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Cairo (CNN) -- Egypt imposed an overnight curfew in Cairo's central Abbasiya district on Saturday after deadly clashes between protesters and security forces consumed the area the day before. One person died and more than 300 were injured Friday when clashes broke out in Cairo as protests against the country's military government turned violent, state media reported. Video from the scene showed some protesters throwing rocks at security forces, and the security forces spraying water cannons at the demonstrators, who were protesting near the country's Defense Ministry. One person was killed and 373 were injured in the clashes in the...

Egyptian armed forces and protesters clashed in Cairo on Friday, with troops firing water cannons and tear gas at demonstrators who threw stones as they tried to march on the Defense Ministry, a flashpoint for a new cycle of violence only weeks ahead of presidential elections. For the first time in Egypt's stormy transition, hardline Islamists were in the forefront of street fighting with the troops, a shift for groups that previously had largely stayed out of direct confrontation with the ruling military. The clashes centered around a sit-in that has been held for a week in a square several...

At least two people have been killed, one of whom was a soldier, in clashes between antimilitary protesters and soldiers in Cairo following skirmishes outside the defence ministry, according to hospital officials. Almost 300 people were also hurt in the clashes, which took place three weeks ahead of presidential elections, according to the official MENA news agency. The Egyptian army also arrested 170 people. On the day Egypt's ousted leader Hosni Mubarak turned 84, hardline Islamists were in the forefront of street fighting with the troops for the first time, a shift for groups that previously had largely stayed out...

16,000 officers deployed across capital • Shops and businesses close early • Ealing resident critically ill after clash with rioters... Reader's Riot Photos-criminal subculture to blame

The Arab freedom wave has now hit the shores of Europe and in the most unlikely of places: the Balkans. Croatia, an Adriatic nation that straddles the civilizational fault line between Central Europe and the Balkans, has been seething with public unrest and protests. For weeks, thousands of demonstrators have been assembling almost daily in the capital, Zagreb, and across other cities in this country of 4.4 million. They are demanding that the government step down and call snap elections. The situation is volatile - and could turn violent. The protests should come as no surprise. Croatia is on the...

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egyptian youth leaders moved to set up a new political party on Thursday as the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood played an increasingly important role in preparing for post-Mubarak elections promised within six months. Pro-democracy leaders plan to bring one million people out on the streets for a "Victory March" on Friday to celebrate Mubarak's ouster, and perhaps remind the generals now in charge of the power of the street that ended Hosni Mubarak's rule. Inspired by Egypt, and a Tunisian revolt before that, protesters have taken to the streets across the Middle East and North Africa. Bahrain has...

"President Obama is one of the least experienced men in terms of foreign policy to ever occupy the White House and yet he has advisers around him who are frankly, second, if not third-rate and you just can't do that. It's far too risky, it's far too dangerous of a world and some of us said this when he ran for election that it was a huge risk to put somebody of that kind of inexperience into the position like Commander-in-Chief of the United States. And what we saw unfold in Egypt reveals the truth of that segment," Professor Niall...

In a piece from this week's Newsweek, Niall Ferguson, the Laurence A. Tisch Professor of History at Harvard University and William Ziegler Professor at Harvard Business School, totally destroys the fallacy on going that the Obama Administration's policy toward Egypt during this recent crisis was purely successful. He writes:

Egyptian Vice President Omar Suleiman has ticked off the Obama administration, but the White House is sticking to its position that he's in charge of the transition to a new government that it won't determine. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs made it clear at his daily briefing for reporters that the administration strongly disagrees with Suleiman's contention that Egypt isn't ready for democracy, calling them "particularly unhelpful comments." In the language of diplomacy, that's a major slam. In case anyone doubted what that meant, Gibbs declared: "I speak for the president of the United States."

Egypt is in the grip of revolutionary violence. The longstanding regime of Hosni Mubarak may be overthrown. If this happens, the consequences will be far-reaching. Egypt has the largest population and the strongest military in the Arab world. If a revolutionary Jihadist regime takes power in Egypt, then Saudi Arabia and the Gulf emirates will probably not survive. In that event, the oil-rich Persian Gulf will fall into the hands of radicals who are likely to use oil as a weapon against Europe, Japan and America. Following the pattern of other revolutionary regimes, the radicals will realign their respective countries...

Multi-billionaire George Soros has been using his vast wealth at least since 1984 to “build vibrant and tolerant democracies whose governments are accountable to their citizens”, in his words. He has been “credited” or, more accurately, blamed for providing funding for several revolutions in which his preferred people took power. If you are a leftist, of course you might consider this to be a good thing as the groups Soros funds to do his dirty work are invariably leftist, including an enormous chunk of the radical Left here in America. Here are the top 5 revolutions, some ongoing, which have...

