The government could soon prosecute a few Wall Streeters who allegedly played a role in the financial crisis, and the commission that uncovered those at fault was modeled on a similar probe after the Great Depression. So did anyone who precipitated that collapse ever go to jail? Nope, writes Brian…
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ElBaradei, the former UN nuclear watchdog chief and opposition figure, spoke to protesters in central Cairo. An Al Jazeera web producer on top of a nearby shed filmed the mob surrounding him as he attempted to leave.
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While a relative calm can be seen in many parts of Cairo, the anger and fear among ordinary Egyptians is still there. Jacky Rowland reports on the mood on the streets.
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Thousands rally in Cairo to defy curfew as Hillary Clinton calls on Hosni Mubarak to allow ‘orderly transition’ The Egyptian opposition leader, Mohamed ElBaradei, tonight predicted change within “the next few days” as western leaders pointedly declined to throw their support behind the country’s embattled president, Hosni Mubarak. In another dramatic day, thousands of protesters kept up the pressure on a defiant Mubarak amid sporadic violence and signs that the US and allies may ditch him unless he allows an “orderly transition”. ElBaradei, the former chief UN arms inspector and de facto leader of the opposition, called for the president to step down at once as demonstrators massed in Cairo’s central Tahrir square to ignore a night-time curfew. ElBaradei, who is now backed by the powerful Muslim Brotherhood and other opposition groups, said he wanted to negotiate about a new government with the army, which he described as “part of the Egyptian people”. Military helicopters and F16 fighters were seen and heard overhead as crowds streamed towards the rally – an apparent show of force that provoked both fear and ridicule. “The people want the regime to fall,” protesters chanted as ElBaradei walked to the centre of the square. Tanks, many emblazoned with anti-Mubarak slogans, were stopped from entering. “You are the owners of this revolution. You are the future,” ElBaradei declared. “Our essential demand is the departure of the regime and the beginning of a new Egypt in which each Egyptian lives in virtue, freedom and dignity.” Mubarak was shown earlier on state TV conferring with his newly appointed vice-president, the intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, and senior generals – a clear attempt to demonstrate that he enjoys the solid support of the armed forces. Western diplomats said they saw no sign the military was prepared to ditch the president. In other key developments: • Al-Jazeera satellite TV was ordered to close because of its coverage of the protests. • Thousands of prisoners, including Muslim Brotherhood activists, escaped from four jails. • The death toll over the past six days was reported to have risen to 102. • Large-scale protests erupted in Alexandria, Egypt’s second city, after the funerals of victims of the unrest. • British nationals in Cairo, Alexandria and Suez were told to leave if it was safe. • The US said it was organising flights to evacuate its citizens and urged all Americans in Egypt to consider leaving. Underlining international concern about the continuing crisis in the Arab world’s largest country, Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, said she wanted Egyptians to have a chance to chart a new future. But she added pointedly: “It’s not a question of who retains power. It’s how are we going to respond to the legitimate needs and grievances expressed by the Egyptian people.” EU foreign ministers, meeting in Brussels tomorrow, are expected to echo that message. William Hague, Britain’s foreign secretary, told Sky News there had to be a shift to an “open and democratic society”, adding “whatever that means for President Mubarak.” Clinton and Hague both alluded to fears of growing Islamist influence. “What we don’t want,” Clinton said, “are radical ideologies to take control of a very large and important country in the Middle East.” David Cameron is understood to have had a “difficult” conversation with Mubarak on Saturday. Israel’s prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, told his cabinet he was “anxiously following” the crisis, warning that Israel’s 30-year-old peace agreement with Egypt must be preserved amid concern about arms smuggling into the Gaza Strip. ElBaradei’s emergence as the opposition candidate for a new government injected new drama into the crisis as Osama Ghazali Harb of the National Democratic Front talked of a “transitional administration” that would oversee the cancellation of the emergency laws and the release of all political prisoners. It seems unlikely at this stage that the Mubarak government will agree to negotiate with ElBaradei, but the demand adds a significant new element to the drama.According to some reports police are due to return to the streets on Monday but the security of most neighbourhoods in Egypt lay in the hands of their citizens as residents set up makeshift barricades and formed local patrols to protect themselves from violence. Egypt Middle East Protest Jack Shenker Ian Black guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …The new Superman will have to make sure his British accent doesn’t show: Henry Cavill, a 27-year-old Brit known primarily for his role on Showtime’s The Tudors , has been chosen to play the superhero in the Warner Bros. movie due out next year, reports the Los Angeles Times . The flick…
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Army has played leading role in managing events and may well determine next stage of crisis Hosni Mubarak sought to boost his battered image as Egypt’s leader today, flaunting the support of the armed forces, whose loyalty he will need to retain if he is to survive in office. The embattled president was shown on state TV visiting an army operations centre, listening to briefings as if directing a battle and flanked by his new deputy, Omar Suleiman, and defence minister, Mohamed Hussein Tantawi. With protesters and opposition parties demanding Mubarak’s immediate departure, he is showing his instinctive reliance on the military, backbone of the Egyptian regime since Gamal Abdel Nasser and his fellow “free officers” overthrew the monarchy in the 1952 revolution. Since troops were deployed in Cairo on Friday, the army has played a leading role in managing events and may well determine the next stage of the crisis. Mubarak’s key move has been the appointment of Suleiman, his veteran intelligence chief, as vice-president, and Ahmed Shafiq, formerly minister of aviation and commander of the air force, as prime minister. Neither ordinary people nor commentators were impressed by what looked like the shuffling of a familiar pack. “The appointments show that the regime isn’t serious about real, meaningful reform,” Shadi Hamid of the Brookings Centre told al-Jazeera. “If you were serious about democracy, would you appoint the chief of intelligence as your vice-president?” Crowds gathered in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, chanting: “Hosni Mubarak, Omar Suleiman, both of you