vrijdag 28 januari 2011

Arab Regimes 10


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12307698  
tweets until British time 18:31

  1. 1831: Sultan al-Qassemi tweets: "Protestors have stormed Egyptian TV building&have destroyed some equipment. Helicopter is arriving. #Jan25."
  2. 1826: Some support for the Mubarak regime from north of the border. "We believe that Egypt is going to overcome the current wave of demonstrations, but we have to look to the future," Time magazine quotes an Israeli government minister as saying.
  3. 1817: From BBC Arabic Correspondent Khaled Ezzelarab in the Egyptian capital: Military helicopters are roaming the skies of Cairo.
  4. 1815: Daniel Hussey tweets: "Egypt is the pivotal country for the region... Egypt goes, and the rest will follow." We'll be keeping an eye out for your messages and #jan25 tweets, so do get in touch if you have views to share.
  5. 1812: German Chancellor Angela Merkel has joined those urging the Egyptian government to allow peaceful protests. The stability of Egypt is extremely important, she says, "but not at the price of freedom of expression".
  6. 1810: An Egyptian film producer calls on the army to deploy troops around the world-famous Cairo Museum, close to where one of the main protests has been taking place. He tells al-Arabiya TV that not "one single soldier" is currently protecting the institution.
  7. 1808: Amoona tweets: "The entire staff of the Israeli Embassy in Cairo has been evacuated by helicopters."
  8. 1806: After fleeing a police charge in Cairo, elderly protester Mohammed Taha tells Reuters news agency: "This protest is not going to stop. They won't and can't trick the people again and give us some lame concessions. Hosni has to go. I am 70 years old, I am going to die, but these people have to fight to live."
  9. 1804: There are unconfirmed reports of army personnel clashing with police in Cairo, according to al-Jazeera TV.
  10. 1803: US President Barack Obama has convened his national security team for a briefing on the unrest in Egypt, the Associated Press reports.
  11. 1801: Kuwait Airways has suspended all flights to Egypt, and is waiting for the situation to stabilise, al-Arabiya TV reports.
  12. 1759: The BBC's Yolande Knell has been out on the streets of Cairo, where she describes people running, their eyes streaming as a result of the teargas hanging over the city. "We will never stop until this government goes," yelled one elderly man. Ordinary Egyptians appear to be losing their fear of direct confrontation with the security forces, says our correspondent. Read Yolande's eyewitness report here.
  13. 1749: AP reporter Ashraf Sweilim reports that some Bedouins in Sinai are besieging the Sheikh Zoueid police station, demanding members of the security forces inside to surrender.
  14. 1746: The BBC's security correspondent Frank Gardner says: "Every minute that goes by without the president making that address to the nation makes him look weaker, and will convince people he is losing his grip."
  15. 1743: Middle East analyst Roger Hardy writes on the BBC News website:"If the Egyptian unrest turns into an Egyptian revolution, the implications for the Arab world - and for Western policy in the Middle East - will be immense. Egypt matters, in a way that tiny Tunisia - key catalyst that it has been in the current wave of protest - does not. It matters because its destiny affects, in a range of ways, not only Arab interests but Israeli, Iranian and Western interests, too."
  16. 1741: Medical sources tell Reuters 410 people injured in Cairo protests during the day, some with bullet wounds.
  17. 1738: Curfew extended to all cities, Reuters quotes state TV as saying.
  18. 1733: Egyptian state television is denying that protesters are attempting to attack its headquarters, according to al-Arabiya TV.
  19. 1724: BBC Arabic correspondent Khaled Ezzelarab in Cairo reports: "Despite the curfew, demonstrators are surrounding the building of Egyptian radio and TV and trying to break into it. The building is guarded by armed security personnel. The people are calling for the army to intervene."
  20. 1722: More from Hillary Clinton: "We are deeply concerned about the use of violence by Egyptian police and security forces against protesters. We call on the Egyptian government to do everything in its power to restrain security forces. At the same time, protesters should also refrain from violence and express themselves peacefully."
  21. 1720: UN rights chief Navi Pillay urges Egypt's government to lift the 30-year-old state of emergency and "guarantee the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and expression".
  22. 1715: Shipping officials say Suez Canal is running smoothly despite violent protests there, Reuters reports.
  23. 1712: An Italian worker in a Cairo hotel tells the BBC: "The protesters have been trying to break in to the hotel. They are raiding now a Vodafone shop at the hotel entrance. Lots of hotel staff are trying to make protesters go away. Lots of black smoke and I can smell tear gas."
  24. 1710: Hillary Clinton: "We urge Egyptian authorities to allow peaceful protests."
  25. 1709: The BBC's Yolande Knell in Cairo reports: "It's very clear that large numbers are defying the curfew. There are still crowd noises coming into our offices. The message that a curfew was even in place would have been hard to get across to the protesters."
  26. 1700: More on the praying protesters: at the end of their prayers, tear gas was fired at them by the security forces, prompting an angry response from the crowd and many shouts of "Allahu Akbar" (God is great).
  27. 1657: Live TV footage shows dozens of protesters pausing to pray on the street outside the burning HQ of the ruling NDP in Cairo.
  28. 1656: British Foreign Secretary William Hague calls on Egypt's leaders to "understand the grievances and deal with them in an evolutionary way and by bringing necessary reforms".
  29. 1655: White House spokesman Robert Gibbs tweets: "Very concerned about violence in Egypt - government must respect the rights of the Egyptian people&turn on social networking and internet."
  30. 1650: Tanks and military personnel on the streets in Cairo and Suez hours after President Mubarak orders army to help enforce curfew.
  31. 1643: Eyewitness Marwa who was caught in clashes in Ismailia, tells the BBC: "I was shaken by the sound of the weapons and two hours after I escaped from the area my eyes were still very sore from the effect of tear gas. Ismailia has had no access to the internet since last night but the mobile network is still up and running."
  32. 1640: Opposition leader Amin Iskandar tells al-Jazeera that the ruling party "has manipulated elections to parliament, prevented people from having fair and just representation, and has gobbled up the wealth of this country".
  33. 1638: German Defence Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg expresses concern about the risk of "infectious momentum" of unrest in the Middle East, during a meeting at the World Economic Forum .
  34. 1637: Offices of the ruling NDP party set on fire or attacked in several cities across the country, witnesses tell Reuters.
  35. 1635: More on the blaze at the ruling party's Cairo HQ: state TV confirms the building was set on fire.
  36. 1630: Another tweet from the US state department's PJ Crowley: "Events unfolding in Egypt are of deep concern. Fundamental rights must be respected, violence avoided and open communications allowed."
  37. 1628: Egyptian state TV channel al-Misriyah plays down protests, saying they are peaceful, and quotes a local official condemning al-Jazeera TV for "misinforming" the public.
  38. 1623: A building that forms part of the headquarters of the ruling National Democratic Party in Cairo has been set on fire, according to reports. Senior leaders, including the president's son Gamal Mubarak met there on Thursday.
  39. 1616: The BBC's Andrew North, in Washington, reports: "The US is really having to make policy on the hop. They have been caught off guard by these events. They have been treading a very fine line, but there is a sense that they are trying to show that they are on the side of those pushing for reform."
  40. 1615: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton due to make a televised statement on Egypt shortly.
  41. 1612: The BBC website now has a dedicated page of eyewitness accounts including Malek in Cairo, who describes a siege situation in the capital.
  42. 1608: Al-Jazeera TV reports that military trucks arrive in a Cairo square to the cheers of protesters.
  43. 1603: The BBC's Ranyah Sabry, in Cairo, reports: "There has been some sympathy towards the demonstrators from the security services. Right near to where I am stationed near the police hospital - which is only for officers - they are said to have been throwing masks out of the windows so that the protesters can cover themselves and avoid the effect of the tear gas."
  44. 1559: US state department's PJ Crowley tweets: "Reform is vital to Egypt's long-term well-being. The Egyptian government should view its people as a partner and not as a threat."
  45. 1553: Eyewitness "Muna" tells the BBC of dramatic scenes outside her home in Cairo.
  46. 1547: Unconfirmed reports say President Hosni Mubarak is preparing to make a statement.
  47. 1541: The International Crisis Group condemns Mohamed ElBaradei's reported detention in a statement saying: "In a situation as tense as this, repression and abuse can only further inflame the situation."
  48. 1537: Egyptian authorities announce a curfew from 1800 (1600 GMT) in Greater Cairo, Alexandria and Suez, Al-Misriyah TV reports.
  49. 1530: Online activist Ramy Raoof in Cairo tweets: "Land-lines are shut down in several areas in Cairo and the gov interrupted satellite internet connection."