The Obama administration said for the first time that it supports a role for groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood, a banned Islamist organization, in a reformed Egyptian government. The organization must reject violence and recognize democratic goals if the U.S. is to be comfortable with it taking part in the government, the White House said. But by even setting conditions for the involvement of such nonsecular groups, the administration took a surprise step in the midst of the crisis that has enveloped Egypt for the last week. [....] Gibbs' remarks came after a White House meeting at which administration...

<p>Washington - The White House says the Obama administration has had no contact with the Muslim Brotherhood, the deeply conservative Islamic organization that constitutes the biggest organized opposition group in Egypt. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters Monday that before dealing with opposition groups the administration would want assurances that they adhere to the law, that they are non-violent and that they are willing to be part of a democratic process. Gibbs said there would be no contact with the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt unless those assurances were offered.</p>

Tighe Barry, left, and Medea Benjamin of Code Pink protest in Washington, D.C. On the heels of a Big Government article asking whether the Muslim Brotherhood and other anti-Mubarak organizations in Egypt have been learning their tactics from Obama allies Bill Ayers and Code Pink (as a result of connections made in Egypt one year ago) comes news that Code Pink is in Cairo and is involved in the protests. An audio file of a phone call by leftist activist David Swanson that day to Code Pink agitator Tighe Barry in Cairo was posted late Friday. Barry, in Egypt...

Obama is openly calling for the downfall of a 60-year-old regime that has been allied with the U.S. for about 40 years in the most important country in the Arab world. What could go wrong? “The world has gone mad today, and good’s bad today.�— Cole Porter, “Anything Goes�Mad indeed. But let’s limit ourselves to two points.First, the White House is now calling for a smooth transition in Egypt. In other words, after one week of not-so-gigantic demonstrations, President Barack Obama is openly calling for the downfall of a 60-year-old regime that has been allied with the United States for...

The Muslim Brotherhood, partner of the Nazis and enemy of infidel freedom, is now in possession of all American embassy communications to Egypt. There is no longer any American supremacy in the war for freedom based on intelligence. This is an Alinsky/Mohammad Red Alert. Prepare.

Even Islamists have to eat. It is unclear whether President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt will survive, or whether his nationalist regime will be replaced by an Islamist, democratic, or authoritarian state. What is certain is that it will be a failed state. Amid the speculation about the shape of Arab politics to come, a handful of observers, for example economist Nourel Roubini, have pointed to the obvious: Wheat prices have almost doubled in the past year. Egypt is the world's largest wheat importer, beholden to foreign providers for nearly half its total food consumption. Half of Egyptians live on less...

Posted by Gail the Actuary on January 29, 2011 - 6:15pm Topic: Economics/Finance Tags: egypt, food subsidies, fuel subsidies, natural gas exports, oil exports [list all tags] We have all been reading about Egypt in the newspapers, and wonder what is behind their problems. Let me offer a few insights. At least part of Egypt’s problem is the fact that in the past the government has threatened to reduce food subsidies. Now it is planning to hold food subsidies level and raise energy subsidies, but it is not clear that the dollar amount of subsidy will be enough. The government...

An Obama administration official, speaking anonymously to the Washington Post, said the administration is open to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood being in the government of Egypt that will likely replace the rule of Hosni Mubarak:The official said that while the administration was concerned about "some elements" of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood and other non-secular groups participating in the demonstrations, it was "not ruling out their legitimacy" and place in a future government. Obama was aware that the Muslim Brotherhood and others were in the audience when he spoke of "a new beginning" in a 2009 speech in Cairo that was...

“Spontaneous” demonstrations of thousands of youths pouring out into the streets with such force as to compel the flight of a long-time president… To which country are we alluding: Georgia, Serbia, Myanmar,[1] Ukraine, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Iran, Hungary…? This time it is Tunisia. All of these “revolts” followed the same pattern. Already the Tunisian revolt is being called a “color revolution” by media and political pundits, and it has also been provided with a name; the “Jasmine Revolution,”[2] like the abortive “Green” and “Saffron” Revolutions, and the successful Velvet, Rose, Orange, and Tulip Revolutions, etc. These “color revolutions” all have a...

