CAIRO — Voting in election runoffs for Egypt’s first parliament since Hosni Mubarak’s ouster resumed on Wednesday without the long lines outside polling centers seen in previous rounds of the staggered vote.
The balloting comes amid growing calls for the ruling military to step down and allow the next parliament to form a national unity government that would take over the reins of power until a new president is elected before the end of June. Another scenario being floated is for presidential elections to be brought forward to January and a handover of power to take place the following moth.
The proposals, which the military has yet to comment on, are being floated as the generals who took over after a popular uprising forced Mubarak to step down 10 months ago are coming under growing criticism for mismanaging the transition period, gross human rights abuses and failure to revive the economy or restore security.
“I know nothing about politics, but I want stability for my country,” said Fatmah Morsi as she was about to cast her ballot in Dokki, a middle-class neighborhood in Cairo. “Enough with the protests. we should give this government a chance.”
The balloting, which is taking place Wednesday and Thursday, is in the second round of the election, with voting in mostly rural areas. A third and final round is to be held in early January. The new parliament is not scheduled to be seated until March, after three rounds of voting for the legislature’s largely toothless upper chamber is also completed.
Islamists led by the Muslim Brotherhood, the country’s largest and best organized political group, have dominated the vote thus far and are likely to maintain their comfortable lead.
The brutality shown by the troops to protesters calling for the country’s military rulers to immediately step down has caused an uproar in Egypt. On Tuesday, some 10,000 women marched in central Cairo, demanding the military step down and expressing their anger over the abuse of women protesters by troops during the crackdown.
The military issued a statement expressing its regret but did not apologize for the brutality, which included pulling women by their hair, beating them with truncheons and stomping on them as they lay on the ground. The image of one woman — stripped half naked by the troops, kicked and stomped on — has particularly enraged women and drawn a sharp rebuke from the United States and the United Nations.
A women-only protest is a rarity in Egypt, though tens of thousands of women took part in the wave of protests that engulfed Egypt during the 18-day, January-February uprising that toppled Mubarak. The high number of protesters Tuesday underlined the depth of anger at the abuse of women by the soldiers. Women’s modesty in public is a cornerstone of social customs in conservative Egypt.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
(washingtonpost.com)
Tampilkan postingan dengan label egypt. Tampilkan semua postingan
Tampilkan postingan dengan label egypt. Tampilkan semua postingan
Rabu, 21 Desember 2011
Egypt: 10,000 march in protest at woman dragged half-naked through street
Tuesday's dramatic protest, which grew as the women marched from Tahrir Square through downtown, was fueled by the widely circulated images of abuses of women. Many of the marchers touted the photo of the young woman whose clothes were partially pulled off by troops, baring her down to her blue bra, as she struggled on the ground.
"Tantawi stripped your women naked, come join us," the crowd chanted to passers-by, referring to Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, the head of the military council that has ruled Egypt since the Feb. 11 fall of Hosni Mubarak. "The daughters of Egypt are a red line," they chanted.
Even before the protest was over, the military council issued an unusually strong statement of regret for what it called "violations" against women - a quick turnaround after days of dismissing the significance of the abuse.
The council expressed "deep regret to the great women of Egypt" and affirmed "its respect and total appreciation" for women and their right to protest and take part in political life. It promised it was taking measures to punish those responsible for violations.
The statement suggested the military's fear that attacks on women could wreck its prestige at home and abroad, which has already been heavily eroded by its fierce, five-day-old crackdown on pro-democracy protesters demanding it surrender power. The ruling generals have campaigned to keep the public on its side in the confrontation, depicting the activists as hooligans and themselves as the honorable protectors of the nation, above reproach.
In unusually harsh words, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday accused the Egyptian security forces and extremists of specifically targeting women.
"This systematic degradation of Egyptian women dishonors the revolution, disgraces the state and its uniform, and is not worthy of a great people," she said.
In a possibly significant hint of new flexibility, the council also said in its statement Tuesday that it was prepared to discuss any initiatives to help the security of the country. In recent days, a number of political factions have pressed the military to hand over power by February, rather than June, when it promised to hold presidential elections.
In the past, police in Mubarak's regime were accused of intentionally humiliating women in protest crackdowns. But images of women being abused by soldiers were particularly shocking in a society that is deeply conservative and generally reveres the military. The independent press has splashed its front pages with pictures of soldiers chasing women protesters, including ones in conservative headscarves and full face-veils, beating them with sticks and clubs and dragging them by their hair. The crackdown has left 14 people dead - all but one by gunshots - and hundreds wounded.
The images of the half-stripped protester, whose identity is not known, clearly had a powerful resonance. A banner showing a photo of her on the asphalt - one soldier yanking up her black robes and shirt, another poised to stomp on her chest - was put up in Tahrir Square for passing drivers to see.
"The girl dragged around is just like my daughter," said Um Hossam, a 54-year old woman in traditional black dress and a headscarf at Tuesday's march. "I am a free woman, and attacking this woman or killing protesters is just like going after one of my own children."
Ringed by a protective chain of men, the women marched from Tahrir to the Journalists' Syndicate, several blocks away, chanting slogans demanding the military council step down.
Many accused the military of intentionally targeting women to scare them and their male relatives from joining protests against the generals. Previously, the military has implied women who joined protests were of loose morals. In March, soldiers subjected detained female protesters to humiliating tests to determine if they were virgins.
"They are trying to break women's spirits, starting with the virginity tests. They want to break their dignity so that they don't go out and protest," Maha Abdel-Nasser, an engineer who joined the march, said.
Two sisters, Yomna and Tasneem Shams, said they never took part in previous protests because their parents wouldn't allow them. But they happened to be downtown Tuesday and spontaneously joined the women's march.
"No one should ever be beaten for expressing their opinion," Yomna, 19, said. "I am proud I took part in today's protest. I feel I can tell my kids I have done something for them in the future."
Some also criticised Islamic parties, which stayed out of the antimilitary protests and did not participate in Tuesday's march - even though religious conservatives often tout their defense of "women's honor." Pro-democracy activists accused them of being worried about anything that might derail ongoing, multistage parliamentary elections, which the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood and the more conservative Al-Nour Party have dominated so far.
"This is a case of honour. But they clearly don't care for honor or religion. They now care only about their political interests," said Mohammed Fawaz, one of the men in the protective chain around the marching women.
The protest also is likely to deepen the predicament of the military as critics began to talk openly about putting them on trial for abuses, and politicians are floating ideas for their exit, perhaps in return for immunity.
Emad Gad, a newly elected lawmaker, said that without guarantees they would not be prosecuted, the generals won't hand over power by the end of June as promised. Foremost on their minds, he said, was the fate of Mubarak, who ended in court facing charges that carry the death penalty after ruling Egypt for nearly 30 years.
"They didn't get clear assurances and that is why they try diabolical tactics to make sure they get these guarantees," he said, citing the military's attempt to enshrine in the next constitution language that would shield it from civilian scrutiny.
"We have to address their fears, their interests and future role," he said.
The public and many activists welcomed the military when it took power from Mubarak in February. But relations have deteriorated sharply since as the democracy activists accused the generals of hijacking their uprising, obstructing reforms, human rights abuses and failing to revive the ailing economy or restore security.
The most recent protests - and an earlier round of protests that saw a deadly crackdown last month - have seen unprecedentedly bold ridiculing of the military, which for decades was considered a revered institution above criticism. Young protesters have heaped profanities into their antimilitary slogans, demanded the execution of Tantawi and taunted soldiers in Tahrir.
