BREAKING: Military Takeover. Mubarak is GONE!

Posted: February 11, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Breaking News, Egypt | Tags: , , | 75 Comments

I just heard Suleiman read the statement.

Mubarak is gone. Military is taking over.

SHOCKWAVES THROUGHOUT THE REGION.

They said the kids couldn’t do it!

The people who died did not die in vain.

It’s been a long 18 days. From the Tahrir demonstrations at the end of January:

BREAKING: Mubarak has left Cairo

Posted: February 11, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Breaking News, Egypt | Tags: , | 43 Comments

Alexandria, Friday prayers. Click image to go to Al Jazeera Live Blog on Egypt.

[UPDATE on report below: Now confirmed by Al Jazeera sources — Mubarak has left Cairo for Sharm el-Sheikh.]

I’m seeing this unconfirmed report that Mubarak has left Cairo for Sharm el-Sheikh residence… AJE analyst saying Al Arabiya reported this and retracted it earlier (??) Not quite sure.

Ok, from the link:

Al Arabiya had initially reported Mubarak and his family had left Egypt.

So apparently they first reported that Mubarak had left Egypt, but then switched it to Cairo. Not sure if that is what the guy on AJE meant by retraction or not.

From the Al Jazeera Live Blog:

3:19pm Mubarak reported to have left Cairo with his family, the AFP news agency reports, citing a source close to the government. But it said his destination was not immediately clear.

3:31pm Senior ruling party official tells Al-arabiya station that Mubarak has delegated his authorities to the vice president last night, and he is now in-charge.

Mohamed Abdelllah, senior member of ruling party, also said that he had information that Mubarak was heading to Sharm el-Sheikh.

Denmark PM says Mubarak is toast and calls for his resignation:

3:48pm The prime minister of Denmark, Lars Rasmussen, has become the first European Union leader to call for Mubarak’s resignation… saying he is, quote, “history”.

Bostonboomer just caught this on twitter — there may be an “Urgent Statement” coming soon. The information comes from CNN Radio reporter Lisa Desjardins:

NEW #EGYPT STATEMENT COMING?: Banner on State TV just now read “urgent statement from office of the president shortly”.

This is a semi-live blog/developing thread. For more, see the Al Jazeera English LIVE feed (or AJE Live on youtube):

Vodpod videos no longer available.

Breaking: Major Shouman tells Reuters “The armed forces’ solidarity movement with the people has begun”

Posted: February 11, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Breaking News, Egypt | Tags: , , | 26 Comments

Scroll past image for the actual post.

This is a PHOTO UPDATE; 12:20 pm in Cairo:

Click image to go to Al Jazeera Live Blog on Egypt

 

An Egyptian anti-government demonstrator holds a sign that reads in Arabic and English 'Hitler commited suicide, you can do it' at Cairo's Tahrir square on February 10, 2011 on the 17th day of consecutive protests calling for the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak. (PATRICK BAZ/AFP/Getty Images)

Last week it was “Departure Friday.” The protesters have dubbed today’s demonstrations “Farewell Friday.” At around 2 am my time (10 am in Cairo), an Al Jazeera English reporter observed that Liberation Square has become unusually full already for morning time. She said that it’s usually around or after prayers that the crowds got to these numbers before. Egyptian military leaders have met and are supposed to be issuing a statement (“Communique 2”), but one of the Al Jazeera commentators I was just listening to a short while ago characterized this development as a sham. Here is some of the latest from the AJ Live Blog:

9:51am An army officer joining protests in Cairo’s Tahrir Square says 15 other middle-ranking officers have also gone over to the demonstrators.

“The armed forces’ solidarity movement with the people has begun,” Major Ahmed Ali Shouman tells Reuters.

I’m trying to get more insight on what exactly that means. I’m not hearing anything about it on the AJE feed.

Here’s the Reuters article.

UPDATES

(in reverse chronological order, so latest is first)

4 am/noon Cairo: Midday prayers are under way. AJE also saying protesters are calling this “the Final Friday.” We’ll see about that. I have to say that from what I can make out, this is panning out according to prediction of the AJE commentator who said that the military meeting and issuing a statement would be a sham (his exact words were that it sounded like a “fake” to him). Dakinikat’s morning thread will be up at the top of the next hour. If there’s anything major that happens between now and then, I’ll add an update here… otherwise check the comments!

3:47 CST/11:47 Cairo: Military statement (Communique 2) is being read. Emergency law will end, but only once the current circumstances end. Free and fair elections, but no real specifics. Peaceful transition of power, restoring “normal life” and going back to work, etc. “Honest men who say no to corruption will not be prosecuted.” This is no military coup. AJE anchor characterized it as a “placatory statement” that amounts to “sitting on the fence.” Another AJE journalist is calling it the first signs of the army positioning itself, but it’s a “timid” positioning.

3:40 CST/11:40 am Cairo: Friday prayers are in about 20 minutes. Shouman said the other officers will address the protesters after midday prayers, and we’re also waiting on that statement from the military, so in the meantime, I’m going to quote a bit from that Reuters article above:

“The armed forces’ solidarity movement with the people has begun,” Major Ahmed Ali Shouman told Reuters by telephone just after dawn prayers.

On Thursday evening Shouman told crowds in Tahrir that he had handed in his weapon and joined their protests demanding an immediate end to President Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year rule.

“Some 15 officers … have joined the people’s revolution,” he said, listing their ranks ranging from captain to lieutenant colonel. “Our goals and the people’s are one.”

More:

Another army major walked up to Shouman while he was talking with a Reuters reporter in Tahrir on Thursday and introduced himself, saying: “I have also joined the cause.”

“What drove these officers and I to join the people’s revolution is the pledge of allegiance we all took upon joining the armed forces — to protect the nation,” Shouman said when asked whether officers were risking court-martial.

