Egypt: Protestors want the military out!

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19 November 2011 Last updated at 13:32 ET Egypt: 'Scores hurt' in Cairo clashes with police



Throngs of people remain in and around the square, and tensions are high

More than 210 people have been injured in clashes with police in Cairo's Tahrir Square, state TV reports.

Police fired rubber bullets and tear gas to prevent protesters staging a long-term sit-in following a huge demonstration on Friday against the military leadership.

Some protesters lobbed rocks and a police vehicle was set on fire.

The latest violence comes just over a week before parliamentary elections are scheduled to begin.
Police have now pulled back from Tahrir Square, which is filled with crowds of people, says the BBC's Yolande Knell in Cairo.

But she says they remain close by and tensions are high.

'Harsh beatings' The violence started after a small tent camp was dismantled earlier in the day.
About 200 demonstrators had camped out for the night following the rally that took place after Friday prayers.

The numbers swelled, reportedly after a call went out on social media for people to join the demonstration following the police assault.

One of them, Ali Abdel Aziz, said security forces beat up protesters to break up the sit-in.



The clashes began as police moved into the square to break up a sit-in

"They beat us harshly, they didn't care for either men or women," the 32-year-old accountancy professor told AFP news agency.

"The interior ministry must take responsibility. We have one demand, the military council must go," he said.

Black smoke rose over the square after protesters swarmed over an armoured police van, turned it over and set it alight, reports said.

There were multiple reports of injuries from rubber bullets, including to two journalists.
Egyptian state-run Channel 1 TV quoted the Ministry of Health as saying 213 people have been injured.

AFP quoted a security official as saying a number of arrests were made.

Friday's demonstration was the largest in the square for months.

Protesters were angry about a constitutional draft document that many believe would allow the military to retain too much power after a new civilian government is elected, our correspondent says.
 
Hivi hawa wananchi walitegemea miujiza? They got DOMOkrasi.

Arab spring, military springs...... na bado...Mubarak aliwapa nafasi ya transition ili akiondoka ije serikali ya kiraia. They missed the train. Sasa wamechagua a hard way..hakuna kurudi nyuma.

Likiondoka jeshi...inaingia Muslim brotherhood!!! Hapo itakamilisha mchezo.
 
[h=1]Egypt's government offers to resign as protests grow[/h] Generals have opened crisis talks with civilian political leaders after widespread violence continued to plunge Egypt into turmoil





  • Jack Shenker in Cairo
  • The Guardian, Tuesday 22 November 2011
  • Article history Egypt's cabinet tendered its resignation as clashes raged in Tahrir Square between police and protesters demanding democratic change in the country. Photograph: Mahmud Khaled/AFP