On Monday, a member of the military council, Maj. Gen. Adel Emara, took a hard-line in a press conference, denouncing the protests as a conspiracy to "topple the state" and accusing the media of fomenting sedition.
He defended the use of force by troops, saying they had a duty to defend the state's institutions and declined to offer an apology for brutality toward female protesters. He did not dispute the authenticity of the image of the woman being dragged half naked by soldiers, but said Egyptians should not see it without considering the circumstances surrounding the incident.
The apparent change in attitude with Tuesday's statement of regret left some women unimpressed.
Sahar Abdel-Mohsen, a 31-year old activist, doubted the promise to punish those responsible and said the statement was in response to the US criticism. "This is an apology to one woman, Hillary Clinton."
"This is like someone raping a girl, and then going to the police station to marry her (to avoid prosecution) and then divorce her as soon as he leaves," she said. "It is an attempt to exonerate themselves after the deed is done, but with little accountability."
(telegraph.co.uk)
"Tantawi stripped your women naked, come join us," the crowd chanted to passers-by, referring to Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, the head of the military council that has ruled Egypt since the Feb. 11 fall of Hosni Mubarak. "The daughters of Egypt are a red line," they chanted.
Even before the protest was over, the military council issued an unusually strong statement of regret for what it called "violations" against women - a quick turnaround after days of dismissing the significance of the abuse.
The council expressed "deep regret to the great women of Egypt" and affirmed "its respect and total appreciation" for women and their right to protest and take part in political life. It promised it was taking measures to punish those responsible for violations.
The statement suggested the military's fear that attacks on women could wreck its prestige at home and abroad, which has already been heavily eroded by its fierce, five-day-old crackdown on pro-democracy protesters demanding it surrender power. The ruling generals have campaigned to keep the public on its side in the confrontation, depicting the activists as hooligans and themselves as the honorable protectors of the nation, above reproach.
In unusually harsh words, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday accused the Egyptian security forces and extremists of specifically targeting women.
"This systematic degradation of Egyptian women dishonors the revolution, disgraces the state and its uniform, and is not worthy of a great people," she said.
In a possibly significant hint of new flexibility, the council also said in its statement Tuesday that it was prepared to discuss any initiatives to help the security of the country. In recent days, a number of political factions have pressed the military to hand over power by February, rather than June, when it promised to hold presidential elections.
In the past, police in Mubarak's regime were accused of intentionally humiliating women in protest crackdowns. But images of women being abused by soldiers were particularly shocking in a society that is deeply conservative and generally reveres the military. The independent press has splashed its front pages with pictures of soldiers chasing women protesters, including ones in conservative headscarves and full face-veils, beating them with sticks and clubs and dragging them by their hair. The crackdown has left 14 people dead - all but one by gunshots - and hundreds wounded.
The images of the half-stripped protester, whose identity is not known, clearly had a powerful resonance. A banner showing a photo of her on the asphalt - one soldier yanking up her black robes and shirt, another poised to stomp on her chest - was put up in Tahrir Square for passing drivers to see.
"The girl dragged around is just like my daughter," said Um Hossam, a 54-year old woman in traditional black dress and a headscarf at Tuesday's march. "I am a free woman, and attacking this woman or killing protesters is just like going after one of my own children."
Ringed by a protective chain of men, the women marched from Tahrir to the Journalists' Syndicate, several blocks away, chanting slogans demanding the military council step down.
Many accused the military of intentionally targeting women to scare them and their male relatives from joining protests against the generals. Previously, the military has implied women who joined protests were of loose morals. In March, soldiers subjected detained female protesters to humiliating tests to determine if they were virgins.
"They are trying to break women's spirits, starting with the virginity tests. They want to break their dignity so that they don't go out and protest," Maha Abdel-Nasser, an engineer who joined the march, said.
Two sisters, Yomna and Tasneem Shams, said they never took part in previous protests because their parents wouldn't allow them. But they happened to be downtown Tuesday and spontaneously joined the women's march.
"No one should ever be beaten for expressing their opinion," Yomna, 19, said. "I am proud I took part in today's protest. I feel I can tell my kids I have done something for them in the future."
Some also criticised Islamic parties, which stayed out of the antimilitary protests and did not participate in Tuesday's march - even though religious conservatives often tout their defense of "women's honor." Pro-democracy activists accused them of being worried about anything that might derail ongoing, multistage parliamentary elections, which the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood and the more conservative Al-Nour Party have dominated so far.
"This is a case of honour. But they clearly don't care for honor or religion. They now care only about their political interests," said Mohammed Fawaz, one of the men in the protective chain around the marching women.
The protest also is likely to deepen the predicament of the military as critics began to talk openly about putting them on trial for abuses, and politicians are floating ideas for their exit, perhaps in return for immunity.
Emad Gad, a newly elected lawmaker, said that without guarantees they would not be prosecuted, the generals won't hand over power by the end of June as promised. Foremost on their minds, he said, was the fate of Mubarak, who ended in court facing charges that carry the death penalty after ruling Egypt for nearly 30 years.
"They didn't get clear assurances and that is why they try diabolical tactics to make sure they get these guarantees," he said, citing the military's attempt to enshrine in the next constitution language that would shield it from civilian scrutiny.
"We have to address their fears, their interests and future role," he said.
The public and many activists welcomed the military when it took power from Mubarak in February. But relations have deteriorated sharply since as the democracy activists accused the generals of hijacking their uprising, obstructing reforms, human rights abuses and failing to revive the ailing economy or restore security.
The most recent protests - and an earlier round of protests that saw a deadly crackdown last month - have seen unprecedentedly bold ridiculing of the military, which for decades was considered a revered institution above criticism. Young protesters have heaped profanities into their antimilitary slogans, demanded the execution of Tantawi and taunted soldiers in Tahrir.
On Monday, a member of the military council, Maj. Gen. Adel Emara, took a hard-line in a press conference, denouncing the protests as a conspiracy to "topple the state" and accusing the media of fomenting sedition.
He defended the use of force by troops, saying they had a duty to defend the state's institutions and declined to offer an apology for brutality toward female protesters. He did not dispute the authenticity of the image of the woman being dragged half naked by soldiers, but said Egyptians should not see it without considering the circumstances surrounding the incident.
The apparent change in attitude with Tuesday's statement of regret left some women unimpressed.
Sahar Abdel-Mohsen, a 31-year old activist, doubted the promise to punish those responsible and said the statement was in response to the US criticism. "This is an apology to one woman, Hillary Clinton."
"This is like someone raping a girl, and then going to the police station to marry her (to avoid prosecution) and then divorce her as soon as he leaves," she said. "It is an attempt to exonerate themselves after the deed is done, but with little accountability."
(telegraph.co.uk)
Selasa, 20 Desember 2011
Syria, Egypt and Middle East unrest - live updates
11.06am: Syria's president Assad has a signed a new law that will impose the death penalty on anyone caught distributing weapons "with the aim of committing terrorist acts".
The regime has branded political opponents as terrorists since the start of the uprising, so the new law appears to be another signal of its determination to carry on with the crackdown.
10.49am: The Democratic Alliance, a political bloc in which the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party is the biggest player, has released a statement throwing its support firmly behind the protesters
.
