EGYPT NOW

Live BBC Egypt feed

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12307698

Love Always
mudra

It would have been better for his country if Mubarak has stepped down. It is clear he is Service-to-Self oriented. His 70 billion is obscene and that money could have been better spent on creating decent infrastructure for his people. He is worse then the pharos of ancient Egypt.

Heck, with 70 billion one could recreate/transform the entire health care system, create decent housing, provide education and free transportation for everyone.

Al Jazeera


Hosni Mubarak resigns as president

Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president, has resigned from his post, handing over power to the armed forces.

Omar Suleiman, the vice-president, announced in a televised address that the president was "waiving" his office, and had handed over authority to the Supreme Council of the armed forces.

Suleiman's short statement was received with a roar of approval and by celebratory chanting and flag-waving from a crowd of hundreds of thousands in Cairo's Tahrir Square, as well by pro-democracy campaigners who attended protests across the country on Friday.

The crowd in Tahrir chanted "We have brought down the regime", while many were seen crying, cheering and embracing one another.

Mohamed ElBaradei, an opposition leader, hailed the moment as being the "greatest day of my life", in comments to the Associated Press news agency.

"The country has been liberated after decades of repression,'' he said.

"Tonight, after all of these weeks of frustration, of violence, of intimidation ... today the people of Egypt undoubtedly [feel they] have been heard, not only by the president, but by people all around the world," our correspondent at Tahrir Square reported, following the announcement.

"The sense of euphoria is simply indescribable," our correspondent at Mubarak's Heliopolis presidential palace, where at least ten thousand pro-democracy activists had gathered, said.

Pro-democracy activists in the Egyptian capital had marched on the presidential palace and state television buildings on Friday, the 18th consecutive day of protests.

Anger at state television

At the state television building earlier in the day, thousands had blocked people from entering or leaving, accusing the broadcaster of supporting the current government and of not truthfully reporting on the protests.

"The military has stood aside and people are flooding through [a gap where barbed wire has been moved aside]," Al Jazeera's correspondent at the state television building reported.

He said that "a lot of anger [was] generated" after Mubarak's speech last night, where he repeated his vow to complete his term as president.

'Gaining momentum'

Outside the palace in Heliopolis, where at least ten thousand protesters had gathered in Cairo, another Al Jazeera correspondent reported that there was a strong military presence, but that there was "no indication that the military want[ed] to crack down on protesters".


Click here for more of Al Jazeera's special coverage

She said that army officers had engaged in dialogue with protesters, and that remarks had been largely "friendly".

Tanks and military personnel had been deployed to bolster barricades around the palace.

Our correspondent said the crowd in Heliopolis was "gaining momentum by the moment", and that the crowd had gone into a frenzy when two helicopters were seen in the air around the palace grounds.

"By all accounts this is a highly civilised gathering. people are separated from the palace by merely a barbed wire ... but nobody has even attempted to cross that wire," she said.

As crowds grew outside the palace, Mubarak left Cairo on Friday for the Red Sea resort of Sharm al-Shaikh, according to sources who spoke to Al Jazeera.

In Tahrir Square, hundreds of thousands of protesters gathered, chanting slogans against Mubarak and calling for the military to join them in their demands.

Our correspondent at the square said the "masses" of pro-democracy campaigners there appeared to have "clear resolution" and "bigger resolve" to achieve their goals than ever before.

However, he also said that protesters were "confused by mixed messages" coming from the army, which has at times told them that their demands will be met, yet in communiques and other statements supported Mubarak's staying in power until at least September.

GO to NEWS in http://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now/

Mubarak and family leave Cairo for Sharm: party official
CAIRO (Reuters) – Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and his family have left Cairo for the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, proving he is giving up his presidential powers, a ruling party official said on Friday.

Protesters seeking Mubarak's overthrow moved overnight to the Ittihadiya presidential palace in the Cairo suburb of Heliopolis for the first time since demonstrations began on January 25.

"President Mubarak has begun carrying out the transfer of his authorities to his deputy Omar Suleiman by heading to Sharm el-Sheikh," Mohammed Abdillah, head of media with the National Democratic Party, told Reuters. "President Mubarak is intent on carrying out his vows to himself."

Al Arabiya television station reported that it had confirmed the arrival of the president, who said on Thursday he was handing powers to Vice President Suleiman, and his family in the tourist town.

In Cairo, protesters gathered up against a barbed wire cordon around the presidential palace, about 50 meters (yards) from the palace walls at its closest point. Tanks and soldiers of the elite Republican Guard, responsible for the president's security, surrounded the palace, a Reuters witness said.

"The Republican Guard are protecting the presidential palaces," an armed forces source told Reuters.
Al Arabiya had initially reported Mubarak and his family had left Egypt.

read more at http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110211/wl_nm/us_egypt_mubarak_departure_3

WASHINGTON – Caught up in stunning news like the rest of the world, President Barack Obama was in an Oval Office meeting Friday when he learned of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's resignation. He watched the celebration on television and prepared to make an afternoon statement.
"It is a historic day for the people of Egypt," declared Vice President Joe Biden during an appearance in Kentucky.
The development came just one day after Mubarak had declared that he was not resigning, despite all signs to the contrary, which enraged the protesting masses and had a dismayed White House scrambling to respond. Obama had issued a statement Thursday evening in Washington in which he challenged Mubarak, without directly naming him, to explain his actions and his plans for democracy.
And then events changed again.
Obama quickly made plans to speak about Egypt at 1:30 p.m. EST from the White House as throngs of activists rejoiced in Cairo.
U.S. lawmakers welcomed Mubarak's resignation.
"I am pleased that President Mubarak has heard and heeded the voice of the Egyptian people, who have called for change," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada. "It is crucial that Mubarak's departure be an orderly one and that it leads to true democracy for Egypt, including free, fair and open elections.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110211/ap_on_re_us/us_us_egypt


Switzerland has frozen the funds of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and 20 other officials, the Muslim Brotherhood said on its website on Friday.