are agents of the Americans.” Still, the army remains relatively popular with Egyptians – certainly far more than the interior ministry’s security and riot control units. Troops have been guarding main installations since police lost control of the streets, but they have failed to enforce the curfew and have often fraternised with protesters rather than confronting them. Suleiman and Tantawi are untouched by the taint of corruption and personal wealth, unlike many in power. Suleiman, 74, is seen as fiercely loyal to Mubarak and has been intimately involved in the most sensitive issues of Egypt’s national security and foreign policy for nearly 20 years. In 1995, two years after taking over Egypt’s General Intelligence Service, he saved the president’s life during an assassination attempt in Ethiopia. He was also instrumental in defeating the insurrection mounted by Egyptian armed groups such as Islamic Jihad. In recent years, one of Suleiman’s biggest preoccupations has been dealing with the volatile Palestinian file, mediating between the western-backed Fatah movement and the Islamists of Hamas – a group with special resonance in Egypt because of its control of the Gaza Strip and its links to the Muslim Brotherhood. He has also been involved in mediation attempts between rebels and the government in Yemen. Analysts speculate that one possibility for the next step in Egypt is that the US, now calling for “an orderly transition” in response to the crisis, could try to persuade the generals that Mubarak should step down and allow political reforms to begin. The chief of staff, Sami Enan, returned at the weekend from a visit to Washington, whose military aid has been a crucial asset to the regime since Egypt’s 1979 peace treaty with Israel. But diplomats said there was no sign that senior military men in Cairo were preparing to ditch the president. Observers note that it was Tunisian generals who persuaded Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali to flee into exile this month after weeks of unrest. When Mohamed ElBaradei announced that he had been delegated by opposition groups to discuss the formation of a national salvation government, he said that he would “be in touch soon with the army,” adding pointedly: “The army is part of Egypt.” The military, however, will be suspicious of the influence of the outlawed but semi-tolerated Muslim Brotherhood, which has been keeping a low profile in the protests so far but has now indicated that it is supporting ElBaradei. Egypt Middle East Protest Ian Black guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …The husband of Gabrielle Giffords has another concern that’s likely weighing on his mind: whether he should return to space as scheduled in April. Astronaut Mark Kelly is on temporary leave from NASA, but he’ll need to decide in fairly short order whether to pilot the shuttle Endeavour on its…
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Britons should avoid nonessential travel, says Hague, but government does not offer to evacuate those already there International alarm about the political and security implications of continuing unrest in Egypt intensified tonight as the United States, Israel and Turkey sent aircraft to evacuate their stranded citizens, and other countries advised their nationals to get out by any means possible. Britain’s foreign secretary, William Hague, said UK nationals should avoid nonessential travel to large cities such as Cairo, Alexandria and Suez. But the government did not offer to help evacuate those already there. They should leave by commercial flights unless they had vital reasons for remaining, Hague said. The situation in Egypt’s Red Sea resorts, where most Britons are staying, remained calm, he added. “We will watch over it very, very carefully, I’m sending extra resources to our embassy there.” The US government announced an immediate airlift for all Americans wishing to leave. “The department of state is making arrangements to provide transportation to safe haven locations in Europe,” it said. Airlifts were also announced by Turkey and Israel. Hague said Britain was concerned that Egypt could fall into the hands of extremists, but would not intervene directly. “What matters is that the process [of political reform] takes place, whatever that means for President Mubarak personally,” he told Sky News. “It is important for him to initiate that transformation and broadly based government, and that is what we would like to see. That is far preferable of course to Egypt falling into the hands of extremism or a more authoritarian system of government.” No 10 said David Cameron had spoken to Mubarak by telephone on Saturday night to express his “grave concern” about violence against anti-government demonstrators. The prime minister urged Mubarak to “take bold steps to accelerate political reform and build democratic legitimacy” rather than attempt to repress dissent, Downing Street said. Reactions to the unrest differed widely around the world. Iran’s opposition leader, Mir Hossein Mousavi, believed by many to have won the disputed 2009 presidential elections, said he hoped the protests would bring to Egypt democratic change that has so far eluded his country. In contrast, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, whose autocratic regime has repeatedly rejected pressure for reform, suggested sinister foreign forces were at work in Egypt. “No Arab or Muslim can tolerate any meddling in the security and stability of Arab and Muslim Egypt by those who infiltrated the people in the name of freedom of expression, exploiting it to inject their destructive hatred,” Abdullah said. Other Arab leaders were keeping their fingers crossed as financial markets across the region tumbled. “We are looking for a stable Egypt and hoping things will be restored soon,” said Abdulrahman al-Attiyah, secretary-general of the Gulf Co-operation Council. In Israel, the prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, addressed growing concern that his country’s principal Arab ally could turn into a foe again under a new government. “We are following with vigilance the events in Egypt and in our region … at this time we must show responsibility and restraint and maximum consideration,” Netanyahu said. “Our efforts have been intended to continue to preserve stability and security … I remind you that the peace between Israel and Egypt has lasted for over three decades.” Apparently concerned that reformist ideas could prove contagious, China blocked the word “Egypt” from micro-blog searches and suggested Egyptians were not suited to democracy. The Global Times, published by the Communist party, said that democracy was not compatible with conditions in Egypt or Tunisia, and that “colour revolutions” could not achieve real democracy. “Democracy is still far away in Tunisia and Egypt. The success of democracy takes concrete foundations in economy, education and social issues,” the newspaper said. “But when it comes to political systems, the western model is only one of a few options.” Egypt Middle East Simon Tisdall guardian.co.uk
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A collection of video images from Sunday’s protests across the embattled country.
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