Egypt anti-government protests grow

[elbows]

Here is the fire.

 

[elbows]

A fake Chief Tantawi twitter account provides some comedy:

http://twitter.com/#!/ChiefTantawi

Some recent examples of his output:

Look, guys, seriously, you don't wanna fuck with a guy who wears all his Xbox Live Achievements on his uniform.

I had my Military Police cut the lights off in Tahrir so you guys can get frisky. You're welcome.

I disregard all requests made via Facebook because they're not on official letterhead as per the army's regulations.

For believing that the Army is "still neutral" I hereby bestow upon you the ceremonial title of Captain Oblivious.

How about a compromise: most of Shafik's cabinet stays, but they'll be forced to wear fake mustaches all the time so they look different.

 

[teqniq]

I swear this woman deserves her own comedy show:

Sarahcarr أبو كار
Is new Interior Minister Mahmoud Wagdy http://bit.ly/fvucFk actually J. Edgar Hoover http://bit.ly/hL05Q6 ?? I demand an answer.

 

[teqniq]

There's been talk about this on twitter over the past couple of days or so: army attacking St. Bishoy Monastery - the reason for the attack are unclear. E2a apparently the army initially denied anything had happened.



E2A again: apparently the Anba Bishoy monastery released a statement (Facebook, google translate required).

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=104224996294040&topic=21957

twitter:

nickalexandra Nick Alexandra
Soldiers and military police ringing Tahrir and preventing Coptic demo over continued attacks #jan25

 

[dylans]

More on this here. Apparently the army moved in to remove fences that had been built around the monastery for protection during the recent deterioration in security and fired live rounds.

For the second time in as many days, Egyptian armed force stormed the 5th century old St. Bishoy monastery in Wadi el-Natroun, 110 kilometers from Cairo. Live ammunition was fired, wounding two monks and six Coptic monastery workers. Several sources confirmed the army’s use of RPG ammunition. Four people have been arrested including three monks and a Coptic lawyer who was at the monastery investigating yesterday’s army attack.

This sounds ominous if true. One word of caution about this. Almost all the sites reporting this are sectarian or dodgy(with names like "Assyrian liberation party" or "conspiracy me" and I could find no confirmation of these claims or reports by mainstream media etc. the videos do show the army being very aggressive however

Father Hemanot Ava Bishoy said the army fired live ammunition and RPGs continuously for 30 minutes, which hit part of the ancient fence inside the monastery. “The army was shocked to see the monks standing there praying ‘Lord have mercy’ without running away. This is what really upset them,” he said. “As the soldiers were demolishing the gate and the fence they were chanting ‘Allahu Akbar’ and ‘Victory, Victory’”.

Monk Aksios Ava Bishoy told activist Nader Shoukry of Freecopts the armed forces stormed the main entrance gate to the monastery in the morning using five tanks, armored vehicles and a bulldozer to demolish the fence built by the monastery last month to protect themselves and the monastery from the lawlessness which prevailed in Egypt during the January 25 Uprising.

“When we tried to address them, the army fired live bullets, wounding Father Feltaows in the leg and Father Barnabas in the abdomen,” said Monk Ava Bishoy. “Six Coptic workers in the monastery were also injured, some with serious injuries to the chest.”

http://southcapitolstreet.com/2011/02/24/egyptian-army-fires-at-coptic-monastery-video/

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), which has governed the country since the 11 February ouster of former President Hosni Mubarak, said on its official page on Facebook that soldiers had removed “some walls that had been illegally built on the road and on land owned by the state.”

The SCAF denied claims that the armed forces had been involved in attacks on the monastery or that it had any intention to demolish the building due to its “belief in freedom and the sanctity of places of worship.”

(edited to add. I have no idea who Southcapitolstreet are either.)

 

[teqniq]

twitter

jonjensen Jon Jensen
by moftasa
Heating up in Cairo again. Two police cars torched in Maadi today. Hundreds occupying Algeria Square. http://yfrog.com/gysijglj

 

[dylans]

jonjensen Jon Jensen
by moftasa
Heating up in Cairo again. Two police cars torched in Maadi today. Hundreds occupying Algeria Square. http://yfrog.com/gysijglj

Some more from twitter on this incident

iras_Atraqchi Firas Al-Atraqchi
Police station under siege in Saqr Quriesh district near New Maadi in #Cairo #jan25 ... caused by one person killed in traffic altercation

Two APCs roll along Nasr Street in New Maadi suburb of #Cairo, heading toward Saqr Qureish police station #jan25

Firas_Atraqchi Firas Al-Atraqchi
Still unclear how demonstrations turned violent in Gazayer (Algeria) Square in New Maadi #Cairo #jan25 reports that police fired at driver

Gazayer Square congested but traffic trickling through; protesters in Saqr Qureish say they want to burn down police station #jan25

Eyewitness in New Maadi says many in the crowd are 'baltagiya' who want to get even with police in Saqr Qureish #jan25 #cairo

3arabawy Hossam عمو حسام
i'm told fight broke out betn microbus driver &officer in Maadi's Algeria sq. Police shot the driver dead. Citizens set a police van on fire

 

[Spion]

Why would baltagiya want to get even with the police?