Confirming its intention to participate in the sit-in at the supreme judiciary court until violence against protesters is halted and executive powers are handed over to the new parliament, it says:
Scaf (Supreme Council of Armed Forces) has failed in the management of the transitional period up to this critical moment, and it bears full responsibility for immediate cessation of violence, abuse of the citizens, assault of female demonstrators, the targeting of the revolutionaries who stood in the face of heavy-handed attacks, and for the immediate release of all protesters detained for no legal reason.
The conferees insist on bringing to justice and accountability military leaders and security officials responsible for ordering and carrying out violent attacks on the protesters, sitters and demonstrators, and on the formation of a special independent judicial commission of inquiry to take the necessary measures for the afore-mentioned purpose with full authority to initiate an investigation with the military and the security forces in charge of the area at the time. The conferees also condemn attempts to tarnish the image of the revolution and the revolutionaries who were always determined to maintain the peaceful nature of their protest and sit-in, which lasted nearly three weeks without any attack on a single institution.
10.46am: Video filmed by the Egyptian daily al-Masry al-Youm TV
at dawn today shows security forces in riot gear and protesters hurling projectiles at each other. What sounds like gunshots can be heard in the background.
Four people were killed in the raid on this morning's raid on Tahrir Square, a doctor told Ahram Online (see 10.07am).
10.22am: Reports of the killing of scores of Syrian army defectors in Idlib are sketchy, but the area is known to be a centre of desertion.
Dissident Ammar Abdulhamid claimed 72 defectors were killed in Kinsafrah.
The Syrian Observatory for Human said 60 to 70 defected troops were killed as they fled military positions between Kinsafrah and Kefer Quaid.
Last week residents of Kinsafrah were filmed hoisting an independence flag after reports that hundreds of troops switched sides in the town.
10.07am: Four people were killed when the Egyptian security forces raided Tahrir Square this morning,
a doctor told Ahram Online reports.
Yamen El Genedy, a doctor at the Omar Makram Mosque field hospital, told Ahram Online that he saw four people admitted at 8 this morning. All of them had been shot dead. "The bullets had entered and exited their bodies, making it seem like the result of snipers. The force of the gunshots was very strong," said El Genedy. One of the deaths, he added, was a 19-year-old.
9.50am: The US state department has also appears to suspect Syria of playing for time by signing a deal with the Arab League to allow in observers.
Spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters:
We've seen too many broken promises from the Syrian regime, so we're really less interested in a signed piece of paper than we are in actions to implement commitments made.
We firmly support the calls by the Arab League and the stipulations in this agreement that monitors, international human rights monitors, would have unfettered access to all locations in Syria, that the violence will stop, that all political prisoners will be released, and that armed elements of the Syrian regime will be withdrawn from populated areas. So it's on that basis that we will judge the seriousness of the Syrian regime with regard to this – its apparent acquiescence now to the Arab League's proposal.
On the other hand, Russia and China have welcomed the deal.
Russia's foreign ministry said:
We believe the document signed in Cairo offers an opportunity to use a mechanism of independent monitoring on the ground, to provide protection for all Syrian citizens and to stabilize the situation. This chance must be utilized.
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90777/7682071.html?
8.21am: Welcome to Middle East Live. Grim reports of escalating violence in both Syria and Egypt continue to emerge. Here's a round up of the latest developments.
Syria
• Up to 70 army deserters were killed on Monday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, making it one one of the bloodiest days in uprising so far.
A survivor told the Observatory that defected soldiers were shot by machine gun fire
as they tried to flee their base. It also counted 40 civilians shot dead across Syria in the crackdown on protests.
• The regime of president Bashar al-Assad has signed an Arab League initiative that will allow observers into the country, in a move seen as another stalling tactic by Damascus.
Syria's foreign minister, Walid al-Moualem, said the observers will have a one-month mandate that could be extended by another month if both sides agree. The observers will be "free" in their movements and "under the protection of the Syrian government," he said, but would not be allowed to visit sensitive military sites. Dissident Ammar Abdulhamid said the deal gave the regime more time
to allow the crackdown to continue:
The move was not a concession, but another stalling tactic. Assad was just granted several weeks of respite in which he can do pretty much what he wants, knowing that nothing will take place in the meantime on the regional or international scene to hurt him.
• The authorities have released US-born blogger Razan Ghazzawi who was charged last week with fomenting sectarian strife and spreading false information through a secret organisation.
The Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression, where she worked, said in a statement that Ghazzawi was freed on Sunday night on bail.
Egypt
• Egyptian troops and riot police raided Cairo's Tahrir Square early on Tuesday in their latest attempt to evict protesters who want the ruling military to immediately step down, according to a field hospital doctor.
Ahmed Saad said a 15-year-old protester was in critical condition after suffering a gunshot wound in the attack, AP reports.
• Prominent political personalities and newly elected MPs are planning to stage a sit-in at Cairo's supreme judiciary court to demand immediate halt of violence against protesters, Jadaliyya reports.
The sit-in will also demand an immediate transfer of power from military to civilian rule, it says.
• Amnesty has condemned the excessive use of force used by the army against protesters.
"It is clear that either the military police has been given orders to disperse demonstrators at any cost, or the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces does not control the army and security forces. Either scenario is equally worrying," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty's deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa.
• US secretary of state Hillary Clinton has accused the security forces of targeting female protesters for beatings.
In a speech in Washington she said:
Recent events in Egypt have been particularly shocking. Women are being beaten and humiliated in the same streets where they risked their lives for the revolution only a few short months ago. And this is part of a deeply troubling pattern. Egyptian women have been largely shut out of decision-making in the transition by both the military authorities and the major political parties. At the same time, they have been specifically targeted both by security forces and by extremists ...
Women are being attacked, stripped, and beaten in the streets. This systematic degradation of Egyptian women dishonours the revolution, disgraces the state and its uniform, and is not worthy of a great people.
• Revolutionaries are partly to blame for the clashes, according to a Foreign Policy magazine article by Steven Cook from the Council on Foreign Relations.
He writes:
What is perhaps most disturbing is that the weekend's battle ... didn't seem to have a point. The young toughs who descended on Qasr al-Aini Street after news spread of the Army's efforts to clear the area seemed less concerned with principle than combat ...
If the revolutionaries and their supporters are now stunned that the Islamists -- both the Brotherhood and the Salafists -- are set to dominate post-uprising Egypt, they must take a hard look at what they have done, or not done, over the last 11 months. Indeed, their ability to read Egyptian public sentiment is as bad as that of the military, and a good deal more myopic.
The Muslim Brothers are just about the only ones who have played post-Mubarak Egypt well.
• Thousands of historic manuscripts are feared destroyed after the Institute of Egypt, a research centre set up by Napoleon Bonaparte during France's invasion in the late 18th century, caught fire during the clashes.
Volunteers have spent the past two days trying to salvage what's left of some 192,000 books, journals and writings from the Institute.
Iraq
• Iraq's Shia-led government has issued an arrest warrant for the vice-president, Tariq al-Hashimi, the country's highest ranking Sunni official, on terrorism charges.
The move, a day after the last US troops left Iraq and ended the nearly nine-year war, could signal a sharp escalation in the sectarian tensions that drove Iraq to the brink of civil war a few years ago.
Libya
• A Libyan military commander and rebel leader has launched legal proceedings against the British government over his rendition and alleged "barbaric" treatment meted out to him and his pregnant wife.