"Switzerland wants to avoid our financial centre being used to hide funds illegally taken from the populations concerned," Swiss foreign minister Micheline Calmy-Rey had said, announcing the decision.

Read more: http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/111529/20110211/egypt-switzerland-funds-mubarak-freeze-frozen-ben-ali-tunisia.htm#ixzz1DgU5W0iT

Mubarakism Without Mubarak
Why Egypt’s Military Will Not Embrace Democracy

Ellis Goldberg
February 11, 2011

http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/67416/ellis-goldberg/mubarakism-without-mubarak?page=show

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak gave into the demands of the protesters today, leaving Cairo and stepping down from power. That came hours after a speech, broadcast live across the world yesterday, in which he refused to do so. Earlier that day, the Supreme Military Council released a statement -- labeled its "first" communiqué -- that stated that the military would ensure a peaceful transition of Mubarak out of office. In practice, it appears that power has passed into the hands of the armed forces. This act was the latest in the military's creep from applauded bystander to steering force in this month's protests in Egypt. Since the protest movement first took shape on January 25, the military has, with infinite patience, extended and deepened its physical control of the area around Tahrir Square (the focal point of the protests) with concrete barriers, large steel plates, and rolls of razor wire. In itself, the military's growing footprint was the next act in a slow-motion coup -- a return of the army from indirect to direct control -- the groundwork for which was laid in 1952.

The West may be worried that the crisis will bring democracy too quickly to Egypt and empower the Muslim Brotherhood. But the real concern is that the regime will only shed its corrupt civilians, leaving its military component as the only player left standing. Indeed, when General Omar Suleiman, the recently appointed vice president to whom Mubarak entrusted presidential powers last night, threatened on February 9 that the Egyptian people must choose between either the current regime or a military coup, he only increased the sense that the country was being held hostage.

The Egyptian political system under Mubarak is the direct descendant of the republic established in the wake of the 1952 military coup that brought Gamal Abdel Nasser and the Free Officers to power. Nasser and the officers abolished Egypt's limited parliamentary monarchy and ousted an entire generation of civilian political and judicial figures from public life. They created their own republic stocked with loyal military figures. Their one experiment with technocratic governance, allowing Egyptian legal experts to write a new basic document, was a failure. The experts' draft had provisions for a strong parliament and limited presidency, which the officers deemed too liberal. They literally threw it into the wastebasket and started over, writing a constitution that placed immense power in the hands of the president.

Such an arrangement would prove to work out well for the military, as every Egyptian president since 1953 has been an army officer. For two generations, the military was able, through the president, to funnel most of the country's resources toward national security, arming for a series of ultimately disastrous wars with Israel. These defeats, combined with the government's neglect of the economy, nearly drove the country to bankruptcy. Popular revolt erupted between 1975 and 1977 over the government's economic policies. To regain control, the military turned its attention away from war and toward development. It gradually withdrew from direct control over politics, ceding power to domestic security forces and the other powerful backer of Egypt's ruling party -- small groups of civilian businessmen who benefited from their privileged access to government sales and purchases to expand their own fortunes.

The army presents itself as a force of order and a neutral arbiter between contending opponents, but it has significant interests of its own to defend, and it is not, in fact, neutral.
In the 1990s, Mubarak waged a domestic war against Islamists, and the role of the military evolved further. As the government became dependent on an expanded domestic police force, the army was reduced in size and importance. Over time, the police and the Ministry of the Interior supplanted the armed forces and Ministry of Defense as the keystone of the regime. Meanwhile, the factions of the business elite that fed on the state, such as the now disgraced steel magnate and former ruling party leader Ahmed Ezz, grew more powerful. Mubarak gave them privileged access to the ruling National Democratic Party, which they convinced to open the Egyptian economy to world trade -- enriching them even further.

The officer corps was appeased to some degree, however, by its own economic good fortune. Throughout the 1990s, the army expanded its involvement in the economy. By this decade, industries owned by the military were estimated to control 5 to 20 percent of the entire Egyptian economy; likewise, army officers receive a variety of benefits, such as special preference in access to goods and services.

Today, the army presents itself as a force of order and a neutral arbiter between contending opponents, but it has significant interests of its own to defend, and it is not, in fact, neutral. The basic structure of the Egyptian state as it now exists has benefited the military. The practical demands of the protesters seem fairly simple: end the state of emergency, hold new elections, and grant the freedom to form parties without state interference. But these demands would amount to opening up the political space to everyone across Egypt's social and political structure. That would involve constitutional and statutory changes, such as reforming Egypt as a parliamentary rather than a presidential system, in which a freely elected majority selects the prime minister (who is now appointed by the president). These changes would wipe away the power structure the army created in 1952 and has backed since.

A freely elected parliament and a reconstituted government would weaken the role of the presidency, a position the military is likely to try to keep in its portfolio. Moreover, open elections could hand the new business elites power in parliament, where they could work to limit the role of the army in the economy. This would put the army's vast economic holdings -- from the ubiquitous propane cylinders that provide all Egyptian homes with cooking gas to clothing, food, and hotels -- in jeopardy. Moreover, the army has always preferred that the country be orderly and hierarchical. It is uncomfortable with the growing participatory festival on the streets, and even if the officers were to tolerate more contestation than their grandfathers did in the 1950s, they would likely try to limit participation in politics to those whose lives have been spent in the military by retaining the system of presidential appointment for government ministers.

Indeed, instead of pursuing institutional change, leading military figures will likely try to satisfy the public with symbolic gestures. They would surely investigate the most corrupt businessmen and their ministerial associates for the misuse of public funds and public property. At the same time, there will likely be an investigation of the former minister of interior for deliberately murdering demonstrators during the crisis.

