tagged w/ Jan25
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The final results in Egypt's first post-Mubarak parliamentary elections confirm an overwhelming victory for Islamist parties.
The Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) won the largest number of seats under Egypt's complex electoral system.
The hardline Salafist Nour party came second.
The liberal New Wafd and the secular Egyptian Bloc coalition are some way behind them.
Egyptians voted in three phases over a six-week period to elect the 498 members of the People's Assembly. Ten further members are appointed by the ruling military.
Under the country's system, two-thirds of the seats are allocated to party list candidates, and the remaining third are voted for directly.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-16665748The final results in Egypt's first post-Mubarak parliamentary elections confirm... more
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It's been more than a month since Hosni Mubarak stepped down as president of Egypt as a result of a popular uprising, the likes of which Egypt had never experienced.
In such a short time, we've seen many things change, while others either stayed the same or appeared to be 'counter-revolutionary' to the democratic principles demanded by the majority of the population. Largely fueled by internet savvy youth, the Egyptian revolution went from Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to Cairo's Tahrir Square, which became symbolic of the movement, to rid the country of a dictatorship. Demonstrations were also staged in other cities, however, the capital's liberation square earned its status.
As rule of the country was put into the hands of the Egyptian army, long considered to be widely respected by all Egyptian citizens, changes began to be implemented to improve constitutional law. One of the disturbing aspects of rulings is the short window of opportunity which exists between now and anticipated presidential elections in September. The groups who stand to gain most from this are those who are already established: the Muslim Brotherhood, a fundamental Islamist group, and whatever remains of the NDP, Mubarak's former party. Some candidates have thrown their names into the ring, but none appear to enjoy broad support: Arab League President Amr Moussa, former IAEA Chief Mohammed ElBaradei and Ayman Nour of el Gahd Party, who was recently released from prison.
Tarek Heggy on the other hand, is a horse of another different color. And his credentials are so interesting, that he managed to be interviewed by Israel's Jerusalem Post earlier this week. Mr. Heggy is first and foremost an intellectual who believes in the separation of church and state. He is not a politician in the way of those who are currently jockeying for position, but his career as a law professor, and subsequently as the first non-European CEO to head a multinational company for a period of eight years gives him a solid background.It's been more than a month since Hosni Mubarak stepped down as president of... more
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"It is easer for a Camel to go through the eye of a needle, that it is for a Rich Man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven." Or, maybe you just need to buy a bigger needle?
It's official: as Egypt was burning, Mubarak was stealing the gold. When we reported, presumably jokingly, two weeks ago that the Egyptian Central Bank may have been plundered, it turns out we were pretty much accurate once again. For all those wondering why Mubarak was refusing to hand over power for the past two weeks as hundreds of people were dying, we now have the answer - it was all just to make sure he transferred his assets, especially gold, to safe regimes (in the process paying tens of millions in commissions to that most noble of jobs - the banker class). The Telegraph reports: "A US official told The Sunday Telegraph: "Hosni Mubarak used the 18 days it took for protesters to topple him to shift his vast wealth into untraceable accounts overseas, Western intelligence sources have said...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 Mubaraks are understood to have wanted to shift assets to Gulf states where they have considerable investments already – and, crucially, friendly relations. The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have frequently been mentioned as likely final destinations for Mr Mubarak and possibly his family."As usual, we remind readers that according to the World Gold Council, Egypt had 75.6 tonnes of gold at the end of 2010. Should this number not be reduced following Mubarak's plundering, we will know just how pervasive Tungsten is in the world central banking cartel.
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From Telegraph: ---
The former Egyptian president is accused of amassing a fortune of more than £3 billion - although some suggest it could be as much as £40 billion - during his 30 years in power. It is claimed his wealth was tied up in foreign banks, investments, bullion and properties in London, New York, Paris and Beverly Hills.
In the knowledge his downfall was imminent, Mr Mubarak is understood to have attempted to place his assets out of reach of potential investigators.
