Middle East Revolutions: Current Bahrain protests getting violent

[Callisto]

I was wondering the same thing, if the people do get their way and the current guys are tossed out, what then? Elections kinda take a bit to get together.

[Edelweiss]

They could set up an interm government, or possibly place the country into stewardship until elections could be held.

[quannum]

@salmasaid

i wake up today in tahrir surrounded by 1500 injured people including my brother and best friend that were determined to continue

making the revolution seem islamic is one of he cheap tactics the gov is doing

in the five days i slept i tahrir i hears all kinds of shit rumors that are made to scare us, be sure not to spread them.

There are very strong rumors coming out of sources close to the Saudi government suggesting that King Abd'allah, who is now in Morocco, has convinced President Mubarak to step down to avoid a possible bloodbath during anticipated massive demonstrations on Friday. Abd'allah has also reportedly offered Mubarak asylum in Saudi Arabia, but Mubarak has not yet accepted the offer.

BBC

British Foreign Secretary William Hague joins the US in condemning attacks on journalists, and warns: "The world will be watching closely how the Egyptian authorities respond. Their reputation will be severely damaged if we see violence at the levels we have seen recently."

@NickKristof

Young woman helped me sneak past checkpoints. She told me: We are all afraid inside of us, but now we have broken that fear.

@justimage

Thanks all, my head is fine and bandaged like half of the people walking around Tahrir right now.
A dozen journalist unaccounted for, arrested, attacked in #egypt on thursday

the key that i've seen in the last few days has been the way in which the army was told last friday by mubarak to clear the square. and the individual tank officers refused.

i actually saw them tearing off their tank helmets where they're receiving their orders on their own military net. and using their mobile phones, in many cases, they were phoning home because they come from military families. they wanted to know from their fathers what they should do. and of course they were told you must not shoot on your fellow citizens.

and i think that was the actual moment when the mubarak regime broke. or if we look back historically, that's what we will believe. so i think it is broken, it is finished, whatever mr. mubarak might dream about in his pantomime world.

Rocks were stacked in piles around the street, and Molotov cocktail bottles sat next to one another near a tree; a revolutionary armoury.

I was referred to the 'boss' of the checkpoint, a man with a lengthy black beard, a white, bloodstained headwrap, and a heavy grey peacoat spattered with blood.

He introduced himself as Hossam Eid al-Sharqawy and took hold of my shoulder. Time was short, I should take pictures quickly and go, he said.

He had blunt words for Egypt's 30-year president, whose two rounds of concessions and promise not to run again have failed to placate protesters. "Hosni Mubarak kills his own people," Sharqawy said.

"Remember my name," he said. "If I die here tonight, you will tell our story."

[Mistress Stowastiq]

Christiane Amanpour of ABC has an interview with Mubarak coming soon.
There is video of her on the phone with Dianne Sawyer but I don't know how to post vid links.

Her coverage page for Egypt:
http://abcnews.go.com/International/...iane_Amanpour/


http://abcnews.go.com/International/...ry?id=12833673

Mubarak: 'If I Resign Today There Will Be Chaos'

REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK
By CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR
Feb. 3, 2011

In an Exclusive Interview, Egypt's President Says "I Do Not Want to see Egyptians Fighting Each Other

I've just left the presidential palace in Cairo where I met for about 30 minutes with President Hosni Mubarak.

He told me that he is troubled by the violence we have seen in Tahrir Square over the last few days but that his government is not responsible for it. Instead, he blamed the Muslim Brotherhood, a banned political party here in Egypt.

He said he's fed up with being president and would like to leave office now, but cannot, he says, for fear that the country would sink into chaos.

I asked President Mubarak about the violence that his supporters launched against the anti-government protesters in Liberation Square.

He told me, "I was very unhappy about yesterday. I do not want to see Egyptians fighting each other."

When I asked him what he thought seeing the people shouting insults about him and wanting him gone, he said, "I don't care what people say about me. Right now I care about my country, I care about Egypt."

I asked how he felt after giving the speech Monday night, saying he would not run for president again, he told me he felt relief.

For now, Mubarak remains in the presidential palace with his family, heavily guarded by armed troops, tanks and barbed wire. We were joined by his son Gamal, who was once widely considered to be his successor. Mubarak told me it was never his intention to have his son follow him into office.

And he pledged his loyalty to Egypt. I would never run away, he said, I will die on this soil. He also defended his legacy, recounting the many years he has spent leading his country.

While he described President Obama as a very good man, he wavered when I asked him if hour felt the U.S. had betrayed him. When I asked him how he responded to the United States' veiled calls for him to step aside sooner rather than later, he said he told President Obama "you don't understand the Egyptian culture and what would happen if I step down now."

