, check and balance tidak berfungsi. Meski Mesir tidak termasuk negara yang sekaya Arab Saudi namun dia punya universitas yang populer. Dalam ilmu politik, kerajaan merupakan sistem yang tradisional. Rakyat ini sudah pintar, mereka hidup di negara republik tetapi kok masih seperti kerajaan.

Kalau bukan kerajaan, tentu kepala pemerintahannya harus diganti secara periodik. Lalu ada yang mengawasi yaitu parlemen. Nah ini tidak berfungsi. Di hampir semua negara di sana seperti itu.

Tapi sepertinya Libya relatif tenang padahal Muammar al Gaddafi berkuasa sejak 1969?

Di Libya memang relatif belum terjadi gejolak. Gadaffi itu orangnya sederhana. Berbeda dengan Mubarak di Mesir dan Ben Ali di Tunisia yang hidup bermewah-mewah, istrinya glamour padahal rakyatnya miskin. Sedangkan Gadaffi, dia hanyalah seorang kolonel yang tidak mau menjadi jenderal dan senang hidup berpindah-pindah dengan tenda/khemahnya. Ini mendekatkan dia dengan rakyatnya.

Kalau seperti di Mesir dan Tunisia, presidennya melanggengkan kekuasaan untuk keuntungan keluarga dan kroninya. Ini juga yang membuat rakyat tidak puas.

Terkait kasus di Mesir, menurut Anda mengapa Mubarak masih kukuh bertahan?

AS saya lihat ragu-ragu. Barack Obama masih mencari kata-kata. Mesir di-back up oleh negara Barat. Kalau Mubarak mundur dan penggantinya adalah dari kalangan Ikhwanul Muslimin, AS tidak mau. AS dan negara Barat juga dilema. Di satu sisi mereka ingin demokrasi ala mereka diterapkan, tapi di sisi lain mereka juga tidak mau kalau Mubarak mundur dan penggantinya dari Ikhwanul Muslimin.

AS meminta transisi yang teratur, tapi situasinya sudah seperti ini. Apalagi media Barat mengesankan bahwa Ikhwanul Muslimin itu membahayakan. Ini menjadi tidak fair. Sebenarnya apa salahnya kalau Ikhwanul Muslimin yang naik. Apakah kalau menghalangi kepentingan mereka lantas dihalang-halangi.

Jalan keluar seperti apa yang terbaik bagi Mesir?

Saya kira, kalau Ikhwanul Muslimin naik ya tidak usah dihalang-halangi, kalau memang itu keinginan rakyat Mesir. Dulu saat revolusi di Iran kan dikhawatirkan Iran otoriter, tapi buktinya kan tidak. Ketika Pahlevi (Syah Reza Pahlevi) mundur tidak ada gejolak seperti yang dikhawatirkan.

Saat revolusi Islam Iran, Iran tenang. Hanya AS saja yang menggoyang. Iran tenang dan tenteram. Di negara demokrasi, kalau rakyat dipimpin oleh orang dari mayoritas ya tidak masalah kan. Kalau mayoritas Syiah dipimpin Syiah ya wajar.

Selama 30 tahun Mubarak berkuasa tidak mencegah gerakan masyarakat pada umumnya. Ekonomi memang cukup baik tapi masyarakat tidak puas karena terlalu lama presidennya berkuasa hingga ingin menciptakan dinasti di pemerintahan.

Kalau mau demokrasi diterapkan, Ikhwanul Muslimin yang siap. Diberitakan kalau Ikhwanul Muslimin tidak didukung masyarakat Mesir, tapi saya tidak melihat begitu. Banyak dukungannya. Memang mereka ini dilarang pemerintah karena dianggap pesaing dan membuat Barat khawatir karena kalau mereka yang berkuasa dikhawatirkan menerapkan Syariah Islam. Tapi apa salahnya? Toh 98 persen masyarakat di sana Muslim. Memang ada Koptik di Mesir, tapi bukan mayoritas.

Kalau diterapkan syariah Islam apa lantas yang lain tidak boleh hidup di sana? Kan tidak seperti itu. Di Mexico juga menerapkan aturan Kristen tidak apa-apa. Yang lain masih bisa tinggal di Mexiko.

Ini sangat terlihat double standard-nya Barat. Mereka keberatan politik Islam berkuasa karena dianggap tidak sama dengan Barat. Double standard itu, meraka mengaku pluralis tapi ternyata tidak mau merima yang berbeda. Ini harus diubah mindsetnya agar tidak terus Barat. Demokrasi itu tidak harus selalu ala Barat.

Dengan Mubarak mundur dan pergi apakah akan menyelesaikan masalah di Mesir?

Di Mesir ini yang pro Mubarak juga kuat. Mereka yang diuntungkan selama 30 tahun pemerintahan Mubarak karena membangun legitimasi struktural.

Kekacauan memang terjadi, karena sekarang ini pun kekacauan telah terjadi. Dalam masa transisi politik seperti itu bisa dimaklumi. Tapi ini tidak akan lama, sama seperti negara lain. Biarkan saja, kalau itu menghilangkan campur tangan asing.

Barat harus menahan diri tidak melakukan campur tangan di Mesir. Ada chaos, gejolak, itu biasa. Tapi saya yakin tidak lama karena akan ada perubahan yang baik. Seperti Iran yang diramalkan bergolak, tapi nyatanya kan tidak. Ada peralihan dari kerajaan menjadi republik dengan mulus. Jadi Barat harus tahan diri untuk tidak ikut campur.

Kemungkinan terbentuk negara boneka lagi?

Sangat mungkin kalau Barat terlibat. Karena di Aljazair/Algeria kan demikian. Ketika gerakan politik Islam menang tiba-tiba dianulir dan orang pro-Barat yang berkuasa. Lalu Tunisia juga demikian. Ketika Ben Ali pergi dan digantikan tokoh Islam, di media dikesankan tidak bagus, tidak terima sehingga yang berkuasa kecenderungannya kelompok pro Barat. Barat memang berpengaruh kuat karena teknologi yang mereka miliki. Apalagi sebagian besar negara Timur Tengah ada eksplorasi minyak bumi yang tergantung Barat.

Sebelum ada pemerintahan yang lebih permanen, perlu pemerintahan transisi?

Pemerintahan transisi itu yang paling sedikit risikonya. Wapres Omar Suleiman maupun Mohamed ElBaradei bukan tokoh kontroversial dan bisa diterima kedua kubu. Untuk transisi, minimal mereka bisa. Namun selanjutnya biarkan rakyat Mesir yang menentukan.

Kalau Mubarak mundur dan digantikan oleh Suleiman yang sebenarnya pro-AS juga, tentu tidak ada perubahan politik yang berarti. Untuk menjalankan permintaan AS yaitu orderly transition, Suleiman dianggap baik karena pro Barat.

Kalau ada perubahan kepemimpinan yang sangat berbeda dengan Mubarak, tentu akan berpengaruh di kawasan Timur Tengah. Mesir itu sudah memiliki perjanjian damai dengan Israel untuk mengakui eksistensi Israel, juga punya kedutaan Israel, dan Israel tentunya menginginkan keadaan yang tetap seperti itu. Bagi Israel tentu tidak aman kalau pemimpin Mesir adalah orang yang memusuhi Israel. Jadi pasti Israel akan meminta AS agar Mesir dikuasai orang yang pro AS karena pasti akan pro Israel.

Kalau Mesir dipimpin oleh orang yang tidak pro AS dan Israel tentu menjadi kabar gembira bagi Palestina. Karena dukungan kepada mereka akan bertambah.

Jika dipimpin oleh orang yang bukan pro AS, ada kemungkinan Terusan Suez akan ditutup sebagai posisi tawar mereka?

Terusan Suez pernah dinasionalisasi pada 1956 dan membuat marah Inggris, Israel dan Perancis. Dulu ada perjanjian dengan pengelolaan bersama-sama Terusan Suez yang menghubungkan Laut Mediterania dan Laut Merah ini. Israel punya Teluk Aqabah, kalau ditutup ya dampaknya besar juga buat Israel.

Senjata itu tidak selalu bedil. Untuk melawan musuh kalau sudah buntu maka bisa digunakan Terusan Suez untuk melawan. Kalau terusan ini ditutup maka negara Eropa harus melingkari Afrika untuk menuju Asia. AS pun harus mengambil rute yang lebih jauh kalau masih menduduki Irak. Ini sangat strategis karena menjadi penghubung Eropa dan Asia. Jarak bisa diperpendek 8-10 kali.

http://us.detiknews.com/read/2011/02/04/182139/1560461/158/siti-mutiah-mubarak-masih-bertahan-di-mesir-karena-as-ragu-ragu?nd991107158

Ulasan: OK cuma mengenai dua perkara: 1. Presiden Gaddafi pun memerintah secara kejam. Sila semak dengan pelajar yang pernah ditahan oleh polisnya. 2. Naib Presiden, Omar Suleiman pun ada masalah kerana beliau adalah orang sangat rapat Mubarak dan kawan rapat Israel.

Live Free or Dead: Protestors Made Firm Decision

"I Either Leave Here Free or Dead": Egyptian Protester Refuses to Leave Tahrir Square Despite Violent Attacks by Mubarak Supporters

Egyptian protester Nazly Hussein describes bloodshed in Cairo and the role of the United States in funding the violent oppression by the Egyptian government.

NAZLY HUSSEIN: I am Nazly Hussein. I was at a medical center about half an hour ago. People come in with all kinds of injuries. People are dead. I tried to get a count of how many people are dead, and I couldn’t.

This is unbelievable. We are surrounded from all directions with thugs. A lot of them were caught. A lot of them belong obviously to National Democratic Party or to police forces. I don’t know if this is documented. I saw cards, identity cards of people in the police forces.

We’ve been on the square for the past few days. I slept in the middle of the square for four nights. I felt extremely safe, extremely safe. Today, the army was surrounding us, and there was also night watch. People had their shifts, and they were watching the square.

Today, there were demonstrations. They came in the form of demonstrations, pro-Mubarak demonstrations. And then all of a sudden—and then we had taken—everyone met and talked and said people can come in and demonstrate for Mubarak. It’s freedom of expression. [inaudible], as well. And then, all of a sudden, they have knives. They have—right now they’re throwing fire balls. They’re throwing all kinds of things, all kinds of things, at us, Molotovs, everything, everything. Things are on fire around us. The army is trying to keep them out. But they’re not doing much. When they come really, really close, shoot in the air for people to back off. But they’ve been surrounding us all day, all day, all day. People in the middle of the square are terrified. And on the outskirts, around all the entrances and exits, we’re all protesting there, but people come back really, really injured. I didn’t go to the front line, to be honest. But people come back really, really injured.

The international community must come out and say, "Enough is enough. Enough is enough" Taxpayers in the United States must know where their money is going. We’ve been hit with all kinds of weapons, all made in the United States of America. And this is all documented. I’m sure you’ve seen pictures and video. There’s tear gas canisters that were exported in 2003—and there’s a warning: do not use after 2003—were made in the U.S.A. The rubber bullets were also made in the U.S.A. The [inaudible] bullets, I don’t know what they’re called, the ones that shatter into a million bullets, also made in the U.S.A. The taxpayers’ money are being part and they’re contributing to my oppression. This needs to stop. For people who call for democracy and for freedom of expression and for all kinds of rights, this needs to stop. There needs to be an end to this.

