- Apr 22, 2010
- 4,837
- 215
I'm surprised it took this long for these poor oppressed people to rise up against this U.S. Government and Zionist propped up dictator.
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[h1]Protests against Egyptian president spread[/h1]
By Yasmine Saleh and Sherine El Madany
CAIRO | Thu Jan 27, 2011 6:28pm EST
CAIRO (Reuters) - Web activists called for mass protests across Egypt on Friday to end President Hosni Mubarak's three-decade rule after protesters clashed with security forces late into the night in the eastern city of Suez.
Emboldened by this month's revolt in Tunisia that toppled its long-serving leader, Egyptians have staged mass protests since Tuesday in an unprecedented outburst of anger against Mubarak's strong-handed rule.
"This is a revolution," one 16-year-old protester said in Suez late on Thursday. "Every day we're coming back here."
Nobel Peace Prize winner Mohamed ElBaradei, who returned to Egypt from Vienna on Thursday, has called for Mubarak to resign and said he would join the protests on Friday.
A page on Facebook social networking site listed more than 30 mosques and churches where protesters were expected gather.
"Egypt's Muslims and Christians will go out to fight against corruption, unemployment and oppression and absence of freedom," the page said, adding more than 70,000 had signed up online.
Late into Thursday night in Suez, police fired tear gas at protesters who hurled stones and petrol bombs. Fires burned in the street, filling the air with smoke.
At another rally near Giza on the outskirts of Cairo, police used tear gas to break up hundreds of protesters late at night.
Security forces shot dead a Bedouin protester in the north of Egypt's Sinai region on Thursday, bringing the death toll to five.
The United States, Egypt's close ally and major aid donor, is concerned Islamic radicals could exploit continuing anger.
In his first comments on the unrest, President Barack Obama was careful to avoid any sign of abandoning Mubarak but made it clear that he sympathized with demonstrators.
"...I've always said to him that making sure that they are moving forward on reform -- political reform, economic reform -- is absolutely critical to the long-term well-being of Egypt," Obama said in comments broadcast on the YouTube website.
"You can see these pent-up frustrations that are being displayed on the streets."
FRUSTRATED
As in many other countries across the Middle East, Egyptians are frustrated over surging prices, unemployment and an authoritarian government that tolerates little dissent.
By Yasmine Saleh and Sherine El Madany
CAIRO | Thu Jan 27, 2011 6:28pm EST
Many of them are young. Two thirds of Egypt's 80 million people are below the age of 30, and many of them have no jobs. About 40 percent of Egyptians live on less than a $2 a day.
Facebook, Twitter and other social media have been key tools in drumming up support for protests, advising of locations and even giving tips on how to avoid arrest or cope with tear gas.
"Friday will be the day that we emerge victorious over the tyrants and the despots that have governed for too long," user Abo Mostafa wrote on Twitter.
"We have started the path to freedom and we will not stop," another user, Ali M, said on Facebook.
Late on Thursday, some Facebook users in Egypt reported disruptions to the service and said they were unable to use it. Earlier, Facebook said it had seen a drop in traffic from Egypt.
The government has urged Egyptians to act with restraint on Friday but say they guarantee freedom of expression.
Safwat Sherif, secretary-general of the ruling National Democratic Party, told reporters:
"We hope that tomorrow's Friday prayers and its rituals happen in a quiet way that upholds the value of such rituals ... and that no one jeopardizes the safety of citizens or subjects them to something they do not want."
Government officials have warned youths against letting the Muslim Brotherhood opposition group and others exploit the protest for "hidden agendas."
The Brotherhood, a banned group, has kept a low profile in the demonstrations. A senior group member said the government was trying to find a scapegoat. Brotherhood members are regularly rounded up.
ElBaradei, 68, who has been campaigning for change since last year, said suggestions that Egypt's government was the only bulwark against Islamist extremism were "obviously bogus."
He told reporters at Cairo's airport he would take part in Friday's protests, but added: "I wish we did not have to go out on the streets to press the regime to act."
(Additional reporting by Dina Zayed and Marwa Awad in Cairo, Alexander Dziadosz in Suez; Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Maria Golovnina)
RAW VIDEO of government thugs shooting an unarmed young man.
http://news.yahoo.com/vid...n-egypt-protest-23989401
And of course, this moron, like clockwork is going to defend these injustices...
[h1][/h1][h1]Joe Biden says Egypt's Mubarak no dictator, he shouldn't step down...[/h1]
By Dan Murphy, Staff writer / January 27, 2011
... and wonders what the Egyptian protesters want.
Vice President Joe Biden spoke to the PBS NewsHour tonight with the most direct US governent comments yet about the gathering Egypt protests against President Hosni Mubarak's 29-year reign.
Mr. Biden's comments are unlikely to be well-received by regime opponents, as they fit a narrative of steadfast US support for a government they want to bring down. About eight protesters and one policeman have died this week as Egypt has sought to bring down the heavy hand of the state against opponents. Since the US provides about $1.3 billion in military aid to Egypt a year, the repressive apparatus of the state is seen by many in Egypt as hand in glove with the US.
Tonight in Cairo, activists said that internet service was being systematically blocked, as was the use of instant messages on local cellphones, despite repeated calls from the US State Department for Egypt to allow social media sites like Facebook and Twitter to remain available to the nation's people. Egypt is bracing for a showdown tomorrow. Organizers have called for massive protests against the regime after noon prayers on Friday, seeking to build on the unprecedented wave of public demonstrations this week calling for an end to Mubarak's rule.
Whether the protests will be as large as democracy activists hope is an open question. Overnight in Egypt, the government was doing everything it could to head them off.
Ahead of a day that could prove decisive, NewsHour host Jim Lehrer asked Biden if the time has "come for President Mubarak of Egypt to go?" Biden answered: "No. I think the time has come for President Mubarak to begin to move in the direction that – to be more responsive to some... of the needs of the people out there."
Asked if he would characterize Mubarak as a dictator Biden responded: “Mubarak has been an ally of ours in a number of things. And he’s been very responsible on, relative to geopolitical interest in the region, the Middle East peace efforts; the actions Egypt has taken relative to normalizing relationship with – with Israel. … I would not refer to him as a dictator.