    Egypt's ruling generals have opened crisis talks with civilian political leaders after the entire government tendered its resignation and widespread street violence continued to plunge the country into turmoil.
    At least 33 people have been killed and more than 2,000 injured following a third day of clashes in Cairo and beyond, with confirmation emerging for the first time that security forces have been firing live ammunition at demonstrators.
    With under a week to go until nationwide parliamentary elections are due to begin, beleaguered interim prime minister Essam Sharaf announced he and his cabinet were willing to step down in a bid to quell the growing unrest. But the offer – which at midnight on Monday had yet to be accepted by the military junta – appeared unlikely to appease demonstrators who continued to flock to city centres across the country demanding that the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (Scaf) cede power and hand Egypt over to civilian rule.
    In a late-night statement to the nation, the army generals appealed for calm and expressed 'deep regret' for the deaths of protesters. But as fierce fighting between revolutionaries and armed police showed no sign of letting up and video footage of police and army brutality against unarmed demonstrators continued to circulate, their calls for self-restraint seemed destined to fall on deaf ears.
    "The Scaf only have two choices – they obey the will of the people, or Egypt burns," said Ramy el-Swissy, a leading member of the April 6th youth movement which is one of several organisations that has announced plans for a 'million-man' occupation of Tahrir today.
    A broad coalition of revolutionary movements from across the political spectrum, including leftist, liberal and Islamist organisations, also threw their full weight behind the protests. "We confirm our readiness to face all the forces that aim to abort the revolution, reproduce the old regime, or drag the country into chaos and turn the revolution into a military coup," said a joint statement by 37 groups.
    The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest organised political movement, added its voice to the chorus of discontent, accusing Scaf of contradicting 'all human, religious and patriotic values' with their callousness and warning that the revolution that overthrew former president Hosni Mubarak earlier this year was able to rise again.
    "What happened is a heinous crime, expressing a dark deep desire, an attempt to lure faithful patriotic citizens in order to crush them and spread chaos everywhere," said the Brotherhood in a statement. "All this proves that there are certain parties who have no problem burning Egypt, our homeland, and killing young people in order to herd the entire public into blind obedience, into tyranny and corruption and slavery yet again."
    The organisation also announced it was temporarily suspending all electoral activities, but unlike many liberal and leftist parties it has yet to cancel its campaign.
    Earlier in the day a last-ditch effort by the junta to stem the violence by offering concessions to their critics – including the passing of a long-awaited "treachery law" that would bar former members of Hosni Mubarak's now-disbanded ruling party from running in the upcoming elections, which are now less than a week away – appeared only to galvanise resistance, as did the later announcement of Sharaf's proposed resignation.
    "The Egyptians have accepted being beaten, arrested and lied to by their political leaders for sixty years, but after everything we went through, we are not going to accept it anymore." said Gamila Ismail, a parliamentary candidate who has now suspended her campaign and joined the protests in central Cairo.
    "The message being sent to Scaf by Egypt's youth is: 'shoot me in the eye, burn away my flesh, and then I will go and fix myself up at the field hospital and come straight back to the struggle'," she added. "They used to dream of cars, houses and leaving the country; now they dream of standing in Tahrir. The age of authoritarianism is over, no one can tell the Egyptians what to do anymore."
    Despite continued denials by the authorities, evidence has emerged that some police or army units are using live ammunition on protesters.
    Researchers from the Egyptian Initiative for Human Rights, a Cairo-based human rights organisation, told the Guardian they had confirmation that the bodies of four people killed by live bullets were in the city's main morgue. The victims were all aged between 19 and 27.
    William Hague, the British foreign minister, said the violence was of "great concern" but added that the UK would not be taking sides.
    The US urged Egypt to go ahead with the elections and called for restraint on all sides. The White House spokesman, Jay Carney, said: "The United States continues to believe that these tragic events should not stand in the way of elections." His comments came as clashes continued in the side streets off Tahrir Square, with the frontline between protesters and armed police shifting back and forth throughout the day.
    At one point teargas was fired by the security forces into a makeshift field hospital off the central plaza, forcing volunteer doctors and wounded protesters to flee. Nearby mosques and churches opened their doors to the injured, though medics said they were vastly under-resourced and struggling to keep count of the casualties.

    Some demonstrators took to writing the contact details of their families on their arms before joining the fray so they can be identified if killed. Meanwhile Tahrir's main holding station for fatalities said it had run out of coffins, and appealed for a fresh supply.

    By nightfall Tahrir had become a surreal mix of the festive and the fearful, with singing, drums and the wail of ambulance sirens echoing through the gloom. Sporadic explosions could be heard on the south-west corner of the square, where heavy fighting continued in the side streets around the interior ministry.
    Beyond the capital, unrest has spread to almost every major urban centre in the country, including Ismailia on the Suez Canal and the strategically important town of al-Arish in the northern Sinai peninsula. In Egypt's second-largest city, the Mediterranean port of Alexandria, thousands of students took to the streets after the death of a second protester.