Abdel Hakim Belhadj, head of the Tripoli Military Council and a former leader of the militant Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, is suing ministers and MI6 for the part he claims they played in secretly sending him and his wife to Libya in March 2004.
Posted by
Matthew Weaver and Haroon Siddique
Tuesday 20 December 2011 11.15 GMT guardian.co.uk
The regime has branded political opponents as terrorists since the start of the uprising, so the new law appears to be another signal of its determination to carry on with the crackdown.
10.49am: The Democratic Alliance, a political bloc in which the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party is the biggest player, has released a statement throwing its support firmly behind the protesters
.
Confirming its intention to participate in the sit-in at the supreme judiciary court until violence against protesters is halted and executive powers are handed over to the new parliament, it says:
Scaf (Supreme Council of Armed Forces) has failed in the management of the transitional period up to this critical moment, and it bears full responsibility for immediate cessation of violence, abuse of the citizens, assault of female demonstrators, the targeting of the revolutionaries who stood in the face of heavy-handed attacks, and for the immediate release of all protesters detained for no legal reason.
The conferees insist on bringing to justice and accountability military leaders and security officials responsible for ordering and carrying out violent attacks on the protesters, sitters and demonstrators, and on the formation of a special independent judicial commission of inquiry to take the necessary measures for the afore-mentioned purpose with full authority to initiate an investigation with the military and the security forces in charge of the area at the time. The conferees also condemn attempts to tarnish the image of the revolution and the revolutionaries who were always determined to maintain the peaceful nature of their protest and sit-in, which lasted nearly three weeks without any attack on a single institution.
10.46am: Video filmed by the Egyptian daily al-Masry al-Youm TV
at dawn today shows security forces in riot gear and protesters hurling projectiles at each other. What sounds like gunshots can be heard in the background.
Four people were killed in the raid on this morning's raid on Tahrir Square, a doctor told Ahram Online (see 10.07am).
10.22am: Reports of the killing of scores of Syrian army defectors in Idlib are sketchy, but the area is known to be a centre of desertion.
Dissident Ammar Abdulhamid claimed 72 defectors were killed in Kinsafrah.
The Syrian Observatory for Human said 60 to 70 defected troops were killed as they fled military positions between Kinsafrah and Kefer Quaid.
Last week residents of Kinsafrah were filmed hoisting an independence flag after reports that hundreds of troops switched sides in the town.
10.07am: Four people were killed when the Egyptian security forces raided Tahrir Square this morning,
a doctor told Ahram Online reports.
Yamen El Genedy, a doctor at the Omar Makram Mosque field hospital, told Ahram Online that he saw four people admitted at 8 this morning. All of them had been shot dead. "The bullets had entered and exited their bodies, making it seem like the result of snipers. The force of the gunshots was very strong," said El Genedy. One of the deaths, he added, was a 19-year-old.
9.50am: The US state department has also appears to suspect Syria of playing for time by signing a deal with the Arab League to allow in observers.
Spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters:
We've seen too many broken promises from the Syrian regime, so we're really less interested in a signed piece of paper than we are in actions to implement commitments made.
We firmly support the calls by the Arab League and the stipulations in this agreement that monitors, international human rights monitors, would have unfettered access to all locations in Syria, that the violence will stop, that all political prisoners will be released, and that armed elements of the Syrian regime will be withdrawn from populated areas. So it's on that basis that we will judge the seriousness of the Syrian regime with regard to this – its apparent acquiescence now to the Arab League's proposal.
On the other hand, Russia and China have welcomed the deal.
Russia's foreign ministry said:
We believe the document signed in Cairo offers an opportunity to use a mechanism of independent monitoring on the ground, to provide protection for all Syrian citizens and to stabilize the situation. This chance must be utilized.
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90777/7682071.html?
8.21am: Welcome to Middle East Live. Grim reports of escalating violence in both Syria and Egypt continue to emerge. Here's a round up of the latest developments.
Syria
• Up to 70 army deserters were killed on Monday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, making it one one of the bloodiest days in uprising so far.
A survivor told the Observatory that defected soldiers were shot by machine gun fire
as they tried to flee their base. It also counted 40 civilians shot dead across Syria in the crackdown on protests.
• The regime of president Bashar al-Assad has signed an Arab League initiative that will allow observers into the country, in a move seen as another stalling tactic by Damascus.
Syria's foreign minister, Walid al-Moualem, said the observers will have a one-month mandate that could be extended by another month if both sides agree. The observers will be "free" in their movements and "under the protection of the Syrian government," he said, but would not be allowed to visit sensitive military sites. Dissident Ammar Abdulhamid said the deal gave the regime more time
to allow the crackdown to continue:
The move was not a concession, but another stalling tactic. Assad was just granted several weeks of respite in which he can do pretty much what he wants, knowing that nothing will take place in the meantime on the regional or international scene to hurt him.
• The authorities have released US-born blogger Razan Ghazzawi who was charged last week with fomenting sectarian strife and spreading false information through a secret organisation.
The Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression, where she worked, said in a statement that Ghazzawi was freed on Sunday night on bail.
Egypt
• Egyptian troops and riot police raided Cairo's Tahrir Square early on Tuesday in their latest attempt to evict protesters who want the ruling military to immediately step down, according to a field hospital doctor.
Ahmed Saad said a 15-year-old protester was in critical condition after suffering a gunshot wound in the attack, AP reports.
• Prominent political personalities and newly elected MPs are planning to stage a sit-in at Cairo's supreme judiciary court to demand immediate halt of violence against protesters, Jadaliyya reports.
The sit-in will also demand an immediate transfer of power from military to civilian rule, it says.
• Amnesty has condemned the excessive use of force used by the army against protesters.
"It is clear that either the military police has been given orders to disperse demonstrators at any cost, or the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces does not control the army and security forces. Either scenario is equally worrying," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty's deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa.
• US secretary of state Hillary Clinton has accused the security forces of targeting female protesters for beatings.
In a speech in Washington she said:
Recent events in Egypt have been particularly shocking. Women are being beaten and humiliated in the same streets where they risked their lives for the revolution only a few short months ago. And this is part of a deeply troubling pattern. Egyptian women have been largely shut out of decision-making in the transition by both the military authorities and the major political parties. At the same time, they have been specifically targeted both by security forces and by extremists ...
Women are being attacked, stripped, and beaten in the streets. This systematic degradation of Egyptian women dishonours the revolution, disgraces the state and its uniform, and is not worthy of a great people.
• Revolutionaries are partly to blame for the clashes, according to a Foreign Policy magazine article by Steven Cook from the Council on Foreign Relations.
He writes:
What is perhaps most disturbing is that the weekend's battle ... didn't seem to have a point. The young toughs who descended on Qasr al-Aini Street after news spread of the Army's efforts to clear the area seemed less concerned with principle than combat ...
If the revolutionaries and their supporters are now stunned that the Islamists -- both the Brotherhood and the Salafists -- are set to dominate post-uprising Egypt, they must take a hard look at what they have done, or not done, over the last 11 months. Indeed, their ability to read Egyptian public sentiment is as bad as that of the military, and a good deal more myopic.
The Muslim Brothers are just about the only ones who have played post-Mubarak Egypt well.
• Thousands of historic manuscripts are feared destroyed after the Institute of Egypt, a research centre set up by Napoleon Bonaparte during France's invasion in the late 18th century, caught fire during the clashes.
