For Washington Mubarak is 'out of the equation'

france24english | January 31, 2011 - France 24 Washington correspondent Guillaume Meyer says that based on Washington's careful use of language one can tell most people consider President Mubarak to be out of the political equation.

Israel express support for Egypt.

AlJazeeraEnglish | January 31, 2011 - Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel's ties with Egypt must be preserved

Egypt protesters increase pressure.

AlJazeeraEnglish | January 31, 2011 - Al Jazeera web producer reports that the army presence has decreased since Sunday. Thousands of protesters continue to demand the resignation of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, after 30 years of ruling the country.

The leader of al-Nahda, back in Tunisia

AlJazeeraEnglish | January 31, 2011 - The leader of al-Nahda, a previosuly banned party in Tunisia, is back in the country after 22 years in exile.Hundreds of people were at the main airport in Tunis to welcome Rachid Ghannouchi as he arrived from London on Sunday.

Al Jazeera's Hashem Ahelbarra reports from Tunis.






Wiki on al-Nahda

George Galloway - on Sky News about Egypt & the Middle East.

weegiebam | January 30, 2011 - George Galloway talks about the situation in Egypt and how it may affect other similar governments in the Arab world.

ElBaradei on CNN : Mubarak must leave

January 30, 2011 - ElBaradei the blue-eyed boy of Western Media on CNN.

Egypt spy chief made vice-president

AlJazeeraEnglish | January 29, 2011 - Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president, has for the first time during his three decades in power appointed a vice-president. The move came after days of violent protests in which tens of thousands have called for Mubarak's resignation.

But the appointment has done little to quell the unrest. The man now second-in-command is Omar Suleiman, the country's former spy chief, who has been working closely with Mubarak during most of his reign. The 75-year-old has been mediating in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and won the respect of both Washington and Israel.

Al Jazeera's Hoda Hamid portrays the military veteran whose nomination is seen is an attempt by Mubarak to retain international support.

Human Rights Calls for the Dismissal of the Minister of Interior and Senior Leadership of the Police

The Egyptian Centre for Economic and Social Rights demands the dismissal of the Minister of Interior and leaders of the police who issued and implemented decisions to fire on the demonstrators.

The Egyptian Centre for Economic and Social Rights demands the dismissal of the Minister of Interior and leaders of the police who issued and implemented decisions to fire on the demonstrators. They also called for bringing them to justice on charges of killing three people and injuring thousands.

The centre stressed that the use of force and killing demonstrators will not weaken their will, but will push them to continue their demands for justice, freedom and to prosecute the killers.

Tunisia Coup Inspires Unrest in Jordan

VOAvideo | January 27, 2011 - The popular uprising in Tunisia has also sent reverberations through the kingdom of Jordan, long seen as a model of stability in the Middle East. Demonstrations recently drew thousands to the streets and organizers say they are ready to keep up their protests if the government dominated by King Abdullah does not do enough to alleviate poverty, inflation, unemployment and corruption. VOA Correspondent Luis Ramirez has this report from the Jordanian capital, Amman.

Israeli's left Egypt in a hurry!

Special flight brings home diplomats' families from Cairo

photo by: Ariel Jero

Unrest in Egypt spurs Foreign Ministry to commission plane to evacuate some Israelis; No other country has moved to evacuate diplomats.

The Foreign Ministry on Saturday commissioned a special flight to bring home the families of diplomats stationed in Cairo amidst the anti-government protests taking place in Egypt.

In addition to the family members of the diplomats, some forty other Israelis who had been residing in Egypt were brought home on the flight for fear of their safety.

read more 

Audio Report From Cairo: Egyptian Protesters Renew Call For Mubarak to Resign.