  50. 1521: France's Foreign Ministry confirms media reports that four French journalists were kidnapped. Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero tells AP all four have now been freed.
  51. 1519: More from Chatham House's Maha Azzam, interviewed on BBC World Service: "Of course economics matter, people are living in poverty, many live on $2 a day, the economic situation is extremely bad, very high unemployment. But at the very heart of this protest is the political issue, the call of many for greater accountability, for freedom to demonstrate, the freedom to have meetings, for free and fair elections down the line."
  52. 1517: Dima Khatib in Suez tweets: "Police shooting rubber coated steel bullets into the crowd according to eye witnesses #Egypt #Jan25."
  53. 1513: 'Muna' (not her real name, she wants to remain anonymous) writes: I am close to the 6th October bridge, where hundreds of protesters have been clashing with police for the past couple of hours. I have closed my windows completely and my family and I are stuck inside. I am worried for people on both sides as I look out - both the police and the protesters. I am also worried for my friends who are out protesting on the streets. I can't communicate with them because all mobiles are down. Thank God our land-line still works but we are not sure for how long.
  54. 1511: Protesters in central Cairo are calling on the army to support them, according to the Reuters news agency. They are chanting: "Where is the army? Come and see what the police is doing to us. We want the army. We want the army."
  55. 1509: Protesters set fire to a local government building in Alexandria, AFP news agency reports.
  56. 1503: Rik Ferguson, writing on the Counter Measures blog, says:"This sudden severing of internet connectivity appears to have all occurred at a similar time and the assumption must be that it is a part of officially sanctioned tactics to attempt to contain the growing political unrest in the country. If indeed this action is officially directed then it would seem that the regime in Egypt has learned lessons from the Iranian attempts to censor communications there last year and taken even more drastic measures."
  57. 1458: BBC technology correspondent Mark Gregory says: "Something unprecedented has happened: virtually the entire internet infrastructure of an electronically sophisticated nation has been switched off. Pulling the plug in say the US or a European country would be virtually impossible as there are so many different channels that carry electronic traffic. Parallels are being drawn with Iran during the democracy protests 18 months ago where, as in Egypt over recent days, the authorities' restricted access to services like Facebook and Twitter and cut parts of networks for periods of time. But Egypt has gone a step further. This is believed to be the first time a government has engineered an almost complete shut down of electronic communications to deal with political dissent."
  58. 1455: Yasmine Amin, from Cairo, writes: "I'm barricaded in my home, afraid to venture out. The tear gas used by the police has reached our home. My family and I are choking because of the fumes. My friends who live near Tahrir Square say that the police have been completely overwhelmed by the mass demonstration and in some parts of the city have let people through. The police crackdown here has been very brutal. I took part in the demonstrations on the first day but I had to retreat once the police started firing tear gas into the crowds. There has been a media blackout. I'm relying on friends and family scattered around the city to supply me with the latest information. Everyone here is anxious about the future. I have mixed emotions. People are afraid, apprehensive, fed up with the current regime. But overall I'm extremely proud of my fellow Egyptians.
  59. 1453: Some of the most serious violence has been in Suez, where protesters seized weapons stored in a police station and asked the policemen inside to leave the building before burning it down, according to the Associated Press. They also set about 20 police vehicles parked nearby on fire.
  60. 1447: BBC Arab affairs analyst Magdi Abdelhadi says: "The confrontations between protesters and security forces in Egypt appear to have taken a sinister turn. As the authorities show increased determination to quell the country's first nationwide protests in many decades, they have escalated their response to the demonstrations on several levels. The interior ministry has deployed considerable force to chase the demonstrators off the streets. A BBC journalist was beaten bloody by police. The authorities have also moved into to stifle the flow of information to prevent protesters from co-ordinating their movements. But Egyptians appear to have learnt from the Tunisian uprising. Once they have broken the barrier of fear, there is no going back. The clock is ticking. Should the security forces resort to more violence and the protesters' resolve remain unbroken, many will be asking whether President Mubarak can survive this unprecedented confrontation with his people."
  61. 1442: Heba, from Cairo, writes: "I live in a building that overlooks the city, there is a big crowd, and perhaps more than a thousand people are marching. I haven't seen any scenes of violence. It's been quite civilised so far, although this is my first revolution! The police have used quite a bit of tear gas and I can see black smoke from behind the television building where I live. I can also hear quite a lot of action. I haven't been able to leave my home because of my elderly mother. When the police started using the tear gas, fumes wafted into our flat, making my eyes water and burning my nose, making it difficult to breath. Everyone is chanting, there's a mass chorus of people demanding change. The most interesting aspect of the demonstration is the fact that all kinds of people are taking to the streets. People from different social classes and different backgrounds - this is very rare in Egypt. In the past, only the disaffected would consider protesting; now everyone, even those with a vested interest in the regime, are out. I've never seen it."
  62. 1440: Egyptian security officials tell the Associated Press that Mohamed ElBaradei is now under house arrest in Cairo. He earlier took part in two demonstrations in Giza.
  63. 1437: A protester has been killed during clashes with police in Suez, witnesses say. One tells the Reuters news agency that the body is being carried through the centre of city by an angry crowd.
  64. 1432: Dr Maha Azzam, an associate fellow at Chatham House in London, tells the BBC World Service: "I think this is going to lead to the fall of the Mubarak regime. He has never been challenged in this way before. It may take time - the military, army are still backing him. We don't know how long that's going to last. We also don't know if divisions have already been created within the army."
  65. 1426: Television footage shows protesters throwing rocks down on police from a road bridge near Tahrir Square in central Cairo, and a police vehicle driving through the crowd spraying them with tear gas.
  66. 1421: Clashes were also reported earlier in Alexandria, but Peter Bouckaert, an observer from Human Rights Watch, tells the Guardian newspaperthat the situation has changed: "The police have now given up fighting the protesters. The police and protesters are now talking, with protesters bringing water and vinegar [for teargas] to the police. Afternoon prayer has just been called and hundreds are praying in front of the mosque in east Alexandria," he says.
  67. 1416: Pro-democracy leader Mohamed ElBaradei now seems to have been allowed to leave the mosque in Giza and join a peaceful march through the area. Some of those taking part are reportedly shaking hands with the police.
  68. 1412: The BBC website now has a picture gallery of dramatic images showing clashes between police and protesters.
  69. 1411: Le Figaro confirms that four French journalists, including one member of their staff, were arrested earlier in the day, and that they have since been released. "They were arrested in the street by plainclothes police officers who released them after about an hour of discussions," senior editor Philippe Gelie tells the AFP news agency.
  70. 1408: Security officials tell the Associated Press that protesters have ransacked the headquarters of the ruling National Democratic Party in the cities of Mansoura, north of Cairo, and the port city of Suez.
  71. 1403: The chairman of the Egyptian National Security and Foreign Relations committee, Mustafa al-Fiqi, insists the government will not fall, but admits it has to take action against poverty and corruption. "Police and the demonstrators both are Egyptians and we feel sad for the victims of both sides," he tells al-Jazeera TV.
  72. 1357: The BBC's Yolande Knell in Cairo says: "With mobile phone networks down and the internet and social-networking websites blocked, people are tuned in to satellite television channels. They show dramatic scenes across Egypt; from clashes in Alexandria in the north down the length of the country, and across to cities along the Suez Canal and the sensitive Sinai region in the east."
  73. 1353: Asked by journalists inside the mosque where he is taking refuge what message he wants to send to the outside world, opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei says: "The Egyptian people will take care of themselves. The Egyptian people will be the ones who will make the change. We are not waiting for help and assistance. But what I expect from the outside world is to practice [what they] preach - to defend the rights of Egyptians for their universal values - freedom, dignity, social justice."
  74. 1348: Amal Ahmed, a 22-year-old protester, says it is "time for this government to change". "I want a better future for me and my family when I get married," she tells the Reuters news agency. Abeer Ahmed, 31, adds: "Nothing good is left in the country. Oppression is growing."
  75. 1345: A crowd of about 20,000 people have reportedly been prevented by police from crossing a bridge over the Nile and heading towards the centre of Cairo. The protesters were cheered on by people waving Egyptian flags as they set off from the Mohandiseen district.
  76. 1339: The pro-democracy leader, Mohamed ElBaradei, is reportedly trapped inside a mosque in the Cairo suburb of Giza, outside which hundreds of riot police are deployed, according to the Reuters news agency. Tear gas is being fired onto nearby streets to prevent anyone from leaving, and several cars have been set on fire.
  77. 1334: Al-Jazeera TV reports that the leader of the opposition Ghad party, Ayman Nour, is among the hurt. He came a distant second in the 2005 presidential election.