On Friday night Swiss authorities announced they were freezing any assets Mubarak and his family may hold in the country's banks while pressure was growing for the UK to do the same. Mr Mubarak has strong connections to London and it is thought many millions of pounds are stashed in the UK.
But a senior Western intelligence source claimed that Mubarak had begun moving his fortune in recent weeks.
"We're aware of some urgent conversations within the Mubarak family about how to save these assets," said the 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."
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Perhaps Goldman Sachs can take a proactive PR step and disclose to the population that the flow trade-frontrunning hedge fund had nothing to do with facilitating the transfer of Mubarak's billions in stolen wealth from point A to point B. And perhaps all other banks can follow suit. Either that, or we can all just wait for Mubarak's sworn deposition when he is put on trial for crimes against the Egyptian people some time in 1-2 months. Doing text searches for "Goldman" in those thousand page PDFs will be breeze...
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/egypt/8320912/Egypt-Hosni-Mubarak-used-last-18-days-in-power-to-secure-his-fortune.html
Story By: Philip Sherwell, in New York, Robert Mendick, and Nick Meo in Cairo
Shadowy Cabal: Tyler Durden
Illustration & Art Work: Gérard Angé"It is easer for a Camel to go through the eye of a needle, that it is for a... more
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Women who have been joining the Egyptian protests to oust Mubarak minimize the risk that the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood could dominate a future government. If the revolution succeeds, they look forward to playing a part in the transition.
For Egyptian women in the March of a Million and other street protests to oust authoritarian President Hosni Mubarak, the sometimes deadly demonstrations have been a show of force.
"Women are key actors in this historical moment of Egypt," Mozn Hassan, executive director of the Cairo-based Nazra for Feminist Studies, wrote Women's eNews at 5 p.m. on Feb. 2, moments after the Egyptian army fired warning shots in Cairo in a bid to break up violent clashes. "Women are giving a statement that they are working closely with men to change Egypt."
Twitter has played a key role in helping demonstrators spread the word. Google Inc., the Mountain View, Calif.-based Internet services company partnered with Twitter, the real-time microblogging platform, according to press reports.
On Feb. 1 the two providers of Web-based communication launched a phone-to-tweet platform to help protestors work around the government's tightening grip on media and cell phone communications.
The protest movement--powered by a mix of Islamists and pro-democracy activists from across the political spectrum–demands regime change and has rejected Mubarak's bid to remain in office until the conclusion of his term in September.
While protesters have not produced a detailed agenda for the post-Mubarak era, Western and Israeli leaders have expressed concern over the potential role of an empowered Muslim Brotherhood, linking it to Iran's theocracy and a loss of women's rights.
The Muslim Brotherhood, an international Islamist movement and the best organized opposition to Mubarak's regime, is formally banned in Egypt but some of its members, including women, have participated in local elections, running as independents.
Azza Soliman, at the Center for Egyptian Women Legal Assistance, is one of many activists underscoring the interreligious and national character of Egypt's unrelenting pro-democracy rallies.
"I want you to know that during the past demonstrations not once has there been an Islamic slogan," she said in a Feb. 2 email. "None of the opposition leaders would attribute this revolution to himself as we witness a popular uprising by the youth of Egypt, which are regular citizens oppressed by Mubarak's regime for 30 years."
Soliman added the movement's leadership is aware and confident in putting together a national coalition to reform the Egyptian constitution and uphold the principles of citizenship and establish a civil state in Egypt.
Women's stance at Tahrir (Liberation) Square in central Cairo and their presence in protests across the country is also making an online splash. Women of Egypt, a Facebook group, created a photo gallery to document women's role at the historic hour.
Read the full story at Women's eNews http://www.womensenews.org/story/the-world/110203/egyptian-women-lay-claim-revolutionary-roleWomen who have been joining the Egyptian protests to oust Mubarak minimize the risk... more
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Cairo, Egypt, 4th February 2011:
The violent assaults on TV journalists in Egypt are forcing some to pull out of the country. Many have been harassed, punched and some nearly killed.