If the military takes further control, two of the players currently on the scene will be crucial. First, Suleiman, who has strong ties to the military, is at the center of every negotiation among the opposition factions and is almost constantly on television. Unsurprisingly, he has made it clear that he has no intention of reforming the presidential system. Playing for time, he has consistently insisted that even negotiations should be strictly limited to changing the three articles of the constitution that deal with elections.

Second, although Egypt's defense minister, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, has been much less visible, he is no less important. He is behind the army's announcement that it would not, unlike the hated security police, fire on Egyptians. In fact, the army fired on neither the demonstrators nor on the thugs who attacked them, and even went so far as to announce that the protesters had legitimate demands. I have heard accounts of the army arresting some protesters and members of human rights groups. Some of those who have been arrested and released report that a faction of army officers remain sympathetic to Mubarak's appeals that he has a mission to carry out. Still, under Tantawi, the army will likely try to at least appear neutral while negotiating with the rest of the opposition to manage a transition, even as Suleiman works to ensure that reform is limited.

The Mubarak regime as it has existed for the last decade -- an increasingly corrupt and incompetent government that has conferred immense economic advantages on a handful of politically connected businessmen -- has been shattered. A more open political system and a responsive government that ensures its own safety by trimming back the power and privileges of the military could still emerge. And the army may step in as a transitional power and recognize that, as much as it might like to, it cannot return to complete control. The Egyptian military is far more professional and educated than it was in the 1950s, so many officers may recognize the benefits of a democracy. More likely, however, is the culmination of the slow-motion coup and the return of the somewhat austere military authoritarianism of decades past.


Love Always
mudra

most probable...and current reality...

Analysis: Military coup was behind Mubarak's exit

Feb 11, 6:13 PM (ET)

By HAMZA HENDAWI

CAIRO (AP) - It was the people who forced President Hosni Mubarak from power, but it is the generals who are in charge now. Egypt's 18-day uprising produced a military coup that crept into being over many days - its seeds planted early in the crisis by Mubarak himself.

The telltale signs of a coup in the making began to surface soon after Mubarak ordered the army out on the streets to restore order after days of deadly clashes between protesters and security forces in Cairo and much of the rest of the Arab nation.

"This is in fact the military taking over power," said political analyst Diaa Rashwan after Mubarak stepped down and left the reins of power to the armed forces. "It is direct involvement by the military in authority and to make Mubarak look like he has given up power."

Army troops backed by tanks and armored fighting vehicles were given a hero's welcome by the protesters angry over brutal treatment by the police. The goodwill was reciprocated when the military vowed not to use force against protesters, a move that set them apart from the much-hated police who operated with near impunity under Mubarak.

The generals adopted a go-slow approach, offering Egyptians carefully weighed hints that it was calling the shots. They issued statements describing the protesters' demands as "legitimate" and made halfhearted calls on the demonstrators to go home and allow normal life to resume.

Rather than quit the protests, the demonstrators turned out in ever greater numbers. Mubarak offered one concession after another, but they all fell short of the protesters' demands that he immediately leave.

The military was clearly torn between its loyalty to the regime and the millions of protesters. Mubarak is one of their own, a former air force commander and a hero of the 1973 Arab-Israeli war.

But as the president continued to defy the growing crowds and cling to power, the Egyptian army moved more definitively toward seizing control for the first time in some 60 years.

Thursday brought the surprise announcement that the armed forces' highest executive body, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, was in "permanent session" - meaning that it was on a war footing.

State TV showed Defense Minister Hussein Tantawi presiding over a table seating some two dozen stern faced generals in combat fatigues - but no sign of commander in chief Mubarak. His newly appointed vice president, former army general and intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, was not there either - indicating a rift between the civilian and military leadership.

A statement, tellingly referred to as "communique number 1" - phrasing that in the Arab world suggests a coup - made no mention of Mubarak or Suleiman.

The council, it said, met to "discuss what measures and arrangements could be taken to safeguard the homeland and its achievements and the aspirations of the great Egyptian people."

Translation: The generals are in charge, not Mubarak, not Suleiman nor the Cabinet.

The communique set the stage for what the crowds of demonstrators expected would be Mubarak's resignation Thursday night. Instead, Mubarak announced he would stay in office and hand over power to Suleiman, who told protesters to go home and stop watching foreign news reports.

The protesters were furious - and so were the generals.

"Both of last night's addresses by Mubarak and Suleiman were in defiance of the armed forces," Maj. Gen. Safwat el-Zayat, a former senior official of Egypt's General Intelligence, told al-Ahram Online, the Internet edition of Egypt's leading daily, on Friday.

Protest leaders pleaded for the military to take over after Mubarak's speech, saying the country would explode until the army intervened.

If Mubarak had stepped down, handing Suleiman his presidential powers in line with the constitution would have kept his regime largely intact after he had gone, something that would have left the protesters unhappy.

In contrast, a military coup would provide a clean break with a regime they hated for so long, opening up a wide range of possibilities - suspending the constitution that many protesters saw as tailored to keep Mubarak in office and dissolving a parliament formed by an election marred by widespread fraud. A coup seemed to be the best way forward.

The first official word the protesters received from the generals on Friday, however, was discouraging.

A second military communique contained what appeared to be a reluctant endorsement of Mubarak's blueprint for a way out of the crisis, though it also projected the military as the ultimate guarantor of the country's highest interests. El-Zayat said the language in the statement was an attempt to avoid an open conflict.

Later Friday, with millions out on the streets demanding that he step down, Mubarak finally did just that. He may have been denied the chance to announce his own departure - say goodbye to the people he had ruled for nearly 30 years. Suleiman announced the decision for him.