We’ve been out here about—I don’t know how long now. I’ve lost track. About eight days. I’ve been on the square. I’m not leaving. I’m not leaving. I either leave here free or dead. I either leave here free or dead.

http://www.democracynow.org/blog/2011/2/2/i_either_leave_here_free_or_dead_egyptian_protester_refuses_to_leave_tahrir_square_

despite_violent_attacks_by_mubarak_supporters

Mubarak's Last Gasps

By ESAM AL-AMIN

"There are decades when nothing happens; and there are weeks when decades happen.”
--V. I. Lenin (1870-1924)

“Victory is accomplished through the perseverance of the last hour.”
--Prophet Muhammad (570-632 AD)

According to the CIA's declassified documents and records, senior CIA operative, Kermit Roosevelt, paid $100,000 to mobsters in Tehran, in early August 1953, to hire the most feared thugs to stage pro-Shah riots. 

Other CIA-paid men were brought weeks later, on August 19, into Tehran in buses and trucks to take over the streets, topple the democratically elected Iranian government, and restore Shah Reza Pahlavi to his thrown. It took the people of Iran 26 years, enormous sacrifices, and a popular revolution to overthrow the imposed, corrupt and repressive rule of the Shah.

This lesson was not lost on the minds of a small clique of officials who were meeting in desperation in the afternoon of Monday, Jan. 31, 2011, in Cairo. According to several sources including former intelligence officer Col. Omar Afifi, one of these officials was the new Interior minister, Police Gen. Mahmoud Wagdy, who as the former head of the prison system, is also a torture expert. He asked Hosni Mubarak, the embattled president to give him a week to take care of the demonstrators who have been occupying major squares around the country for about a week.

Not only he had to rapidly reconstitute his security forces, which were dispersed and dejected in the aftermath of the massive demonstrations engulfing the country, but he also had to come up with a quick plan to prevent the total collapse of the regime. 

The meeting included many security officials including Brig. Gen. Ismail Al-Shaer, Cairo’s security chief, as well as other security officers. In addition, leaders of the National Democratic Party (NDP)- the ruling party- including its Secretary General and head of the Consultative Assembly (upper house of Parliament), Safwat El-Sherif, as well as Parliament Speaker, Fathi Sorour, were briefed and given their assignments. Similarly, the retained Minister of Information, Anas Al-Feky, was fully apprised of the plan.

By the end of the meeting each was given certain tasks to regain the initiative from the street; to end or neutralize the revolution; and to defuse the most serious crisis the regime has ever faced in an effort to ease the tremendous domestic and international pressures being exerted on their president.

They knew that eyes around the world would be focused on the massive demonstrations called for by the youth leading the popular revolution while promising million-strong marches on Tuesday, Feb. 1. True to their promise the pro-democracy groups drew a remarkable eight million people (ten percent of the population) throughout Egypt on that day. 

People from every age, class, and walk of life assembled and marched in every province and city by the hundreds of thousands: two million in Tahrir Square in Cairo, one million in Martyrs Square in Alexandria, 750 thousand in downtown Mansoura, and a quarter million in Suez, just to name a few. It was an impressive show of strength. This time, they demanded not only the immediate removal of Mubarak but also the ouster of the whole regime.

An evil plan devised

As the fierce determination of the Egyptian people to remove their autocratic president became apparent, governments around the world began pressuring Mubarak to step down and be replaced by his newly appointed Vice President, the former head of intelligence, Gen. Omar Suleiman. President Barak Obama, for example, dispatched over the last weekend former U.S. Ambassador, Frank Wisner, a close friend to Mubarak to deliver such warning. 

Wisner indeed delivered a firm but subtle message to Mubarak that he ought to announce that neither he nor his son would be presidential candidates later this year. He also urged him to transfer his powers to Suleiman. Western governments have been alarmed by the deterioration of the situation in Egypt and were trying to give their preferred candidate, Gen. Suleiman, the upper hand before events favor another candidate that might be less amenable to Israel and the West, and therefore shift the strategic balance of powers in the region.

On Saturday Jan. 29, The National Security Council advised the president to ask Mubarak in no uncertain terms to immediately step down. However, Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, whom the president consulted, strenuously objected and pleaded for time to allow Mubarak to stay in power at least until he finishes his term in September.

Openly criticizing Obama, former Israeli Defense minister, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, a longtime friend of Mubarak, said, “I don't think the Americans understand yet the disaster they have pushed the Middle East into.” The Israeli lobby and Saudi Ambassador Adel Al-Jubeir went overdrive and intensified their lobbying efforts in Congress in order to exert immense pressure on the administration. Reluctantly, the U.S. president relented.

Meanwhile, the last touches of a crude plan to abort the protests and attack the demonstrators were being finalized in the Interior Ministry. In the mean time, the leaders of the NPD met with the committee of forty, which is a committee of corrupt oligarchs and tycoons, who have taken over major sections of Egypt’s economy in the last decade and are close associates to Jamal Mubarak, the president’s son. The committee included Ahmad Ezz, Ibrahim Kamel, Mohamad Abu el-Enein, Magdy Ashour and others.

Each businessman pledged to recruit as many people from their businesses and industries as well as mobsters and hoodlums known as Baltagies – people who are paid to fight and cause chaos and terror. Abu el-Enein and Kamel pledged to finance the whole operation. Meanwhile, the Interior Minister reconstituted some of the most notorious officers of his secret police to join the counter-revolutionary demonstrators slated for Wednesday, with a specific plan of attack the pro-democracy protesters. 

About a dozen security officers, who were to supervise the plan in the field, also recruited former dangerous ex-prisoners who escaped the prison last Saturday, promising them money and presidential pardons against their convictions. This plan was to be executed in Cairo, Alexandria, Suez, Port Said, Damanhour, Asyout, among other cities across Egypt.

By Tuesday evening, Mubarak gave a speech in response to the massive demonstrations of the day. He pledged not to seek a sixth term, while attacking the demonstrators and accusing them of being infiltrated, in an indirect reference to the Muslim Brotherhood. Nevertheless, he pledged to complete his term and that he would not leave under pressure. 

Although he pledged not to run, he was silent about whether or not his son would be a candidate. He ended his 10 minute address by giving his nation a grave warning that the situation was extremely dangerous, and that the country would face either “stability or chaos,” presenting himself as the embodiment of the former. Leaders of the pro-democracy demonstrators immediately rejected his characterization and insisted that he leave power.

Although Sen. John Kerry, the Chairman of the Senate Relations Committee, called publicly on President Mubarak two days earlier to disavow any plans for his son to seek the presidency, the Egyptian president ignored his call. However, a former senior intelligence aide, Mahmoud Ali Sabra, who used to present daily briefs to Mubarak for 18 years (1984-2002), said publicly on Al-Jazeera that Mubarak has indeed been grooming his son to become president since at least 1997. Although Jamal had no official title in the government, Sabra stated that Mubarak asked him to present these daily intelligence reports to no one in the government except to him and his son. 

Sabra also described how Mubarak was disturbed after the first stage of the 2000 Parliamentary elections, when the Muslim Brotherhood won a majority of seats. He then ordered his Interior Minister to manipulate the elections in the subsequent stages and forge the results in order to put NDP on top.

Shortly after the besieged president’s address to his nation around midnight on Tuesday, the baltagies were unleashed on the pro-democracy demonstrators in Alexandria and Port Said beating and clubbing them in a rehearsal for what was to come the following day at Tahrir Square.

Tahrir or Liberation Square has been the center of action in Cairo throughout the protests. It’s the largest square in the country located in downtown Cairo where millions of demonstrators have been gathering since Jan. 25. Eight separate entrances lead to it including the ones from the American Embassy and the famous Egyptian museum.

Around 2 PM on Wednesday Feb. 2, the execution of the plan of attack ensued in earnest. Over three thousand baltagies attacked from two entrances with thousands of rocks and stones thrown at the tens of thousands of peaceful demonstrators gathered in the square, while most attackers had shields to defend themselves against the returning rocks. While a few were armed with guns, all baltagies were armed with clubs, machetes, razors, knives or other sharp objects. 

After about an hour of throwing stones, the second stage of the attacks proceeded as dozens of horses and camels came charging at the demonstrators in a scene reminiscent of the battles of the middle ages. The pro-democracy people fought back by their bare hands, knocking them from their rides and throwing their bodies at them. They subsequently apprehended over three hundred and fifty baltagies, turning them over to nearby army units.

They confiscated their IDs which showed that most assailants were either NDP members or from the secret police. Others confessed that they were ex-cons who were paid $10 to beat up the demonstrators. The camel and horse riders confessed to have been paid $70 each.

The third stage of the attack came about three hours later when dozens of assailants climbed the roofs in nearby buildings and threw hundreds of Molotov cocktails at the pro-democracy protesters below, who immediately rushed to extinguish the fires. They eventually had to put out two fires at the Egyptian museum as well. By midnight the thugs started using tear gas and live bullets from a bridge above the protesters killing five people and injuring over three dozens, ten seriously. 

Interestingly, one hour before the planned assault the army announced to the demonstrators on national TV that the government “got the message” and then implored the protesters to end the demonstrations and “go home.” But when the protesters begged the army units to interfere during the brutal attacks that persisted for 16 hours, the army declared that it was neutral and partially withdrew from some entrances despite its promise to protect the peaceful and unarmed demonstrators.

By morning, the Tahrir Square resembled a battleground with at least 10 persons killed and over 2,500 injured people, 900 of which required transport to nearby hospitals as admitted by the Health ministry. Most of the injured suffered face and head wounds including concussions, burns and cuts because of the use of rocks, iron bars, shanks, razors, and Molotov cocktails. Al-Jazeera TV and many other TV networks around the world were broadcasting these assaults live to the bewilderment of billions of people worldwide.

Before the attacks started that afternoon, the Minister of Information had also executed his part of the plan. He called on all ministry employees to demonstrate on behalf of Mubarak in an upscale neighborhood in Cairo. He then asked the Egyptian state TV to broadcast live- for the first time in nine days of continuous demonstrations- the ensuing confrontation between the protesters and the government-sponsored thugs, in order to show the Egyptian people what chaos would bring to the country as Mubarak had warned them in his address just the previous night.

The battle plan was for the baltagies to block seven entrances of the Tahrir Square, leaving only the American Embassy entrance open for the thugs to push back the demonstrators in order for them to come so close to the Embassy that its guards surrounding it would have to shoot at them and thus instigate a confrontation with the Americans.

But the heroic steadfastness of the demonstrators lead by the youth was phenomenal as they not only withstood their ground but also chased them away every time they were pushed. By the next morning the assault fizzled and the whole world condemned the Mubarak regime for such wickedness, cruelty, and total disregard of human life. 

“The events in Tahrir Square and elsewhere strongly suggest government involvement in violence against peaceful protesters,” said Kenneth Roth, executive director of the Human Rights Watch. “The U.S. and other allies should make clear that further abuse will come at a very high price.”