 
Uprising 2.0 in Tahrir defies military control




Monday, November 21, 2011
CAIRO


Deadly clashes between security forces and protesters seeking an end to the military rule in Cairo's Tahrir Square claim 33 people's lives
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An Egyptian protester throws a tear gas canister, which was earlier thrown by riot police, at the symbolic Tahrir Square in Cairo where thosands of people are again camping out to demand Egypt's ruling generals hand over power to civilian rule. REUTERS photo[/TD]
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Thirty-three people have been reported dead following a third straight day of clashes between Egypt's military rulers and protesters who are demanding civilian rule.
On the third day of violence, throughout the day young activists demanding the military hand over power to a civilian government skirmished with black-clad police, hurling stones and firebombs and throwing back tear gas canisters fired by police into Tahrir Square, which was the epicenter of the protest movement that ousted President Hosni Mubarak just a few months ago.
The night before saw an escalation of the fighting as police launched a heavy assault that tried and failed to clear protesters from the square. The death toll from clashes between protesters and police around the country over the past three days has climbed to 33, morgue officials told AFP yesterday. According to an AP report, the Health Ministry has confirmed 22 of the deaths.
The eruption of violence, which began Nov. 19, came only a week before Egypt was to begin the first post-Mubarak parliamentary elections, which many have hoped would be a significant landmark in a transition to democracy. Instead, it has been clouded by anger at the military's top body, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which will continue to rule as head of state even after the vote. The military said it would only hand over power after presidential elections, which it has vaguely said would be held in late 2012 or early 2013. The protesters are demanding an immediate move to civilian rule.
Egypt's army said yesterday it had intervened on the streets of central Cairo to protect the Interior Ministry, not to clear demonstrators from nearby Tahrir Square.
"The army did not go to Tahrir, but the protesters came to the ministry. The protesters have a right to protest, but we must stand between them and the Interior Ministry," said Gen. Saeed Abbas, assistant to the head of the Central Command. Egypt's culture minister has resigned in protest at the government response to demonstrations in Cairo's Tahrir Square in which more than 20 people have died, the official MENA agency said yesterday. Emad Abu Ghazi handed his resignation to the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces - which took power when Hosni Mubarak was ousted in February - "in protest at the government's handling of the recent events in Tahrir Square," MENA said.
The protesters' suspicions about the military were fed by a proposal issued by the military-appointed Cabinet last week that would shield the armed forces from any civilian oversight and give the generals veto power over legislation dealing with military affairs. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces issued a statement, read on state TV Nov. 20, saying it does not intend to "extend the transitional period and will not permit by any means hindering the process of democratic transition." The military-backed Cabinet said the elections due to start on Nov. 28 would go ahead as scheduled.
Europe and Arab League reacted to the violence. France condemned the killing of pro-democracy protesters in Egypt and called for elections to be held as planned next week in order for the country's democratic transition to succeed. British Foreign Secretary William Hague said the outbreak of violence was worrying but denied it showed hopes were fading for democracy in the Arab world. Hague ruled out calling for the army to bow to protesters' demands that the military hand over to an "unformed" administration. Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi called for calm in Egypt as the deadly clashes raged, urging all political forces to press forward with the democratic process.

Monday, November 21, 2011

Kwa wale walikuwa wanashabikia Mapinduzi ya Misri oneni sasa ndio wamepata huo uhuru wao waliokuwa wanautaka
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=uprising-2.0-in-tahrir-defies-military-control-2011-11-21​
 
Army, police clash with protesters in Tahrir




Sunday, November 20, 2011

CAIRO - The Associated Press


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Egyptian protesters face off against riot police during clashes at Cairo’s Tahrir Square yesterday demanding that the military to hand over power. AFP photo[/TD]
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Egyptian police fired tear gas and rubber bullets in a second day of clashes yesterday with rock-throwing protesters demanding that the ruling military quickly announce a date to hand over power to an elected government.
Tensions are rising on Egypt’s streets in the days leading up to Nov. 28 the start of the first parliamentary elections since the ouster of authoritarian leader Hosni Mubarak. The violence reflects rising public anger over the slow pace of reforms and apparent attempts by the ruling generals to retain power over a future civilian government.
An estimated 5,000 people protested yesterday in and around Cairo’s Tahrir Square, birthplace of the 18-day uprising that toppled Mubarak in February. Many chanted “freedom, freedom” as they pelted police with rocks and a white cloud of tear gas hung in the air.
“We have a single demand: The marshal must step down and be replaced by a civilian council,” said protester Ahmed Hani, referring to Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, head of the ruling military council and Mubarak’s longtime defense minister.
In clashes Nov. 19 in Cairo and other major cities, two protesters were killed and hundreds were wounded. The clashes were one of only a few violent confrontations to involve the police since the uprising. The black-clad police were a hated symbol of Mubarak’s regime and they have largely stayed in the background while the military took charge of security. There was no military presence in and around Tahrir Square on Nov. 19 and yesterday.
The military, which took over from Mubarak, has repeatedly pledged to hand over power to an elected government but has yet to set a specific date. According to one timetable floated by the army, the handover will happen after presidential elections are held late next year or early in 2013. The protesters say this is too late and accuse the military of dragging its feet. They want a handover immediately after the end of the staggered parliamentary elections, which will take place over the months to come and finish in March.
Yesterday, rocks, shattered glass and trash covered Tahrir Square and the side streets around it. Several hundred protesters were camping out on the lawn of the square’s traffic island, and protesters manning barricades into the square checked the IDs of anyone trying to enter. The windows of the main campus of the American University in Cairo, which overlooks the square, were shattered and stores were shuttered
Army, police clash with protesters in Tahrir - Hurriyet Daily News