Alternatively, he may have not wanted to go on television to say he was stepping down after less than 24 hours after insisting to serve out the remaining seven months of his current term.

It was a humiliating end.

Keeping up appearances, The military later issued a third military statement praising Mubarak as a leader who has done much to his country. It hinted that the military would not be in power for long, saying the armed forces were not a substitute for a legitimate administration. But it gave no clue as to what its plans are.

"The truth is that even the senior military now at the top of the power structure under Mubarak almost certainly have no clear idea of what happens next," Anthony Cordesman of the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, wrote in a commentary on Thursday. "It will be days before anyone know how well the transition will function, who goes and who stays, and how stable the result really is."

---

Source:
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20110211/D9LAS3U00.html

Hendawi is the AP chief of bureau in Cairo.

interesting take... "There's Been NO REVOLUTION So Far"...
from Davisd Icke via rense...
http://www.rense.com/general92/icke.htm

Indeed - Mr. Icke makes very valid points. The People have much further to go to be sure but the thing is - At least We've started to move now.



In this - We must make sure that Tyrants, Dictators and Puppets no longer have Our Ear. When that is the case - Egypt - And the rest of the World in that example will move forward...



The Controllers are nervously looking at each other and We must take Our opportunity while It presents Itself...

We said - "Just give Us a chance" - And no matter where that Chance comes from It is Chance to move out from under the Heels of the Controllers.

A Chance is a Chance nonetheless and debating It's providence does nothing but allow that Chance to expire while We spin Our Wheels...

Now that Spinning of Wheels is desired If Its in the Spirit of forward movement for Us as a Species - But to do as We have - Spin in place that is - Does nothing but spoil the Chance We were asking for...

Careful of course - But onwards - Yes onwards, We go...

David Icke
Mercuriel
Spot on, in my opinion.

As I've said from the beginning, this is an attempt by the US government to regain a foothold in Egypt, and that it is part of a larger plan involving Israel.
However, this is a move made in desperation. 'They' are in dangerous territory with this one...awakening the people of Egypt.

I have a very good feeling about this...

Egypt's military dissolves parliament, suspends constitution
Cairo, Egypt (CNN) -- Egypt's military dissolved parliament and will run the country for six months or until elections are held, it said in a statement Sunday, two days after President Hosni Mubarak resigned.

Egypt looks toward uncertain future
updated Sun February 13, 2011
For the first time in nearly three decades, Hosni Mubarak was no longer president when dawn broke in Egypt on Saturday.

Egypt's revolution just the beginning
updated Fri February 11, 2011
Egyptians deserve their time to celebrate. Hosni Mubarak's resignation is a dramatic victory for the protest movement born so suddenly on January 25.

Egypt's influence pervades Arab world
updated Sat February 12, 2011
Egypt's influence is widely felt throughout the Arab world -- and not just for political reasons.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/02/13/egypt.revolution/index.html?hpt=T1&iref=BN1

RUMORS

MUBARAK FALLS IN COMA
..Omar Suleiman, at a time in which it proclaimed reports entry Mubarak in a coma since Friday, most likely with Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq and so far there Mubarak in Sharm el-Sheikh.


To this, the newspaper said the "center" Bahraini The health status of former President Mohamed Hosni Mubarak has deteriorated too, the newspaper quoted sources close to Mubarak, said that in the case of a coma.

The newspaper pointed out that a health point of Mubarak has deteriorated since Friday, where he was fainting twice a timely manner.

For his part, said Ahmed Shafik, Egyptian Prime Minister, the current, it was not aware he has to leave Mubarak of Egypt, he said, according to a scientific, Mubarak is still in Sharm el-Sheikh, and several reports have pointed to the departure of Mubarak to Dubai in United Arab Emirates
An official source denied reports in Sharm El-Sheikh for the departure of former President Hosni Mubarak to the Sharm el-Sheikh, said that the guard is still there until now, the presidential headquarters .. He added that sources close to Mubarak, the president assured him that the patient only that he refuses to address the treatment to that in the case of a very difficult psychological depression amounted to insisting on not leaving the country under any circumstances. The other source that the medical team had arrived two days ago to Sharm el-Sheikh Mubarak for the treatment of coma after suffering a heart repeatedly. An official source with the Department of Civil Aviation in Sharjah. Mubarak landed at Sharjah International Airport

FEBRUARY 14, 2011

Mideast Unrest Spreads
Protests Target Iran, Bahrain, Libya; Egypt Dissolves Parliament, Sets Election


http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704657104576141701347446530.html?mod=WSJ_hp_MIDDLETopStories

CAIRO—As Egypt's new military leadership suspended the constitution, dissolved parliament and promised fresh elections, demands for similar political reform swept across the Arab world—from Libya to Iran—following the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak.

WSJ's Charles Levinson and Jerry Seib report on how public protests in Egypt have sparked protests throughout the Middle East, namely Bahrain, Libya, Algeria, Yemen and Iran.

Egypt's dramatic moves incorporate many demands issued during the mass demonstrations by doing away with the institutional framework that buttressed Mr. Mubarak's three-decade rule. But the military's new road map for governing Egypt in the short term came down by fiat, without input from the political opposition, raising questions about how deeply the military understands the democratic process and the demands of modern politics.

On Monday, Egypt's ruling military council issued a communique calling on labor leaders to stop strikes and protests to allow a sense of normalcy to return to the country, the Associated Press reported. The communique, read out by a military spokesman on state television, came as thousands of state employees, from ambulance drivers to police and transport workers, protested Monday to demand better pay and conditions. Egypt is in the midst of a growing wave of labor unrest unleashed by the uprising that ousted Mr. Mubarak from the presidency on Friday.

Mr. Mubarak's resignation has also emboldened protesters throughout the Middle East where opposition movements are aggressively calling for political freedom. Security forces and protesters clashed in Yemen and Bahrain on Sunday while thousands of Algerians, defying a ban on protests, flooded a central square in Algiers on Saturday calling for political reform. The Palestinian Authority in the West Bank ordered the dismissal of its Cabinet and said it would hold long-delayed parliamentary and presidential elections by September.

Egyptians continue their celebrations, a day after the 30-year rule of Hosni Mubarak came to an end. Video courtesy of Reuters.
Journal Community

And in Iran, opposition leaders planned a demonstration on Monday in solidarity with the Egyptian and Tunisian revolts. The streets of Tehran rocked to the chants of residents shouting "Death to the dictator" and "God is great" Sunday night, according to witnesses and videos posted on Youtube.

Activists are calling for protests in Libya on Thursday, testing whether Col. Moammar Gadhafi's 42-year regime will be forced to make political concessions.

In downtown Cairo Sunday, the armed forces moved decisively to further normalize civilian life. During morning rush hour, squads of military police units rushed into Tahrir Square and broke down the tents of the entrenched demonstrators who have been protesting there since Jan. 25. They also pushed remaining protesters to the square's periphery, breaking their hold on the area and reopening the road to bustling vehicular traffic.

Egypt's cabinet removes Mubarak's portrait as Israel welcomes news that Egypt will abide by its treaties. Video courtesy of Reuters.

In a possible worrying sign of new instability, hundreds of civilian police officers demanding higher wages, protested in front of the Interior Ministry, the site of bloody clashes between the political opposition and these security forces two weeks ago. The lack of law and order throughout many of Cairo's dense neighborhoods has become a major worry for many residents, and military leaders met earlier in the day with top internal security officials to agree on a plan to return civilian security forces to the city streets, according to state television.

The Central Bank also announced that banks would be closed Monday and Tuesday, due to strikes by some state-owned bank employees and because of a religious holiday.

Since taking control of the country on Friday, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces has issued five communiqués which have scrupulously repeated its intentions to bolster democracy in Egypt and restore the stability lost during the nearly three weeks of protests and political upheaval.
video
Amid Mideast Upheaval, Mullen Visits Israel
1:07

US Navy Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, visited Israel to reassure the country about instability in Egypt. Video courtesy of Reuters.

Sunday's statement, read on state television, indicated that the small group of army generals was ready to take radical steps to achieve those goals.

The military council is "fully cognizant that the true challenge that faces our dear country Egypt is to release the creative powers of every member of our great people by providing freedom, and facilitating democratic processes through constitutional and legislative amendments," the document said.

The nine-part statement issued by the council outlined in terse terms the military order of life for the next few months.
A New Day in Egypt

Photos from Cairo's Tahrir Square a day after Mr. Mubarak stepped down.

View Slideshow
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Getty Images

It said that the Defense Minister, Hussein Tantawi, would act as the head of the country until new elections are held within six months. It also declared that the Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Ahmad Shafiq and populated with many ex-military officers, would handle the day-to-day issues of government until elections are held.

Late Sunday, a group of youth activists who organized the first demonstration on Jan. 25 met with some of the nation's top generals, according to Bassem Kamel, one of the opposition members who attended the meeting. He wouldn't divulge any details about the meeting.

Many of Egypt's political opposition and democracy activists say that they welcome many of the goals outlined in the statement. They also expressed relief at the council's definitive timeline for holding elections.
Revolution in 18 Days

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Associated Press

Demonstrators deface a poster of President Hosni Mubarak in Alexandria Egypt, Jan. 25.
Regional Upheaval

View Interactive

A succession of rallies and demonstrations, in Egypt, Jordan, Yemen and Algeria have been inspired directly by the popular outpouring of anger that toppled Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali. See how these uprisings have progressed.
Clashes in Cairo

View Interactive

* More photos and interactive graphics

By abolishing the parliament and the constitution, the military council removed institutions that many in the opposition considered toothless and illegitimate. Mr. Mubarak and his political allies used both institutions to bolster his rule and prevent political parties and opposition from functioning.

But many political leaders also expressed concern with what the military council left out of the statement, including no mention of when it would lift the nation's punitive emergency law, which allows security forces to detain anyone without charge and forbids public demonstrations of any kind.

The communiqué said that the military council would oversee the writing of new constitutional amendments, but gave no detail as to what parts of the constitution it would focus on or whether it would seek guidance from experts from outside the military brass. Since Friday, the military has not contacted the major political opposition groups or the constitutional reform bodies that former President Mubarak had set up to help him cling to power while reform was under way, some opposition leaders said.

"The silence is very worrisome," says Ibrahim Moallem, the owner of one of Egypt's largest publishing houses who was one of the elder statesmen heavily involved in the political liaison work over the last two weeks.

Through the nearly three weeks of political instability in Egypt, the military has emerged as the country's most respected institution, with many U.S. and other officials giving Field Marshall Tantawi high marks for his leadership skills during the crisis.

On Saturday night, Mr. Tantawi spoke with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak saying Egypt remained committed to their bilateral peace agreement, Israeli officials said. They said it was the first high-level contact between Israel's government and Egypt's new rulers.

The military's move against the Tahrir protests Sunday appeared to be part of its stated desire to bring normalcy back to the capital. But the solders' heavy handed tactics brought controversy as well.

Scuffles broke out early Sunday as soldiers broke down the protesters' tents that had been blocking the roads in the square, and television showed footage of soldiers violently wielding wooden switches against the protesters who obstructed the clearance operation.

Resistance subsided quickly, and the army was able to allow traffic to flow. Along the eastern edge of Tahrir Square, a row of tourism agencies opened their doors for the first time and workers there were seen mopping and sprucing up the offices that had been shuttered for 18 days due to the protests. Small business owners complained of taking sharp losses during this period.