President Mubarak: 'I Will Die on Egyptian Soil'

I asked him how he himself was feeling. He said I am feeling strong. I would never run away. I will die on Egyptian soil.

He told me, "I never intended to run again. I never intended Gamal to be President after me."

Gamal, his son, was sitting in the room with us as he said this.

Christiane's twitters about meeting with Mubarak:

Spoiler: show

camanpour Christiane Amanpour
Mubarak told me “I told Obama ‘you don’t understand the Egyptian culture & what would happen if I step down now.” http://abcn.ws/dV5IOE
1 minute ago

Christiane Amanpour
camanpour Christiane Amanpour
Mubarak told me: 'if I resign today there will be chaos.' http://abcn.ws/dV5IOE
7 minutes ago

Christiane Amanpour
camanpour Christiane Amanpour
I asked Mubarak how he felt after giving the speech Monday night, saying he would not run for President again. He told me he felt relief.
13 minutes ago

Christiane Amanpour
camanpour Christiane Amanpour
I asked Mubarak if he was ready to leave office. He said: I am fed up. After 62 yrs in public service I have had enough. I want to go.
18 minutes ago

Christiane Amanpour
camanpour Christiane Amanpour
Just spent 20 minutes interviewing President Mubarak at the palace. Details to come. #Egypt

[Callisto]

The thing that I don't get is why Mubarak is bothering to cling to things to begin with. He's had a long tenure during which I'd assume he's amassed enough wealth to live out the rest of his days comfortably, I don't get why he didn't just say SEE YA, BITCHES and hop on a jet to Barbados as soon as shit went down last week.

[quannum]

demonstrations in Palestine Friday

WHEN: Friday, 4 February 2011, 12:30
WHERE: The Villages of Bil’in, Ni’ilin, Nabi Saleh, Al Ma’asaraWHAT: Demonstrations Against the Israeli Occupation and Separation Barrier in Solidarity with the Egyptian People

At least one thousand demonstrators from five Palestinian towns and villages will demonstrate tomorrow against the Israeli occupation and in solidarity with the Egyptian people. The demonstrators will demand that their call for freedom of self determination denied to them by the Israeli occupation be heard along with the call for freedom of the Egyptian people.

The villages of Bil’in, Ni’ilin, Nabi Saleh, Al Ma’asara and Wad Rahel will join together against the Israeli occupation and the separation barrier.

good luck getting this covered in the usa

[isladar]

e: beaten

[Callisto]

lol 'solidarity'

[Edelweiss]

The thing that I don't get is why Mubarak is bothering to cling to things to begin with. He's had a long tenure during which I'd assume he's amassed enough wealth to live out the rest of his days comfortably, I don't get why he didn't just say SEE YA, BITCHES and hop on a jet to Barbados as soon as shit went down last week.

He's a war hero apparently; the older generations in Egypt looked upon him favorably it seems, up until roughly 2000 or so. Unfortunately for him, Egypt is overwhelmingly a nation of young persons, over 2/3rds of the population is..under 30?

There's most assuredly some personal issues the man has with things, probably seeing himself as something akin to a saviour to Egypt. Plus he comes from the military, so he likely thinks he can somehow outlast the revolutionaries as long as he has the 10th largest military in the world on his side...or atleast as a neutral actor until he can secure his foothold again.

[isladar]

Christiane Amanpour is like the last vanguard off balls-out war correspondents, I've hearted her since the first Gulf War.

[shepardG]

Thank you all for keeping up with the news and posting in this thread, I am in training @ ft. Tickets in alabama and service has been shoddy. Its intersting to see how our news has evolved. Hopefully, one day, cnn,msnbc, Fucking fox, al jazeera will be nothing more than search engines and every human will be a correspondent.

[Callisto]

He's a war hero apparently; the older generations in Egypt looked upon him favorably it seems, up until roughly 2000 or so. Unfortunately for him, Egypt is overwhelmingly a nation of young persons, over 2/3rds of the population is..under 30?

There's most assuredly some personal issues the man has with things, probably seeing himself as something akin to a saviour to Egypt. Plus he comes from the military, so he likely thinks he can somehow outlast the revolutionaries as long as he has the 10th largest military in the world on his side...or atleast as a neutral actor until he can secure his foothold again.

Yeah that part I knew it's just, well, if I'm his age I'm thinking that retirement looks nicer than potentially dying in bloody coup. Though honestly an all-out bloodbath of a revolution will probably help democracy in the region a bit.