By that afternoon every major Western country has called for Mubarak to step down including the U.S, the European Union, the U.K, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Norway and many others. In Washington, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs called the violence by the pro-Mubarak crowd “outrageous and deplorable” and warned that it should stop immediately.

On the other hand, by daybreak, hundreds of thousands of Egyptians joined their fellow pro-democracy activists in order to show support and solidarity. The leaders of the protests have already called for massive demonstrations on Friday across Egypt after congregational prayers, calling the event “Departure Day,” in a reference to the day they hoped to force Mubarak to resign or leave the country.

In an attempt to contain the damage about what happened in Tahrir Square on Wednesday, Prime Minister Ahmad Shafiq offered his apology to the people. He also denied his government’s involvement, calling for a prompt investigation and swift punishment for those who were responsible. Moreover, Vice President Suleiman appeared on state TV offering an olive branch to the opposition, declaring that all of their demands would be accepted by the government, while ignoring the main demand of Mubarak’s ouster. He then pleaded for time to implement political reforms. 

He also appealed to the nation to allow President Mubarak to complete his term until the upcoming presidential elections in September. For the first time, the regime then vowed that the president’s son would not be a candidate. He further called for dialogue with all opposition parties.

Ahmad Maher, 29, the national coordinator of the “April 6 Youth” movement, the primary group that called for and organized the uprising, immediately rejected the offer by Suleiman, calling it a trick to abort the revolution. He insisted on the main demand of removing Mubarak from power before any negotiations could take place. 

All other opposition groups, including the popular Muslim Brotherhood, followed suit. Friday’s “Departure Day” is promising to be a decisive day where the pro-democracy demonstrators vowed to continue the protests until Mubarak is ousted.

Meanwhile, the regime in a last-ditch effort to limit the effect of the demonstrations have asked all foreign journalists to leave the country before D-Day (Departure Day), and dismantled all cameras from Tahrir Square. There is not a single network in Cairo today that can broadcast the event live. Clearly, this last ploy was designed to intimidate the demonstrators who insisted that they would not cowed.

Likely scenarios: remember Marcos?

The Obama administration is evidently very frustrated with Mubarak because of his stubbornness and obliviousness to reality. President Obama bluntly declared on Tuesday, “It is my belief that an orderly transition must be meaningful, it must be peaceful and it must begin now.” 

Since the crisis began ten days ago, the U.S, which has been supporting and subsidizing the Egyptian regime for three decades, expected that its beleaguered ally would listen to its advice, limit the damage, pack up and leave. But his performance and ruthless behavior have endangered its other allies in the region, and caused long-term damage to its strategic interests, namely, Israel, stability, oil, and military bases.

Egypt was one of the most important countries and allies to the U.S. in the region. It was a cornerstone in its strategic equation. If Egypt were to be lost to a more independent leader, the strategic balance of power in the region would radically shift against America’s interest or its allies. 

In turn this change might cause a major re-assessment of the long-term American strategy in the region, especially in regard to policies related to Israel and counter-terrorism. Thus, Vice President Suleiman is considered by the U.S. and other Western allies, as the best person who could fulfill this role of maintaining the status quo. Thus, the more Mubarak maneuvered to stay in power, the less likely this prospect would be realized.

Ambassador Wisner, who has been in Egypt since Saturday, was asked to deliver to Mubarak an ultimatum from Obama. It would be similar to the one given to Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines in 1989 by then President George H. W. Bush. Mubarak would be told that he should resign and transfer his presidential powers to his vice president. 

If he refuses, the army would then remove him anyway, while Western governments would go after the billions in American and European assets that he and his sons have hoarded over the years. He would also be told that he would face a certain indictment by the International Criminal Court on War Crimes against his people. Surely, Mubarak would be expected to choose the first option and leave either to Germany under a medical pretext, or join his two sons in London.

As Omar Suleiman is promoted to become the new President of Egypt, this appointment will be hailed by Western governments and media as a great victory by the pro-democracy forces and as the expression of the will of the Egyptian people. Political and economic reforms will then be promised to the people, in an effort that allows great leeway in internal reforms but keep foreign policy intact.

However, this move will undoubtedly divide the country. The leaders of the revolution, namely the youth, who have led the demonstrations for the past two weeks and sacrificed blood for it, would continue to press for total and clean break from the previous regime. They will also be supported by popular and grass-roots movements such as the Muslim Brotherhood.

On the other hand, other opposition movements, which have little or no popular support but were largely created by the Mubarak regime as a décor to portray a democratic image, will accept Suleiman and embrace the new arrangements in order to have a seat at the table and get a piece of the pie. The Egyptian public will likely be split as well. 

With the monopoly of the government over the state media and other means of government information control, the new regime may bet on getting a slack from the public while it consolidates its power. 

Alternatively, the youth movement, which started its march towards freedom and democracy using social media and independent means of communications, while spearheading the most robust and forceful democracy movement in the whole region, may actually have the last word. 

Esam Al-Amin can be reached at alamin1919@gmail.com

from: counterpunch

Opposition Groups Reject Regime's Offer To Engage In Talks

Thursday, February 3, 2011 21:22 
IkhwanWeb 

Following the last two days of violence Opposition groups have rejected offers to engage in talks.
 
The Muslim Brotherhood group has demanded an immediate resignation by President Hosni Mubarak and the creation of a unity government including all opposition groups. According to the MB the regime is attempting to push people to walk away from the protests so it can regain control. Furthermore both the MB and former IAEA chief Dr.Mohamed ElBaradei rejected the offer by new Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq to meet with the regime for talks. 

Meanwhile Wafd Party President Sayyed Badawy has said that the party refuses to meet with the Vice President Omar Suleiman after the violence that occurred yesterday asserting his party confirmed reports that many of those in the pro-Mubarak rally were thugs hired by the National Democratic Party. Badawy added that the Wafd's position stands that the party's demands that Mubarak resign immediately, the process of drafting a new constitution begin, the state of emergency is ended, and parliament is dissolved.

http://www.ikhwanweb.com/article.php?id=27951

Comment: Mubarak & gangs please GET OUT.

Egypt – The Time Has Come

The current uprising in Egypt is a massive popular democratic revolution, with broad support from virtually every sector of Egyptian society

Friday, February 4,2011 12:28 
IkhwanWeb 

The current uprising in Egypt is a massive popular democratic revolution, with broad support from virtually every sector of Egyptian society. After decades of dictatorship, political repression, and economic hardship Egyptians have taken to the streets in Cairo , Alexandria , Suez , and many other towns and cities to demand the removal from power of Hosni Mubarak, and to seek the institution of true democracy in the most populous Arab nation in the world.  

This uprising follows the popular uprising in Tunisia, and is evidence of the broad call for true political freedom and reform that is sweeping through the Arab world. Massive discontent is not limited to any one part of Egyptian society. Students and youth, religious organizations, organized labor groups, intellectuals and academics, working people, women's organizations, journalists, and the masses of poor Egyptians are united in their demand for a fundamental change in government.  

True democracy in Egypt will be beneficial to the overall struggle for peace and social justice in the world, and it will help thwart the spread of extremism and terrorism, anti-American violence, and armed attacks on civilians.

http://www.ikhwanweb.com/article.php?id=27954

Comment: Dear strong and bold Egyptians: Go on protesting till Mubarak is OUT. May Allah help you all.

The people no longer trusts Mubarak & the regime

MB chairman: The people no longer trusts the regime 
Friday, February 4,2011 17:47 
IkhwanWeb 

In a statement, the Muslim Brotherhood chairman Dr. Mohamed Badie asserted that it was significant that Mubarak resign immediately if there was to be any constructive dialogue with the Muslim Brotherhood.

He emphasized the necessity for the abolition of the state of emergency, and the dissolving of both the Shura council and the parliament highlighting that they were both illegitimate institutions who forced their way ignoring the people’s will after forfeiting elections.

Badie stated that the people no longer trust the regime or the ruling party and have had enough of hollow promises and lame speeches asserting that despite promises that there would be freedom of speech thugs have taken to the streets attacking peaceful protestors and raiding press and media headquarters in an effort to intimidate press to prevent coverage. He added the regime imposes only violence and does not understand the concept of mature and civilised dialogue where its only solution to the people’s uprising is violence.

The chairman stressed that the group welcomed dialogue with all political opposition adding that in fact all groups have agreed on uniting in the call for peaceful political reform that would serve Egyptians as a whole asserting that the current uprising is not an Islamic Revolution but an Egyptian People’s revolution that included all Egyptians from all sects, religions and political trends.

Badie ended his statement paying tribute to the resilient protestors and offered condolences to any Egyptians who lost family members to the violence by the regime’s thugs during the protests calling on the protestors to continue in its resilience against the tyrannical dictator and his corrupt regime asserting that the MB do not seek power and have no intention in its agenda in nominating any of its members for presidency or being part of the interim government.

http://www.ikhwanweb.com/article.php?id=27957

Comment: The dictators are usually too little too late to realise that the people power is enormous.  You can kill thousands of them but they will never surrender. Your action of torturing people so far makes them pass the threshold of fear. Once they have taken to streets, then your days are numbered. Rakyat hakim negara People are judges. They will return only with NEW EGYPT.

Egypt's Uprising: Celebrate or Fear?

Should the West Fear or Celebrate Egypt's Uprising? 
  
Friday, February 4,2011 22:21 
IkhwanWeb 

For the past ten days Egypt has experienced fear of autocracy, euphoria and fear of chaos. Starting off relatively small, the protests started with a few thousand people on January 25th, then escalated to a thrilling climax on February 1st, when millions of people assembled in Tahrir Square demanding the removal of Hosni Mubarak. After this the demonstrations deteriorated into violence as pro-Mubarak supporters attacked demonstrators.
 
Despite the violent scenes during the week, the developments in Egypt are welcomed. A nation that has been downtrodden for too long is now tasting freedom. The Arab world is buzzing with expectation, as ageing autocrats are suddenly looking shaky.

The West is juggling stability and democracy and as they struggle to attain balance, the Arab pro-democratic movement appears disturbing. Fearing the vacuum formed by the deterioration of Mubarak's regime, the West fears the Muslim Brothers, the anti-Western, anti-Israeli opposition. Responding to their fears, the US sees it must redouble its efforts to secure a prolonged managed transition by retaining Mubarak or getting someone else like him at the helm.

Despite the fears of the US and Israel, the popular call for Mubarak to step down offers the Middle East the best chance for reform in decades. The West has been calling for democracy for years and if they fail to support Egyptians in their quest for democratic rule, the arguments of the US for democracy and human rights elsewhere in the world will fall on deaf ears. Egypt is also juggling; it is choosing between risk and stagnation. 

The Egyptian protests are not an 'Islamic' uprising, but a mass protest of Muslims against an unjust, autocratic regime. The only 'Islam' shown throughout the scenes of demonstrators was the peaceful behavior, prayer, determination and resolution of a nation.

The result of these protests will certainly not be a perfectly formed democracy as it is likely that there will be disorder for some time. But on the plus side Egypt, though poor, has a sophisticated elite, a well-educated middle class and strong sense of national pride and these are indicators that Egyptians can pull order out of this chaos.