By the middle of the day, about 3,000 protesters were congregated at the eastern end of the square. Some were holding sit-ins in the central area, but without obstructing traffic.

"Just because the Pasha left, does not mean we've received everything we have been asking for," said Mohamed Naemtallah, a 30-year-old lawyer, referring to Mr. Mubarak's departure.

Meanwhile, foot traffic resumed to the hulking government edifice known as the Mugamma, which houses much of Egypt's sprawling bureaucracy. At the doors stood army soldiers, checking who was entering and exiting.
—Farnaz Fassihi in Beirut and Richard Boudreaux in Jerusalem contributed to this article.

Love Always
mudra

Mubarak moves vast assets from Europe to Saudi Arabia


Hosni Mubarak and his family have moved a large part of their assets – guesstimated at between $20 and $70 billion - from European banks to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Republics against personal guarantees from King Abdullah and Sheik Al Nahyan to block access to outside parties.This is reported by Gulf and West European sources. Tunisian ex-ruler Zein Al Abdain Ben Ali received the same guarantee when he fled his country and received asylum in the oil kingdom.

A Swiss financial source commented: "If he had any real money in Zurich, it may be gone by now."
According to debkafile's sources, the transfers took place on Feb. 12-13. Although a weekend when European banks are closed, high-ranking officials in Riyadh had their managers hauled out of home to execute Mubarak's transfer orders without delay.
The ousted Egyptian ruler was on the phone to Saudi King Abdullah Friday, Feb. 11, immediately after his vice president Omar Suleiman went on state television to announce his resignation and handover of rule to the army. Mubarak called it a military putsch conducted under pressure from Washington. He denied he had resigned or passed any powers to the army. "I had no idea Omar Suleiman was about to read out that statement. I would never have signed it or allowed it to be published," said Mubarak.
The Saudi king voiced understanding for the ex-president's plight and said the Riyadh government was under orders to meet any requests for assistance received from him.

Mubarak views himself still as the rightful president of Egypt. Aware of this, the High Military Council Sunday, Feb. 13, abolished the constitution. Otherwise, Mubarak would have been correct and the military would have had no authority to issue decrees and pass laws without his signature.

The military junta's Western sympathizers were quick to read in the military statement a pledge to call an election in six months. This was not exactly stated. The military council announced that the incumbent (Mubarak-appointed) cabinet would stay in office "for six months or until elections."
Elections cannot be held until a new a new constitution is enacted because the old one has been abolished leaving a void which is filled by martial law and no clear obligation for an election date.
One major obstacle confronting orderly transition to civilian rule is the opposition's clamor for an all-inclusive investigation of corruption within the Mubarak family and its ruling circle. As one of the opposition leaders George Ishak put it: "We will research everything, all of them: the families of the ministers, the family of the president, everyone."
Prof. Samer Soliman, of the American University in Cairo said: "The corruption of the Mubarak family was not stealing from the budget; it was transforming political capital into private capital."
debkafile's military sources stress that all 25 generals serving in the High Army Council can be relied on to raise a high wall against any such probe. Members of Egypt's high officer class are heavily invested in Egyptian industry, financial institutions and banks, having built their personal fortunes by the same methods as the Mubarak clan and its hangers-on.

An exhaustive investigation might also bring to light American and Israel capital interests linked to businesses close to the Mubarak regime. The military will not doubt use its powers under martial law to put a spoke in the opposition's demand for an inquiry.



Source;
http://www.debka.com/article/20666/

Former Egyptian leader at his residence in Sharm el-Sheikh
Mubarak falls into coma after final speech: report
Egypt's deposed president, Hosni Mubarak, went into a full coma on Saturday night at his residence in the Red Sea resort of Sharm al-Sheikh, an Egyptian newspaper reported on Monday, quoting well-informed sources.

Mubarak and his family moved to Sharm al-Sheikh on Thursday night following his final speech, in which he handed over executive authority to former Vice-President Omar Suleiman, Egypt's al-Masry al-Youm reported.

The same sources said that Mubarak was currently receiving medical treatment but that no decision had yet been made on whether to transfer the 82-year-old former head-of-state to a hospital.
Rumors had circulated earlier that Mubarak had fainted twice while recording his final speech, which was broadcast on state television on Thursday evening.

Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq confirmed Sunday that Mubarak was in Sharm el-Sheikh and has not leave the country.

Mubarak underwent a successful surgery in March 2010 at a German clinic for an inflamed gall bladder. Since then, doubts increased over the former president's health.
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/02/14/137565.html

Mubarak moved “vast wealth” to untraceable accounts:

DUBAI (Al Arabiya)

Hosni Mubark transferred "vast wealth" to untraceable accounts overseas during the 18 days of protests preceding his downfall, The Telegraph reported on Sunday quoting a senior Western intelligence source.

The former president who was forced to surrender power to a supreme military council in what many described as a soft coup shifted some of his assets to untraceable accounts overseas and moved around some of his assets already in the Western accounts.

A few days before Mubarak was forced to leave, media reports estimated his family's fortune to be anywhere between $40-70 billion.

The Swiss government has taken steps to freeze any assets belonging to Mubarak and his allies, shortly after the 82-year-old transferred power to the military.

"The Federal Council (government) has decided to freeze any assets of the former Egyptian president and his entourage in Switzerland with immediate effect," the Swiss foreign ministry said in a statement released on Friday.

"We're aware of some urgent conversations within the Mubarak family about how to save these assets," The Telegraph quoted the western intelligence source, "And we think their financial advisers have moved some of the money around. If he had real money in Zurich, it may be gone by now."

Mubarak apparently learned the lesson from ousted Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who hastily fled to Saudi Arabia while Swiss authorities froze his family’s bank account.

