Egypt protests: the view from the Middle East

Middle East correspondents from the Guardian, Der Spiegel and Le Monde report from around the region on reaction to protests in Egypt In an effort to provide the most comprehensive coverage of the seismic events in Egypt and the shockwaves they are sending through the region, the Guardian has teamed up with leading European newspapers Der Spiegel and Le Monde . In the coming days we will be exploring ways to share our reporting from the region, so that you can read dispatches from their highly respected correspondents alongside reports from our own team on the ground. Kicking off this collaboration here are a series of audio reports from correspondents for the three papers in Cairo, Sana’a, Tunis and Beirut. Egypt: Volkhard Windfuhr, from Der Spiegel, reports from Cairo Windfuhr, who has lived in Egypt since the 1950s and been chairman of the Cairo foreign press association since 1994, confirms there has been a change of attitude from the army today, although reports that there are rumours of a split in the military’s leadership. Yemen: Tom Finn reports Thousands of anti-government demonstrators gathered in the Yemeni capital of Sana’a to take part in a “day of rage” against the ruling regime. Finn says protesters had planned to protest in Sana’a’s Tahrir Square, but the pro-government supporters got there first. Tunisia: Mathieu von Rohr, from Der Spiegel, reports People in Tunisia, where mass demonstrations saw the ex-president Ben Ali flee last month , feel “very proud” that Egyptians have risen up in protest against Mubarak, von Rohr reports. Der Spiegel’s foreign affairs correspondent says the mood in Tunisia has become more tense in the last couple of days, with clashes in the streets between police and protesters. Lebanon: Ghaith Abdul-Ahad reports Abdul-Ahad says “all is quite now” in Lebanon after the clashes of last week. There is huge interest in the Egyptian protests from people in the country, however he says Lebanon is “so sectarian” that any potential protests in the country are unlikely to be united. Jordan: Martin Chulov reports There’s a “tense calm” in Oman, Chulov says, where “all eyes” have been on Egypt. There is a lot of support for the protesters in Egypt, and talk about how protests may follow on on the streets of Jordan – where demonstrations are planned for Friday 4 February. So far the demonstrations have been carefully planned, but people are watching to see if tomorrow’s protests are have more spontaneous elements, Chulov reports. Egypt Middle East Lebanon Jordan Tunisia Yemen United Arab Emirates Hosni Mubarak Ghaith Abdul-Ahad Martin Chulov Adam Gabbatt guardian.co.uk

Posted by on February 3, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry