Egypt is collapsing!

[BRVoice]

http://www.debka.com/article/20633/


Hamas blows up Egypt-Israel-Jordan gas pipeline. Supply cutoff indefinite
DEBKAfile Exclusive Analysis February 5, 2011, 2:19 PM (GMT+02:00)

The pipeline supplying Egyptian gas to Israel and Jordan was blown up near the North Sinai town of El Arish early Saturday Feb. 5. Egyptian state TV reported "terrorists" had carried out the attack which caused a huge explosion and fire. Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu conferred urgently with Infrastructure Minister Uzi Landau and energy firms over the abrupt cutoff of 25 percent of Israel's gas needs and ordered security beefed up at energy installations.

The Egyptian and Israeli accounts are contradictory.

An Israeli official spokesman said the explosion was nowhere near the Israeli section of the pipeline and closer to the Jordanian branch. The Egyptian spokesman spoke only of supplies to Israel which he said had been suspended as a precaution because there had been several smaller explosions along the pipe.

The Israeli Infrastructure Ministry spokesman reported that Egyptian gas, which covers 25 percent of Israel's needs, had been cut off at 0900 Saturday morning. He did not foresee regular power supplies being disrupted.

debkafile's counter-terror sources report that the attack on the El Arish gas facility was planned on military lines by a special Hamas team which infiltrated Sinai from Gaza last week. It was a major Hamas operation against on Israel (which incidentally supplies most of the Gaza Strip's power), and blatant Palestinian interference in Egypt's domestic unrest. It was also a fiasco for the joint IDF-and Egyptian military effort to police Sinai during the turbulence in Egypt and secure this strategic peninsula against destabilization by terrorists.

Muslim Brotherhood spokesmen in Cairo were quick to attach responsibility for the pipeline attack on disaffected Bedouin – a clumsy attempt, say debkafile's sources, to clear their offshoot, Hamas, of blame for a well-planned act of which they must have had prior knowledge.

Jordan is badly hit by the loss of Egyptian gas which covers 80 percent of its energy consumption. The Hashemite kingdom will have to resort to the far more expensive heavy oil and diesel to keep its power supply running and raise fuel prices after the king yielded to Islamist-back protesters' demands to reduce prices.

The close rapport between the Muslim Brotherhood and the Palestinian and Lebanese terrorist organizations came to light earlier in the Hizballah-led operation to release Lebanese Hizballah, Palestinian Hamas and Egyptian Brotherhood convicts from Wadi Natrun jail north of Cairo Sunday, Jan. 30, first revealed by debkafile.

While the Hamas and Hizballah escapees headed for Sinai and Gaza, the MB activists made straight for the hubs of disturbance in Egypt. (Click here for this story.)

The embattled Mubarak administration in Cairo may well find it politic to indefinitely put off repairing the pipe and restoring supplies to Israel for two reasons:

1. The incident will support Mubarak's argument that his immediate departure as demanded by Obama would throw Egypt into chaos – and not only Egypt, but resonate devastatingly across the entire region. Not just Israel, but its second peace partner, Jordan, is badly hit too by the loss of Egyptian gas which covers 80 percent of its energy consumption. Amman will have to convert to the far more expensive heavy oil and diesel to keep its power supply running. Fuel prices will have to be raised shortly after the king dropped them to quell the Islamist-back protests shaking the kingdom.

2. Some of the opposition factions backed by the US for a role in future government, such as the Muslim Brotherhood, are fiercely opposed to Egypt's peace relations with Israel which he has promoted for 32 years. The sale of Egyptian gas to Israel has come under constant attack in the street, which has accused the government of undercutting world prices and defrauding the Egyptian treasury.

The Mubarak regime and Egyptian army may want to show they respect popular opinion and are not American or Israeli pawns by not repairing the pipeline and keeping the gas supply to Israel cut off.

debkafile reports that the Israeli Infrastructure Ministry's assurance that no power disruptions were foreseen glosses over the serious repercussions of the loss overnight of a quarter of Israel's gas consumption for manufacturing electricity and its lack of gas reserves.

Israel's power stations will have to switch immediately from gas to heavy oil or coal, a complicated technical process that will have a bad effect on the environment. Energy officials told debkafile Saturday that the power stations affected are Hadera, Haifa (which is partly gas-fueled) and the Tel Aviv Reading facility which was only recently converted to gas. All Israel's emergency electricity stations are also powered by gas.

Therefore, the Infrastructure Ministry's assurance may have been premature.

[BRVoice]

# L_Auvergnate: the role of the army isn't as clear as it was few days ago...#egypt #jan25
Saturday, February 05, 2011 9:07:55 AM

# MajaMischke: RT @RabiaZaman: We can forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light. Plato #egypt #jan25
Saturday, February 05, 2011 9:08:11 AM

# 4freeUS: #Egypt #wikileaks RT @jm111t #Jan25 Wikileaks: ** Obama Gave Up British Nuclear Secrets to Russia ** http://bit.ly/fM7yYF
Saturday, February 05, 2011 9:08:40 AM

# habibh: Another form of internet censorship in #Egypt "RT @3arabawy The internet has suddenly become so SLOW. #Jan25"
Saturday, February 05, 2011 9:09:07 AM

# 0wnnb: @sumoncnnibn It was raining tear gas on jan28, regular rain is a relief, we not going anywhere! #tahrir #jan25 #egypt v @battutta
Saturday, February 05, 2011 9:09:53 AM

# TheNewsBlotter: Reuters: MIDEAST QUARTET AGREES TO MEET AGAIN IN MID-MARCH ON AIM OF CONC http://bit.ly/gqrNfS #Egypt #Jan25
Saturday, February 05, 2011 9:12:09 AM

# fadyhanna: RT @AlMasryAlYoum_E: Egypt's stock exchange suspended Sunday and Monday http://ow.ly/3QQT7 #Jan25 #Egypt
Saturday, February 05, 2011 9:12:31 AM

# GaeMar01: http://ow.ly/3QQXK £43.5 *Billion* - #Murbarak private fortune in Swiss UBS & RBS banks and in London & #USA properties. #egypt #jan25 '
Saturday, February 05, 2011 9:12:56 AM

# Egyptianette: something needs 2start moving again fast. Let's face it:hanging out at tahrir now doesnt seem 2 b very threatening 2the regime #jan25 #egypt
Saturday, February 05, 2011 9:13:55 AM