  78. 1331: Witnesses tell the Reuters news agency that they have seen dozens of people with head wounds, and others collapsing to the ground amid the chaos.
  79. 1324: The deputy general guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mahmoud Ezzat, tells al-Jazeera TV: "The youth want the demonstrations to be peaceful but the regime uses excessive violence against the youth, such as rubber bullets and rubber bombs." He adds: "The people are demanding the basics, mainly the necessities of life, and they have the right to do so. The people also demand their freedom and the dissolution of the fake parliament."
  80. 1318: Al-Jazeera TV says at least one person has been killed and 10 people have been injured at a protest in Riyadh Square in Cairo.
  81. 1311: Essam Marghani, an Egyptian blogger living in London, tells the BBC World Service: "We urge Mubarak to have enough fuel for his flight out because he will struggle to find a country to take him in."
  82. 1303: The BBC's Rupert Wingfield-Hayes in Suez says: "Immediately after Friday prayers were over, large crowds started to gather, people coming out of the mosques immediately going onto the streets and starting to protest. At least 3,000 people gathered on the street here in front of me. Initially the protests here were completely peaceful, people calling for the government of Hosni Mubarak to step down, and for new elections. But about an hour later, riot police started to respond with tear gas and then the crowd started to throw stones. They attacked a police riot van, took it over, and set it ablaze. In the last few minutes there have been a series of large explosions, as ammunition and tear-gas grenades inside the vehicle have been going off."
  83. 1256: BBC journalist Assad Sawey says he was beaten by police while covering a demonstration by about 15,000 people in central Cairo. He says plainclothes police deliberately targeted him, even after he identified himself. "When they arrested me they started beating me up with steel bars," he says. "A number of foreign journalists were there and they were all loaded onto trucks... The police were very, very violent today."
  84. 1245: The BBC's Wyre Davies in Cairo says: "In Giza, on the outskirts of Cairo, where the opposition politician Mohamed ElBaradei went to pray, riot police used tear gas and water cannon as demonstrators shouted "Go, go, go", laying down a direct challenge to the president."
  85. 1237: The former UN Secretary-General and Egyptian foreign minister, Boutros Boutros Ghali, tells the BBC World Service that there has been "a lot of exaggeration" about the unrest and "it is not unprecedented". He says that unlike in Tunisia, where an uprising toppled President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, "the problem is more an economic and social one". "The problem is more a problem of infrastructure. We need more work, we need more factories."
  86. 1231: Vodafone says that "all mobile operators in Egypt have been instructed to suspend services in selected areas". "Under Egyptian legislation the authorities have the right to issue such an order and we are obliged to comply with it. The Egyptian authorities will be clarifying the situation in due course," a statement says.
  87. 1224: The protesters are shouting "Down, down, Hosni Mubarak" and "The people want the regime to fall", reports say. They are also demanding that Mr Mubarak, 82, does not try to hand over power to his 47-year-old son, Gamal.
  88. 1220: Egyptian riot police have clashed with thousands of anti-government protesters demanding an end to President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule. In the capital, Cairo, and the port city of Alexandria, police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the crowds after Friday prayers. The unrest follows three days of unprecedented protests in which at least eight people have been killed. Mobile networks and internet services have been shut down.
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    Key points

    1. Tens of thousands of Egyptians flood the streets in the biggest anti-government demonstrations since protests began on Tuesday.
    2. Police fire tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse crowds in Cairo, Suez and Alexandria.
    3. Protesters set fire to government buildings, a police station, the ruling party HQ and converge on state TV offices.
    4. President Hosni Mubarak orders night-time curfew in main cities, reportedly extending it to include all cities.
    5. Reports say opposition figurehead Mohamed ElBaradei, who joined Cairo protests, has been placed under house arrest.

    Get in touch

    “Never take the same road twice.” Ibn Battuta, 14th century Moroccan Berber traveler, philosopher, medic, theologian
    “I want to pour water into hell and set paradise on fire, so that these two veils disappear and nobody shall any longer worship God out of fear of hell or hope of heaven, but solely for the sake of God's eternal beauty.” Rabi'ah Al-Adawiyya,  8th century woman saint from Basra, Iraq  
    “The eternal mystery of the world is its comprehensibility.” “If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician.” Albert Einstein, 19th/20th century German physicist 
    “He or she who says it cannot be achieved should not interrupt him or her achieving it.” Chinese Proverb


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