Thursday, February 10, 2011

Egypt: Power brandished the threat of armed revolt spreads

Near Tahrir Square, hundreds of people surrounded the Parliament and government headquarters, located opposite one another. Both buildings were protected by armor and the Council of Ministers has been held in another place.
Challenged the power of President Hosni Mubarak warned on Wednesday that the army could intervene if "chaos" in Egypt, the 16th day of a popular mobilization tenacious marked by protests against the government and Parliament.
The revolt has hit a town 400 km south of Cairo, El Kharga, where five people wounded in clashes between protesters and police have used live ammunition have been unsuccessful, according to medical sources. One hundred others were injured.
A political protest have added several social movements on wages or working conditions in the arsenals of Port Said (northeast), in several private companies working on the Suez Canal (east) or to Cairo airport.
Now the pressure, the White House said that the pursuit of popular mobilization in Egypt showed that political reforms were still not sufficient, while the State Department urged the Egyptian army to continue to exercise restraint .
Raising the pitch against protesters who have rejected all measures of appeasement of the regime, the Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit warned that "the army would intervene in case of chaos to take things in hand".
"If this happens (...), the armed forces will be forced to defend the Constitution and national security of Egypt. We're in a very dangerous situation," he said, according to state news agency Mena that took up an interview with the Minister to Al-Arabiya.
Already Tuesday, Vice-President Omar Suleiman has warned that an immediate end to the regime "would mean chaos."
But the protesters appeared to refuse to let go, demanding nothing less than the immediate departure of Mr. Mubarak, 82, who has promised to fade at the end of his term in September and formed a commission to amend the articles of the Constitution and disputed by the opposition related to the presidential election.
On the square Tahrir Square roundabout Cairo became a symbol of the movement initiated on January 25, tens of thousands of protesters still demanded the departure of head of state, who has ruled Egypt with an iron hand of for nearly 30 years.
"I'm not afraid, I have seen death," assured Talal Ahmad, a student of 25 years, among a dense crowd waving Egyptian flags. "I fear not the words or threats of Omar Suleiman and his government, because we're here to win our freedom and that of our country."
The remarks of Mr. Suleiman has been denounced by the opposition, including the Muslim Brotherhood, bete noire of the regime. "This is an unacceptable threat to the eyes of the Egyptian people," said Mohamed Mursi, an official of the brotherhood. "Everyone agrees to continue (to demonstrate), whatever the threats."
Near Tahrir Square, hundreds of people surrounded the Parliament and government headquarters, located opposite one another. Both buildings were protected by armor and the Council of Ministers has been held in another place.
The anti-government protesters were galvanized by the huge crowd gathered on the eve Tahrir Square, where, according to an AFP photographer, the number of protesters was the largest since the beginning of the dispute.
The rebellion also affected the city of Assiut, south of Cairo, where anti-Mubarak protesters blocked a railway track and cut a highway linking the north and south of the country using burning tires.
Some protesters also ransacked a government building in the city of Port Said (northeast), the Mediterranean entrance of the Suez Canal, and burned the car of the governor.
Meanwhile, life resumed its course in Cairo in the day, most shops have reopened in the capital. But in the evening curfew remains in force in Cairo, Alexandria (north) and Suez (is) 20:00 (1800 GMT) to 6:00 am (0400 GMT).
Meanwhile, the Muslim Brotherhood have reaffirmed that they did not seek power, while many, especially in the West fear the emergence of an Islamist Egypt.
Since February 3, events occur most often in the quiet and the army has intervened against the protesters. Clashes between police and protesters during the first days, then between pro and anti Mubarak February 2, however, have claimed nearly 300 lives, according to the UN and Human Rights Watch, and thousands injured.

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