# Kriad21: RT @mriad83: Sick and tired of #mubarak being referred to as a father ... Someone call childs services please #jan25 #egypt
Saturday, February 05, 2011 9:35:31 AM

# AlMasryAlYoum_E: Egyptian PM makes veiled threat against ElBaradei http://ow.ly/3QRjE #Jan25 #Egypt
Saturday, February 05, 2011 9:35:47 AM

# 4freeUS: #Egypt #wikileaks RT @jm111t #Jan25 ** Saudi top cleric blasts Arab, Egypt protests! ** Saudi is not exactly (cont) http://tl.gd/8kdv1d
Saturday, February 05, 2011 9:36:48 AM



# Jan25voices AJE: Head of Egyptian Army Central Command went to #Tahrir ask protesters to leave. Protesters: "We will not leave." #Egypt half a minute ago via web

# AJELive AJELive Head of army's central command speaks to protesters urging them to leave, they chant back "We're not leaving, He is..." http://aje.me/fio27R 1 minute ago via web

# Sultan Al Qassemi SultanAlQassemi US cable: "Egypt's military is in decline"-"sole criteria for promotion is loyalty"-"fire officers it perceives as being 'too competent'" 1 minute ago via web

# Dima Khatib أنا ديمة Dima_Khatib We won't leave, HE will leave.. Protesters chanting on Tahrir Square #jan25 #egypt 4 minutes ago via web

# Sultan Al Qassemi SultanAlQassemi Mubarak's men key to US reform hopes in Egypt http://bloom.bg/dSJRRg Coming up, some quotes from this article. 6 minutes ago via web

# Gregg Carlstrom glcarlstrom State TV says stock market will remain closed until further notice. Banks still scheduled to reopen tomorrow morning. #jan25 #egypt 7 minutes ago via HootSuite

# raghdabutros: RT @arwasm: Protesters are calling for volunteers to be at the entrances to #tahrir. Entrances are more exposed than yesterday. #jan25 #egypt
Saturday, February 05, 2011 9:43:18 AM

# Joy__Hart: RT @Penny_G: RT @arwasm: Army tanks on 6 Oct bridge facing Museum side entrance to #tahrir. Atmosphere tense. #jan25 #egypt
Saturday, February 05, 2011 9:45:10 AM

# ThinkAfricaFeed: RT @hadeelalsh: Times sexually harassed walking to work - 8. Times sexually harassed in #tahrir since tues - 0. #egypt #jan25
Saturday, February 05, 2011 9:45:43 AM

# Deenasdfghjkl: RT @bencnn: Cairo stock market to remain closed til further notice, or til they can dig a deeper basement into which the stocks can fall. #Egypt #Jan25
Saturday, February 05, 2011 9:46:53 AM

# Sultan Al Qassemi SultanAlQassemi 2008 US cable: Omar Suleiman is "Mubarak consigliere" was "disappointed as far back as 2007 that he had yet to be named vice president." 2 minutes ago via web

# Alan Fisher AlanFisher Senior military figure appears in the square asking the protesters to go home. The crowd are chanting not until he (Mubarak) does. #Egypt half a minute ago via web

[Ryan Ruck]

Senior US Marine Says "Multiple Platoons" Are Headed To Egypt

February 5, 2011

A "very senior" member of the US Marine corps is telling people "multiple platoons" are deploying to Egypt, a source tells us.

There is a system within the US Marines that alerts the immediate families of high-ranking marines when their marine will soon be deployed to an emergency situation where they will not be able to talk to their spouses or families.

That alert just went out, says our source.

This senior Marine told our source that the Pentagon will deploy "multiple platoons" to Egypt over the next few days and that the official reason will be ‘to assist in the evacuation of US citizens."

Our source was told that "the chances they were going over there went from 70% yesterday to 100% today."

We're keeping these people anonymous because both of them would get in big trouble for sharing this information with the press.

On Friday, the Pentagon announced it would move "U.S. warships and other military assets to make sure it is prepared in case evacuation of U.S. citizens from Egypt becomes necessary," according the the LA Times.

Obviously, this is a very fluid situation. We would caution that we don't know whether or not the Pentagon plans to put troops on the ground in Egypt or not – only that a senior officer in the corps told a relialbe source of ours that he is going there. We decided readers deserved to know this fact.

We've reached out to the Pentagon and will update this story if we hear back.

[BRVoice]

http://www.debka.com/article/20637/


Obama's Egyptian policy criticized in US as missing its mark
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report February 6, 2011, 2:39 PM (GMT+02:00)

Many Western and Middle East observers were astonished to hear US President Barak Obama's special envoy Frank Wisner insisting that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak stay after all to steer changes after twelve days of Washington-backed protests failed to unseat him.

He spoke Saturday, Feb. 5, by video to the Munich Security Conference, at which Secretary of State Hillary Clinton took the opposite view. debkafile's Washington sources report that just as divisions between the anti- and pro-Mubarak camps deepen in Cairo, so too is criticism mounting in Washington over the US president's tactics on the turbulence in Egypt.

Whereas Obama and Clinton have been pushing hard for the Egyptian president to quit and the transition of power begin without him, Wisner, a former ambassador to Egypt, asserted: "Mubarak had give 60 years of his life to the service of his country, this is an ideal moment for him to show the way forward."

He stressed: "We need to get a national consensus around the pre-conditions for the next step forward. The president must stay in office to steer those changes." Obama's special envoy insisted: "Mr. Mubarak's role remains critical in the days ahead,"

State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley responded: "We have great respect for Frank Wisner … but his views are his own and not coordinated with the US government.

Wisner was sent by President Obama to Cairo last Monday, Jan. 31, at a climactic moment of the wave of protests against Mubarak, to urge the embattled Egyptian president to make haste and resign. This Mubarak has declined to do to this day, consenting only to leave after his current term is up in September.

In Munich, German Chancellor Angela Merkel offered a wry comment on Wisner's words: "One thing is clear. No transition is taking place in Egypt," she said, implying that Obama's policy of foisting change on the regime in Cairo was not working.

Some of the conference participants had in fact received the impression that the harder Washington pushed for the Egyptian president to leave, the more stubbornly he clung to office. His last word to was that his departure now would plunge Egypt into chaos.