"There's no doubt that there will have been some frantic financial activity behind the scenes. They can lose the homes and some of the bank accounts, but they will have wanted to get the gold bars and other investments to safe quarters," The Telegraph quoted a US official as saying.

The UK said it would consider freeing Mubarak’s assets if Egypt made a formal request. The interim Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq has said his cabined could request a freeze on Mubarak’s assets if the move is deemed necessary.
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/02/13/137483.html

Egypt's former police officers and public-sector workers have staged fresh protest rallies in Cairo, days after a historic revolution ousted former president Hosni Mubarak.

2011/02/16

http://abna.ir/data.asp?lang=3&Id=226549

Hundreds of police officers held the rally in front of the interior ministry in central Cairo on Tuesday, complaining about the injustice of the ousted government.

Mubarak's police force -- widely viewed as corrupt and brutal -- have called for their former boss to be publicly executed.

Earlier on Monday, policemen marched to the interior ministry to protest at the deaths of more than 300 people during demonstrations against Mubarak's regime.

Policemen carried banners and placards that read -- apology for our performance during those protests.

Meanwhile, thousands of Egyptian protesters including union workers are also staging strikes across the country over low pay and corruption.

Days after the country's popular revolution, Egyptians are now saying that they are capable of tackling their own problems and that the US or Israel's influence is not acceptable, a Press TV correspondent reported.

Thousands of protesters in Cairo have also demanded the new military rulers to hand over power to a civilian government as soon as possible, stressing that demonstrations will continue until the army accepts the reforms.

Love Always
mudra

The last I had read Mubarak was in a coma. Did he recover?

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2011/02/15/2011-02-15_exegyptian_president_hosni_mubarak_in_a_coma_reports_protests_flare_up_in_bahrai.html


From Avaaz team:

Mubarak is out -- but he may take unimaginable wealth out with him. Estimates of his stolen fortune range as high as $70 billion, more than a third of the entire Egyptian economy.

Time is running out for world governments to freeze Mubarak’s assets before they disappear into a maze of obscure bank accounts -- like so many other dictators' stolen fortunes. Switzerland has already frozen his finances, and some EU ministers have offered help -- but without an immediate global outcry, action may come too slowly to stop the Mubarak billions from vanishing.

Let's call on leaders of all nations to ensure that Egypt's money is returned to the people. Our petition will be delivered, if we reach 500,000 signatures, to G20 finance ministers when they meet this Friday in Paris. Let's add our names now and spread the word!

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/mubaraks_fortune_l/?vl

Millions of Egyptians live on less than $2 per day -- yet experts say that corruption costs Egypt more than $6 billion in public money per year. The Mubaraks themselves have benefited massively from a web of business deals, crony-capitalist privatization schemes, and state-guaranteed investments throughout Mubarak's 30 years as president. Estimates of their wealth run from a "mere" $2-3 billion to the staggering $70 billion figure, which would make Hosni Mubarak the world's richest man. And 25 senior government officials are already under investigation for amassing fortunes above $1 billion while serving under him.

But the days may finally be over when corrupt rulers can escape with their fortunes intact. The new United Nations Convention Against Corruption explicitly calls for the return of corruptly-gained assets to the countries of origin, and Egypt's military government has already asked European Union governments to freeze Mubarak's fortune. The key question now is whether action will come fast enough: all the laws in the world won't help if the Mubarak billions are shuffled out of sight before authorities can seize them.

Our voices as citizens can help the people of Egypt make good on the promise of their revolution. Join the call for Egyptian wealth to go back to the people of Egypt:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/mubaraks_fortune_l/?vl

As millions of Egyptians risked -- and even gave -- their lives for democracy, there was little that we around the world could do beyond send our hopes and solidarity. But now we have a special responsibility: to do our utmost to restore the national property stolen by a dictatorship that our own governments tolerated for far too long.

The people of Egypt are ready now to build a new nation. Let's ensure that they regain the resources that were taken from them, as they create the future that few dared to dream possible.

With hope,

Ben, Alex, Ricken, Mia, Rewan, David, and the whole Avaaz team

SOURCES

Washington Post: "Egyptians focus their attention on recovering the nation's money"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/12/AR2011021203767.html

Egypt's Mubarak Likely to Retain Vast Wealth; Mubarak Family May Have as Much as $70 Billion Stashed Away, Experts Estimate
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/egypt-mubarak-family-accumulated-wealth-days-military/story?id=12821073

Seize Money Stolen by Mubarak and Return it to Egypt
http://www.aljazeerah.info/Opinion%20Editorials/2011/February/15%20o/Seize%20Money%20Stolen%20by%20Mubarak%20and%20Return%20it%20to%20Egypt%20By%20Paul%20Dunk.htm

EU Yet To Agree Action On Egypt Asset Requests
http://www.nasdaq.com/aspx/stock-market-news-story.aspx?storyid=201102151027dowjonesdjonline000253&title=ecofineu-yet-to-agree-action-on-egypt-asset-requests

The United Nations Convention Against Corruption
http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/treaties/CAC/convention-highlights.html#Asset_recovery

Mubarak has given up and wants to die, says Saudi official
The former Egyptian president refuses Saudi offer to host him, insists on spending his final days on Egyptian soil.
Egypt's ousted president has given up and wants to die in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh where he has been living since a popular uprising ended his rule, a Saudi official said on Wednesday.

Hosni Mubarak, 82, has suffered from health problems in recent years and travelled to Germany for gall bladder surgery in March last year. Reports of a further decline have increased since he stepped down on Friday after three decades in power.An official in Saudi Arabia said the kingdom had offered to host Mubarak but he was determined to see out his days in Egypt. Official confirmation could not immediately be obtained from the Saudi government.