Volunteers have spent the past two days trying to salvage what's left of some 192,000 books, journals and writings from the Institute.
Iraq
• Iraq's Shia-led government has issued an arrest warrant for the vice-president, Tariq al-Hashimi, the country's highest ranking Sunni official, on terrorism charges.
The move, a day after the last US troops left Iraq and ended the nearly nine-year war, could signal a sharp escalation in the sectarian tensions that drove Iraq to the brink of civil war a few years ago.
Libya
• A Libyan military commander and rebel leader has launched legal proceedings against the British government over his rendition and alleged "barbaric" treatment meted out to him and his pregnant wife.
Abdel Hakim Belhadj, head of the Tripoli Military Council and a former leader of the militant Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, is suing ministers and MI6 for the part he claims they played in secretly sending him and his wife to Libya in March 2004.
Posted by
Matthew Weaver and Haroon Siddique
Tuesday 20 December 2011 11.15 GMT guardian.co.uk
Egypt Tahrir clashes rage on for fifth day
CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian police and soldiers fired weapons and used batons and teargas for a fifth day on Tuesday in the latest effort to clear Cairo's central Tahrir Square of opponents of army rule, amid mounting international concern about the violence.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemned as "shocking" incidents such as one in which two Egyptian soldiers were filmed dragging a woman protester on the ground by her shirt, exposing her underwear, then clubbing and kicking her.
"This systematic degradation of Egyptian women dishonors the revolution, disgraces the state and its uniform and is not worthy of a great people," Clinton was quoted as saying in a speech at Washington's Georgetown University.
General Adel Emara, a member of Egypt's ruling military council that took over after President Hosni Mubarak was overthrown in February, said on Monday the attack on the woman protester was an isolated incident that was under investigation.
The United States, which saw Egypt as a staunch ally in the Mubarak era, gives Cairo $1.3 billion a year in military aid.
Gunfire rang out across Tahrir Square at dawn as security forces charged hundreds of protesters attempting to hold their ground, activists and a Reuters journalist at the scene said.
After a night of clashes, hundreds of people were in Tahrir in the morning, although traffic was still flowing through.
Medical sources say 13 people have been killed and hundreds wounded in the violence that began on Friday in Tahrir and nearby streets leading to parliament and the cabinet office.
Army generals and their advisers have condemned the pro-democracy protesters, sometimes in extraordinarily harsh terms.
"HITLER'S INCINERATORS"
"What is your feeling when you see Egypt and its history burn in front of you?" retired general Abdel Moneim Kato, an army adviser, told al-Shorouk daily, referring a government archive building set alight during clashes. "Yet you worry about a vagrant who should be burnt in Hitler's incinerators."
Emara said "evil forces" wanted to sow chaos and that said soldiers had shown "self-restraint" despite provocation.
"What is happening does not belong with the revolution and its pure youth, who never wanted to bring down this nation," he said. Despite the actions of the security forces in Tahrir, Emara denied that the army had given orders to clear the square.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has criticized the use of "excessive" force by the Egyptian authorities. Rights groups said suppliers should not send small arms to Egypt.
The flare-up has also marred a staggered parliamentary election that began on November 28 and ends on January 11, but the army has said a promised transition to civilian rule will go ahead.
Results so far suggest the once-banned Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist parties will dominate the lower house.
Before the latest charge by the security forces in Tahrir, protesters had been trying to tear down a brick wall the army had put up to block access to parliament, located nearby.
"Hundreds of state security forces and the army entered the square and began firing heavily. They chased protesters and burned anything in their way, including medical supplies and blankets," said a protester who gave his name only as Ismail.
"Some of those who fell had gunshot wounds to the legs," he added, speaking by telephone from Tahrir.
Politicians and members of parliament who had been staging a sit-in nearby tried to enter the square but were forced to turn back as the gunfire and clashes raged on, Ismail said.
The violent crackdown has alarmed rights group. Amnesty International urged arms suppliers to stop sending small arms and ammunition to Egypt's military and security forces.
Reporters Without Borders said the army's "systematic use of violence against media personnel," was blocking access to information in and around the square.
Many Egyptians want to focus on building democratic institutions, not street activism, but have nevertheless been shocked by the tactics of security forces in and around Tahrir.
The latest violence broke out just after the second stage of a six-week election for Egypt's new parliament that starts a slow countdown to the army's return to barracks. The military has pledged to hand power to an elected president by July.
Hard-core activists have camped in Tahrir since a protest against army rule on November 18, which was sparked by the army-backed cabinet's proposals to permanently shield the military from civilian oversight in the new constitution.
(Additional reporting by Shaimaa Fayed and Dina Zayed; Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Alistair Lyon)
(reuters.com)
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemned as "shocking" incidents such as one in which two Egyptian soldiers were filmed dragging a woman protester on the ground by her shirt, exposing her underwear, then clubbing and kicking her.
"This systematic degradation of Egyptian women dishonors the revolution, disgraces the state and its uniform and is not worthy of a great people," Clinton was quoted as saying in a speech at Washington's Georgetown University.
General Adel Emara, a member of Egypt's ruling military council that took over after President Hosni Mubarak was overthrown in February, said on Monday the attack on the woman protester was an isolated incident that was under investigation.
The United States, which saw Egypt as a staunch ally in the Mubarak era, gives Cairo $1.3 billion a year in military aid.
Gunfire rang out across Tahrir Square at dawn as security forces charged hundreds of protesters attempting to hold their ground, activists and a Reuters journalist at the scene said.
After a night of clashes, hundreds of people were in Tahrir in the morning, although traffic was still flowing through.
Medical sources say 13 people have been killed and hundreds wounded in the violence that began on Friday in Tahrir and nearby streets leading to parliament and the cabinet office.
Army generals and their advisers have condemned the pro-democracy protesters, sometimes in extraordinarily harsh terms.
"HITLER'S INCINERATORS"
"What is your feeling when you see Egypt and its history burn in front of you?" retired general Abdel Moneim Kato, an army adviser, told al-Shorouk daily, referring a government archive building set alight during clashes. "Yet you worry about a vagrant who should be burnt in Hitler's incinerators."
Emara said "evil forces" wanted to sow chaos and that said soldiers had shown "self-restraint" despite provocation.
"What is happening does not belong with the revolution and its pure youth, who never wanted to bring down this nation," he said. Despite the actions of the security forces in Tahrir, Emara denied that the army had given orders to clear the square.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has criticized the use of "excessive" force by the Egyptian authorities. Rights groups said suppliers should not send small arms to Egypt.
The flare-up has also marred a staggered parliamentary election that began on November 28 and ends on January 11, but the army has said a promised transition to civilian rule will go ahead.
Results so far suggest the once-banned Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist parties will dominate the lower house.
Before the latest charge by the security forces in Tahrir, protesters had been trying to tear down a brick wall the army had put up to block access to parliament, located nearby.
"Hundreds of state security forces and the army entered the square and began firing heavily. They chased protesters and burned anything in their way, including medical supplies and blankets," said a protester who gave his name only as Ismail.
"Some of those who fell had gunshot wounds to the legs," he added, speaking by telephone from Tahrir.
Politicians and members of parliament who had been staging a sit-in nearby tried to enter the square but were forced to turn back as the gunfire and clashes raged on, Ismail said.
The violent crackdown has alarmed rights group. Amnesty International urged arms suppliers to stop sending small arms and ammunition to Egypt's military and security forces.