Democracy Now | January 29, 2011

RUSH TRANSCRIPT

AHMAD SHOKR: After a day of unprecedented mass rallies that brought hundreds of thousands to the streets across Egypt the protestors on Saturday morning are renewing their calls for President Hosni Mubarak to step down. The government imposed a curfew just after sunset which was largely ignored of course Cairo is a big city of almost 20 million people so it is virtually impossible to enforce the curfew in the state of upheaval that the city was in last night. Battles with riot police continued late into the night. But it now seems that the police have retreated atleast in Cairo and there are still reports of violence and clashes with security in Ismailia further east. But in Cairo they seem to have retreated after being defeated by the protestors yesterday.

26 people were killed and more than 1,100 hurt during a "Day of Wrath" across Egypt :

Water cannon ... protesters are soaked by police

AT least 26 people were killed and more than 1,100 hurt during a "Day of Wrath" across Egypt as protesters and security forces clashed in an anti-government uprising.

In shocking scenes, armoured troop-carriers sped into huge crowds in the capital Cairo - while officers also unleashed teargas, rubber bullets and water cannon.

The clashes brought the total killed according to Egyptian medical officials to 38 and more than 2,000 wounded since the start of Friday as the country's president Hosni Mubarak refused to stand aside as demonstrations against his regime entered a FIFTH day today.

Some reports put the total death toll after a week of chaos at up to 74, including 10 policemen.

Protesters returned to the streets, pouring into Cairo's downtown Tahrir Square where they clashed with riot cops and threw stones while shouting "go away, go away".

The Sun UK | Read full story 

AJE : Anti-government rallies hit Yemen

Tens of thousands of people, inspired by events in Tunisia, protest in Sanaa to demand President Saleh's resignation.

Opposition supporters, inspired by recent events in Tunisia and Egypt, 

stage anti-government protests in Sanaa

Tens of thousands of people in Yemen have taken to the streets in the country's capital, calling for an end to the government of Ali Abdullah Saleh, the president.

AJE REPORTING : Fresh protests erupt in Egypt

Thousands stream out of mosques to protest against President Mubarak's 30-year rule, defying a government crackdown.

Protests have erupted in cities across Egypt following Friday midday prayers, with angry demonstrators demanding an end to Hosni Mubarak's 30-year presidency. Tens of thousands of protesters have taken to the streets across the country, witnesses have said. Al Jazeera's Rawya Rageh, reporting from the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria, said protesters streamed out of mosques shortly after prayers to chant slogans against Mubarak. Police responded immediately, firing tear gas to disperse the crowd. Alexandria is a stronghold of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's technically banned but largest political opposition group, but Rageh said the crowds in the city predominantly consisted of "ordinary citizens". "This is the same mosque where protests were held against police brutality in June after a 20-year-old man was beaten to death by police," she said. "It’s very symbolic that the current protests are taking place at the same place all over again." Protests were also reported in Suez, a port on the Red Sea east of Cairo, and in the Nile Delta cities of Mansoura and Sharqiya, witnesses said. Clashes between protesters and police erupted outside a mosque in Cairo. Protesters reportedly threw stones and dirt at the police after security forces confronted them. They held up posters saying "No to dictatorship" and stamped on posters of Mubarak. Friday marked the fourth consecutive day of protests in the Middle East's most populous nation coming on the heels of a social uprising in nearby Tunisia that ousted that country's president of 23 years. Mohamed ElBaradei (pic above), the former head of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog and an opposition leader in Egypt, returned to the country on Thursday night after telling reporters he was ready to lead a "transition" if asked. On Friday, he prayed with thousands of worshippers at a mosque in Cairo and had reportedly been prevented from moving freely by security forces.

Inside Story - Is Mubarak's rule threatened?

AlJazeeraEnglish | January 27, 2011 - After a day of mass protests in Egypt, the government has banned any futher demonstrations. It's also warning protesters they will be prosecuted if rallies continue.

The clamp-down comes after a wave of protests swept through Egypt leaving at least four dead. Protesters are demanding an end to president Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule.

But how different are these demonstrations from previous ones? How worried should Mubarak be? And is it that easy to unsettle him?