Welcome to the new reality of cold, hard choices in Egypt, and the consequences of democracy in regions where radicalism thrives. In order to stay ahead of the crisis in Egypt, the Obama administration yesterday signaled that it supports the participation of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egyptian politics as long as they renounce violence and commit to democracy: The Obama administration said for the first time that it supports a role for groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood, a banned Islamist organization, in a reformed Egyptian government. The organization must reject violence and recognize democratic goals if the U.S. is...

"For all the lack of clarity on where the Obama administration stands, one thing is becoming more and more clear: Signs are beginning to point more toward the likelihood that President Obama’s State Department, unions, as well as Left-leaning media corporations are more directly involved in helping to ignite the Mid-East turmoil than they are publicly admitting" (snip) "Among the panelists that spoke at the 2008 summit were Sam Graham-Felson, Director of Blogging and Blog Outreach for 2008 Obama Campaign, Scott Goodstein, External Online Director for Obama for America, Joe Rospars, New Media Director Barack Obama 2008 Presidential Campaign, as...

The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest opposition group,is in talks with other anti-government figures to form a national unity government without President Hosni Mubarak, a group official told DPA on Sunday. Gamal Nasser, a spokesman for the Brotherhood, told DPA that his group was in talks with Mohammed ElBaradei - the former UN nuclear watchdog chief - to form a national unity government without the National Democratic Party of Mubarak. Nasser said his group would not accept any new government with Mubarak. On Saturday the Brotherhood called on President Mubarak to relinquish power in a peaceful manner following the resignation of...

On Saturday, Senator John Kerry (D-MA) called on Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to listen and respond to the needs of the Egyptian people. "The key here is for President Mubarak to respond to the needs of his people in a way that is more directly connected to their frustrations," the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee told The Associated Press Saturday on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum. "I think he's got to speak more to the real issues that people feel," Kerry added. "Dismissing the government doesn't speak to some of those challenges." Kerry continued: "It is...

As soon as I’d heard about the events in Tunisia, I hopped over to the English-language website of the Ikhwan, or the Muslim Brotherhood. [One of the delights of tracking the Brotherhood in America and internationally is the differences between their very friendly-looking web presence for gullible Westerners, the English Ikhwanweb, and the more militant and honest site in Arabic, Ikhwanonline. Just a comparison of their banner images-- the crossed swords in Arabic, vs. the girl with a 'freedom' banner in English-- tells you a story of deception. See for yourselves.]When I learned that the Muslim Brotherhood was four-square behind...

“Arab Street’s” overwhelming animosity towards Israel causes the pragmatists to argue that Israel’s best play is to cut deals with Arab dictators. Talkbacks (8)   Today, the Egyptian regime faces its gravest threat since Anwar Sadat’s assassination 30 years ago. As protesters take to the street for the third day in a row demanding the overthrow of 82-year-old President Hosni Mubarak, it is worth considering the possible alternatives to his regime. On Thursday afternoon, presidential hopeful Mohamed El Baradei, the former head of the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency, returned to Egypt from Vienna to participate in anti-regime demonstrations. As...

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Ms. Jacobs (missed her first name), speaking on CNN said that the U.S. government is chartering planes to evacuate Americans from Egypt, with the first flights scheduled to depart on Monday.Jacobs urged those with tickets for commercial flights out of Egypt to use those tickets. She also said the State Dept. was bringing in more consular officials to help Americans in Egypt.Jacobs asked people to not go to the airport yet. She said details would be announced later today.Jacobs did not say anything about whether the U.S. embassy and consular offices would also be evacuated.

Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood leader: "Obama must understand that the people have woken up and are ready to unseat the tyrant leaders who remained in power because of U.S. backing" Hammam Saeed, like Sheikh Qaradawi and others, apparently believes that if the people in Arab Muslim countries express their general will, Sharia states -- which the Brotherhood is dedicated to establishing -- will result. "Jordan's opposition: Arabs will topple tyrants," by Jamal Halaby for AP, January 29: AMMAN, Jordan (AP) - The leader of Jordan's powerful Muslim Brotherhood warned Saturday that unrest in Egypt will spread across the Mideast and Arabs...

TUNIS, Tunisia — The leader of a long-outlawed Tunisian Islamist party was welcomed at the airport by thousands of cheering supporters on Sunday as he returned to his homeland after more than two decades in exile. Rachid Ghanouchi and about 70 other exiled members of Ennahdha, or Renaissance, flew home from Britain two weeks after autocratic President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was forced from power by violent protests. Ghanouchi took up a megaphone to address the crowd outside the airport, but his voice was drowned out by shrill ululating cries and shouts of "God is great!" ... The new...

Egyptian opposition leader Mohammed Elbaradei joined protesters in Cairo's Tahrir square on Saturday, hub of anti-Mubarak protest, Reuters witness.