Reporters Without Borders said the army's "systematic use of violence against media personnel," was blocking access to information in and around the square.
Many Egyptians want to focus on building democratic institutions, not street activism, but have nevertheless been shocked by the tactics of security forces in and around Tahrir.
The latest violence broke out just after the second stage of a six-week election for Egypt's new parliament that starts a slow countdown to the army's return to barracks. The military has pledged to hand power to an elected president by July.
Hard-core activists have camped in Tahrir since a protest against army rule on November 18, which was sparked by the army-backed cabinet's proposals to permanently shield the military from civilian oversight in the new constitution.
(Additional reporting by Shaimaa Fayed and Dina Zayed; Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Alistair Lyon)
(reuters.com)
Senin, 19 Desember 2011
Cairo Clashes: 3 More Protesters Killed
(CAIRO) — Egypt's Health Ministry says at least three more protesters have been killed in clashes with army soldiers in central Cairo, bringing the four-day death toll to at least 14.
A doctor at a field hospital in Cairo's Tahrir Square puts the toll from Monday's violence at six. Ahmed Saad says all of them were killed by gunshots.
The discrepancy could not be immediately reconciled.
The clashes have been raging since Friday in and around Tahrir, which served as the epicenter of the popular uprising that toppled longtime leader Hosni Mubarak in February.(See more on the clashes in Cairo.)
The heavy handed crackdown on protesters demanding the ruling military council to step down and hand power to a civilian government is unprecedented.
The ruling generals described the clashes as part of a "conspiracy" against Egypt.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
CAIRO — Egypt's ruling military and the revolutionaries who demand they immediately step down battled for a third day in the streets on Sunday — and competed fiercely for the support of a broader public that has grown tired of turmoil since the fall of Hosni Mubarak 10 months ago.
The generals appear to be winning the fight for the public, despite a heavy-handed crackdown on protesters around Cairo's Tahrir Square using a roughness that rivaled even that of Mubarak's widely hated police force.
Before dawn Monday, security forces mounted a charge and cleared hundreds of demonstrators away from the area, according to videos posted on the internet. Earlier, a man died in custody, a lawyer said.(See more on rivalries playing out in Egypt.)
The protesters have tried to drum up Egyptians' anger at the military by spreading videos and photos of military police savagely beating young men and women to the ground with sticks and truncheons — and the resonant scene of a woman in a conservative headscarf being stripped half naked by soldiers who stomp on her chest.
But so far their efforts to win public sympathy don't seem to be gaining traction in the face of the military's campaign to depict the crowds of hundreds in the streets as hooligans and vandals, not the idealistic activists who succeeded in bringing down Mubarak. At least 10 protesters have been killed and 441 others wounded in the three days of violence, according to the Health Ministry.
"The military has failed in everything except for its stunning success in making people hate the revolution, its history and its revolutionaries," prominent columnist Ibrahim Eissa wrote in an editorial in the independent pro-revolution newspaper, Al-Tahrir.
Led by a general who served for 20 years as Mubarak's defense minister, the military has been methodically seeking to discredit the revolutionaries, accusing them of illegally receiving foreign funds and being part of a plot hatched abroad to destabilize Egypt. The generals have in the meantime sought to portray themselves as key players in the 18-day revolt that toppled Mubarak's 29-year rule and hence have earned the right to rule.
In a statement posted on its Facebook page, the ruling military council on Sunday called the clashes part of a "conspiracy" against Egypt. It said its forces had the right to defend the "property of the great people of Egypt."
Seeking to depict the protesters as hooligans — and apparently to counter the widely published images of protesters being beaten or dragged on the ground — it also posted on the page footage of young men throwing rocks at a basement window of the parliament building and of at least one man trying to set the place ablaze.
The generals' campaign plays on Egyptians' frustration with continued instability and economic woes since Mubarak's fall. Many are now more focused on the multistage parliamentary elections that began last month and continue through March. Islamist parties have so far overwhelmingly dominated the vote, with liberals and secular parties far behind.
That trend continued with the announcement Sunday of results from the second of three rounds of voting, held last week. Out of around 160 seats up for grabs in the second round, the Muslim Brotherhood won 29 and another more conservative Islamic party, Al-Nour, won 23. Two liberal groups — the Wafd Party and the Egyptian Bloc — won nine and seven seats, respectively. The rest will be determined in a run-off vote to be held later this week.
The Islamists have been staying clear of the recent violence, fearing that they could jeopardize their electoral gains by taking part in the protests. Their stance has prompted many activists to accuse them of political opportunism.
The military has meanwhile been using the state media and sympathetic private TV stations to market an image of itself as the protector of the nation, filling its statements with patriotic rhetoric and grave warnings if turmoil persists.
The revolutionaries who led the protests against Mubarak accuse the military of mismanaging the transition since then, of seeking to hold on to power and of using the same autocratic ways as the ousted leader. They demand that the military hand over power to civilians immediately — and some have begun demanding that presidential elections scheduled for the middle of next year be moved up to January to pick a civilian head of state to take the generals' place.
"The military is looking down at us and handling everything from a security perspective," said Shady el-Ghazali Harb, a prominent activist and an icon of the anti-Mubarak uprising. "It is trying to make the point that its way of handling things is what will be applied and nothing else."
The latest deadly clashes began Friday, when one of several hundred peaceful protesters staging a sit-in outside the Cabinet offices near parliament was detained and beaten by troops. The protesters began their sit-in three weeks ago to demand that the military immediately step down.
In Sunday's clashes, protesters and troops battled on two main streets off Tahrir Square, trading volleys of stones and firebombs around barriers that the military set up to block the two central avenues. The army also used water canons.
Human rights lawyer Ahmed Ragheb said the man who died Sunday, Mohammed Mohie Hussein, was among some 200 people being held in a Cairo court after being arrested at the clashes. Within an hour of his interrogation in the presence of several defense lawyers, he died, Ragheb said.
"His condition deteriorated in custody. He was already wounded when he got there," he said.
Activists have flooded social network sites and sympathetic media with photos and video from the troops' brutal assaults the past two days.
The photo of the woman protester half-stripped by soldiers ran on the front page of the Al-Tahrir newspaper, emblazoned with a headline in red, "Liars," referring to repeated denials by the military council and military-appointed Prime Minister Kamal el-Ganzouri that no force or live ammunition were used against the protesters.
The presenter of a political talk show on a private TV station sarcastically praised the soldiers for their bravery in wrestling the woman down.
"She is more of a man than 300,000 men put together, including me," said Youssef al-Hussein on ONTV.
Other widely circulating footage show an army officer firing a pistol at protesters — though it is not clear whether he was using live ammunition — and soldiers dragging women by the hair and ferociously beating, kicking and stomping on protesters cowering on the ground.
Still, many Egyptians complain the revolutionaries have gone too far and that, almost a year after ousting Mubarak, they should now go home and let the military run the country or wait for the next parliament to decide the country's future.
Such sentiments are not surprising given that the military has been the most powerful institution in Egypt since army officers seized power in a 1952 coup that toppled the monarchy.
Nearly 60 years later, the military continues to have the last word on policies, a position of power that has left many activists not entirely certain that the generals who succeeded Mubarak would voluntarily return to their barracks.
"The military council uses every opportunity to show itself as the land's strongest institution," said Mohammed Abbas, an activist who defected from the Muslim Brotherhood to side with youth groups more active in protests. "We are making it easier for the generals by our divisions and isolation."