Fear of the Muslim Brotherhood is grossly overdone as they are respected for their piety, discipline and resilience. The Brotherhood grows with history and is constantly evolving. The movement at the present time can not be equated with its past. Calling for democracy, the voice of the people, free and fair elections, while not nominating any candidate, and having no desire for leadership or even a place in the interim government, the Brotherhood is the level-headed voice in Egypt. 

The past few weeks have proved that the Brotherhood is a integral part of Egyptian society and if democracy is to flourish in Egypt, the Brotherhood must be given a voice. The alternative to democracy is a dead end. Egypt under Mubarak has been becoming increasingly repressive, leaving 85million people to live under dictatorship, burdened by a corrupt and brutal police force, the suppression of the opposition, and the torture of political prisoners. This was sufficient fuse to light the uprising.

Despite the obvious difficulties, even a disorderly democracy could eventually be a rich prize—and not just for Egyptians. If Egypt becomes democratic it could once again be a beacon to the region, answering the conundrum of how to incorporate Islam in Arab democracies. An Egyptian government that speaks for its people might contribute to a settlement with the Palestinians more than authoritarianism ever could.

The US has lost much of its credibility in pursuing stability above democracy and it could turn this negative image around by making amends now. As America still has influence with Egypt’s political, business and military elite, it could help speed the transition from autocracy through chaos to a new order and improve its standing in the region.
 
http://www.ikhwanweb.com/article.php?id=27959

Muslims and Christians United in the Battle for Tahrir Square

Friday, February 4,2011 18:32 
IkhwanWeb 

Egyptian protesters are holding their ground in Cairo 's Tahrir Square today against pro-regime thugs as foreign journalists and activists were attacked, beaten, and arrested in what appears to be the prelude to a harsh crackdown.

Muslim and Christian protesters in Tahrir are edgy despite the generally safe and celebratory atmosphere. They are organizing themselves in case pro-regime thugs enter the square. 

In the past days of unrest, as Muslims prayed in Tahrir Square during the protests, Egyptian Christians protected them from pro-Mubarak thugs in a moving scene of solidarity and humanity.

Western journalists and Muslim and Christian activists trying to get into Tahrir Square were beaten by thugs on many occasions. Despite rising food prices, closed banks and businesses and many hurt and injured people from the protests, Egyptians from all religions and walks of life are again taking to the streets demanding that Mubarak steps down.

http://www.ikhwanweb.com/article.php?id=27958

Penduduk Mesir teruskan tunjuk perasaan

KAHERAH 5 Feb. - Tunjuk perasaan bagi mendesak Presiden Hosni Mubarak berundur masuk hari ke-10 hari ini dan merebak ke bandar-bandar besar lain dengan beribu-ribu penduduk berhimpun selepas sembahyang Jumaat, semalam.

Di Kaherah kira-kira 100,000 penunjuk perasaan antikerajaan yang datang dari beberapa daerah berarak menuju Dataran Tahrir selepas solat Jumaat melalui beberapa jalan raya utama menyebarangi jambatan Kasr el-Nil yang merentangi Sungai Nil sepanjang satu kilometer menuju ke dataran itu.

Sebuah pondok kawalan tentera hanya membenarkan kira-kira tiga penunjuk perasaan melalui jambatan itu pada setiap saat.

Sementara itu di Iskandariah, beribu-ribu penunjuk perasaan berkumpul dan melaungkan ‘Penduduk mahu mengubah sistem pemerintahan itu’ dan ‘Kami tidak mahu berundur, beliau (Mubarak) akan berundur’.

Di Suez pula, beribu-ribu penunjuk perasaan berhimpun di bandar raya pelabuhan itu selepas solat Jumaat.

Manakala di bandar raya Ismailia, beribu-ribu penunjuk perasaan antikerajaan berhimpun di beberapa jalan utama di mana sebelum perhimpunan yang dikawal ketat tentera itu berlangsuang, kira-kira 100 penunjuk perasaan pro-Mubarak berhimpun di situ dan kemudiannya bersurai.

Di bandar raya Port Said, beribu-ribu penunjuk perasaan antikerajaan berhimpun di jalanan, sementara beratus-ratus penunjuk perasaan pro-Mubarak cuba menyusup masuk ke dalam kumpulan itu tetapi dihalang oleh tentera dan kemudiannya kedua-dua kumpulan penunjuk perasaan itu berpecah.

Bandar raya Mansoura pula memperlihatkan beribu-ribu penunjuk perasaan mendesak pengunduran Mubarak dan pentadbirannya, kata seorang anggota pergerakan pembangkang 6 April.

Selain itu kira-kira 5,000 penunjuk perasaan berhimpun di bandar raya Damanhour yang di terletak di Lembah Nil.

Tidak ketinggalan, kira-kira 1,000 penunjuk perasaan antikerajaan dan 1,000 penyokong Mubarak berhimpun di beberapa jalan di bandar raya Qalyubiya.

Manakala di bandar raya El Arish di Semenanjung Sinai, beribu-ribu penunjuk perasaan anti-kerajaan berhimpun, tetapi tiada tanda-tanda menunjukkan kumpulan pro-Mubarak turut sama berhimpun.

Di bandar raya Aswan pula, kira-kira 2,000 penunjuk perasaan antikerajaan mengadakan perhimpunan, sementara beberapa ratus penunjuk perasaan pro-Mubarak cuba menyelinap ke dalam kumpulan antikerajaan, tetapi dihalang oleh sekatan yang dibina oleh penunjuk perasaan antikerajaan. - REUTERS

Countdown Day 10: Mubarak mahu letak jawatan

KAHERAH 4 Feb. - Presiden Mesir, Hosni Mubarak berkata, beliau mahu meletakkan jawatan tetapi khuatir huru-hara akan meletus jika beliau berundur sekarang.

Mubarak, 82, memberitahu wartawan ABC News, Christiane Amanpour dalam wawancara lewat semalam bahawa beliau 'sudah bosan menjadi Presiden dan ingin melepaskan jawatan sekarang, tetapi tidak dapat berbuat demikian kerana khuatir negara ini akan terjerumus ke dalam kancah huru-hara'.

Bagaimanapun akhbar New York Times melaporkan, pentadbiran Presiden Amerika Syarikat (AS), Barack Obama sedang berunding dengan para pegawai Mesir untuk membolehkan Mubarak berundur dengan serta-merta...

Ulasan: Teruskan berdoa supaya rakyat Mesir menang dapat kerajaan baru yang adil dan Mubarak TURUN TAHTA. Rakyat menjadi lebih suka kalau Mubarak turun CEPAT.

Countdown Day 10: Over a Million March in Day of Departure Rally in Egypt

Over a Million March in Day of Departure Rally in Egypt  

More than million protesters have gathered in Cairo’s Tahrir Square Cairo in a rally billed as the day of departure calling on Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to resign. Protesters have flooded into the square which has come under attack for the past two days by pro-Mubarak supporters.

Ahmed Naguib: "This is not just a revolt to topple a regime; this is a revolt for our dignity.   We need justice. We need to punish those who committed atrocities and crimes against                 humanity in this square."

Hundreds of thousands of protesters are also gathering in Alexandria, Mansoura, and other cities in Egypt.

http://www.democracynow.org/2011/2/4/headlines#1

Egypt's day of reckoning

Robert Fisk
Friday, 28 January 2011

Mubarak regime may not survive new protests as flames of anger spread through Middle East

A day of prayer or a day of rage? All Egypt was waiting for the Muslim Sabbath today – not to mention Egypt's fearful allies – as the country's ageing President clings to power after nights of violence that have shaken America's faith in the stability of the Mubarak regime. 

Five men have so far been killed and almost 1,000 others have been imprisoned, police have beaten women and for the first time an office of the ruling National Democratic Party was set on fire. Rumours are as dangerous as tear gas here. A Cairo daily has been claiming that one of President Hosni Mubarak's top advisers has fled to London with 97 suitcases of cash, but other reports speak of an enraged President shouting at senior police officers for not dealing more harshly with demonstrators. 

Mohamed ElBaradei, the opposition leader and Nobel prize-winning former UN official, flew back to Egypt last night but no one believes – except perhaps the Americans – that he can become a focus for the protest movements that have sprung up across the country. 

Already there have been signs that those tired of Mubarak's corrupt and undemocratic rule have been trying to persuade the ill-paid policemen patrolling Cairo to join them. "Brothers! Brothers! How much do they pay you?" one of the crowds began shouting at the cops in Cairo. But no one is negotiating – there is nothing to negotiate except the departure of Mubarak, and the Egyptian government says and does nothing, which is pretty much what it has been doing for the past three decades. 

People talk of revolution but there is no one to replace Mubarak's men – he never appointed a vice-president – and one Egyptian journalist yesterday told me he had even found some friends who feel sorry for the isolated, lonely President. Mubarak is 82 and even hinted he would stand for president again – to the outrage of millions of Egyptians. 

The barren, horrible truth, however, is that save for its brutal police force and its ominously docile army – which, by the way, does not look favourably upon Mubarak's son Gamal – the government is powerless. This is revolution by Twitter and revolution by Facebook, and technology long ago took away the dismal rules of censorship. 

Mubarak's men seem to have lost all sense of initiative. Their party newspapers are filled with self-delusion, pushing the massive demonstrations to the foot of front pages as if this will keep the crowds from the streets – as if, indeed, by belittling the story, the demonstrations never happened. 

But you don't need to read the papers to see what has gone wrong. The filth and the slums, the open sewers and the corruption of every government official, the bulging prisons, the laughable elections, the whole vast, sclerotic edifice of power has at last brought Egyptians on to their streets. 

Amr Moussa, the head of the Arab League, spotted something important at the recent summit of Arab leaders at the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. "Tunisia is not far from us," he said. "The Arab men are broken." But are they? One old friend told me a frightening story about a poor Egyptian who said he had no interest in moving the corrupt leadership from their desert gated communities. "At least we now know where they live," he said. There are more than 80 million people in Egypt, 30 per cent of them under 20. And they are no longer afraid. 

And a kind of Egyptian nationalism – rather than Islamism – is making itself felt at the demonstrations. January 25 is National Police Day – to honour the police force who died fighting British troops in Ishmaelia – and the government clucked its tongue at the crowds, telling them they were disgracing their martyrs. No, shouted the crowds, those policemen who died at Ishmaelia were brave men, not represented by their descendants in uniform today. 

This is not an unclever government, though. There is a kind of shrewdness in the gradual freeing of the press and television of this ramshackle pseudo-democracy. Egyptians had been given just enough air to breathe, to keep them quiet, to enjoy their docility in this vast farming land. Farmers are not revolutionaries, but when the millions thronged to the great cities, to the slums and collapsing houses and universities, which gave them degrees and no jobs, something must have happened. 

"We are proud of the Tunisians – they have shown Egyptians how to have pride," another Egyptian colleague said yesterday. "They were inspiring but the regime here was smarter than Ben Ali in Tunisia. It provided a veneer of opposition by not arresting all the Muslim Brotherhood, then by telling the Americans that the great fear should be Islamism, that Mubarak was all that stood between them and 'terror' – a message the US has been in a mood to hear for the past 10 years." 