"He is not dead but is not doing well at all and refuses to leave. Basically, he has given up and wants to die in Sharm," said the Saudi official, who asked not to be named.

Mubarak vowed to die in Egypt when he addressed the country's 80 million people last week while still clinging to power.

A source with links to the Mubarak family said on Tuesday that the former president was "fine," and had been taking telephone calls.

Mubarak spent more and more time at his residence in Sharm el-Sheikh near the end of his time as leader, retreating to the clean air and sea breeze to recover from ailments.

Across the sea, visitors can see the shores of Saudi Arabia, where Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali fled after he was toppled last month. The Tunisian experience inspired the Egyptian protest movement that forced Mubarak's resignation.

Mubarak also received world leaders in the city at the tip of the Sinai peninsula and it became a stage for international summits and years of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

Many of those disillusioned with Mubarak's heavy-handed rule point to his fondness for Sharm el-Sheikh as a sign of his estrangement from the everyday problems that plague ordinary Egyptians.


http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/mubarak-has-given-up-and-wants-to-die-says-saudi-official-1.343763?localLinksEnabled=false

People speculate about what's going on with revolutions happening in different Muslim countries and riots even in Europe . There are a variety of explanations . All of them are valid considering the the old paradigm is crumbling and the Powers that Were are kicking the table in the Texas Tavern where they are losing a big poker game .

1) " Mubarak Toppled by CIA Because He Opposed US Plans for War with Iran; US Eyes Seizure of Suez Canal; Was this the Threat that Forced Mubarak to Quit? "

http://tarpley.net/

2) Following from the above , It is obvious that there is a plan to destabilize Iran and overthrow the popularly elected government . The ultimate goal is to wage war
on the Iranian people and disrupt the oil flow supply to China . If in the ME countries the possible staged revolutions will succeed , more puppets would be
installed that would obey orders more promptly from the puppet masters in Washington DC . Those countries would encircle IRAN and be hostile .

3) A world with Muslim banking ( imagine a housing loan with a fee but no interest and people free from bank slavery by usury )
is not what the Zionist in control want . They want us slaves to work a lifetime to pay off a house that should be paid in 5
years and when the banks fail we slaves are supposed to rescue them !

"Rothschilds Stage Revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt To Kill Islamic Banks In Emerging North African Markets "

quote
"“. . . even non-Muslims are taking advantage of a growing range of Islamic products offering competitive returns. For instance, David Ong-Yeoh, a public relations executive tired of fretting over the rising interest rate on his adjustable rate mortgage, refinanced to a 30-year fixed loan from an Islamic financial institution. Now, he pays regular installments that include a predetermined profit margin for the bank "

http://www.puppet99.com/?p=126


4) The Wall Street bankers , recently bailed out by the US government , are speculating with the currencies and the commodities . Speculating on the prices of Grains ,rice and other food stuff due to climatic changes has increased the price of food for the poor people in the ME and other parts of the world . Starving people so that they are more prone to revolutions

What the banksters are doing is legalized criminality with the governments approval and support. To pay a one time fee for a house instead of interest is the right thing to do. The way the system is now one can pay interest forever and never pay off a home or even a credit card with outrageouse interest rates in the upper 20 percent rate.

Again, its's the corporations that rule and it would be appropriate and Divine justice if their legs were cut off at the knees and they had to pay a 50% tax on any profits back to the country they were operating out of that would go to the communities that they do business in.

Wealth is not meant to be horded. Instead it is meant to create the type of community that every citizen would be proud to be a part of. Health care should be free, clean water and food should be free and energy should be free.

In the State of Colorado one isn't even allowed to collect the water off their roof. How insane is that. Congress should be spending their time abolishing laws that no longer suit the times or are of benefit to the people. What they do is create more laws to where it is becoming almost impossible to live a life without breaking one law or another. This is nuts.

They should be listening to the people's complaints about what works and what doesn't work and go with that. And in my personal opinion - the less laws the better. We have next to no rules on this forum because governance was turned over to the members. This is a model that works. Fewer laws empowers the people. Too many laws imprison them.

I've often wondered what would happen if all the laws were abolished and the ten commandments were the rule of law.

I would add a one extra about not polluting, nor exploiting land, sea, air and the body, physical minds and hearts of the people.

23/2/2011

Egypt, Interior Minister Mahmoud Wagdy has issued a general amnesty for all criminal prisoners and political detainees from the Sinai peninsula, a BBC Arabic reporter says. The 350 prisoners are mainly Bedouins, and their detention had been a thorny issue in relations between the Bedouin community and the former Mubarak

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12307698

Love Always
mudra

This sounds promising....


ElBaradei: We'll fight back if Israel attacks Gaza

In interview with Arab newspaper, former IAEA chief says if elected as Egypt's next president he will open Rafah crossing in case of an Israeli attack


Published: 04.04.11, 14:15 / Israel News


Former International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei, who had previously announced his intetions to run for the presidency of Egypt, said Monday that “if Israel attacked Gaza we would declare war against the Zionist regime." In an interview with the Al-Watan newspaper he said: "In case of any future Israeli attack on Gaza - as the next president of Egypt – I will open the Rafah border crossing and will consider different ways to implement the joint Arab defense agreement."

He also stated that "Israel controls Palestinian soil" adding that that "there has been no tangible breakthrough in reconciliation process because of the imbalance of power in the region - a situation that creates a kind of one way peace."


Discussing his agenda for Egypt, ElBaradei said that distribution of income between the different classes in Egypt would be his most important priority if he were to win the upcoming elections.


ELBaradei's main competition is Arab League Secretary General and former Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa. Last month he discussed Egypt's relationship with Israel. "During my term in office the foreign ministry was subject to unfavorable policies from Israel with regards to the peace agreement," Said Moussa who served as foreign minister 1991-2001," he said.

Read more here: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4051939,00.html