(time.com)
A doctor at a field hospital in Cairo's Tahrir Square puts the toll from Monday's violence at six. Ahmed Saad says all of them were killed by gunshots.
The discrepancy could not be immediately reconciled.
The clashes have been raging since Friday in and around Tahrir, which served as the epicenter of the popular uprising that toppled longtime leader Hosni Mubarak in February.(See more on the clashes in Cairo.)
The heavy handed crackdown on protesters demanding the ruling military council to step down and hand power to a civilian government is unprecedented.
The ruling generals described the clashes as part of a "conspiracy" against Egypt.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
CAIRO — Egypt's ruling military and the revolutionaries who demand they immediately step down battled for a third day in the streets on Sunday — and competed fiercely for the support of a broader public that has grown tired of turmoil since the fall of Hosni Mubarak 10 months ago.
The generals appear to be winning the fight for the public, despite a heavy-handed crackdown on protesters around Cairo's Tahrir Square using a roughness that rivaled even that of Mubarak's widely hated police force.
Before dawn Monday, security forces mounted a charge and cleared hundreds of demonstrators away from the area, according to videos posted on the internet. Earlier, a man died in custody, a lawyer said.(See more on rivalries playing out in Egypt.)
The protesters have tried to drum up Egyptians' anger at the military by spreading videos and photos of military police savagely beating young men and women to the ground with sticks and truncheons — and the resonant scene of a woman in a conservative headscarf being stripped half naked by soldiers who stomp on her chest.
But so far their efforts to win public sympathy don't seem to be gaining traction in the face of the military's campaign to depict the crowds of hundreds in the streets as hooligans and vandals, not the idealistic activists who succeeded in bringing down Mubarak. At least 10 protesters have been killed and 441 others wounded in the three days of violence, according to the Health Ministry.
"The military has failed in everything except for its stunning success in making people hate the revolution, its history and its revolutionaries," prominent columnist Ibrahim Eissa wrote in an editorial in the independent pro-revolution newspaper, Al-Tahrir.
Led by a general who served for 20 years as Mubarak's defense minister, the military has been methodically seeking to discredit the revolutionaries, accusing them of illegally receiving foreign funds and being part of a plot hatched abroad to destabilize Egypt. The generals have in the meantime sought to portray themselves as key players in the 18-day revolt that toppled Mubarak's 29-year rule and hence have earned the right to rule.
In a statement posted on its Facebook page, the ruling military council on Sunday called the clashes part of a "conspiracy" against Egypt. It said its forces had the right to defend the "property of the great people of Egypt."
Seeking to depict the protesters as hooligans — and apparently to counter the widely published images of protesters being beaten or dragged on the ground — it also posted on the page footage of young men throwing rocks at a basement window of the parliament building and of at least one man trying to set the place ablaze.
The generals' campaign plays on Egyptians' frustration with continued instability and economic woes since Mubarak's fall. Many are now more focused on the multistage parliamentary elections that began last month and continue through March. Islamist parties have so far overwhelmingly dominated the vote, with liberals and secular parties far behind.
That trend continued with the announcement Sunday of results from the second of three rounds of voting, held last week. Out of around 160 seats up for grabs in the second round, the Muslim Brotherhood won 29 and another more conservative Islamic party, Al-Nour, won 23. Two liberal groups — the Wafd Party and the Egyptian Bloc — won nine and seven seats, respectively. The rest will be determined in a run-off vote to be held later this week.
The Islamists have been staying clear of the recent violence, fearing that they could jeopardize their electoral gains by taking part in the protests. Their stance has prompted many activists to accuse them of political opportunism.
The military has meanwhile been using the state media and sympathetic private TV stations to market an image of itself as the protector of the nation, filling its statements with patriotic rhetoric and grave warnings if turmoil persists.
The revolutionaries who led the protests against Mubarak accuse the military of mismanaging the transition since then, of seeking to hold on to power and of using the same autocratic ways as the ousted leader. They demand that the military hand over power to civilians immediately — and some have begun demanding that presidential elections scheduled for the middle of next year be moved up to January to pick a civilian head of state to take the generals' place.
"The military is looking down at us and handling everything from a security perspective," said Shady el-Ghazali Harb, a prominent activist and an icon of the anti-Mubarak uprising. "It is trying to make the point that its way of handling things is what will be applied and nothing else."
The latest deadly clashes began Friday, when one of several hundred peaceful protesters staging a sit-in outside the Cabinet offices near parliament was detained and beaten by troops. The protesters began their sit-in three weeks ago to demand that the military immediately step down.
In Sunday's clashes, protesters and troops battled on two main streets off Tahrir Square, trading volleys of stones and firebombs around barriers that the military set up to block the two central avenues. The army also used water canons.
Human rights lawyer Ahmed Ragheb said the man who died Sunday, Mohammed Mohie Hussein, was among some 200 people being held in a Cairo court after being arrested at the clashes. Within an hour of his interrogation in the presence of several defense lawyers, he died, Ragheb said.
"His condition deteriorated in custody. He was already wounded when he got there," he said.
Activists have flooded social network sites and sympathetic media with photos and video from the troops' brutal assaults the past two days.
The photo of the woman protester half-stripped by soldiers ran on the front page of the Al-Tahrir newspaper, emblazoned with a headline in red, "Liars," referring to repeated denials by the military council and military-appointed Prime Minister Kamal el-Ganzouri that no force or live ammunition were used against the protesters.
The presenter of a political talk show on a private TV station sarcastically praised the soldiers for their bravery in wrestling the woman down.
"She is more of a man than 300,000 men put together, including me," said Youssef al-Hussein on ONTV.
Other widely circulating footage show an army officer firing a pistol at protesters — though it is not clear whether he was using live ammunition — and soldiers dragging women by the hair and ferociously beating, kicking and stomping on protesters cowering on the ground.
Still, many Egyptians complain the revolutionaries have gone too far and that, almost a year after ousting Mubarak, they should now go home and let the military run the country or wait for the next parliament to decide the country's future.
Such sentiments are not surprising given that the military has been the most powerful institution in Egypt since army officers seized power in a 1952 coup that toppled the monarchy.
Nearly 60 years later, the military continues to have the last word on policies, a position of power that has left many activists not entirely certain that the generals who succeeded Mubarak would voluntarily return to their barracks.
"The military council uses every opportunity to show itself as the land's strongest institution," said Mohammed Abbas, an activist who defected from the Muslim Brotherhood to side with youth groups more active in protests. "We are making it easier for the generals by our divisions and isolation."
(time.com)
Minggu, 18 Desember 2011
Egypt's revolution: no stability in sight
Entering Tahrir Square, a teenager holds up a steel gas bottle. He points towards soldiers moving against protesters across the square, mimes lighting then throwing his version of an IED.
'Boom,' he says laughing, before leading his crew of four, all wearing hardhats and one around 12 years old, into the melee.
Ten months after Egypt's revolution ended Hosni Mubarak's 30-year dictatorship, there is no sign of stable government arriving any time soon. After two days of pitch battles with the military in downtown Cairo, 10 protesters have been killed and over 300 injured.
Prior to the eruption of clashes on Friday, protesters had been 'occupying' the front of the Cabinet building, demanding the resignation of cabinet members appointed by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF). Early on Friday morning, one protester climbed into the parliament grounds to retrieve a stray football. When he emerged bruised and beaten, the protesters outside were enraged, and began setting cars on fire in the street.