There are various clues that the authorities in Cairo realised something was afoot. Several Egyptians have told me that on 24 January, security men were taking down pictures of Gamal Mubarak from the slums – lest they provoke the crowds. But the vast number of arrests, the police street beatings – of women as well as men – and the near-collapse of the Egyptian stock market bear the marks of panic rather than cunning. 

And one of the problems has been created by the regime itself; it has systematically got rid of anyone with charisma, thrown them out of the country, politically emasculating any real opposition by imprisoning many of them. The Americans and the EU are telling the regime to listen to the people – but who are these people, who are their leaders? This is not an Islamic uprising – though it could become one – but, save for the usual talk of Muslim Brotherhood participation in the demonstrations, it is just one mass of Egyptians stifled by decades of failure and humiliation. 

But all the Americans seem able to offer Mubarak is a suggestion of reforms – something Egyptians have heard many times before. It's not the first time that violence has come to Egypt's streets, of course. In 1977, there were mass food riots – I was in Cairo at the time and there were many angry, starving people – but the Sadat government managed to control the people by lowering food prices and by imprisonment and torture. There have been police mutinies before – one ruthlessly suppressed by Mubarak himself. But this is something new. 

Interestingly, there seems no animosity towards foreigners. Many journalists have been protected by the crowds and – despite America's lamentable support for the Middle East's dictators – there has not so far been a single US flag burned. That shows you what's new. Perhaps a people have grown up – only to discover that their ageing government are all children. 

Internet and text messages fail in 'facebook revolution' 

Egyptian authorities last night disrupted internet services and mobile-phone text messaging in efforts to stop protesters keeping in touch on social networking sites. The measure was taken as members of an elite counter-terrorism police unit were ordered to take up positions in key locations around Cairo in preparation for a wave of mass rallies today. 

Among the places where they are stationed is Tahrir Square, where one of the biggest demonstrations took place. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other social networking sites have played a vital role in Egypt's protest movement, just as they did in Tunisia, enabling demonstrators to keep in touch and to organise rallies. 

Who could succeed Hosni Mubarak? 

Protesters on the streets of Egypt aren't just rallying against the 30-year-reign of President Hosni Mubarak, they are also taking aim at his son Gamal Mubarak, 47, an urbane former investment banker who has scaled the political ladder, prompting speculation that he is being groomed for his father's post. 

The youngest son of Mr Mubarak and his half-Welsh wife, Suzanne, Gamal was educated at the elite American University in Cairo, going on to work for the Bank of America. 

He entered politics about a decade ago, quickly moving up to become head of the political secretariat of his father's National Democratic Party (NDP). He was heavily involved in the economic liberalisation of Egypt, which pleased investors but provoked the ire of protesters, who blame the policies for lining the pockets of the rich while the poor suffered. 

Although he has always denied having an eye on his father's throne, a mysterious campaign sprung up last year, with posters plastered across Cairo calling for Gamal to stand for president in elections scheduled for later this year. His 82-year-old father has not yet declared his candidacy. 

Certainly the protesters appeared unhappy with the chosen son, chanting "Gamal, tell your father Egyptians hate you" and tearing up his picture. 

Mohamed ElBaradei 

Protests in Egypt today will be different from the others that have swept the Middle East in recent weeks in one important way. Mohamed ElBaradei, former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), landed at Cairo airport last night to lead rallies against Hosni Mubarak's rule. 

The 68-year-old was born in the Egyptian capital, from where he launched a legal career. He joined the IAEA in the 1980s, becoming head of the UN body in 1997. 

The 2003 invasion of Iraq thrust Mr ElBaradei into the public consciousness. He demurred on the US rationale for attacking Saddam Hussein, describing the war as "a glaring example of how, in many cases, the use of force exacerbates the problem rather than solving it". The award, jointly with the IAEA, of the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize further rankled with the Bush administration. 

He has long been urged to challenge the 82-year-old President, but hitherto has bided his time, insisting first on electoral reform, but his participation in today's protests indicate he is ready. Recent speeches, including recently at Harvard, when he joked that he was "looking for a job" have done nothing to dissuade his supporters, but at 68 his presidency would surely be only a short-term fix to Egypt's problems. 

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

Egypt: Death throes of a dictatorship

Robert Fisk
Sunday, 30 January 2011

Our writer joins protesters atop a Cairo tank as the army shows signs of backing the people against Mubarak's regime

The Egyptian tanks, the delirious protesters sitting atop them, the flags, the 40,000 protesters weeping and crying and cheering in Freedom Square and praying around them, the Muslim Brotherhood official sitting amid the tank passengers. Should this be compared to the liberation of Bucharest? Climbing on to an American-made battle tank myself, I could only remember those wonderful films of the liberation of Paris. A few hundred metres away, Hosni Mubarak's black-uniformed security police were still firing at demonstrators near the interior ministry. It was a wild, historical victory celebration, Mubarak's own tanks freeing his capital from his own dictatorship.

In the pantomime world of Mubarak himself – and of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton in Washington – the man who still claims to be president of Egypt swore in the most preposterous choice of vice-president in an attempt to soften the fury of the protesters – Omar Suleiman, Egypt's chief negotiator with Israel and his senior intelligence officer, a 75-year-old with years of visits to Tel Aviv and Jerusalem and four heart attacks to his credit. How this elderly apparatchik might be expected to deal with the anger and joy of liberation of 80 million Egyptians is beyond imagination. When I told the demonstrators on the tank around me the news of Suleiman's appointment, they burst into laughter. 

Their crews, in battledress and smiling and in some cases clapping their hands, made no attempt to wipe off the graffiti that the crowds had spray-painted on their tanks. "Mubarak Out – Get Out", and "Your regime is over, Mubarak" have now been plastered on almost every Egyptian tank on the streets of Cairo. On one of the tanks circling Freedom Square was a senior member of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mohamed Beltagi. Earlier, I had walked beside a convoy of tanks near the suburb of Garden City as crowds scrambled on to the machines to hand oranges to the crews, applauding them as Egyptian patriots. However crazed Mubarak's choice of vice-president and his gradual appointment of a powerless new government of cronies, the streets of Cairo proved what the United States and EU leaders have simply failed to grasp. It is over.

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-egypt-death-throes-of-a-dictatorship-2198444.html

Tunisian leader Rachid Ghannouchi returns home

Tunisian Islamist leader Rachid Ghannouchi returns home
 
The leader of Tunisia's main Islamist movement has returned home after 22 years in exile following the ousting of President Ben Ali earlier this month. 

Thousands of people went to the airport to welcome Rachid Ghannouchi, 69, as he arrived in Tunis from London.

He has said he will not run in the next presidential poll but his party will contest a parliamentary election. 

Observers say his return is the most potent symbol yet of the change that has swept the country since then. 

Mr Ghannouchi fled Tunisia after a crackdown President Ben Ali against his banned Ennahda movement.

He returned after the interim government's announced that media curbs would be lifted, banned political parties allowed to register and political prisoners given amnesty.
 
Up to 10,000 young men and veiled women packed the arrival hall and car park at the airport, and some climbed trees and electricity pylons to catch a glimpse of Mr Ghannouchi, according to Reuters.

Alongside his supporters, the news agency said, was a small group of secularists with banners reading: "No Islamism, no theocracy, no Sharia and no stupidity!"

"I myself will not run for the presidency... We (Ennahda) have no intention of fielding a candidate in the upcoming presidential election," he said.

Life sentence

Mr Ghannouchi told the BBC in a interview last week that officials from Mr Ben Ali's former party, the RCD, should leave the transition government, and that Tunisia could benefit from a coalition government that would build consensus, at next for the next few years. 

Ennahda aimed to work with other former opposition groups in the October 18 Movement, founded in 2005, towards a democratic transition, he said. 

"All of these parties operated against the dictatorship regime and [can] co-operate to establish a democratic system in Tunisia."

He added that his Ennahda party was committed to a moderate Islamist approach and working within a democratic framework.

"We accept democracy without any restrictions and we accept the decision of the people whether they come with us or against us," he said.

He rejected comparisons that he said had been made in some Western media reports between him and Ayotollah Khomeini of Iran - who returned to Iran from exile to lead the Islamic Revolution there - comparing Ennahda instead to Turkey's Justice and Development Party (AKP).

Officially, Mr Ghannouchi is still subject to a life sentence in Tunisia imposed in his absence for allegedly plotting against the state.

But the AFP news agency says that other convicted exiles have been able to return to Tunisia in recent days without hindrance. 

In 1989 Ennahda came second to the ruling party in elections, officially winning about 17% of the ballot. However allegations of fraud marred the vote and according to some estimates Ennahda's tally was as much as double the official figure.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12318824

Egypt’s uprising reaches point of no return

January 28, 2011, 1800 DST
Crescent-online, Washington DC

The fourth day of protests in Egypt has reached “the point of no return,” as numerous commentators on the street have noted. President Mubarak recently imposed a country-wide curfew, bringing in the military to complete the job that the police force failed to do—contain the Egyptian population’s mass protests. 

Late on Friday (January 28), Mubarak announced that he had sacked the government (led by Prime Minister Nazif) but that he would enforce "security". He also refused to resign. The military has been called out in all cities to enforce curfew but people are defying it. Egypt's Armed Forces Chief of Staff, Lt. General Sami Hafez Enan, in Washington to meet Pentagon officials cut short his visit and flew back home on January 28.

Press TV and Al Jazeera are reporting on Egypt around the clock, as the world waits with bated breath to see whether the revolution is able to oust Mubarak after an unprecedented 30-year reign. As Marc Ginsberg, former US ambassador to Morocco, put it in a recent editorial in the Huffington Post, the US is looking at the most likely options that will prevail in Egypt after Mubarak’s departure: “either ‘a relative unknown’ or ‘our worst nightmare.’” Translation: either Elbaradei or the Muslim Brotherhood. 

The protests that erupted after Fridy prayers (perhaps influenced by infusions from the Muslim Brotherhood, which announced on Thursday that they will support the popular revolt) have been the most determined. Mubarak was forced to call in the military and has shut off internet services, as well as Al-Jazeera’s Arabic News broadcasting. However, Egyptians across the country are defying the curfew—government buildings and police stations have been set on fire, Mubarak’s party headquarters have been overtaken in several cities, and the people are continuing to demonstrate into the night. The cost—870 people wounded and (according to latest reports) 14 killed. The next few hours will prove crucial for predicting the results of the revolution. 

Press TV has interviewed the UK spokesperson for the Muslim Brotherhood, Mohammad Ghanem, who has stated that the demonstrations represent the collective will of the Egyptian people, rather than a particular religious denomination. Nevertheless, mosques and churches have proven to be key sites of organization in Egypt. Before Mubarak’s government shut down Internet services, protesters listed the names of mosques and churches where organizing for the demonstrations would be taking place. 

Around the world, people have organized demonstrations to express solidarity with Egypt, as it attempts to throw off the most brutal dictators in the Middle East. Protesters have congregated outside of Egyptian embassies in Tunis, Ankara, Los Angeles, and London. 