TV2's Rasmus Tantholdt Yesterday one of the worst attacks took place against TV2 Denmark’s correspondent Rasmus Tantholdt and cameraman, Anders Bach.
TV2’s managing editor, Hans Peter Blicher, told TVZ what happened: “They were coming by car from the south to Alexandria. There was a huge crowd of people who stopped their car who had the feeling they were reporters. The people were very angry and started banging on the car with sticks and knives and broke the windows, trying to pull our correspondent out of the car by his hair. He shouted to the driver, ‘Drive! Drive!’ “
“The driver started the car and some of the crowd were thrown off and it became a very violent situation. But what happened next was the worst thing because 100 metres ahead was a road block and the crowd became even more angry attacking the car with everything and totally destroyed it. The crew were in no doubt for a second that they were going to be killed. But then three military people came and began shooting in the air to clear the crowd. They then escorted our people to a hotel.”
Hans Peter added, “This is our correspondent who has been to places like Afghanistan, Iraq – he is very experienced. He said this was the worst thing he had ever experienced. He was sure they were going to be killed.”
The crew are now back home.
They were not the only TV2 journalists to be attacked. Correspondent Steffen Jensen was set upon yesterday by pro-Mubarak supporters with clubs while reporting live on the phone from Cairo. He said, "I refused to give my phone and my passport to them and some of them grabbed my camera and my backpack and started giving me beatings with fists and clubs."
RTSI's Gianluca Grossi Another journalist who left Egypt yesterday is Gianluca Grossi, a journalist working for RTSI in Switzerland. He flew out of the country last night after being stopped by a crowd while in a taxi. He told TVZ, “I was harassed by a group of people who were apparently supporting the pro-Mubarak camp. Only the arrival of the army allowed me to continue safely. The army officer told me to hide my bag [containing TV gear] with a blanket because if they find out you’re a journalist, they’ll kill you.”
He said, “I think in Cairo there is a group of people who are hunting journalists. I consider the danger very high because of this. There is no safe place to go; even the hotels are not safe. I saw one Greek journalist coming back to the hotel with a big wound to his head. I saw another middle-aged, blonde, European journalist being taken away by people from the pro-Mubarak camp. I don’t know what happened to him. There is no police to turn to.”
Gianluca added, “I always follow my instinct and this time my instinct told me I had to leave. I spoke this morning with a Western diplomatic source and they told me that many journalists are on their way to the airport. Many times you have a problem as a journalist in a conflict area but you don’t feel the people want you out; in Cairo you feel they want you out.”
TRT journalist Metin Puran was also the victim of an attack yesterday. TRT’s Foreign Newsdesk editor, Burcu Altinyeleklioglu, told TVZ Metin was punched by a group of people he thought to be pro-Mubarak supporters. He was rescued by an army officer but only after the crowd “took his cellphones and camera, his wallet, his IDs, his money, everything.”
Burcu added, “He was shocked and frightened but he was on air just after the incident. He himself became the news.”
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http://www.tvz.tv/?c=messages&s=more&id=4216Cairo, Egypt, 4th February 2011:
The violent assaults on TV journalists in... more
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I tricked my employer so I could attend the protests in Egypt. I am not a traitor. I don't need anything from anyone.
I am not a hero. I was only used the keyboard, the real heroes are the ones on the ground. Those I can't name. This is the season where people use the word traitor against each other. I wasn't abused, I was jailed, kidnapped. I met some really intellectual people in jail, they actually thought that we were traitors, working for others. If I was a traitor I would have stayed by the swimming pool in my house in the UAE. What are called the "facebook youth" went out in their tens of thousands on January 25th, talk to them. This is the era where people who have good intentions are considered traitors.
My wife was going to divorce me because I didn't spend time with her, and now they call me a traitor. I spent all my time on the computer working for my country. I wasn't optimistic on the 25th but now I can't believe it. Thanks to everyone who tried to get me out of jail. It's Haram (sinful, not right) for my father to lose his sight in one eye and now is at risk of losing it in the other. I kept thinking "are people thinking of me?" I was wondering if my family knew where I was, my wife, dad, mother.