Vice President Omar Suleiman, shortly after he was sworn into office by Mubarak, went on state TV Thursday, Feb. 3, with strong criticism of "foreign elements" who, he said, when they fail to make us obey their orders, "incite the people against us." Egypt would not permit even friendly powers to interfere in its domestic affairs, he said – a view shared by much of the people.

Some sources in Washington are of the opinion that the continuing standoff in Egypt and its potential for exploding into civil strife, or sliding into a long and bloody war of attrition between the opponents of Mubarak's regime and its supporters, is partly the fault of the system of pressures the White House has being applying for a quick resolution.

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif, appeared to agree on this but in an interview Saturday she blamed US intelligence agencies for failing to give the policymakers "timely intelligence analysis." In the senator's view, “The president, the secretary of state and the Congress are making policy decisions on Egypt" for which they lack the appropriate intelligence tools.

Some Washington sources suggested that Wisner's words were a pointer to a White House flip flop in its policy on Egypt in view of the clear impression that it had missed its mark and the rising criticism in Washington.

Mubarak, who remains in the saddle, has begun instituting what Wisner called "the fragile glimmerings" of change in Egypt. Sunday, Feb. 5, after the Muslim Brotherhood changed its mind and joined the dialogue on change to which the regime had invited opposition parties, agreement was achieved to form a constitutional reform panel with opposition participation.

[BRVoice]

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/mi...743308918.html


Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt talks
Opposition group says it is sticking to condition that Hosni Mubarak step down, as about a million protest in Cairo.
Last Modified: 06 Feb 2011 17:45 GMT

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood has held talks with the government aimed at ending the country's political crisis, but one of the group's leaders has told Al Jazeera that it does not trust the authorities to follow through on promised reforms.

The developments came as pro-democracy rallies continued across the country on Sunday - the 13th day of protests in Egypt.

About a million people were reported to be observing a "day of the martyrs" in Cairo's Tahrir Square - the focal point of the protests - calling for an end to Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule. Al Jazeera correspondent Ayman Mohyeldin, who was at the square, was arrested by the military on Sunday afternoon, prompting calls from the channel and international media-rights groups for his release.

The army fired tracer rounds into the air at a cordon they had set up near the Egyptian Museum, an Al Jazeera correspondent in the square reported late on Sunday evening. An army tank also moved towards the 6th of October bridge, where protesters often gather, he said.

Both Muslims and Christians held prayers at the square for the victims of the uprising.

Hundreds of thousands of protesters also gathered in the cities of Alexandria and Mansoura, while thousands more protested in Mahalla. In other parts of the country, banks and shops began to reopen as normal life appeared to be resuming.

Egyptian state television said Omar Suleiman, the country's newly appointed vice-president, began meetings with prominent independent and mainstream opposition figures on Saturday to go through the options, which centre on how to ensure free and fair presidential elections while sticking to the constitution.

The Egyptian president, in a televised address on Tuesday, said he would not seek re-election in September but refused to step down immediately, saying he feared "chaos".


Brotherhood talks

The Muslim Brotherhood (MB) played down Sunday's meeting with Suleiman, saying that it was not prepared to drop its central demand of calling for Mubarak to resign as president.

"We cannot call it talks or negotiations. The Muslim Brotherhood went with a key condition that cannot be abandoned ... that he [Mubarak] needs to step down in order to usher in a democratic phase," Abdul Moneim Aboul Fotouh, a member of the MB, told Al Jazeera.

Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, cautiously welcomed the inclusion of the MB in talks, but said the US would "wait and see" what results the dialogue yields.

The MB, which is formally banned by whose activities are tolerated, was one of several groups taking part in those talks. Other participants included members of secular opposition parties, independent legal experts and business tycoon Naguib Sawiris, attendees said.

A representative of Mohamed ElBaradei, the opposition figure, was also in attendance.

ElBaradei, however, told the American television station NBC that he had not been invited to the talks. He slammed the negotiations for being "opaque", saying that "nobody knows who is talking to whom at this stage".

The MB's Fotouh described the meeting as testing the waters for what concessions the government was prepared to make.

He said he "did not see any ... seriousness so far. They [the government] have failed to take concrete measurement on the ground.

"If they were serious, the parliament would have been dissolved, also a presidential decree ending the emergency law".

He said that articles 77, 78 and 88 of the constitution should also have been amended by now.

Fotouh was referring to an article of the constitution covering presidential elections, which now effectively puts Mubarak's governing NDP party in a position to choose the next president, and another that allows the president to run for unlimited presidential terms.

He said the Muslim Brotherhood "does not seek power" and will not be fielding a candidate for president in elections.

He asserted that the organisation was not prepared to step back from its demand for Mubarak's departure, saying that if it did, the move would be a "betrayal of the martyrs who have died in the these protests".


Official statement

According to a statement from Suleiman's office following Sunday's talks, the government offered to form a committee to examine proposed constitutional amendments, pursue allegedly corrupt government officials, "liberalise" media and communications and lift the state of emergency in the country when the security situation was deemed to be appropriate.

A proposal being promoted by a group of Egyptians calling itself the The Council of Wise Men involves Suleiman assuming presidential powers for an interim period pending elections.

But some opposition figures argue that would mean the next presidential election would be held under the same unfair conditions as in previous years.

They want to first form a new parliament to change the constitution to pave the way for a presidential vote that is democratic.

Issam al-Aryan, a leading Muslim Brotherhood member, said that the organisation would hold a news conference on Sunday evening to announce what was discussed in the meeting with Suleiman.

Both he and Mohammed Mursi, another senior leader, said that the group would be sticking to its demand that Mubarak resign.

An Al Jazeera correspondent in Cairo described the news of the MB joining the talks as "highly significant".

"They are interested in talking about the resignation of president Mubarak," he said. "They want parliament resolved, they want those responsible for violence of the last few days put on trial ... and wanting to be able to peacefully protest."

Al Jazeera's correspondent in Alexandria - one of the Muslim Brotherhood's strongholds - says many people are surprised by the group's decision to enter talks.

He said it is a major concession that might be seen as a "weakness" in the sense that the MB did not stick to its stated position against joining negotiations until Mubarak resigns.