Similar demonstrations have been planned for Berlin (Germany) and Toronto, and Vancouver (in Canada). On behest of the United States, Kuwait dispatched troops to surround the Egyptian embassy to prevent demonstrations. The United States is publicly urging government forces to show “restraint” and allow demonstrators to protest peacefully. This appears to be a move to save face, and salvage the impending end of one of their prime Middle Eastern bases. Israel, on the other hand, has been urging Mubarak’s regime to use force to quell the uprising. In a recent turn of events, the US has also begun to publicly back ElBaradei as an effort to maneuver him to take over after (and if) Mubarak leaves the country. The US is praising ElBaradei and stating that government policy of keeping him under house arrest “has to change”.

http://www.crescent-online.net/daily-news-analysis.html

Mubarak and his US-zionist backers clutching at straws in Egypt

Cairo-Crescent-online
January 30, 2011 - 1500 DST

The people of Egypt refuse to be intimidated by curfews, violence and US-supplied tear gas shells fired at them by the police. For several nights, people have defied the curfew as government control begins to crumble. At least 100 people have been killed and several thousand injured by the police in six days of protests.

Air force planes and helicopters flew over Tahrir Square in Cairo in a show of force on January 30. People asked, with justification, why these US supplied planes and helicopters were flying over Cairo when they have been conspicuously absent from the fight against Israel? Many people shook their fists at the planes flying overhead.
 
Unconfirmed reports on January 30 also said Saudi Arabia had refused Hosni Mubarak’s request for asylum. He was considering fleeing to Israel, according to other reports. In the meantime, 19 Egyptian businessmen have fled to Dubai in private jets. Gamal Mubarak, son of the aging dictator, and his mother Susan Mubarak, have also fled the country. 
   
On Saturday January 29, Mubarak appointed General Omar Soleiman, until then Intelligence Chief (head of the Mukhabarat) as Vice President, and General Ahmed Shafiq as Prime Minister. Soleiman is a nasty character. He is even more ruthless than Mubarak and is favoured by the US and Israel because he advances their agenda. Soleiman’s appointment is seen by many as paving the way for Mubarak’s departure that could come soon.

Meanwhile, Mohamed ElBaradei, former head of International Atomic Energy Agency and another favorite of the US, said on January 30 that “change was coming” and people should “show patience.” Most observers believe he has been sent by the US to take over from Mubarak so that the Ikhwan al-Muslimoon would not take power in Egypt in what is referred to as the "nightmare" scenario. So much for democracy and all that! 

Thousands of people have broken out of Egyptian jails as they overpowered their guards. The escapees include Ikhwan political prisoners. In the rest of the country, the Interior Ministry, still dominated by Mubarak loyalists, has unleashed thugs to go on a rampage of looting and burning. This would provide the regime the pretext to clamp down even harder on people. 

In the rapidly evolving situation, the Ikhwan al-Muslimoon announced on January 29 that they would not field a candidate in the presidential elections. They also supported a call by several political parties asking ElBaradei to negotiate with Mubarak so that the dictator would leave and ElBaradei could take over as interim president, arranging for presidential elections. 

How this will ultimately play out will depend on what happens in Egypt in the coming days and weeks but what is beyond doubt is that people are no longer afraid of the security forces. This should make Mubarak, the US and Israel very worried.

http://www.crescent-online.net/daily-news-analysis.html

The Egyptian Revolution for NEW EGYPT now

The Egyptian Revolution
By GARY LEUPP
January 28, 2011, Day of Rage.

I’m watching live coverage of the Egyptian revolution on Al-Jazeera TV. Cairo is swarming with hundreds of thousands, defying the curfew, hurling stones at the police. The images recall the Palestinian youth waging their Intifadas. The National Democratic Party headquarters is in flames. Downtown Suez has been taken over by the people, two police stations torched. The security forces are out in strength and shooting into crowds. But the people have lost their fear.

Reporters and commentators on Al-Jazeera and other channels have no choice but to note that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is widely hated, and that those in the street are seeking freedom from a dictatorship. But they also keep saying “The situation is getting worse.” 

Worse?

I think of Mao Zedong’s response to critics of peasant rebellion in China in 1927. He noted that “even progressive people” saw uprisings as “terrible.” “But it’s not terrible,” he declared. “It is anything but ‘terrible.’ It’s fine!”

Watching the live coverage, I see the people of Egypt, fed up with their oppression, and inspired by the revolution in Tunisia, doing something very, very fine. It is inspiring. It is profoundly hopeful. 

The Obama administration line (as summarized by Joe Biden, interviewed by Jim Lehrer on PBS), can be summarized as follows: Egyptians have the right to protest. Many are middle class folks, with legitimate concerns. But we should not refer to Mubarak as a dictator. It’s not time for him to go. He has been a key ally of the U.S. and Israel, in the “Middle East peace process” and the War on Terror. Egypt is dissimilar to Tunisia, and it would be “a stretch” to suggest that a trend is underway. The U.S. should encourage those protesting and Mubarak to talk. Everyone should avoid violence.

The mainstream infotainment media spin can be summarized like this: The “unrest” in Egypt puts the U.S. in a difficult position. On the one hand Mubarak has abetted U.S. “national interests” and been Israel’s only Arab ally. (These two are always assumed to be closely linked; the notion that an Arab leader is a friend of the U.S. to the extend that he kisses Israel’s ass is never questioned.) On the other hand, U.S. officials have been saying for years that the Middle East needs “democratic reform.” 

This puts in the U.S. in bind, we are told. The U.S. confronts a “dilemma.” The talking heads depict the U.S. as somehow a victim in this situation. (Isn’t it terrible, they’re implying, that the Egyptian people by their militancy in favor of supposed U.S. ideals are trying to topple the USA’s best friend in the Arab world? What a headache to have to deal with!)

Seems to me however that this is another of those instances of chickens coming home to roost. 

The U.S. has supported Mubarak primarily in appreciation for his stance towards Israel. (The mainstream media is referring to him as an “ally” of Israel.) It’s not really because he’s been a “partner in the peace process”---because there is no real peace process. Relentless Israeli settlement activity on Palestinian land supported by the Lobby in the U.S. has insured that. 

Wikileaks documents indicate that Mubarak has been content for the “process” to lag indefinitely so that he could represent himself as the vital Arab middleman while enjoying two billion dollars in U.S. military aid per year. But Palestinians hate him for cooperating with the demonization of democratically elected Hamas and the embargo imposed on Gaza. And Egyptians hate him for, among many other things, betraying their Palestinian brothers and sisters. 

Rather, the U.S. has supported Mubarak because he’s provided an Arab fig leaf for the unequivocal support for Israel that the U.S. has provided for decades. U.S. diplomats have, as Wikileaks reveal, at times expressed concern that the dictator might be causing some problems by his “heavy-handed” treatment of dissidents. But this is not a matter of moral indignation, or concern about the lives of Egyptians. It’s nothing more than an expression of concern that his fascistic rule might jeopardize his ability to help U.S.-Israeli policy in the region and keep the Suez Canal open.

And now that brutal rule has caused an explosion. The reaction from U.S. officials and political commentators is, “We never expected this.”

Well surprise, surprise! (These folks were dumbfounded by the Iranian Revolution of 1979 as well. Don’t they understand that people eventually fight back?)

I think of that old Langston Hughes poem:

What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up 
like a raisin in the sun? 
Or fester like a sore-- 
And then run? 
Does it stink like rotten meat? 
Or crust and sugar over-- 
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags 
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?

Egypt is exploding. The deferred dreams of the Arab world are exploding. And even the corporate media acknowledges that the people are jubilant (while warning that none of this might be in “our interest”). But for people with some basic morals, concerned about the happiness of humanity in general, is this not totally fine?

Al-Jazeera shows viewers how U.S. officials are changing the tone of their comments, backing off more and more each day from support of Mubarak. They’re reiterating with increasing emphasis that the demonstrators indeed have legitimacy. (Did these people they just figure this out?) What sheer opportunism!

Obama, always the centrist opportunist wanting to be everybody’s friend, wants to be the Egyptian people’s friend. He showed that in Cairo in 2009. In his celebrated speech to the Muslim world he on the one hand spouted platitudes about U.S. acceptance of Islam and on the other insulted everyone’s intelligence by calling the invasion of Afghanistan a “war of necessity.” He (accurately) described the vicious assault on Iraq as a “war of choice,” but said anything about how those responsible for such a crime ought to be punished. He does not support any investigation that would show how neocon Zionists in his predecessor’s administration faked a case for war that has killed hundreds of thousands of Arabs. 

His real message is: the U.S. can lie and kill, and then posture as the moral exemplar (maybe even apologizing slightly when crimes are embarrassingly exposed). Even so, the people of the world are supposed to understand that alignment with the U.S. is the best hope of their best hope.

And now Obama wants the best of both worlds: an ongoing engagement with Mubarak (if he survives), and a hand outstretched to the people of Egypt, tainted by so many other handshakes with so many dictators so far.

Demonstrators in Cairo note that tear gas canisters on the street are marked “Made in USA.” What should they to make of that? Who’s really encouraging their dreams? Who’s caused them to defer them, decade upon decade? It’s the same foe that has caused the deferment of dreams here in this country and around the world.

I learned to say shukran in Cairo. To my friends there now, engaged in this fine, fine battle, I say that now.  

Shukran, shukran for inspiring the world, showing that another world might be possible.

Gary Leupp is Professor of History at Tufts University, and holds a secondary appointment in the Department of Religion. He is the author of Servants, Shophands and Laborers in in the Cities of Tokugawa Japan; Male Colors: The Construction of Homosexuality in Tokugawa Japan; and Interracial Intimacy in Japan: Western Men and Japanese Women, 1543-1900. He is also a contributor to CounterPunch's merciless chronicle of the wars on Iraq, Afghanistan and Yugoslavia, Imperial Crusades. He can be reached at: gleupp@granite.tufts.edu 

http://www.counterpunch.org/leupp01282011.html

Protes Mubarak & gang di Mesir, beberapa isu utama

Protes Mubarak  di Mesir, beberapa isu utama

Haris Zalkapli  

Protes besar-besaran di Mesir kini memasuki hari keenam, selepas protes menuntut perubahan politik di negara itu meningkat dengan dramatik bermula selepas solat Jumaat yang lepas.

Situasi masih lagi panas dengan protes di bandar-bandar utama berterusan, dan aktivis Mohamed el-Baradei menyertai protes, mengambil peranan kepimpinan dengan memberi ucapan-ucapan menuntut pengunduran Hosni Mubarak dan menyatakan bahawa perubahan makin hampir.

Masih terlalu awal untuk memutuskan dan menyimpulkan apa-apa berhubung perkembangan di Mesir ketika ini, tetapi apa yang jelas ialah prospek perubahan semakin kelihatan di negara Arab berpengaruh itu.

Beberapa isu utama walau bagaimanapun dapat diperhatikan dalam perkembangan di Mesir, melibatkan tindakan Hosni, reaksi Washington dan laporan-laporan dan ulasan terhadap peritstiwa bersejarah di negara itu pada masa ini.