 

[dylans]

Story is becoming clear now. A cop shot a minibus driver dead and the crowd torched two police cars and besieged the police station

 

[dylans]

Why would baltagiya want to get even with the police?

Don't know. Maybe bullshit. Maybe they blame them for letting them down. Maybe their drug dealing and protection rackets are suffering

 

[quimcunx]

Report of happenings in Maadi.

http://twitter.com/#!/yasserseif

 

[quimcunx]

Long live the shabab! #Jan25 RT @Gsquare86 Battle Kasr El Nil is liberated and clear. Long live the Egyptian youth! http://yfrog.com/hsnixrj

Gsquare86, one of the Egyptian activists and tweeter will be in London in a couple of weeks at 6 billion ways. Keep an eye on their website for further details. http://6billionways.org.uk/programme/

 

[teqniq]

twitter

krmaher katherine maher
by moftasa
Tanks moving in to block routes to Tahrir in the early morning, ahead of tomorrow's planned protest http://ow.ly/4306P #jan25 via @zbrisson

http://thereboot.org/blog/2011/02/24/tanks-blocking-the-route-to-tahrir/

E2A this is also a good read - by saracarr; ok I am a fan but it is not comedy:

http://inanities.org/2011/02/regimented/

 

[Barking_Mad]

Protesters back in main square in Cairo - delayed feed below

http://bambuser.com/channel/emadmubarak/broadcast/1447233

 

[teqniq]

There's been a smallish protest today approx 600 people outside parliament building, I believe they were/are (apparently still protesting) protesting about the continued presence of Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq pic here

now a tweet from 3arabawy:

3arabawy Hossam عمو حسام
Central Security Forces (yes they r back!) r now in Mansoura firing tear gas on protesters around the Security Directorate. #Jan25

Further update re protest outside parliament: they're still there but now surrounded by a cordon of military police and soldiers:

Gsquare86 Gigi Ibrahim جييييج
by 3arabawy
people being prevented by army from coming to our cordon in front of parliament
24 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

Gsquare86 Gigi Ibrahim جييييج
by 3arabawy
Army men all of sudden wore their helmets, such a weird creepy feeling here..why r they doing this?
30 minutes ago

Gsquare86 Gigi Ibrahim جييييج
by 3arabawy
Why r they surrounding us (civilians) with weapons?! #jan25 http://yfrog.com/h0du2ogj
32 minutes ago

journalists are also being harassed/searched:

nickalexandra Nick Alexandra (al-Jazeera)
by 3arabawy
Being harassed by mil police for taking photos of police cordon encircling 200 strong demo near parliament. #jan25

looks like it's calmed down a bit:

ElFoulio Abdel-Rahman Hussein
Orders from the commander, they're cheering him now #jan25
4 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

ElFoulio Abdel-Rahman Hussein
Ok cordon has just dissipated lol, dunno what's up #jan25

Methinks there's going to be a major showdown at some point. Even with the above edits my personal opinion from reading tweets over the past week or so, people are realising that things aren't anywhere near resolved yet. Usual suspects in charge etc etc.

and then there's this:

monasosh monasosh
by 3arabawy
PLZ SPREAD: Masked ppl wt walkie talkies and machine guns along wt military police in Tahrir square trying to shut down the strike #Jan25

and

3arabawy Hossam عمو حسام
The army is used masked thugs with tazers, sticks and whips according to eyewitnesses to disperse protesters in Tahrir. #Jan25
2 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

3arabawy Hossam عمو حسام
Can we now please stop this our-army-is-cute tune which everyone has been singing for a month now? Those generals are Mubarak's not ours.

 

[elbows]

Yep there have been increasing signs for quite some days that the military is running out of patience, and they may well see the Libya situation as an opportunity to crackdown while the worlds media are largely busy looking elsewhere.