Cherif Bassiouni, president of the Egyptian American Society and a former UN human rights expert, said the MB has already proved itself to be a responsible participant in Egypt's legislative process.

"They participated in the 2005 legislative elections. They elected 88 members to the parliament. So they've had a role in the secular parliament," Bassiouni said.


Contest of wills

The government tried to get people back to work on Sunday, with banks and businesses reopening in the first clear test of how far protesters can keep up the momentum to topple the government.

But the protesters vowed not to back down in their demand for Mubarak to step down.

"They are steadfast and very sure in their aims and refuse to move," an Al Jazeera correspondent in Cairo said.

The leadership of Mubarak's ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) resigned en masse on Saturday, according to state television.

Hossam Badrawi was appointed the new secretary-general of the party, replacing Safwat El-Sherif, a Mubarak loyalist, in that post. Badrawi, seen by many as a liberal voice in the NDP, will also replace Gamal Mubarak, Hosni Mubarak's son, as head of the party's policies bureau.

Other new appointees include: Mohamed Ragah Ahmed, Mohamed Ahmed Abd El-Illah, Maged Mahmoud Younes El-Shirbiny, Mohamed Ahmed Abd El-Salam Hebah and Dr Mohamed Mostafa Kamal, according to an NDP press release.

Officials in the US administration welcomed the resignation of Gamal Mubarak, terming it a "positive" move.

But the administration has continued to insist upon an orderly and peaceful transition in Egypt.

Frank Wisner, who has acted as a White House envoy by carrying a message to Mubarak, said on Saturday that Mubarak "must stay in office to steer" a process of gathering "national consensus around the preconditions" for the way forward.

PJ Crowley, the US state department's spokesman, said, however, that Wisner was speaking as a private citizen, and that his views did not represent those of the US government.


Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

[American Patriot]

Google Executive in Egypt Is Released



By NOUR MALAS,
MARGARET COKER
AND KEITH JOHNSON

Google Inc. executive Wael Ghonim has been released from government custody in Egypt after disappearing during the massive protests that have rocked Egypt for two weeks, ending a tense wait over the whereabouts of one of the rallying symbols for the anti government movement.



The silence around Mr. Ghonim, who vanished 10 days ago, broke late Monday evening, when a one-line message was sent from his Twitter account, @ghonim: "Freedom is a bless that deserves fighting for it."


The message set off a wave of cheering on Twitter. Google later confirmed his release with a tweet of its own — "Huge relief—Wael Ghonim has been released" — and a friend of Mr. Ghonim's said the executive was safe and unharmed at home with his family.


Mr. Ghonim, Google's marketing manager for the region, had been involved with Internet-based activists mobilizing opposition to the regime, and after his disappearance became a rallying symbol for the young demonstrators in Cairo's Tahrir Square.


Many suspected he had fallen into the hands of Egypt's feared security services, but there had been no confirmation. Then Sunday evening, his brother Hazem said people who met yesterday with Egypt's new vice president, Omar Suleiman, had brokered his release.


Monday brought a tense waiting game. Mr. Ghonim's family was expecting him to be released around 4 p.m. Cairo time. The U.S. State Department said it had received confirmation of the release, but four hours later, Mr. Ghonim's relatives said they had yet to be contacted regarding his whereabouts.


Members of Mr. Ghonim's family spent the early evening in Tahrir Square, the area in downtown Cairo that has become the symbolic heart of the protest movement and the spot where Mr. Ghonim was thought to have been arrested. Multiple news outlets had erroneously reported that the executive was being taken there shortly after 4 p.m., the time at which the prime minister had announced he would be released.


Many details of Mr. Ghonim's disappearance are still unknown. Friends and political activists who know Mr. Ghonim suspect that the executive was seized on Jan. 28 in the downtown square after he joined thousands of others protesting for the ouster of President Mubarak.


The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights estimates that at least 1,275 people have been detained by police since the protests began. Most have been released, lawyers at the center and other human-rights groups say. Those who remain in jail are considered key targets of the Egyptian security services, according to human rights lawyers.


A group of elder Egyptian statesmen who have opened negotiations with Mr. Sulieman to press for constitutional and political reforms told the government that Mr. Ghonim's release was critical to prove to the protesters that the government's promises to enact reform were sincere.


"There's a huge gap of mistrust among the youth in Tahrir towards the government. We told the vice president that Wael and all people who have been detained for expressing their political opinions must be freed," said Naguib Sawiris, an Egyptian billionaire who has taken a lead role within the negotiations.


It remains unclear what role, if any, Mr. Ghonim played in organizing the Jan. 25 protest movement itself, the largest Egypt has seen in more than 30 years. However, he played a prominent role in online activism in the months ahead of the protests which have forced the resignation of Egypt's government and historic political concessions from the autocratic president.

[American Patriot]

Egyptian opposition says no deal until Hosni Mubarak steps down

Pro-democracy campaigners call for further mass protests as government concessions fail to win over Muslim Brotherhood

• Chris McGreal in Cairo and Ewen MacAskill in Washington
• guardian.co.uk, Monday 7 February 2011 20.18 GMT
• Article history
  
  
  

  

  Egyptian protesters pray in Tahrir Square in Cairo on Monday. Photograph: Lefteris Pitarakis/AP
  
  Leading opposition groups in Egypt, including the Muslim Brotherhood, are standing by a demand that President Hosni Mubarak resign before there can be a political agreement to end two weeks of mass protests against his regime.
  
  
  Pro-democracy campaigners called another mass demonstration for Tuesday to keep up the pressure on Mubarak to quit in the face of the government's attempts to marginalise the street protests as no longer relevant because political talks are under way.
  
  
  In Washington, Barack Obama expressed optimism about developments in Egypt. "Obviously Egypt has to negotiate a path, and I think they're making progress," he said.
  
  
  But there remains considerable suspicion within the opposition about the intentions of Mubarak's vice-president, Omar Suleiman, who is overseeing the political transition and leading the negotiations, particularly after the continued arrest of opposition activists and fresh harassment of the press.
  
  
  Mubarak's new cabinet, installed after he sacked the previous one in an attempt to placate protesters, held its first meeting today and promptly announced a 15% pay rise for government employees in an apparent attempt to buy support among workers hit by sharply rising food prices.
  
  
  The government also promised investigations into official corruption and widespread fraud that delivered the ruling party its large victory in last year's parliamentary election. The curfew was relaxed by an hour.
  