1. Berdasarkan perkembangan semasa, Presiden Hosni Mubarak tidak nampak lagi boleh mengekalkan kedudukan sebagai pemimpin Mesir dengan hanya melakukan perubahan-perubahan seperti melantik naib presiden dan melantik kabinet baharu. Sekiranya masih kekal, Hosni akan berdepan masalah yang besar dan bakal kehilangan sokongan kuasa besar dan masyarakat antarabangsa, serta terus berdepan tentangan rakyat.

2. Pelantikan Omar Suleiman yang mempunyai hubungan baik dengan Israel dan Amerika Syarikat (termasuk berperanan dalam extraordinary rendition) tidak menjanjikan apa-apa yang positif kepada rakyat Mesir melainkan hanya untuk kepentingan kuasa asing dan Hosni sendiri. Pelantikan Omar sama sekali bukan apa yang dituntut dan perlu dilakukan.

3. Mohamed el-Baradei semakin mempunyai potensi untuk muncul sebagai pemimpin baharu Mesir, sebahagian besarnya kerana sokongan Barat dan popularitinya di Mesir pada masa ini, dan digelar sebagai figur penyatu dalam politik Mesir. Beliau juga merupakan tokoh yang paling banyak menerima liputan positif media asing. Penyertannya dalam protes mendapat ulasan positif dan diangkat sebagai pemimpin yang berani berdepan Hosni serta menuntut diktator itu berundur. Hal ini juga menunjukkan sisi politik domestik bukan satu-satunya naratif yang sepatutnya diterima dalam melihat perkembangan di Mesir dan Asia Barat pada masa ini.

4. Ikhwan al-Muslimin mula menerima serangan mengaitkannya dengan unsur-unsur "militan" dan "teroris," dalam rangka wacana yang kritikal terhadap sebarang elemen Islam dalam politik. Walaupun sejarah menunjukkan rekod yang tidak sepenuhnya baik bagi Ikhwan, kumpulan ini merupakan kuasa politik yang sah di Mesir. Kritikan Ikhwan tidak terlibat dalam penentangan juga menyeleweng kerana kumpulan ini berdepan tekanan dan tangkapan pasukan keselamatan secara agresif, terbaharu sejak 2009.

5. AS telah bertindak berhati-hati dalam mengeluarkan kenyataan berhubung protes dengan cuba mengimbangi sokongan kepada hak fundamental rakyat dengan desakan perubahan kepada rejim Hosni. Kenyataan Setiausaha Negara Hillary Clinton Jumaat lalu cuba mengimbangi dan menyediakan ruang manuver pada masa depan, apapun kesudahan kepada rejim Hosni. Jelas bahawa Washington masih menyokong rejim sedia ada, tetapi tetap akan meneruskan hubungan baik dengan pemerintah selepas ini sekiranya rejim sekarang tumbang. Apabila tiba masanya, AS juga akan mendesak Hosni berundur.

6. Kepentingan AS - dan Israel - di Mesir terlalu besar dan tidak terhad kepada rejim Hosni. Selepas Israel, Mesir ialah penerima bantuan ketenteraan terbesar dari AS. Malah, kepentingannya mungkin akan dapat lebih dipelihara dan dicapai di bawah pemerintah baharu. Kedudukan Mesir sebagai negara Arab pertama mengiktiraf Israel dan yang paling berkeupayaan berperang dengan Israel - terutama disebabkan faktor sempadan - menjadikan Mesir tidak boleh dilepaskan oleh Washington. Palestin dan Gaza ialah satu isu yang paling menjadikan Mesir diperlukan oleh Israel untuk bekerjasama dengannya, kerana hanya Mesir negara yang boleh menguatkuasakan kepungan Gaza selain Israel.

7. Perubahan politik di Mesir bakal mencetuskan gelombang yang jauh lebih besar berbanding yang tercetus dari Tunisia. Walaupun tidak semestinya akan membawa kepada perubahan rejim lain, perkembangan di Mesir telah mengubah permainan di Asia Barat. Sekiranya perubahan yang bermakna terlaksana di Mesir, termasuk dalam aliansi dengan Jordan dan Arab Saudi, lanskap politik serantau akan berubah dengan dramatik. Perubahan dalam aliansi Kaherah-Riyadh-Amman secara dramatik mampu menjejaskan pengaruh kuasa-kuasa terbesar dunia Arab itu.

http://www.harakahdaily.net/v2/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=30626:protes-di-mesir-beberapa-isu-utama&catid=94:global2&Itemid=135

Ulasan: Bila rakyat sudah jemu, eloklah Mubarak pergi selamanya kerana MESIR BARU lebih aman dan selamat tanpa Mubarak

Countdown Day 6: Langkah Mubarak tidak berguna

KAHERAH 30 Jan. - Aktivis Mesir, Mohamed ElBaradei menyifatkan pelantikan Naib Presiden dan Perdana Menteri baru yang dibuat Presiden Hosni Mubarak sebagai tidak berguna dan tidak menurut apa yang dituntut oleh beribu-ribu rakyat negara ini yang mahu pemimpin itu menamatkan pemerintahan selama 30 tahun.

Kenyataan pemimpin pembangkang Mesir itu dibuat selepas Mubarak, 82, menamakan bekas ketua risikan tentera, Omar Suleiman sebagai Naib Presiden buat kali pertama dan bekas Menteri Penerbangan Awam, Ahmed Shafiq sebagai Perdana Menteri semalam.

"Hosni Mubarak tidak mendengar permintaan rakyat. Apa yang dibuatnya hanya perubahan melibatkan beberapa individu sedangkan kita bercakap tentang perubahan rejim.

"Rakyat Mesir menyatakan satu suara, mereka mahu Presiden Mesir berundur," kata ElBaradei, 68, yang menyifatkan pelantikan itu sebagai tidak berguna kepada televisyen Al-Jazeera semalam.

Bekas Ketua Pengarah Agensi Tenaga Atom Antarabangsa (IAEA) Pertubuhan Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu (PBB) itu turut menyeru pembentukan sebuah kerajaan peralihan baru supaya satu pilihan raya adil dapat dilaksanakan.

ElBaradei berkata, beliau juga mungkin bertanding pada pilihan raya Presiden sekiranya perubahan Perlembagaan dilakukan.

"Saya hormatkan Suleiman dan Shafiq tetapi menggantikan individu tertentu tidak cukup.

"Saya mahu Mubarak dan rejimnya meninggalkan Mesir secepat mungkin. Itu yang terbaik bagi Mesir dan mereka," katanya.

Reformis Mesir itu menegaskan tindakan kerajaan yang cuba menidakkan kemahuan orang awam hanya akan memburukkan lagi keselamatan negara dan Mubarak perlu dipertanggungjawabkan di atas keadaan itu.

"Presiden perlu dipilih oleh rakyat. Sudah tiba masanya untuk sesuatu rejim berundur sekiranya ia tidak memahami kehendak rakyat. Rakyat mahukan pemerintahan baru, jika tidak Mesir akan tumbang," katanya. – REUTERS

Ulasan: Presiden yang dibenci rakyat sepatutnya pergi sebelum rakyat turun memprotesnya ke jalanraya. Semoga rakyat menang iaitu mendapat kerajaan baru yang adil, bebas, telus dan anti-rasuah. Amiin.

Chaos engulfs Cairo; Mubarak points to succession

By HAMZA HENDAWI, Associated Press – 52 mins ago

CAIRO – Egyptians woke up to a dawn of uncertainty Sunday with several key buildings still smoldering in the capital and thousands of anti-regime protesters remaining camped out at the city's main square in defiance of an extended nighttime curfew.

President Hosni Mubarak, clinging to power with promises of reform and a new government, had named his intelligence chief as his first-ever vice president on Saturday, setting the stage for a successor as chaos engulfed Cairo. Soldiers stood by — a few even joining the demonstrators — and the death toll from five days of anti-government fury rose sharply to 74.

Overnight and as police melted away, residents set up self-styled checkpoints and barricades at street corners and intersections of their neighborhoods, armed mostly with clubs and sticks to protect their homes. By dawn, the city was eerily quiet, with armored military vehicles encircling main government buildings in the downtown...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/ml_egypt_protest

Comment: When the oppressed citizens take to the streets, the countdown begins. Sayonara Mubarak. Legacy of 30 years of tortures. You have enough time. Time to GO.

Countdown Day 5: Hosni Mubarak enggan undur

Hosni Mubarak enggan undur

KAHERAH 29 Jan. - Beribu-ribu penunjuk perasaan antikerajaan kembali membanjiri jalan-jalan di tengah ibu negara Mesir ini hari ini, melaungkan slogan mengutuk Presiden Hosni Mubarak dan menyerang polis, hanya beberapa jam selepas beliau memecat Kabinet dan menjanjikan pembaharuan tetapi enggan meletakkan jawatan.

Tindakan penunjuk perasaan memenuhi Dataran Tahrir, tengah Kaherah dan bertempur dengan polis buat hari kelima berturut-turut menunjukkan ucapan Mubarak di televisyen sejurus selepas tengah malam tadi gagal meredakan kemarahan rakyat yang sudah bosan dengan pemerintahan autokratik beliau serta kemiskinan, pengangguran dan rasuah di negara ini.

Mubarak, 82, tampil di kaca televisyen selepas beliau mengerahkan askar dan kereta kebal ke ibu negara ini dan beberapa bandar lain dalam usaha untuk membendung ledakan protes jalanan menentang pemerintahannya selama 30 tahun.

Beberapa kereta kebal ditempatkan di Dataran Tahrir tetapi askar tidak campur tangan dalam protes di situ hari ini….

Ulasan: Kalau rakyat dah protes kerana kamu, eloklah kamu letak jawatan. Egypt Baru lebih tenteram tanpa mu. Kamu hendak 10,000 rakyat mati di tangan polis kerana mempertahankan pemerintahanmu yang kejam selama ini. Ingatlah Mubarak lwn 85 juta rakyat.

Uprising in Egypt: This is the Biggest Political Challenge the Regime Has Yet to See from the Streets

Protests have erupted across Egypt again today with the largest and most widespread anti-government demonstrations seen so far. In an unprecedented display of popular protest, hundreds of thousands of demonstrators are gathering in Cairo, Alexandria, Suez, Mansoura, Sharqiya and elsewhere. Intense confrontations are taking place with state security forces. The protests come amid a vast security clampdown. Earlier, the government blocked the internet, mobile phone and SMS services, with the hope of disrupting demonstration planning. We go to Cairo to speak with Ahmad Shokr, an editor at the Egyptian daily newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm. [includes rush transcript]

http://www.democracynow.org/2011/1/28/uprising_in_egypt_this_is_the

Comment: Mubarak vs 85 million opressed citizen. Will his police kills thousands? Egypt is better without Mubarak.