[Edelweiss]

Yeah that part I knew it's just, well, if I'm his age I'm thinking that retirement looks nicer than potentially dying in bloody coup. Though honestly an all-out bloodbath of a revolution will probably help democracy in the region a bit.

I'm not so sure about that, though frankly this is how dictators usually react to even peaceful demands for political change. Unfortunately, the bloodbath part often originates with the state government/loyalists, so if anything, it just makes the state look worse (when opinion is often against their side) at an unreasonable cost.

[Callisto]

Yeah not promoting the violence, just that the whole concept of leaders listening to the will of the people and implementing necessary change in a civil fashion is held to a lot more stringently when there's a very real fear of the people sacking their mansion with pitchforks and torches in the night. Otherwise there's not a whole lot of a carrot to dangle in front of people to keep them from taking advantage of easily-abused power outside of wanting people to think you're a p. nice guy.

[isladar]

The issue that's been raised on AJE is that leaving the square at this point would make the protesters exceedingly vulnerable, unless they move en masse. What I'm hearing is a call for more people to come Friday, but I haven't seen decent footage of what is going on right now, a lot of the media has had their shit confiscated.

[quannum]

@ellozy
#omarsuleiman described us as young people who love #Egypt, then described us as foreign agents??!!! Crazy #jan25 #mubarak

@draddee
In his interview Suleiman spent nearly 20 mins threatening Egy activists. He hit Qatar and AJE and even threw a stinging comment towards US

@mosaaberizing
Playing Omar Suleiman's (vice president) speech on loud speakers now. Laughs and mockery ensue. #Tahrir

@AzizaSami
This impending wave of conspiratorial theories &xenophobic incitement risks inciting a massacre against protestors in #Egypt

"We are now getting ready for the 'day of departure' [friday]. Mubarak has to step down before any kind of dialogue can take place.

[Edelweiss]

Mob rule is equally unappealing though. But to their credit, the revolutionaries are doing a fantastic job in refraining from descending into the darker-side of this whole ordeal.

[quannum]

not the amanpour interview, just her notes on it
http://abcnews.go.com/International/...ry?id=12833673

@NicRobertsonCNN

Senior judge in #Alexandria- former Chief Justice Lower Court--tells us #Mubarak regime panicking, has never seen such demos before #jan25

Senior judge calls yesterday's Cairo clashes "massacre" & tells us regime should face war crimes tribunal. #Egypt #jan25 #Mubarak

democracy now

"to prevent tienenman square, we must address the egyptian army's change in neutrality.

the army removed barricades, permitting pro-mubarak assault.

now raiding human rights groups and arresting foreign reporters, showing change of sides, US must prevent funding army."

[Callisto]

We should see if the two sides would agree to choose a team from their top members, then pit the two teams against each other in an episode of Wild & Crazy Kids

[isladar]

List of journalists threatened/detained/attacked:

http://abcworldnews.tumblr.com/post/...journalist-who

Spoiler: show

APTN had their satellite dish agressively dismantled, leaving them and many other journalists who rely on their feed point no way to feed material.

ABC News international correspondent Christiane Amanpour said that on Wednesday her car was surrounded by men banging on the sides and windows, and a rock was thrown through the windshield, shattering glass on the occupants. They escaped without injury

And ABC Producer and Cameraman driving were carjacked at a checkpoint and driven to a compound where they were surrounded by men who threatened to behead them. They were able to convince the men to release them without any harm.

ABC/Bloomberg’s Lara Setrakian also attacked by protesters

CNN’s Anderson Cooper said he, a producer and camera operator were set upon by people who began punching them and trying to break their camera/ (wires)

Another CNN reporter, Hala Gorani, said she was shoved against a fence when demonstrators rode in on horses and camels, and feared she was going to get trampled/ (wires)

Fox Business Channel’s Ashley Webster reported that security officials burst into a room where he and a camera operator were observing the demonstration from a balcony. They forced the camera inside the room. He called the situation “very unnerving” and said via Twitter that he was trying to lay low / (wires)

Fox News Channel foreign correspondent Greg Palkot and producer Olaf Wiig were hospitalized in Cairo after being attacked by protestors.