  
  But the government's attempts to return Egypt to normality with a call for a return to work and an end to the demonstrations met with only partial success. Banks opened for a second day but the stock exchange, which the government hoped would be trading, remained closed, as did schools and many businesses. The value of the Egyptian pound fell sharply.
  
  
  Suleiman met major opposition groups, including the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, yesterday and made a series of concessions in the hope of defusing the protests. But Muslim Brotherhood members who attended the meeting said today that they "will continue in dialogue only if people's demands are respected".
  
  
  The Islamist group said this required "the immediate resignation of President Mubarak" as well as the dissolving of parliament, the release of political prisoners and the lifting of oppressive emergency laws.
  
  
  Other opposition leaders, including Mohamed ElBaradei, were sensitive to not being used to undermine the street protests and also said that Mubarak must quit for political change to take place. The leftwing Nasserist party has pulled out of talks until the president resigns. Mubarak has said he intends to remain in office until elections in September.
  
  
  Groups representing demonstrators across Egypt have said they will not end the protests until Mubarak has gone. They also want to see parliament dissolved and the lifting of the oppressive state of emergency among other measures.
  
  
  In Tahrir square, Cairo, tens of thousands of demonstrators turned out again today despite the government's attempts to marginalise the protesters by suggesting that with political negotiations underway, they are no longer relevant. The military has said it is under orders to reopen the road through the square, a move that would greatly weaken the demonstrations. Protesters sought to prevent any surprise assault by sleeping inside the tracks of the army's tanks and armoured vehicles.
  
  
  Unable to remove the demonstrators, the government is apparently trying to diminish their profile. The military was ordered not to permit foreign journalists to enter Tahrir square until they had press cards issued by the Egyptian government, which the information ministry said would not be available for at least two days.
  
  
  More activists have been arrested, it was reported, including an independent film-maker, Samir Eshra, and Abdel-Karim Nabil Suleiman, who blogs under the name Karim Amer. Amer was the first blogger to be prosecuted in the country when he was jailed for four years in 2007 for insulting Islam and the president. He was released last November.
  
  
  Washington has had to repeatedly shift policy on Egypt over the last fortnight. Obama called last week for Mubarak to begin the transition to democracy now, but has been forced to accept that he may stay in office until September. In the meantime, it has thrown its support behind Suleiman, to the distress of some of the government's opponents.
  
  
  The White House spokesman, Robert Gibbs, elaborating on Obama's comment about "progress", backed Suleiman. He said that since the protests began Mubarak had said he would stand down and his son would not seek to succeed him.
  
  
  Steven Cook, a Middle East specialist at the Council on Foreign Relations, acknowledged the concerns about Suleiman. "He is not known to be a progressive thinker. Nobody would consider him to be a democrat."
  
  
  Asked about criticism of the Obama administration for its seemingly constant policy switches, Cook said the administration had been dealt this hand when Mubarak nominated Suleiman as his vice-president. "The administration is being hammered but it has no leverage to influence events," Cook said.
  

[American Patriot]

EGYPT: Stock exchange to resume trading Sunday



February 7, 2011 | 12:22 pm
Egyptian financial officials say the country’s stock exchange will resume trading Sunday, a week after banks reopened.
The Associated Press reports that the delay appears to be part of attempts to cool investors’ fears and avoid a massive sell-off.
Those fears appeared to be well founded, the news agency said. The Egyptian pound hit a six-year low after banks reopened Sunday on an abbreviated schedule following a weeklong closure, dropping to about 5.95 to the dollar.
-- Alexandra Zavis

[BRVoice]

http://www.debka.com/article/20639/


Egyptian army against deposing Mubarak - "the October War Hero"
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report February 6, 2011, 11:05 PM (GMT+02:00)

Behind the attempts to restore life in Egypt to normal for the first time since protesters took to the streets 13 days ago, three contests with the potential for triggering the resurgence of violent clashes were simmering Sunday, Feb. 6, in the high army command, the fractured opposition camp and President Hosni Mubarak's governing circle.

debkafile's military sources disclose exclusively that the army, which has been standing on the sidelines of the anti- and pro-Mubarak standoff till now, has decided to stand against the president's premature removal before his term runs out in 200 days' time.

It has come down to a matter of national pride. "We can on no account permit an Egyptian general, hero of the October (1973) War against Israel, to be humiliated, whatever the political price may be," the generals now say.

(A former fighter pilot, Mubarak rose to become Egyptian Air Force Chief of Staff who modernized the air force after its 1967 defeat by Israel and was later acclaimed a hero of the October (Yom Kippur) war of 1973. Two years later, he became Anwar Sadat's Vice President and succeeded him after the 1981 assassination).

President Gen. Omar Suleiman was influenced by the army's position when he faced opposition leaders Sunday, Feb. 6, at the start of their dialogue on constitutional reform. The Muslim Brotherhood, which initially refused to take part, finally decided to attend, but then announced that the reforms on the table were not enough. It is not clear if they are participants in the constitution reform panel the meeting established.

Suleiman rejected the calls for him to arbitrarily assume President Mubarak's powers and explained to the opposition leaders that their primary demand for the president to resign could not be met. Under the present constitution, Mubarak's signature must be affixed to every constitutional amendment; no other authority has that competence.

If Mubarak is forced to resign before September, the next presidential election at the end of 2011 will be conducted according to the current laws, which the opposition rejects, and the reforms will not be introduced until his successor is elected in 2016, Suleiman explained. Therefore, if the factions insisted on political reforms they would have to cooperate in keeping Mubarak in office and persuade him to sign the new laws.

debkafile's Cairo sources report that most of the opposition leaders were not convinced. He therefore offered a compromise: Mubarak would step down in June "on grounds of ill health" and, against a pledge of safety for himself and his family, he would sign into law the constitutional amendments agreed by the army and opposition factions.

This proposal split the opposition camp. It was rejected out of hand by the protesters conducting a continuous sit-in at Tahrir Square, including Mohamad ElBaradei and the pro-democracy champion Ayman Nour (who was jailed by Mubarak for fraud) as well as parts of the young April 6 movement, some of the Democratic Change faction and sections of the Muslim Brotherhood. They all stand by their unconditional demand for Mubarak to step down at once.