 

[butchersapron]

People are running out of patience too - i wonder whose been restocking. The economic demands cannot really be met by the army or the existing structure. The economic demands are either broken and the previous situation re-imposed by democracy or the people break the army's political deadlock, impose a civilian govt (and then have to do it all again). There are signs that both are prepared to fight and that both realise the logic of the situation.

 

[quimcunx]

So Egypt is properly learning today that the army is as much enemy today as hero yesterday.

 

[quimcunx]

Article from occupied cairo on last night's violent dispersal of protesters, for anyone who doesn't already know that the army want to keep as much of the regime in place as possible.

http://www.occupiedlondon.org/cairo/

Out with the army, out with the police, out with the old regime. All one hand, all working together to drive the Egyptian people into despair, subjection and quiescence. We, however, have had a taste of the immediacy of freedom and will neither be placated by the gifts of the state nor cowed by its criminal, unacceptable violence

Tahrir square this afternoon.

http://bambuser.com/channel/emadmubarak/broadcast/1450745

Expect that to change come curfew.

 

[elbows]

Resistance to the idea that the military are not lovely remains. This is from the 'We are all Khalid Said' English facebook page:

My trust in the army was shaken after yesterday's events. It was awful & most protesters felt betrayed by the army that promised NEVER to attack us. The army's apology has helped. It's the first time ever someone ruling Egypt apologises for a mistake. Mubarak always accused victims of being the attackers. I now have a cautious trust in the Army. That's my own personal view on the situation.

 

[elbows]

Military & government continue to do less than the minimum necessary to keep the situation relatively calm by the sounds of news like this:

Wael Ghonim
Egyptian most watched talk show host Mahmoud Saad resigns after being forced to host the Prime Minister. This government MUST BE FIRED!

 

[dylans]

Looks like round 2 is on then. Tunisia is kicking off again. Now Egypt.

 

[elbows]

Video of military not treating people that have detailed at all well, unclear how this footage has appeared on the net considering it seems to have been shot by the military themselves.

http://www.arabawy.org/2011/02/27/jan25-army-torturing-detainees-in-port-said/

 

[teqniq]

With any amount of work by HRW and activists, hopefully they won't get away with it:

Egypt: End Secret Detentions, Free Protesters

FEBRUARY 26, 2011
(Cairo) - The Egyptian government should account for all detained demonstrators and free those arbitrarily arrested during the recent anti-government protests, Human Rights Watch said today. Egyptian Human rights monitors and two internet activist groups have collected names of scores of people who have been reported missing since January 28, 2011, when the military took charge of security after police withdrew in the face of the popular demonstrations.

Based on reports from released detainees and families of missing people, Egyptian human rights activists say that the military, which assumed direct governmental power in Egypt on February 11 following the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak, is holding most of those still missing. Human Rights Watch documented five cases in which detainees were beaten, whipped, or given electric shocks in military custody. Egyptian rights groups say they have documented more cases of abuse.....

 

[Divisive Cotton]

The Egyptian public prosecutor has issued a travel ban on Mubarak and his family as well as requesting a freeze of their foreign assets:

He said the freeze would apply to Mubarak, his wife, his two sons and two daughters-in-law.

http://www.voice-online.co.uk/content.php?show=19029

 

[audiotech]

Documentary on Sadat on Adam Curtis's blog haven't watched it yet, but looks interesting - scroll down page.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/adamcurtis/2011/02/sadats_dat.html

 

[teqniq]

twitter:

occupiedcairo Occupied Cairo
by ElFoulio
2 protesters take 5 and 7 years respectively at military court. Military must not be allowed to stay in control. #jan25

EGYPTIAN AUTHORITIES MUST FREE PROTESTER CONVICTED BY MILITARY COURT


Protesters in and around Tahrir Square were calling for the dismissal of the current cabinet
© Nameer Galal/Demotix

2 March 2011
Amnesty International has called on the Egyptian authorities to release a man sentenced by a military court to five years in prison on Tuesday, apparently for exercising his right to peaceful protest.

Amr Abdallah Al Beheiry was convicted by the Supreme Military Court of assaulting a public official on duty and for breaking curfew.

http://amnesty.org/en/news-and-upda...protester-convicted-military-court-2011-03-02

 

[quimcunx]

It seems Shafiq has just been on statetv. Twitter is all excited. No idea of the what how why of it but they're not impressed.

 

[Divisive Cotton]

The Egyptian Prime Minister has resigned. There was lots of excitement on Twitter yesterday because of a TV interview he gave - he seemed to have got totally roasted by the interviewer.

They are also going to form a new cabinet

The government announced it on Facebook!

 

[elbows]

Prime Minister, not president. There were supposed to be demonstrations calling for his ouster on Friday.