I am proud of what I did. This is not the time to settle scores. Although I have people I want to settle scores with myself. This is not the time to split the pie & enforce ideologies. The secret to the success of the facebook page was use of surveys.
I met with the Minister of Interior today. He was sat like any other citizen. He spoke to me like an equal. I respected that. The youth on the streets made Dr Hossam Badrawi (General Secretary of NDP) drive me to my house today. They transfered me to state security, it's a kidnapping. On Thursday night, at 1am I was with a friend, a colleague from work. I was taking a taxi, suddenly four people surrounded the car, I yelled "Help me, Help me" I was blindfolded then taken away. I will say this as it is: nothing justifies kidnapping, you can arrest me by the law, I am not a drug dealer or terrorist.
Inside I met people who loved Egypt (State Security people) but their methods & mine are not the same. I pay these guys salaries from my taxes, I have the right to ask the ministers where my money is going, this is our country. I believe that if things get better those (good state security people he met) will serve Egypt well. Don't stand in our way, we are going to serve Egypt. I saw a film director get slapped, they told him "You will die here" Why?
Now they want to have an agreement with me when they are in a position of weakness. I am not a hero, I am a normal person. What happened to me was a crime but I still thank those who tried to got me out, I am an educated person, I have a family. Badrawi told me we took all the bad people out from the NDP. I told him I don't want to see the logo of the NDP ever again. The NDP is got this country to where it is. You can create a new party. It looks like I might be kidnapped again after this.
There were 300 fake registrations on my facebook page, all negative comments, about how we were allegedly being paid. I was the admin of the page but others paid for it. We are dreamers (says it in English). There was no Muslim Brotherhood presence in organising these protests, it was all spontaneous, voluntary. Even when the Muslim Brotherhood decided to take part it was their choice to do so. This belongs to Egyptian youth.
Please everyone, enough rumours. Enough.
I told the Interior Minister - I was upset - I told him I will go in the car with Hossam Badrawi but without an NDP logo. I told them we don't want any NDP logo on the streets. I cried when I heard that there are people who died, officers and protesters, this is my country.
I was chatting with Ahmad Maher of 6th of April Youth Movement about the Jan 25 protests but he didn't know who I was. My wife is an American, I can apply for US citizenship but I didn't, not even the lottery. Many people want to leave though. We have to restore dignity to all Egyptians. We have to end corruption. No more theft. Egyptians are good people. We are a beautiful people. Please everybody, this is not a time to settle scores, this is a time to build our country.
I can't claim I know what happened when I was inside. I didn't know anything until one day before I left. The interrogators wanted to know if outsiders were involved. I convinced them this was a purely Egyptian movement. The treatment was very good, they knew I was a good Egyptian. I was blindfolded for 12 days, I didn't see their faces. They wanted details, information. "Are the people who planned this outsiders?" We didn't do anything wrong, this was an appeal.
I wrote an appeal to the president Egypt on Jan 25. I told the Minister of Interior we have two problems 1- We don't talk to each other, this must be solved, 2- There is no trust. I told the Interior Minister if I stripped naked & told people that I was beaten even without marks they would believe me. The Egyptian State TV channels didn't portray the truth, that is why people watch the private channels now.
There were several men in the room with me & the Minister of Interior. I asked him if I can speak about this he said as u wish. Everyone asked me "How did you do this?" The Interior Minister told me he was only a minister for 8 days. I was told that people died, one day before I was released.
( They are showing pictures of young people who died during the protests. Wael breaks down crying. Screenshot:
Wael @Ghonim's last words: I want to tell families who lost their sons this is not our fault. This is the fault of those clinging to power.
Many thanks to @SultanAlQassemi, a columnist for The National, based in the UAE, and prolific reporter on the #jan25 movement in #egypt
GO TO STORY: http://www.tweetdeck.com/twitter/exiledsurfer/~Ab8xxI tricked my employer so I could attend the protests in Egypt. I am not a traitor. I... more
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