WikiLeaks' First Scalp -- Tunisia

[BeBMan]

Lol, just read Gaddafi is concerned about what happened in Tunisia.

[Dinner]

we might have just lost a destination for rendition



how ironic, they're under a dictatorship and our govt does the same thing to people here

I think, do y'all in the civilized parts of the USA need permits to sell fruits and veggies?

Huh? You do not need a permit to sell fruits and vegetables. I see people reselling stuff all the time at farmers markets as well as people selling stuff they grew in their backyards.

[Dinner]

Lol, just read Gaddafi is concerned about what happened in Tunisia.

I bet he is concerned. As in "I hope it does not also happen to me" type of concern.

[germanos]

It wont be so great for american foreign policy if these protests enable more islamic fanatics.

Wikileaks fabrications

[C0ckney]

i think this good news for Tunisans, but we'll have to wait and see what happens. at the moment it looks like a shuffling of the pack rather than a real revolution.

[KrazyHorse]

Even a shuffling of the pack is a net positive if it instills at least some additional fear in the political elite.

[MOBIUS]

Also, if Tunisia could do this, Egypt could easily follow suit. I spent a month there several years ago and was shocked at the appalling conditions that the average Egyptian has to live under. Tunisia is better off economically and has far less of the problems that blight Egypt.

This is the sort of thing I mean: Mohamed ElBaradei warns of 'Tunisia-style explosion' in Egypt

The place really is a tinderbox waiting to go off - problem is that the most powerful opposition in Egypt is the Islamists.

[Wezil]

CAIRO - Thousands of Egyptians demanded an end to President Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year rule and three people were killed in unprecedented countrywide protests on Tuesday inspired by the revolt that brought down Tunisia’s president.

“Down, down, Hosni Mubarak,” chanted protesters in Cairo, where police fired teargas and used water cannon, and protesters hurled bottles and rocks at them.

Two protesters in the city of Suez, east of Cairo, died as a result of rubber bullets, security and medical sources said. State television said one security officer died in central Cairo because of a blow to the head from a stone that was thrown.

Some protesters were beaten hard by police with sticks. Others, in a rare show of nerve against a huge national security operation, chased police down side streets. Reuters TV footage showed one policeman joining the demonstrators.

In Alexandria protesters flipped over a police vehicle and tore down a picture of Mr. Mubarak, 82, and one of his son, Gamal, who many Egyptians believe is being groomed for office when his father stands down. Both deny this.

Protesters in Cairo who responded to calls by web activists for action cried: “Gamal, tell your father Egyptians hate you.”

Analyst Nabil Abdel-Fattah said: “What is happening today is a major warning to the system. It is both an extension of pent-up frustrations and continued protests. What is also new is that there are new generations who are using new tools.”

The protest could gather momentum unless the state swiftly addressed the demand for reform, he said.

Sites such as Facebook and Twitter have been key tools for activists in galvanising protesters. Harvard University’s Herdict web monitoring service reported that Egyptians said the Twitter website was blocked on all Internet Service Providers.

Egyptians have the same complaints that drove Tunisians onto the streets: surging food prices, poverty, unemployment and authoritarian rule that smothers public protests quickly and often brutally. “Tunisia, Tunisia,” protesters shouted.

Tunisia’s new government, formed after President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali fled, has struggled to assert itself against protests that continued on Tuesday demanding a purge of former regime loyalists from the cabinet.

The United States, a close ally of Egypt and major aid donor, called for restraint from all sides to avoid violence.

“Our assessment is that the Egyptian government is stable and is looking for ways to respond to the legitimate needs and interests of the Egyptian people,” U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told reporters in Washington.

The protests in Cairo and other cities may have drawn 20,000 people or more, based on witnesses. An Interior Ministry statement said more than 10,000 gathered in one central square in Cairo alone, but did not give an overall number.

But it is hard to estimate because protests were so spread out and state media gave only cursory mention of the events.

Egyptian protests usually draw only a few hundred people. The large numbers and the fact that protests across several cities were coordinated in a way not seen before gave Tuesday’s events a force unprecedented since Mr. Mubarak took office in 1981.

With most formal opposition groups fractured and toothless, web activists led the calls for Tuesday’s demonstrations, billed as a “Day of Wrath” against poverty and repression.

By drawing demonstrators in such numbers, online activists have shown their calls for political change can reach a broad audience. Until now most of the rage has stayed on the Internet.

As night fell, police and protesters in Cairo’s central Tahrir square mingled and some shared food. Some protesters showed no sign of quitting for the night.

Messages on Twitter and Facebook read earlier: “Tahrir protesters are not going home. They need food and blankets. Roads are closed, so if you live nearby, please help.”

Others called for more protests in the days ahead.

Demonstrations took place in Ismailia and Suez, both cities east of Cairo, and in other Nile Delta cities like Mansoura and Tanta. Protesters also gathered in north Sinai.

“We are gathered here to demand our rights. We can’t live. Everything is expensive and there is unemployment. We want prices to go down. This government is the reason for our suffering,” said Ibrahim, 33, in Mahalla el Kubra, the site of 2008 riots over subsidised bread shortages and price rises.

In Ismailia, protesters chanted: “Where are you, freedom?” In Alexandria they shouted: “Revolution, revolution, like a volcano against Mubarak the coward.”

Medical and security sources said dozens were injured. A security source said 15 people were detained in Cairo. A group of lawyers said some 85 were detained across Egypt. Another source said two police officers were injured in Suez when rocks were hurled. Witnesses saw protesters dragged off by police.

The Interior Ministry said in a statement that despite the provocative approach of some demonstrators “they were allowed to organise peaceful protests”. It blamed the banned opposition Muslim Brotherhood for provoking some rioting.

The Brotherhood, seen as having Egypt’s biggest grassroots network, had not made an explicit call to join the protest in the days leading up to it. But some members joined in.

The Interior Ministry earlier said it would deal firmly with anyone breaking the law and said demonstrators could face arrest. But Interior Minister Habib al-Adli had told a state newspaper he welcomed stationary protests for short periods.

“We have orders not to clash with them (protesters),” one security officer was heard to say, speaking on a mobile phone earlier in the demonstration in Cairo before scuffles began.

Analysts had expected the authorities to show a more tolerant attitude for fear of provoking the kind of anger that drove Tunisians into weeks of unrest before the president fled.

Ben Ali sought refuge in Saudi Arabia, and some of the Cairo protesters chanted: “Oh Mubarak, Saudi Arabia awaits you.”

One Twitter entry urged police to join the “people’s side”.

“In my book, if you get a tenth of the 80,000 people or so who support the initiative online, it will be a success,” wrote Issandr El Amrani on his blog arabist.net before the protests.

Read more: http://www.nationalpost.com/news/Thr...#ixzz1C5wRv8pZ

[Hauldren Collider]

Well that's scary. The difference between Tunisia and Egypt is if Egypt holds democratic elections, it'll only ever have one, because they'll elect Hamas.

[Wezil]

There are some great pics here: http://news.nationalpost.com/photo_g...ptian-protest/

This reminds me of the fall of communism across eastern Europe.

It looks like dark days ahead for Arab dictators.

[giblets]

Wow, it looks like Wikileaks is much better at spreading democracy than the US military. and it doesn't kill nearly as many

But of course the Republicans want to kill Julian Assange

[giblets]

Well that's scary. The difference between Tunisia and Egypt is if Egypt holds democratic elections, it'll only ever have one, because they'll elect Hamas.

Not surprised that HC thinks arab peoples are a bunch of goat ****ers who can't be permitted to govern themselves

[Wezil]

Wow, it looks like Wikileaks is much better at spreading democracy than the US military. and it doesn't kill nearly as many

But of course the Republicans want to kill Julian Assange

It's not just Republicans. As I type the US admin is still standing with the government:

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged all people to "exercise restraint" and supported "the fundamental right of expression and assembly for all people."

"But our assessment is that the Egyptian government is stable and is looking for ways to respond to the legitimate needs and interests of the Egyptian people," she said.

Of course if Mubarak flees the country the revised statement will read something like "We are so proud to see the will of the Egyptian people recognised"...

[giblets]

Yeah, the Democrats are Republican lite

[Dinner]

There are some great pics here: http://news.nationalpost.com/photo_g...ptian-protest/

This reminds me of the fall of communism across eastern Europe.

It looks like dark days ahead for Arab dictators.

Nah. They'll just do what Iran did and wear the opposition down with arrests and repression. It's the middle eastern way.