It is not clear if Suleiman and opposition leaders have set a date for another meeting to continue their dialogue.

Furthermore, many members of the president's inner circle object to Gen. Suleiman's approach to the crisis. They suspect him of aiming for middle ground, so far unsuccessfully, between the Mubarak camp and the opposition and army.

Our Cairo sources further report that the effort to restore normal activity in the country was only partly successful. There were long lines outside the banks which had been closed for most of last week. And when account-holders finally reached a teller they were dismayed to find a $10,000 cap on withdrawals. Many of the ATM cash machines shut down after a short time. The markets reported deliveries of no more than 40 percent of their regular produce.

The police presence was patchy, consisting mainly of traffic cops and officers on the beat at markets and stores. The Interior Ministry's security squads, the government's main law and order enforcers, were nowhere to be seen on the streets of Cairo. They feared a settling of scores for their brutal crackdown in the early stages of the protest.

[BRVoice]

http://www.debka.com/article/20643/


Lawlessness spreads in N. Sinai as Hamas transfers al Qaeda cells
DEBKAfile Special Expose February 8, 2011, 9:18 AM (GMT+02:00)

Intelligence updates reaching Israel reveal that Hamas plans to follow up its attack on the Egyptian-Israel-Jordanian gas pipeline Saturday, Febbruary 5, with more large-scale operations against Israel, using Egyptian Sinai as its launching-pad.

Since the uprising began in Egypt two weeks ago, more than 1,000 Hamas gunmen have infiltrated North Sinai from the Gaza Strip and seized control of the region. They were followed by Al-Qaeda cells which redeployed from Iraq in the Gaza Strip. Hamas has established a command center in North Sinai for coordinating its operations with the Muslim Brotherhood in Cairo.

Israeli officers serving in this border sector told debkafile's military sources that the situation there was getting dangerously out of control: Hamas was giving free rein to lawless elements – not only Bedouin smugglers but other international networks, some working hand in glove with Somali pirates to smuggle into Israel armed criminal gangs posing as asylum and job seekers, prostitutes and vast quantities of drugs.

Those sources believe that Hamas and al Qaeda terrorists are sneaking into Israel from Sinai under cover of the swelling illegal traffic.

Hamas' attack on the gas pipe near El Arish which cut supplies to Israel and Jordan proves to have been its opening shot. The investigation found that two separate Hamas teams, reaching their target in four new minivans, had conducted not one but two explosions – one hit the Sheikh Zuweid station and the second blew up a one-kilometer long section of the pipe. The Egyptians have not yet started repairs.

Sunday, February 6, Egyptian soldiers caught another team of five armed men on their way to blow up the pipeline's southern section to keep it inactive for a lengthy period. Three were Palestinian Hamas terrorists from the Gaza Strip and two Bedouin hired as accomplices.

Monday, February 7, a second armed attack on the Egyptian police station in El Arish turned out to have been carried out by an Al Qaeda-linked cell from the Gaza Strip.

debkafile's military sources report that Hamas and Mumtaz Durmush, head of Jaish al-Islam (The Army of Islam) which is linked to Al Qaeda, have struck a deal for Hamas to transfer the Islamists to Sinai and provide them with the weapons and explosives for attacking Israeli patrols along the Egyptian border and Egyptian security forces posted there.

Not only are those jihadist cells ranged on Israel's southern doorstep but it is only a matter of time before they walk through the door along with the Palestinian fundamentalists of Hamas, security sources ward.

Moving them south has given Hamas two benefits: the Jaish al-Islam hard core which challenged its rule of the Gaza Strip has been transferred outside the enclave and secondly, the Palestinian group has help for its attacks on Israel.

It is now confirmed that the 22 Hizballah terrorists, whose escape from a Cairo jail last week was organized by Hamas, were escorted to the Gaza Strip by a heavily-armed Hamas guard which Egyptian forces failed to intercept.

The breakout also released Muslim Brotherhood activists. For Lebanese Shiite group, its chief objective was the release of Sami Shehab, one of Hizballah's top operational commanders. His outfit has joined the Hamas-led front taking shape for a concerted terrorist campaign against.

A senior security source reported that the Egyptian strength, though reinforced by the two battalions of 800 soldiers which Israel permitted to enter the peninsula, is totally inadequate for extending control in all parts of the peninsula. Most of that strength has been deployed in Sharm el-Sheikh and along the eastern bank of the Suez Canal, leaving the Gaza Strip and the border with Israel at the mercy of terrorists and smugglers.

Although Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and the outgoing Chief of Staff, Liutenant General Gaby Ashkenazi, commented on the turmoil in Egypt Monday, February 7, neither referred to the dangerously out-of-control situation in Sinai nor did they mention the urgent need to address the threat to Israel's southern border.

Netanyahu recalled the 2009 demonstrations in Iran where, he said, unlike in Egypt, "there were no talks, the people were simply killed on the streets."

General Ashkenazi spoke of the rise of radical strength in the region. He admitted that the IDF was taken by surprise by the uprising in Egypt but, he said, no intelligence service has a crystal ball.

debkafile's military sources note that no one needs a crystal ball to see the terror and lawlessness closing in on Israel from its border with Sinai. It is not 1,200 kilometers away like Iran, but already present under the noses of those speakers.

[BRVoice]

http://www.debka.com/article/20646/


Egypt nears military coup. USS warships in Suez Canal
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report February 8, 2011, 11:20 PM (GMT+02:00)

A fresh surge of popular anti-Mubarak protest ripping across Egypt Tuesday, February 8 has brought the country closer to a military coup to stem the anarchy than at any time since the street caught fire on January 25.

Vice President Omar Suleiman warned a group of Egyptian news editors that the only choice is between a descent into further lawlessness and a military takeover in Cairo. The distinguished political pundit of the 1960s and 1970s Hasnin Heikal saw no other way out of the crisis but a government ruling by the army's bayonets.

The arrival of US naval, marine and air forces in the Suez Canal's Greater Bitter Lake indicated that the crisis was quickly swerving out of control.

debkafile's military sources report that the American force consists of the USS Kearsarge Expeditionary Strike Group of six warships. Helicopters on some of their decks are there to carry and drop the 2,200 marines of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit which has been bolstered by two special operations battalions.