​
 
I bow down to the Egyptian for their relentless determination to get what they want.
 

CAIRO (Reuters) - Protesters demanding an end to army rule inEgypt sought on Saturday to build on momentum from a mass protest, bedding down in Cairo's Tahrir Square for a ninth day just two days before the first free parliamentary polls in living memory.

Thousands stayed in the square late into the night on Friday, aiming to keep up pressure on the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces to further speed up a transition to democracy which they believe requires the generals to leave power now.
The political turmoil and violence - 41 people were killed this week - are compounding the economic woes of a country where livelihoods have been battered by a year of turmoil that started with the toppling of Hosni Mubarak in February by mass protests.

The generals have shown no sign of giving way to the demand to quit now. Instead, they have responded by promising that a new president would be elected by mid-2012, sooner than previously announced, and appointing a new prime minister to head a "national salvation government."

Kamal Ganzouri, the new prime minister, held the same post under Mubarak. Speaking to the media on Friday, he described his task as thankless and "extremely difficult" and listed his priorities as securing the streets and reviving the economy. Egypt's pound has weakened to its lowest level in seven years.

The Tahrir protesters have dismissed Ganzouri, 78, as yet another face from the past whose appointment reflects the generals' resistance to change.

"Why are they picking Ganzouri now? This shows that the army is unwilling to let go of any power by recycling a former ally. This government won't have any powers, why else pick someone that is loyal to them," said protester Mohamed El Meligy, 20.
DIVIDE

Tahrir Square and the surrounding streets were relatively calm on Friday after the deployment of extra security forces in areas where youths had clashed with police earlier this week.

The violence had fueled public anger at the military council and drawn more protesters to Tahrir Square.
If maintained, the calm will deflate the arguments of those who argue that the first phase of the three-stage parliamentary vote should be postponed because of this week's turmoil.

In a further boost to the military council, several thousand protesters demonstrated in support of the generals' role in another Cairo square on Friday -- a further echo from the last days of Mubarak's rule when loyalists took to the streets.

Though smaller than the "Last Chance Friday" protest in Tahrir Square, the demonstration highlighted the division between revolutionary youths wanting to overhaul the whole system and more cautious Egyptians keen to restore normality.
The appointment of Ganzouri, who was prime minister from 1996 to 1999, has also drawn attention to the division.

"I favor him. He is a very good man, he did a lot of good things. If he had continued in his role (in 1999) the situation would have stayed much better," said restaurant worker Osama Amara, 22.

The military council announced on Friday that each round of voting would be held over two days instead of one to give everyone the chance to cast their vote.

In Tahrir, where the main political groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party have avoided demonstrating this week, some protesters said the vote should still be delayed.

The Brotherhood, Egypt's best organized political force, wants the election to go ahead as scheduled.
"Believe me, I don't know who I am going to vote for," said Hoda Ragab, a 55-year-old woman at Friday's protest in Tahrir.

"In all sincerity, it's because I don't have any program for any party in these conditions. It would be better for the elections to be delayed a week or two, so we can get over these problems," she said.
(Additional reporting by Mohamed Abdellah and Marwa Awad; Editing by Tim Pearce)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/thousands-rally-egypt-last-chance-friday-103227416.html
 
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