CBS News’ Katie Couric harassed by protesters (link)

CBS newsman Mark Strassman said he and a camera operator were attacked as they attempted to get close to the rock-throwing and take pictures. The camera operator, who he would not name, was punched repeatedly and hit in the face with Mace. / (wires)

CBS News’ Lara Logan reports she was marched back to her hotel at gunpoint when she and a crew were taking pictures of protests (link) Time Magainze reports that Lara Logan has been detained by Egyptian police. (link)

Two New York Times journalists have been arrested. (A Times spokeswoman said that the two journalists were “detained by military police overnight in Cairo and are now free.” ) (link)

Washington Post foreign editor Douglas Jehl wrote Thursday that witnesses say Leila Fadel, the paper’s Cairo bureau chief, and photographer Linda Davidson “were among two dozen journalists arrested this morning by Military Police.” Fadel and Davidson have since been released. / (link)

BBC’s Jerome Boehm also targeted by protesters / (link)

BBC also reported their correspondent Rupert Wingfield-Hayes’ car was forced off the road in Cairo “by a group of angry men.” He has detained by the men, who handed him off to secret police agents who handcuffed and blindfolded him and an unnamed colleague and took them to an interrogation room. They were released after three hours. / (link)

Reporter Jean-Francois Lepine of Canada’s CBC all-French RDI network said that he and a cameraman were surrounded by a mob that began hitting them, until they were rescued by the Egyptian army / (wires)

The Toronto Globe and Mail said on its website that one of its reporters, Sonia Verma, said the military had “commandeered us and our car” in Cairo/ (link)

Two Associated Press correspondents were also roughed up. AP’s Nasser Gamil mentioned in one article (unclear if he was one of the original 2 mentioned) / wires and (link)

Reuters’ Simon Hanna tweeted today that a “gang of thugs” stormed the news organization’s Cairo office and being smashing windows (link)

The website of Belgium’s Le Soir newspaper said Belgian reporter Serge Dumont, whose real name is Maurice Sarfatti, was beaten Wednesday / (wires)

Jon Bjorgvinsson, a correspondent for RUV, Iceland’s national broadcaster, but on assignment for Swiss television in Cairo, was attacked on Tuesday as he and a crew were filming/ (link)

Danish media reported that Danish senior Middle East Correspondent Steffen Jensen was beaten today by pro-Mubarak supporters with clubs while reporting live on the phone to Danish TV2 News from Cairo / (link)

Two Swedish reporters (from Aftonbladet tabloid) / (link)

epa photojournalist; German ZDF; German ARD / (link)

A reporter for Turkey’s Fox TV, his Egyptian cameraman and their driver were abducted by men with knives while filming protests Wednesday, but Egyptian police later rescued them, said Anatolia, a Turkish news agency / (link)

Turkey’s state broadcaster TRT, said its Egypt correspondent, Metin Turan, was beaten / (link)

One Greek print journalist was stabbed in the leg with a screwdriver / (wires)

*note: unclear if this is the same person identified in another: The injured Greek journalist, Petros Papaconstantinou, said on Kathimerini’s website that: “I was spotted by Mubarak supporters. They … beat me with batons on the head and stabbed me lightly in the leg.

A Greek freelance photographer punched in the face by a group of men who stopped him on the street near Tahrir Square and smashed some of his equipment / (wires)

In addition, five Chinese journalists were briefly detained after authorities found bullet proof vests in their luggage, along with more than 20 walkie-talkies and satellite phones, the officials said. They were allowed to leave after the equipment was confiscated. / (wires)

RT TV crew injured (link)

A correspondent and a cameraman working for Russia’s Zvezda television channel were detained by men in plainclothes and held overnight Tuesday, Anastasiya Popova of Vesti state television and radio said on air from Cairo / (link)

French international news channel France 24 said three of its journalists had been detained while covering protests in Egypt and were being held by “military intelligence services”. (link)

French photojournalist from SIPA Press agency Alfred Yaghobzadeh is being treated by anti-government protestors after being wounded during clashes between pro-government supporters and anti-government protestors / (link)

Police arrested four Israeli journalists for allegedly violating the curfew in Cairo and for entering the country on tourist visas, according to news reports. / (link)

Al Jazeera reported Thursday that two of its reporters were attacked en route to Cairo airport, along with cameraman being assaulted near Tahrir Square / (link)

al Arabiya’s Ahmed Abdullah (and station was stormed) / (link)

ALSO - Al-Arabiya correspondent, Ahmed Bajano, in Cairo, was beaten while covering a pro-Mubarak demonstration. Another unidentified correspondent was also attacked. Another network reporter said on the air that her colleague Ahmad Abdel Hadi was seized by what appeared to be pro-Mubarak supporters near Tahrir Square, forced in a car, and driven away. / (link)

Men in plainclothes surrounded the office of Sawsan Abu Hussein, deputy editor of the Egyptian magazine October after she called in to a television program to report on violence against protesters (link)

A group of men described as “plainclothes police” attacked the headquarters of the independent daily Al-Shorouk in Cairo today, the paper reported. Reporter Mohamed Khayal and photographer Magdi Ibrahim were injured/ (link)

- Compiled by ABC’s Erin McGlaughlin and Joanna Suarez