Egypt's Mubarak sends in army, resists demands to quit

[Guest guest]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110129/wl_nm/us_egypt_protest

Egypt's Mubarak sends in army, resists demands to quit

By Edmund Blair Edmund Blair – 2 hrs 49 mins ago

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak refused on Saturday to bow to

demands that he resign after ordering troops and tanks into cities in an attempt

to quell an explosion of street protests against his 30-year rule.

Demonstrators were still out in the streets in the early hours of Saturday

morning, as were looters. Parts of Cairo looked like a war zone, filled with

smoke, rubble and the choking smell of tear gas.

Mubarak dismissed his government and called for national dialogue to avert chaos

after a day of battles between police and protesters angry over poverty and

autocratic rule. Medical sources said at least 24 people had been killed and

over a thousand injured in clashes in Cairo, Suez and andria.

" It is not by setting fire and by attacking private and public property that we

achieve the aspirations of Egypt and its sons, but they will be achieved through

dialogue, awareness and effort, " he said in a televised address, his first

public appearance since the protests began four days ago.

The unprecedented unrest has sent shock waves through the Middle East, where

other autocratic rulers may face challenges, and unsettled global financial

markets on Friday. U.S. President Barack Obama said he had spoken with Mubarak

and urged " concrete steps that advance the rights of the Egyptian people. "

The army, deployed for the first time in the crisis, cleared Cairo's Tahrir

square toward midnight. Shortly after Mubarak's speech, protesters returned in

their hundreds, defying a curfew. They said sacking the cabinet was far from

enough.

" It was never about the government, by God. It is you (Mubarak) who has to go!

What you have done to the people is enough! " said one protester.

Shots were heard in the evening near parliament and the headquarters of the

ruling National Democratic Party was in flames, the blaze lighting up the night

sky. Cars were set alight and police posts torched.

A Reuters team saw a gang of looters storm into a bank and carry out the safe.

More than half of the dead in Friday's clashes were reported in Suez, the

eastern city which has been ground zero for the most violent protests over the

past four days.

U.S. AID

Mubarak, 82, has been a close ally of Washington and beneficiary of U.S. aid for

decades, justifying his autocratic rule in part by citing a danger of Islamist

militancy. The Muslim Brotherhood opposition, however, appears to have played

little role in the unrest.

The protests were triggered by the overthrow two weeks ago of Tunisian President

Zine al-Abidine Ben Al Ben Ali. Street protests in Tunis focused on similar

issues of poverty and political repression. Demonstrations have also flared in

Yemen, Algeria, Sudan and Jordan in recent weeks.

" There will be new steps toward democracy and freedoms and new steps to face

unemployment and increase the standard of living and services, and there will be

new steps to help the poor and those with limited income, " Mubarak said.

" There is a fine line between freedom and chaos and I lean toward freedom for

the people in expressing their opinions as much as I hold on to the need to

maintain Egypt's safety and stability, " he added.

Obama also called on the Egyptian government to halt interference in access to

the Internet, mobile phone service and Internet social networks that have been

used by protesters.

" I want to be very clear in calling upon the Egyptian authorities to refrain

from any violence against peaceful protesters, " he said.

Skinner, Associate Director of political risk consultancy Maplecroft,

said Mubarak's conduct was reminiscent of that of Ben Ali in his final days in

power.

UNCHARTED TERRITORY

" Mubarak is showing he is still there for now and he is trying to deflect some

of the force of the process away from himself by sacking the Cabinet.

" We will have to see how people react but I don't think it will be enough at

all. I wouldn't want to put a number on his chances of survival -- we really are

in uncharted territory. "

Markets were hit by the uncertainty. U.S. stocks suffered their biggest one-day

loss in nearly six months, crude oil prices surged and the dollar and U.S.

Treasury debt gained as investors looked to safe havens.

" I think the next two to three weeks, the crisis in Egypt and potentially across

the Middle East, might be an excuse for a big selloff of 5 to 10 percent, " said

Wirtz, president and chief investment officer at Fifth Third Asset

Management in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Many protesters are young men and women. Two thirds of Egypt's 80 million people

are below 30 and many have no jobs. About 40 percent of Egyptians live on less

than $2 a day.

Elections were due to be held in September and until now few had doubted that

Mubarak would remain in control or bring in a successor in the shape of his

47-year-old son Gamal.

Father and son deny that Gamal is being groomed for the job.

(Additional reporting by Dina Zayed, Marwa Awad, Shaimaa Fayed and Yasmine

Saleh,, Alison and Samia Nakhoul in Cairo, Dziadosz in Suez;

Writing by Angus MacSwan and Ralph Boulton; editing by Stamp)

[Guest guest]

Egypt has such a stable history of democracy this is hard to fathom. Mubarak took power after Sadat was assassinated in 1981. Mubarak may or may not have had a hand in that. He was Sadat's Vice President at the time Sadat was assassinated by army officers during a parade (I'm old enough to remember the footage of the event, mostly the camera mounted on a tripod getting terrific video of the sky but good audio of the shooting). Supposedly these men were upset about Sadat making peace with Israel, amongst other things.

Before Sadat came Nassar. Nassar was the head of a gang that deposed King Farouk of Egypt. This happened in 1952. A few years after that, Nassar was made president. A couple of years later Nassar "had a heart attack" and died. A month later Sadat was president, a post he held until he was assassinated, who had been Nassar's key man.

King Farouk was quite a brilliant ruler. He spent his country's wealth on worthy causes like the largest coin collection in the world, being massively overweight because of his prodigious appetite (it was said that toward the end he was only not eating when asleep), and also a vast collection of pornography, amongst other things. Farouk came to power in 1936 and ruled until deposed in the 1952 coup lead by Nassar. He died some years later.

I knew some people who have lived in Egypt in the late 1990's. They lived in one of the newer buildings, but it wasn't well built. The water and power only stayed on if you slipped a little extra money to the superintendent and you got your mail if you bribed the postman to actually deliver it. Streets were crowded and dirty and the people were just crammed atop each other. Lots of corruption at all levels and poor quality of life for the majority.

PS: That book "Thugs" came in handy after all.

In a message dated 1/29/2011 12:56:21 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, no_reply writes:

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak refused on Saturday to bow to demands that he resign after ordering troops and tanks into cities in an attempt to quell an explosion of street protests against his 30-year rule.

[Guest guest]

Cairo was the most populous city in Africa around 2003 or so with over 14.8

million people. It may still be the most populous. Many of the people there are

out of work, and there is a lot of slum-like near the outer rim of the city

furthest from the Nile Get those people going and you have a real powder keg

waiting to be lit.

Administrator

I knew some people who have lived in Egypt in the late 1990's. They lived in one

of the newer buildings, but it wasn't well built. The water and power only

stayed on if you slipped a little extra money to the superintendent and you got

your mail if you bribed the postman to actually deliver it. Streets were crowded

and dirty and the people were just crammed atop each other. Lots of corruption

at all levels and poor quality of life for the majority.

[Guest guest]

Cairo was the most populous city in Africa around 2003 or so with over 14.8

million people. It may still be the most populous. Many of the people there are

out of work, and there is a lot of slum-like near the outer rim of the city

furthest from the Nile Get those people going and you have a real powder keg

waiting to be lit.

Administrator

I knew some people who have lived in Egypt in the late 1990's. They lived in one

of the newer buildings, but it wasn't well built. The water and power only

stayed on if you slipped a little extra money to the superintendent and you got

your mail if you bribed the postman to actually deliver it. Streets were crowded

and dirty and the people were just crammed atop each other. Lots of corruption

at all levels and poor quality of life for the majority.