This relatively minor incident escalated quickly and dramatically, and by sunset on Friday, four people were dead, including the popular moderate Sheikh Emad Effat, who had joined the protesters.
On Saturday, as street warfare surged from Tahrir Square into the streets of downtown Cairo, thousands attended the sheik's funeral. At the cemetery, they chanted for the execution of SCAF leader Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi.
Meanwhile in Tahrir Square, Tantawi's military was unleashing deadly force against a movement united primarily by demands for SCAF to transfer power to a civilian authority.
Not trained for crowd control, the soldiers appeared erratic, charging, hesitating, dispersing, regrouping then retreating before charging again. Protesters hurled rocks and pieces of concrete lifted from footpaths and soldiers hurled them back. Buildings around the square blazed, including the historic science ministry building where thousands of centuries-old documents perished. Running battles continued until 10.00pm; the army had by then erected a concrete wall near the cabinet building and retreated behind it and onto surrounding rooftops.
The death of the sheik, along with the killing and injuring of protesters - many shocking instances of which have appeared in graphic detail on Al Jazeera and YouTube - are a serious blow to SCAF, which had positioned itself as steward of the revolution since January 25.
From the beginning of the revolution, demonstrators were mostly targeted by the widely-hated police and security forces. In the eyes of most Egyptians, SCAF remained a neutral, securing influence. But in November, the SCAF's draft constitution was leaked, revealing its plan to place itself outside government authority. Such a flagrant attempt to maintain power ignited six days of intense conflict between police and demonstrators that left 45 dead.
Crucially, SCAF's attempt to entrench its own power ended the Muslim Brotherhood's tacit acceptance of the army's role as transitional authority. Last week, the Brotherhood withdrew representatives from SCAF's advisory council on the constitution. And now, the death of Sheikh Emad Effat at the hands of the army has brought the Brotherhood into open opposition with SCAF.
In a statement released on its website today, the Brotherhood called for an 'immediate apology by SCAF for the crimes committed on Friday Dec 16' and an investigation into the deaths. It also demanded confirmation that presidential elections would transfer power to civilian rule 'before the end of June 2012'.
The Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) has already gained the lion's share of the first two rounds of voting and is expected to do at least as well in the third round, to be held in January. After two more days of violence and chaos, Muslim Brotherhood stands yet more secure as the most likely way to stability.
Almost a year into their revolution, Egyptians are suffering economically. The value of its pound is at a seven-year low and foreign reserves are down 44 per cent since January 25. Growth and foreign investment have all but stalled, and tourism is down by one third.
After the latest round of clashes, a concrete barrier now divides the army and the protesters. Such a clear-cut division is, however, illusory. Many protesters understand and sympathise with the soldiers' predicament; separating the average soldier from thugs from SCAF's powerbrokers is difficult. The army itself is riven over its role fighting a revolution they once defended.
Secular Egyptians are deeply frustrated that after so much sacrifice, their views will take second place behind a dominant Muslim Brotherhood, and fear what the more fundamental Salafi's will do with their significant share of the vote - around 15 per cent so far. Presidential elections don't occur until July 2012, and few would confidently predict their outcome.
As an older, more seasoned campaigner for change told me, 'That's democracy - if we don't like them, we can vote them out in four years, and if they won't go, well, now we know the way to Tahrir.'
(abc.net.au)
'Boom,' he says laughing, before leading his crew of four, all wearing hardhats and one around 12 years old, into the melee.
Ten months after Egypt's revolution ended Hosni Mubarak's 30-year dictatorship, there is no sign of stable government arriving any time soon. After two days of pitch battles with the military in downtown Cairo, 10 protesters have been killed and over 300 injured.
Prior to the eruption of clashes on Friday, protesters had been 'occupying' the front of the Cabinet building, demanding the resignation of cabinet members appointed by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF). Early on Friday morning, one protester climbed into the parliament grounds to retrieve a stray football. When he emerged bruised and beaten, the protesters outside were enraged, and began setting cars on fire in the street.
This relatively minor incident escalated quickly and dramatically, and by sunset on Friday, four people were dead, including the popular moderate Sheikh Emad Effat, who had joined the protesters.
On Saturday, as street warfare surged from Tahrir Square into the streets of downtown Cairo, thousands attended the sheik's funeral. At the cemetery, they chanted for the execution of SCAF leader Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi.
Meanwhile in Tahrir Square, Tantawi's military was unleashing deadly force against a movement united primarily by demands for SCAF to transfer power to a civilian authority.
Not trained for crowd control, the soldiers appeared erratic, charging, hesitating, dispersing, regrouping then retreating before charging again. Protesters hurled rocks and pieces of concrete lifted from footpaths and soldiers hurled them back. Buildings around the square blazed, including the historic science ministry building where thousands of centuries-old documents perished. Running battles continued until 10.00pm; the army had by then erected a concrete wall near the cabinet building and retreated behind it and onto surrounding rooftops.
The death of the sheik, along with the killing and injuring of protesters - many shocking instances of which have appeared in graphic detail on Al Jazeera and YouTube - are a serious blow to SCAF, which had positioned itself as steward of the revolution since January 25.
From the beginning of the revolution, demonstrators were mostly targeted by the widely-hated police and security forces. In the eyes of most Egyptians, SCAF remained a neutral, securing influence. But in November, the SCAF's draft constitution was leaked, revealing its plan to place itself outside government authority. Such a flagrant attempt to maintain power ignited six days of intense conflict between police and demonstrators that left 45 dead.
Crucially, SCAF's attempt to entrench its own power ended the Muslim Brotherhood's tacit acceptance of the army's role as transitional authority. Last week, the Brotherhood withdrew representatives from SCAF's advisory council on the constitution. And now, the death of Sheikh Emad Effat at the hands of the army has brought the Brotherhood into open opposition with SCAF.
In a statement released on its website today, the Brotherhood called for an 'immediate apology by SCAF for the crimes committed on Friday Dec 16' and an investigation into the deaths. It also demanded confirmation that presidential elections would transfer power to civilian rule 'before the end of June 2012'.
The Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) has already gained the lion's share of the first two rounds of voting and is expected to do at least as well in the third round, to be held in January. After two more days of violence and chaos, Muslim Brotherhood stands yet more secure as the most likely way to stability.
Almost a year into their revolution, Egyptians are suffering economically. The value of its pound is at a seven-year low and foreign reserves are down 44 per cent since January 25. Growth and foreign investment have all but stalled, and tourism is down by one third.
After the latest round of clashes, a concrete barrier now divides the army and the protesters. Such a clear-cut division is, however, illusory. Many protesters understand and sympathise with the soldiers' predicament; separating the average soldier from thugs from SCAF's powerbrokers is difficult. The army itself is riven over its role fighting a revolution they once defended.
Secular Egyptians are deeply frustrated that after so much sacrifice, their views will take second place behind a dominant Muslim Brotherhood, and fear what the more fundamental Salafi's will do with their significant share of the vote - around 15 per cent so far. Presidential elections don't occur until July 2012, and few would confidently predict their outcome.
As an older, more seasoned campaigner for change told me, 'That's democracy - if we don't like them, we can vote them out in four years, and if they won't go, well, now we know the way to Tahrir.'
(abc.net.au)
Langganan:
Postingan (Atom)