Hisham: Cops probing Anwar's 'terror links'

malaysiakini | January 28, 2011 - Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said that he has issued an order for the police to investigate PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim's alleged links with international terrorists.

He claims that a report by CNN had implicated Anwar in having links with terrorist groups. He however admits that he had yet to read the report.

Twitter and web video site face clampdown in Egypt

Riot police used water cannons to disperse demonstrators

Continue reading the main story

Egypt appears to have clamped down on web services, such as Twitter, that have been used to help organise anti-government protests in Cairo.

Twitter confirmed that its service has been blocked in Egypt on Tuesday from around 1600GMT.

A Swedish mobile video site called Bambuser also reported that it had been blocked around the same time.

However, the Facebook page used to co-ordinate many of the protests has remained online.

Facebook has not said whether it has implemented any technical measures to keep the site up and running but a spokesperson said that it was "seeing consistent levels of traffic".

BBC News - 26 January 2011 | Read Full Report 

Ben Ali: Tunisia issues arrest warrant for ex-leader

Protesters accuse Mr Ben Ali of enriching himself and his family during his years in power

Continue reading the main story

Tunisia has issued an international arrest warrant for ousted President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and his family, the nation's justice minister has said.

Lazhar Karoui Chebbi said Tunisia had asked Interpol to detain Mr Ben Ali, who fled to Saudi Arabia earlier this month amid mass street protests.

Mr Chebbi said Mr Ben Ali should be tried for property theft and transferring foreign currency.

He was speaking as anti-government protests continued in the country.

In the capital Tunis, some of the protesters reportedly tried to breach barricades around the main government compound, and police responded by firing tear gas.

Mr Chebbi said Mr Ben Ali, his wife Leila, and other family members were being being sought for "illegal acquisition" of assets and "illicit transfers of funds abroad.

BBC news - 26 January 2011 | Read Full Post

Berri: Mikati to form National Salvation, not Unity government.

JANUARY 25, 2011  | Ya Libnan

(SUNNI) Mikati & (MARONITE) SULEIMAN

Sources close to Speaker Nabih Berri said that Amal Movement and Hezbollah held urgent contacts and agreed to leave things to the Army and not to confront supporters of the Future Movement.

Berri reportedly questioned all the fuss over nominating former PM Najib Mikati and wondered what would have happened if former PM Omar Karami was nominated instead.

Berri revealed that Mikati once officially designated will form a national salvation government instead of a national unity government, after the announcement of the Future Movement and the March 14 that they will refuse to join any government that is not headed by Hariri .

HEZBOLLAH - will face the wrath of America & Saudi?

PREVIOUS NEWS :

Consultations will be held Monday and Tuesday at the Baabda Presidential Palace as March 14 MPs are set to nominate caretaker PM Saad Hariri for the post, while the opposition will nominate another Muslim Sunni figure. Opposition MPs will agree on one of the three strong candidates: Former PM Omar Karameh, Former PM Najib Mikati, and former Minister Mohamad Safadi.

RussiaToday | January 25, 2011 - A Hezbollah backed Sunni candidate Najib Mikati has amassed the necessary support to become Lebanon's next Prime Minister. The news was met with fierce opposition in the mainly Sunni north, where demonstrators burned tires and attacked vehicles belonging to media outlets. The protesters accuse Hezbollah, which Israel & America view as an Iranian proxy, of staging a coup. The U.S. has voiced its displeasure with the events, and threatened to withdraw its support for the country.

Egypt police fire tear gas as rioting erupts in Cairo.

RussiaToday | January 25, 2011 - Thousands of anti-government protesters, some hurling rocks and climbing on top of an armoured police truck, clashed with riot police on Tuesday in the centre of Cairo in a Tunisia-inspired demonstration to demand the end of Hosni Mubarak's nearly 30 years in power. Police responded with blasts from a water cannon and set upon crowds with batons and acrid clouds of tear gas to clear demonstrators who chanted "Down with Mubarak", and as they demanded an end to the country's grinding poverty.