Protesters carried Shouman on their shoulders, chanting “The people and army are united”, after he spoke to them on stage.

This is a semi-live blog/developing thread. For more, see the Al Jazeera English LIVE feed (or AJE Live on youtube):

Vodpod videos no longer available.

Breaking News: Mubarak likely to step Down

Posted: February 10, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Breaking News, Egypt, Foreign Affairs | Tags: , | 94 Comments

There are reports coming from all news sources that Mubarak is “likely to cede power” sometime tonight.

President Hosni Mubarak will meet the demands of protesters, military and ruling party officials, the Associated Press reported Thursday, in the strongest indication yet that Egypt’s longtime president may be about to give up power.

The military’s supreme council was meeting Thursday, without Mubarak, its commander in chief, and announced on state TV its “support of the legitimate demands of the people,” AP said.

CIA director Leon Panetta, testifying on Capitol Hill Thursday, told the House Intelligence Committee”there is a strong likelihood that Mubarak will step down this evening.”

Most reports indicate that he will turn power over to new VP Omar Suleiman and the Egyptian military.

There is a strong likelihood that embattled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak will step down Thursday night, CIA Director Leon Panetta told the U.S. Congress.

Mubarak has agreed to yield power to his vice president, a senior U.S. official told CNN, citing contacts within the Egyptian government.

This official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information, said that given the mixed signals sent throughout the crisis that “we need to see it happen.”

But the source said the information came from reliable and ranking officials in the Mubarak regime. Asked when the transfer of power might take place, the official said: “We are told soon is the plan.”

The secretary-general of Egypt’s ruling party confirmed Thursday that a transition was underway and he expected Mubarak to address the nation soon.

This happened as a general strike by all levels of Egyptians began. There’s some indication that protests may not end

Thursday’s sudden developments came as thousands of Egyptians again took to the streets of Cairo and other Egyptian towns and cities, calling for President Mubarak to step down.

Doctors, bus drivers, lawyers and textile workers were on strike in Cairo on Thursday, with unions reporting walkouts and protests across the country.

The BBC’s Jon Leyne, in Cairo’s Tahrir (Liberation) Square, the focal point of the anti-Mubarak protests, reports that the protesters there are starting to celebrate after hearing news of Mr Mubarak’s possible departure.

But Egyptian Information Minister Anas el-Fekky told Reuters news agency: “The president is still in power and he is not stepping down. The president is not stepping down and everything you heard in the media is a rumour.”

Wael Ghonim Speaks

Posted: February 7, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Breaking News, Egypt | Tags: , , | 41 Comments

Al Jazeera English clip of what as far as I can tell are Wael Ghonim’s first public comments after being released today, made at his home:

Wael also gave an interview that is making waves across Egypt.

The Guardian — “Facebook campaigner Wael Ghonim strikes a chord on Egyptian television“:

Google executive’s emotional interview after his release hailed as a landmark moment in Egypt revolt

Egyptian Wael Ghonim, talks at his home in Cairo, Egypt, on Monday. Wael Ghonim at his home in Cairo on Monday. Photograph: Ahmed Ali/AP

An emotional television interview given by a young Egyptian Google executive who was arrested after playing a key role in using the internet to spark the uprising against Hosni Mubarak is being hailed as a landmark moment in the ongoing revolt after it struck a chord across Egypt and beyond.

Wael Ghonim, a marketing manager who became a hero to anti-government protestors after he went missing on 27 January, confirmed in the interview following his release that he was behind a highly influential Facebook page that helped lead to what he described as “the revolution of the youth of the internet.”

Before his appearance on Monday on a privately owned Egyptian television channel, the father-of-two was held in repute by many who believed that he was the anonymous activist behind a Facebook page named after a young Egyptian businessman whose death at the hands of police in June set off months of protests.

The page, “We are all Khaled Said“, became one of the main tools for organising the demonstrations that started the revolt in earnest on 25 January.

However, Ghonim’s stature across the country now appears destined to rise dramatically if the post-interview reaction on the internet is anything to go by. Calls are being made for him to stand as president. Others predicted that his performance, which was being acclaimed as a tour de force of calm but explosive political passion, would inevitably boost the numbers of those attending the latest mass demonstration in Cairo’s Tahrir square and elsewhere this morning.

“I am not a hero. I only used the keyboard, the real heroes are the ones on the ground. Those I can’t name,” said Ghonim, who sobbed throughout the interview, which ended with him being overcome with emotion as he was shown images of some of those who died in the uprising.

This appears to be the scene at the end where Ghonim becomes overwhelmed and leaves the studio upon being shown images of people who died in the protests:

Translation of Ghonim’s words in the above clip, as provided by a comment left on the youtube:

“I’m so sorry, but I swear by God, we are not to blame. It’s the fault of those in power, who refuse to step down. I want to go.”

I see a longer clip from the interview and even a translated transcript of the full interview, but I caught this retweeted on Mona Eltahawy‘s twitter:

@RamyYaacoub is going to subtitle the Ghonim interview tonight (EST).

RamyYaacoub says the video will be coming up shortly, so I’ll add that when it becomes available.

Also Mona tweeted this about 4 hours ago, and it’s being retweeted a lot:

#Egypt revolution isn’t 1 person but mass uprising. Needs a face or else #Mubarak‘s war of attrition will wearit down. Make @Ghonim face NOW

This is an open thread to discuss the protests in Egypt and other developments in the Middle East.

UPDATES

RamyYaacoub had video editor issues, so he’s just posted his transcript here with timestamps. Also, Alive in Egypt has overlaid captions on the youtubes: Part I | Part 2 | Part 3 | Last Part

And, a memorial page: 1000memories.com — Egypt Remembers.

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