Chaos engulfs Cairo; Mubarak points to succession

[Akoto]

Source: Associated Press

CAIRO (AP) -- Egyptians woke up to a dawn of uncertainty Sunday with several key buildings still smoldering in the capital and thousands of anti-regime protesters remaining camped out at the city's main square in defiance of an extended nighttime curfew.

President Hosni Mubarak, clinging to power with promises of reform and a new government, had named his intelligence chief as his first-ever vice president on Saturday, setting the stage for a successor as chaos engulfed Cairo. Soldiers stood by - a few even joining the demonstrators - and the death toll from five days of anti-government fury rose sharply to 74.

Overnight and as police melted away, residents set up self-styled checkpoints and barricades at street corners and intersections of their neighborhoods, armed mostly with clubs and sticks to protect their homes. By dawn, the city was eerily quiet, with armored military vehicles encircling main government buildings in the downtown.

-snip-

"This is all nonsense. They will not fool us anymore. We want the head of the snake," he said in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria. "If he is appointed by Mubarak, then he is just one more member of the gang. We are not speaking about a branch in a tree, we are talking about the roots."

Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/ML_EGYPT_PROTEST?SITE=ORBAK&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

---

It's the start of the work week in Egypt, but as the article notes, many facilities will remain closed. Seems the situation will continue.

[gateley]

1. Thank you for the update. Our hearts are with those people. Such bravery and

heroism. :hug:

[Skittles]

7. agreed

[underpants]

2. (taps watch)

time to go Mubarak

[go west young man]

3. Incredible raw footage from yesterday. Some graphic.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=aaf_1296315210

[PoliticAverse]

4. Wow n/t

[fascisthunter]

17. WOW

[DeSwiss]

5. "....we are talking about the roots."

- Yes, we are indeed.

K&R

[sharesunited]

6. It's all fubar for mubar.

[Cirque du So-What]

8. Egypt in crisis, Mubarak meets commanders

Source: Reuters

Reuters
Cairo, January 30, 2011

President Hosni Mubarak, clinging to power despite unprecedented demands for an end to his 30-year rule, met on Sunday with the powerful military which is widely seen as holding the key to Egypt's future. Mubarak held talks with vice president Omar Suleiman, whose appointment on Saturday has possibly set the scene for a transition in power, defence minister Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, chief of staff Sami al-Anan and other senior commanders.

<snip>

"This is the Arab world's Berlin moment," said Fawaz Gerges of the London School of Economics, comparing the events to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. "The authoritarian wall has fallen, and that's regardless of whether Mubarak survives."

Read more: http://www.hindustantimes.com/Egypt-in-crisis-Mubarak-meets-commanders/Article1-656488.aspx

---

I hope Mubarak's meeting with military leaders is for a transition in power and not the start of bloodshed in earnest.

[pampango]

9. To fire or not to fire. That will be the question the military has to answer. n/t

[jody]

12. Egyptian citizens are denied their right to keep & bear arms for defense of self and state, a right

government is obligated to protect in these United States.

[Name removed]

13. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[jody]

14. Why ask in your subject? Don't you know that Egyptian law-abiding citizens are armed with knives?

Do you support that totalitarian power or do you support law-abiding citizens exercising their rights as PA (1776) and VT (1777) acknowledged "That all men are born equally free and independent, and have certain natural, inherent and inalienable/unalienable rights, amongst which are, the enjoying and defending life and liberty, acquiring, possessing and protecting property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety."

[Nihil]

19. Is there no subject that can't be polluted by NRA talking-points?

Clue: The second amendment has absolutely fucking nothing to do with Egypt.
:eyes:

[Ghost Dog]

10. Egypt protests: Anti-Mubarak protesters take over Cairo (BBC Latest)

Source: BBC

Protesters have taken over the centre of the Egyptian capital Cairo on the sixth day of demonstrations against the rule of President Hosni Mubarak.

...

There is a heavy military presence in the city, but soldiers are not intervening.

Meanwhile, al-Jazeera's broadcasts via an Egyptian satellite have been halted.

The Egyptian government had earlier ordered the Arabic TV channel, which has been showing blanket coverage of the protests, to shut down its operations in the country.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12318092

---

BBC's liveblog: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/9381309.stm
al-Jazeera English liveblog: http://blogs.aljazeera.net/middle-east/2011/01/29/live-blog-301-egypt-protests
Reuters liveblog: http://live.reuters.com/uk/Event/Unrest_in_Egypt
Guardian liveblog: http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/blog/2011/jan/30/egypt-protests-live-updates

Latest DU minute-by-minute thread (Catherina): http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x305867

Edit to add: al-J English has people on the ground able to report live from inside Tahrir Square, and is showing live webcam-type images (with sound) of the Square, plus commentary: http://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now/ - So, off-satellite, maybe; not off the net.

:thumbsup:

[xchrom]

11. Get. Out. Mubarak. Nt

[Judi Lynn]

15. Civilians watch over neighborhoods in Egypt chaos

Source: Associated Press

Jan 30, 11:09 AM EST
Civilians watch over neighborhoods in Egypt chaos
By MARJORIE OLSTER
Associated Press

CAIRO (AP) -- When Egypt's police melted from the streets of Cairo this weekend, the people stepped in.

Civilians armed with knives, axes, golf clubs, firebombs, metal bars and makeshift spears watched over many neighborhoods in the sprawling capital of 18 million this weekend, defending their families and homes against widespread looting and lawlessness.

The thugs had exploited the chaos created by the largest anti-government protests in decades and the military failed to fill the vacuum left by police.

On Saturday, the army sent out an appeal for citizens to help.

"The military encourages neighborhood youth to defend their property and their honor," it said in a statement.



Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/ML_EGYPT_NEIGHBORHOOD_WATCH?SECTION=HOME&SITE=AP&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[Judi Lynn]

16. Egyptians form makeshift militias to stop looters

Egyptians form makeshift militias to stop looters
As police disappear from residential streets, communities take law into their own hands against armed gangs
Jack Shenker in Cairo guardian.co.uk, Sunday 30 January 2011 15.48 GMT

The security of most neighbourhoods in Egypt lay in the hands of its citizens last night, as residents responded to the disappearance of the police force by setting up makeshift barricades and beginning local patrols to protect themselves from violence.

In extraordinary scenes repeated across the country, communities formed spontaneous militias armed with sticks, knives and guns, and worked through the night to man roadblocks and maintain order on the streets, from which the government security forces are now almost entirely absent. The army remains in place on major highways, squares and public buildings - but away from main roads local residents were left to defend their families and property from looters.

As reports filtered in of gangs attempting to rob and terrorise neighbourhoods in different quarters of the capital, some pointed the finger at escaped prisoners and opportunistic criminals, though many more claimed that groups of policemen, now wearing civilian clothing, were behind the attacks. There were claims that some of those captured by vigilantes were found with police IDs.

In the Marouf neighbourhood of downtown Cairo, the Guardian witnessed residents distributing metal rods and kitchen blades among local young men, who used car tyres, traffic barriers and debris from the day's street battles to block access to roads and check the identity of anyone attempting to enter the area.

More:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/30/egyptians-makeshift-militias-looters

[malletgirl02]

18. So in other words

The army said "you are on your own, sorry"