Fear Barrier Seems to Have Been Broken

Fear Barrier Seems to Have Been Broken

Unprecedented protests in Egypt continue for a second day. On Wednesday, demonstrators defied a government ban on gatherings and took to streets in the biggest popular protests against President Hosni Mubarak in three decades. We go to Cairo to speak with Guardian reporter Jack Shenker. "That fear barrier seems to have been broken," Shenker says. "These are sort of middle-class people who are generally enjoying quite a comfortable standard of living... They’ve got a lot to lose, and yet they’re still being motivated to come out, to be beaten, to be hit by water cannons, to be carried off into the desert," he says. "There’s so much energy and so much momentum behind what’s going on ... I think we’ll still see a lot of people on the streets tomorrow." [includes rush transcript]

http://www.democracynow.org/2011/1/27/guardian_reporter_in_egypt_fear_barrier

Comment: Sorry Mubarak, you have too much. Thanks for your brutal police force all over.

Live From the Egyptian Revolution

by Sharif Abdel Kouddous

Cairo, Egypt—I grew up in Egypt. I spent half my life here. But Saturday, when my plane from JFK airport touched down in Cairo, I arrived in a different country than the one I had known all my life. This is not Hosni Mubarak’s Egypt anymore and, regardless of what happens, it will never be again.

In Tahrir Square, thousands of Egyptians–men and women, young and old, rich and poor–gathered today to celebrate their victory over the regime’s hated police and state security forces and to call on Mubarak to step down and leave once and for all. They talked about the massive protest on Friday, the culmination of three days of demonstrations that began on January 25th to mark National Police Day. It was an act of popular revolt the likes of which many Egyptians never thought they would see during Mubarak’s reign. "The regime has been convincing us very well that we cannot do it, but Tunisians gave us an idea and it took us only three days and we did it," said Ahmad El Esseily, a 35 year-old author and TV/radio talk show host who took park in the demonstrations. "We are a lot of people and we are strong."

In Cairo, tens of thousands of people--from all walks of life--faced off against riot police armed with shields, batons, and seemingly endless supplies of tear gas. People talked about Friday’s protest like a war; a war they’d won. "Despite the tear gas and the beatings, we just kept coming, wave after wave of us," one protester said. "When some of us would tire, others would head in. We gave each other courage." After several hours, the police were forced into a full retreat. Then, as the army was sent in, they disappeared.

The military was greeted warmly on the streets of Cairo. Crowds roared with approval as one soldier was carried through Tahrir square today holding a flower in his hand. Dozens of people clambered onto tanks as they rode around the square. Throughout the day people chanted: "The people, the army: one hand."

While the police and state security forces are notorious in Egypt for torture, corruption and brutality, the army has not interacted with the civilian population for more than 30 years and is only proudly remembered for having delivered a victory in the 1973 war with Israel. A 4pm curfew set for today was casually ignored with people convinced the army would not harm them. The police were a different story. Their brutality the past few days--decades in fact--has been well documented.

Saturday, some of the police forces were holed up inside their headquarters in the Interior Ministry building near the end of a street connected to Tahrir Square. When protesters neared the building, the police began firing live ammunition at the crowd, forcing them to flee back to the square. Three bloodied people were carried out. "The police are killing us," one man yelled desperately while on the phone with al Jazeera from outside the building. When the firing stopped, defiant protesters began approaching the building again. In the background, the smoking, blackened shell of Hosni Mubarak’s National Democratic Party headquarters served as an ominous reminder of their intentions.

At this point it seems clear the people are not leaving the streets. They own them now and they are refusing to go until Mubarak does. They chanted, "Mubarak, the plane is waiting for you at the airport," and "Wake up Mubarak, today is your last day."

At one point, a rumor spread through Tahrir Square that Mubarak had fled the country. A massive cheer rippled through the crowd. People began jumping up and down in joy. One man wept uncontrollably. When it turned out not to be true, the cheers quickly ended but it provided a brief glimpse of the sheer raw desire for Mubarak’s ouster. Reports now indicate that Mubarak’s two sons and his wife, Suzanne, have fled Egypt, as have some of his closest business cronies. Many people believe that is a sign that Hosni will not be far behind.

There is a great sense of pride that this is a leaderless movement organized by the people. A genuine popular revolt. It was not organized by opposition movements, though they have now joined the protesters in Tahrir. The Muslim Brotherhood was out in full force today. At one point they began chanting "Allah Akbar" only to be drowned out by much louder chants of "Muslim, Christian, we are all Egyptian."

As the sun set over Cairo, silence fell upon Tahrir square as thousands stopped to pray in the street while others stood atop tanks. After the sunset prayer, they held a 'ganaza'–a prayer for those killed in the demonstrations. Darkness fell and the protesters, thousands of them, have vowed to stay in the square, sleeping out in the open, until Mubarak is ousted.

Meanwhile, across Cairo there is not a policeman in sight and there are reports of looting and violence. People worry that Mubarak is intentionally trying to create chaos to somehow convince people that he is needed. The strategy is failing. Residents have taken matters into their own hands, helping to direct traffic and forming armed neighborhood watches, complete with checkpoints and shift changes, in districts across the city.

This is the Egypt I arrived in today. Fearless and determined. It cannot go back to what it was. It will never be the same.

Sharif Abdel Kouddous is a senior producer for the radio/TV show Democracy Now.

http://www.democracynow.org/blog/2011/1/29/live_from_the_egyptian_revolution_by_sharif_abdel_kouddous

Comment: May Allah help the citizens of Egypt to establish NEW EGYPT that is just, transparent and anti-corruption.

Mubarak ‘diasak’ tanpa henti

Pembangkang gesa rakyat Mesir terus berdemonstrasi di jalanan

2011/01/27 KAHERAH: Sebuah kumpulan pembangkang menggesa rakyat Mesir meneruskan bantahan jalanan buat hari kedua, selepas berpuluh ribu penduduk negara itu mengadakan perhimpunan di seluruh negara membantah pemerintahan Presiden Hosni Mubarak sejak 30 tahun lalu….

Ulasan: Bila rakyat bangun eloklah Mubarak mengundurkan diri. Mesir lebih aman tenteram tanpa Mubarak yang 30 tahun melakukan kekejaman terhadap rakyat.

Lans Koperal hadapi dua tuduhan rasuah

2011/01/27 BUTTERWORTH: Seorang anggota polis hari ini mengaku tidak bersalah atas dua tuduhan meminta rasuah di Mahkamah Sesyen di sini. 

Xxxx xxx, 48, didakwa meminta wang suapan bernilai RM2,000 daripada xxxx xxxx xxxx, 29, bagi membebaskannya yang ditahan kerana memiliki dadah…

Ulasan: Kesian. Rakyat nak tengok kes profail tinggi.

Hospital pecat jururawat bertudung/berhijab

2011/01/27 SIDOARJO: Seorang jururawat di Jawa Timur berisiko dipecat kerana memakai tudung ketika bertugas dalam apa yang digelar suaminya kes jelas diskriminasi agama. 

Nurul Hanifah, yang bertugas sebagai jururawat di Hospital Delta Surya di daerah ini selama tujuh tahun sudah menerima dua surat amaran mengenai tudung itu, menurut suaminya, Mohammad Fahmi….

Ulasan: Merdeka tapi masih terjajah.

Penumpang kena bayar surcaj tol

GEORGETOWN: Persatuan Pengusaha Bas Seluruh Malaysia (PMBOA) bercadang mengenakan surcaj tol kepada penumpang bas yang melalui lebuh raya bertol berikutan langkah kerajaan menarik balik pemberian diskaun tol sebanyak 50 peratus, mulai 15 Januari lalu. 

Potongan kadar tol sebanyak 50 peratus itu mula diberikan kepada pengusaha bas sejak 15 September 2008 sebagai usaha membantu mereka yang terjejas berikutan peningkatan bahan api di pasaran ketika itu…

Ulasan: BN betul-betul mengenakan rakyat.

Silap beli rokok, empat beradik kena terajang dan dihalau

2011/01/27 PERMAISURI: Hanya kerana si kakak tersilap membeli rokok bapanya, empat beradik menjadi mangsa terajang lelaki tidak bertanggungjawab itu, sebelum dihalau dari rumah dan bermalam dalam hujan lebat di hutan berhampiran Guntung di sini, semalam.

Empat beradik berkenaan termasuk tiga perempuan berusia 8, 10 dan 14 tahun dan seorang adik lelaki berusia tujuh tahun dipercayai menjadi mangsa dera bapa sendiri termasuk beberapa kes sebelum ini, sebelum dihalau dari rumah kira-kira jam 1 pagi akibat kesilapan kecil itu…

Ulasan: Carilah bakal suami yang penyayang dan beragama.

Dera TKI: Majikan dipenjara 11 tahun

KUALA LUMPUR 25 Jan. - ''Walaupun saya bersimpati dengan nasib perayu sebagai seorang ibu tunggal dan mempunyai seorang anak yang cacat tetapi saya tidak melihat sifat keinsafan perayu mengenai apa yang dilakukan ke atas mangsa.''

Sejurus selesai membaca penghakiman tersebut, Hakim Mahkamah Tinggi di sini, Datuk Ghazali Cha memutuskan menolak rayuan suri rumah, Hau Yuan Tyng, 45, bagi mengetepikan sabitan salah atas tiga tuduhan mencederakan bekas pembantu rumah warga Indonesia, Siti Hajar Sadli.

Beliau turut meminda hukuman penjara lapan tahun dan denda RM5,000 yang dikenakan ke atas bekas ejen hartanah itu kepada penjara 11 tahun bagi ketiga-tiga pertuduhan tersebut.

Sebaik sahaja dimaklumkan oleh jurubahasa, raut wajah Yuan Tyng jelas kelihatan marah dan tidak puas hati dengan keputusan tersebut.

Bagaimanapun, wanita itu yang diwakili peguam bela, M. Manoharan sekali lagi berjaya mendapatkan penangguhan pelaksanaan hukuman tersebut sementara menunggu rayuan terakhir.

Pihak pendakwaan diwakili oleh Timbalan Pendakwa Raya, Lee Keng Fatt…

Ulasan: Mendera adalah kezaliman.

Kawal internet: Balas dendam kepada rakyat

Harakahdaily  

KUALA LUMPUR, 27 Jan: PAS berpendapat cadangan pindaan memperluaskan skop Akta Mesin Cetak dan Penerbitan 1984 kepada internet sebagai cubaan membalas dendam kerajaan Umno BN kepada rakyat.

Ketua Penerangan PAS, Idris Ahmad berkata tindakan itu dibuat ekoran rakyat telah menolak media konvensional berat sebelah Umno yang telah membawa kepada tsunami politik pada Pilihan Raya Umum 2008.

"Ini adalah tindakan membalas dendam kepada rakyat yang menolak media umno yang sarat dengan fitnah dan propaganda umno semata," katanya.

Menurutnya, laporan oleh Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) antara tahun 2005 hingga 2009 melaporkan penurunan pengeluaran akhbar The Star daripada 310,000 kepada 287,000, New Straits Times daripada 139,000 kepada 111,000, Utusan Malaysia daripada 213,000 kepada 169,000 dan Berita Harian daripada 204,000 kepada 155,000.

"Syarikat ini hanya boleh bertahan kerana mendapat sokongan dan tajaan Umno sahaja. Jikalau BN tidak berkuasa di negara ini, maka syarikat ini akan berkubur," tambahnya...

Ulasan: Lagi ganas BN, lagi cepat BN berkubur.  Autocracies don't last forever.