The flotilla has a rapid strike stealth submarine, the USS Scranton, which is designed to support special forces' operations.

The US strike force has taken up position at a strategic point opposite Ismailia between the west bank of the Suez Canal and its eastern Sinai bank. It is poised for rapid response in the event of the passage of about 40 percent of the world's marine freights through the Suez Canal being threatened or any other extreme occurrence warranting US military intervention.

For a few hours Tuesday, it looked as through Egypt was finally going back to normal after a two-week popular uprising. But then, suddenly, thousands again took to the streets and squares of Egyptian towns - from the Western desert on the Libyan border up to the northern Sinai town of El Arish in the east, recalling Hosni Mubarak's warning of chaos if he were to depart too soon.

Tuesday, the protesters mounted their biggest demonstrations of their campaign to oust Mubarak - in Cairo, Alexandria, the Delta Cities, the industrial belt around Mahalla-el-Kebir and the steel city of Heluan, shouting "Death to Mubarak!" and "Hang Mubarak!"

Although reforms and pay hikes have been pledged by the new Egyptian government, large groups of workers, mainly in Cairo, rebelled against state-appointed managements and set up "Revolutionary Committees" to run factories and other work places, including Egyptian state TV and Egypt's biggest weekly "Ros el-Yusuf."

The stock market and the pyramids remained closed and traffic blocked solid on the streets of Cairo.

[BRVoice]

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/mi...235508653.html


Protests swell at Tahrir Square
Tens of thousands pour into central Cairo seeking president Mubarak's ouster, despite a slew of government concessions.
Last Modified: 08 Feb 2011 19:08 GMT

Thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators have poured into Cairo's Tahrir (Liberation) Square as protests against Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president, entered their 15th day despite a slew of concessions announced by the government.

Tens of thousands of protesters have also come out on the streets in Alexandria, Egypt's second largest city.

There were also reports of a protest outside the parliament building in the capital. Witnesses said protesters had pitched a tent in front of the building and are likely to stay there.

According to Hoda Abdel-Hamid, Al Jazeera's correspondent in the Egyptian capital, the crowd at Tahrir Square grew rapidly on Tuesday afternoon, with many first-timers joining protesters seeking Mubarak's immediate ouster.

The newcomers said they had been inspired in part by the release of Wael Ghonim, the Google executive, after what he said was two weeks of detention by state security authorities.

Ghonim was the person behind a page called "We are all Khaled Said" on the social networking site Facebook, which is being credited for helping spark the uprising in Egypt.

"I came here for the first time today because this cabinet is a failure, Mubarak is still meeting the same ugly faces ... he can't believe it is over. He is a very stubborn man," Afaf Naged, a former member of the board of directors of the state-owned National Bank of Egypt, said.

"I am also here because of Wael Ghonim. He was right when he said the NDP [ruling National Democratic Party] is finished. There is no party left, but they don't want to admit it," she said.

Amr Fatouh, a surgeon, said he had joined the protests for the first time as well.

"I hope people will continue and more people will come. At first, people did not believe the regime would fall but that is changing," he said.

Another Al Jazeera journalist, reporting from the square, said the protesters' resolve seemed very high. Many said they would not leave until their demands are met.

The determined protesters have reportedly composed a 'revolution anthem' to boost morale.

Meanwhile, about 20 lawyers have petitioned Abdel Meguid Mahmoud, the country's prosecutor general, to try Mubarak and his family for allegedly stealing state wealth.

Ibrahim Yosri, a lawyer and a former deputy foreign minister, has drafted the petition.


Constitutional reforms

But Mubarak's message has thus far been that he will not leave until his term expires in September.

However in a statement made on Egyptian state television on Tuesday, Omar Suleiman, the country's vice-president, said that a plan was in place for the peaceful transfer of power.

He annouced formation of two independent committees for political and constitutional reforms.

Suleiman said that one committee would carry out constitutional and legislative amendments to enable a shift of power while a separate committee will be set up to monitor the implementation of all proposed reforms. The two committees will start working immediately, he said.

Suleiman stressed that demonstrators will not be prosecuted and that a separate independent fact-finding committee would be established to probe the violence on February 2.

The government had offered on Monday a pay rise to public-sector workers, but the pro-democracy camp said the government had conceded little ground in trying to end the current crisis.

"[The pay rise] doesn't mean anything," Sherif Zein, a protester at Tahrir Square told Al Jazeera on Tuesday.

"Maybe it will be a short-term release for the workers ... but most of the people will realise what this is, it's just a tablet of asprin, but it's nothing meaningful."

Beyond Tahrir Square, life has been slowly getting back to normal in other parts of Cairo with some shops and banks reopening.


Tourism sector affected

However, the country's tourism sector is still suffering, with the area around the famed pyramids remaining closed. The Credit Agricole bank says the protests are costing Egypt more than $300m a day.

"There is a lot of popular public sentiments in Cairo and wider Egypt regarding what those protesters are trying to achieve but at the same time, people are trying to get back to live as normal lives as possible," our correspondent said.

Another correspondent, also in Cairo, said: "There are divisions. On one side, people do agree with the messages coming out of Tahrir Square, but on the other, Egypt is a country where about 40 per cent of the population lives on daily wages."

Al Jazeera's Andrew Simmons, reporting from Cairo, said that a so-called battle for hearts and minds is going on.

"Anti-government demonstrators are pushing to convince the country that Mubarak needs to go, but some also don't want the country to plunge into chaos," he said.

"There is also a struggle to get back to normality. Many want to get back to normal lives, but at the same time want this campaign to continue."

Tanks continue to guard government buildings, embassies and other important institutions in the capital.


Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

[BRVoice]

# AmbroseandDogII: RT @Dima_Khatib: It is almost 10pm in #Cairo. Witnesses say today's protests were the biggest since beginning of Revolution on #Jan25 #egypt
Tuesday, February 08, 2011 2:52:46 PM

# evanchill A convoy of a hundred people just marched by in total silence, trying to secretly bring blankets to parliament protest 3 minutes ago via Seesmic for BlackBerry"

# Dima_Khatib Staff of State Egyptian TV protested today against their own TV and Minister of information, some of them even quit #jan25 #egypt 15 minutes ago via web

# Dima_Khatib Egyptian TV staff say State TV has been misinforming on Egyptian youth and their revolution #jan25 #egypt 13 minutes ago via web

# Dima_Khatib One Egyptian TV staffer said: I feel ashamed to show my face to my son, working in a TV telling lies about honourable youth #jan25 #egypt 4 minutes ago via web

# Dima_Khatib One Egyptian TV staffer said: for days Tahrir was boiling while our TV kept showing a picture of calim on 6Th October Bridge #jan25 #egypt 2 minutes ago via web

# valadon2: RT @bencnn: Cairo Press Centre: President Mubarak meeting with "an official guest" tomorrow at Itihadiya Palace. No further details provided. #Egypt

[BRVoice]

http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/news...-dialogue-coup


Egyptian VP holds firm, says only alternative to dialogue is 'coup'
Staff - Al Masry Al Youm (English Edition)
Tue, 08/02/2011 - 18:11

Egyptian Vice President Omar Suleiman has said that the only alternative to dialogue as a means of resolving the ongoing political crisis was a 'coup,' reiterating that the regime would not step down.

"We want to avoid a hasty and irrational coup,” said Suleiman, former chief of general intelligence and a symbol of the country’s military establishment. “Dialogue is the right way to achieve stability and resolve the current crisis peacefully and within the context of a solid plan of action.”

Suleiman considered the word “departure,” which has been repeated by protesters in reference to the sought-after departure of embattled President Hosni Mubarak, as being contrary to the ethics of the Egyptians, who have always shown respect for their ruler.

“It's not only insulting to the president," he said, "but to the Egyptian people as well."

He stressed that Mubarak was one of the heroes of Egypt's 1973 October War with Israel, and that the military establishment could not forget its glorious history.

He also said those supporting calls for civil disobedience constituted a "grave threat to society."

"We cannot afford to wait any longer,” he said. “We must put an end to this crisis as soon as possible."

[BRVoice]

http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/news...ex-falls-5-pct


Egypt bourse to suspend trade if index falls 5 pct
Al Masry Al Youm (English Edition)
Reuters
Tue, 08/02/2011 - 18:21

Egypt's stock exchange will suspend trade for a half hour if its broad 100-share index declines by 5 percent after it reopens on Sunday from a two-week closure, the financial regulator said on Tuesday.

The government shut the exchange after countrywide political protests caused the benchmark index .EGX30 to plunge by 16 percent in two days, and analysts have warned of a renewed sell-off by spooked investors once trading resumes.

If the EGX100 falls by 10 percent, trade will halted until the exchange's chairman decides it should resume, the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority said in an emailed statement.

The exchange will open as usual at 10:30 am starting on Sunday but will close at 1:30 pm instead of the previous 2:30 pm.

Trade on any one share will be halted for the normal half an hour if its price falls by 10 percent and for the remainder of the trading session if it falls by 20 percent, the statement said.

The regulator said it is temporarily cancelling the posting of the normal pre-session exploratory prices before trade opens and will speed up procedures for companies seeking to buy back their own shares.

[vector7]

Five Suez Canal companies workers go on strike, no major disruptions witnessed....yet

Ahram Online, Tuesday 8 Feb 2011

Workers from 5 service companies owned by Suez Canal Authority in the cities of Suez , Port-Said and Ismailia began an open-ended sit in today.

Over 6000 protesters have agreed that they will not go home today once their shift is over and will continue their sit-in in front of the company's headquarters until their demands are met. They are protesting against poor wages and deteriorating health and working conditions and demanded that their salaries and benefits meet the standard of those working for the Suez Canal Authority.

A senior official from the Suez Canal Authority told Ahram online that the Suez Canal didn't witness any disruptions today, and that disruptions are not expected in the days to come.

"The strike will not affect the operation of the Suez Canal and movement of ships. These companies work in areas far from the canal zone and movement of ships," a senior official told Reuters.

46 ships crossed the Canal today.

[Ryan Ruck]

Anyone catch this video from during the riots? You only really have to watch until about 1:30, by the way.

YouTube: The Diplomatic Car That Ran Over 20 People In Cairo (28th-Jan-2011)



All I can say is, "Wow!". That looked like something straight out of Dawn of the Dead!

[American Patriot]

Are those blood stains on the front Peterle? Just under the grill...?

hehe

[American Patriot]

Last updated: 1 hour ago

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Headlines: Egypt army would intervene in case of chaos: minister
Federal ministers resign in Cabinet redesign
New cabinet to be announced soon: Kaira
Govt, PIA unions talks deadlocked
JUI-F chief meets PM to discuss political situation


Egypt army would intervene in case of chaos: minister

AFP
(1 hour ago) Today

Hundreds of thousands of Egyptian anti-government demonstrators gather at Cairo's Tahrir Square on February 8, 2011 on the 15th consecutive day of protests demanding the ouster of embattled President Hosni Mubarak. – AFP Photo

CAIRO: The army would be forced to intervene if anti-government protests push Egypt into chaos, Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit said Wednesday, according to the state news agency.
“We have to preserve the constitution, even if it is amended,” Abul Gheit told Al-Arabiya television, according to the MENA news agency.
“He warned that if chaos occurs, the armed forces will intervene to control the country, a step, he said, which would lead to a very dangerous situation,”the news agency said, paraphrasing the interview.
Gheit’s remarks came the day after Egypt’s Vice President Omar Suleiman warned those protesting in the street against Mubarak risk provoking a situation in which a coup d’etat was possible.
Suleiman’s statement was dismissed by many of the protesters on the streets of Cairo, and denounced as a threat by one of the most powerful of opposition groups, the Muslim Brotherhood.
“This amounts to a threat that is unacceptable in the eyes of the Egyptian people,” Mohammed Mursi, a spokesman for the Islamist group.
“The protesters have imposed a new legitimacy, and this legitimacy should be respected, for it cannot be threatened,” he said.
Since January 25, Egypt has been gripped by mass protests against the government, with hundreds of thousands taking part in street rallies and many occupying a key square in downtown Cairo and a street near parliament.
The demonstrators want Mubarak to step down immediately, but he has vowed to hang on until presidential elections in September, in order, he says, to ensure an orderly transition in power.
Opposition parties want major constitutional reform to allow them to compete in the presidential and legislative elections on a level playing field.

[American Patriot]

Oh, yours in the one with the blood stains so you can't show us that. I get it.

/chuckles