The following is a report from a STRATFOR source in Hamas. Hamas, which formed in Gaza as an outgrowth of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood (MB), has an interest in exaggerating its role and coordination with the MB in this crisis. The following information has not been confirmed. Nonetheless, there is a great deal of concern building in Israel and the United States in particular over the role of the MB in the demonstrations and whether a political opening will be made for the Islamist organization in Egypt. The Egyptian police are no longer patrolling the Rafah border crossing into Gaza....

CAIRO – Gangs of armed men attacked at least four jails across Egypt before dawn Sunday, helping to free hundreds of Muslim militants and thousands of other inmates as police vanished from the streets of Cairo and other cities. The U.S. Embassy in Cairo told its citizens in Egypt to consider leaving the country as soon as possible, and said it had authorized the voluntary departure of dependents and non-emergency employees, a display of Washington's escalating concern about the stability of its closest Arab ally.

Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI) represents one of the largest Egyptian-American populations in America. "We do not want history to record that we had a failed democratic revolution within our enemy Iran, and a succesful revolution within our ally Egypt that led to consequences for our national security.

Among the 'demands' listed: 3. "immediate release of all political prisoners and detainees." 5. "establish a National Commission of inquiry, truth in proceedings use unjustified violence against demonstrators, causing dozens of dead and wounded hundreds and thousands of detainees."

More than 100,000 Egyptians from all walks of life gathered on Saturday at the central square in Cairo, as military officers stationed in the area embraced the protesters, chanting "the army and the people are one – hand in hand." The military officers removed their helmets as they were hoisted up by the crowd in ecstasy. The masses gathered at the square singing, praying and chanting that they will not cease their protest until Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak resigns.

Egypt's shutdown of the Internet within its borders is an action unlike any other in the history of the World Wide Web and it might have only taken a few phone calls to do it. "It's something I've never seen; it's totally unprecedented," said James Cowie, the co-founder and chief technology officer of Renesys, an IT company in New Hampshire that helps Internet service providers monitor the security of Web networks and infrastructure. "Over a period a period of about 20 minutes, it's as if each of the primary service providers started pulling the routes that lead to them. It...

Egypt’s sealing off the country from the rest of the internet has provoked a series of low-tech initiatives aimed at allowing at least some sort of connection. Yesterday a small French ISP, NDF opened up a dial-up line to allow access to anyone with a modem. The international dial-up numbers only work for people with access to a telephone modem and an international calling service, which not all Egyptians have. However, an Egyptian couple have published a comprehensive guide on how to use the mobile phone network to connect to international dial up internet providers. “In a nutshell we need...

Has anyone else noticed, amid the continuous coverage of the unfolding events in Egypt, that there is hardly any coveage/discussion as to what to do about the Suez Canal?There is more talk/concern about the Pyramids and the Nation Museum than the implication of the Canal being either temporarily closed or, worse, if Egypt does end up, as some have surmised, like another Iran, under the control of a radical Muslim regime. Scary, eh? So what to do..

Al-Jazeera: Mubarak's sons left Egypt. Intelligence Chief Suleiman appointed deputy president Drama grows in Egypt: President Hosni Mubarak's two sons arrived in London with their families, al-Jazeera reported Saturday, as the mayhem in Egypt continued rage out of control. The report is based on sources in London's Egyptian community. According to unconfirmed reports, Mubarak's wife, Suzanne, has also left to London, the Qatar- based network said. However, Egypt's television issued an official denial of the story and according to other reports Mubarak's family is still in Cairo. Egypt Upheavel Protesters return to Cairo's streets / Associated Press Anti-government protesters hit...

Omar Suleiman assumes position vacant for 30 years after cabinet forced to resign, while Muslim Brotherhood demands transfer of power.Embattled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak appointed his intelligence chief Omar Suleiman as his Vice-President in efforts to stem popular rage against his autocratic regime. Egyptian state television reports that Suleiman has already been sworn into office.The Muslim Brotherhood, the largest opposition movement in Egypt called for Mubarak to relinquish power in a peaceful manner.Suleiman is the first vice-president of Egypt to be appointed since Mubarak first took power almost thirty years ago.

Thousands of Egyptian protesters stormed the main police station Friday in the port city of Suez, overwhelming security authorities and raising an even bigger challenge to the embattled regime of President Hosni Mubarak. The protesters freed prisoners from the city jail and destroyed armored police vehicles, then sacked the building and looted its contents. The demonstrators emerged from Friday prayers at mosques in Suez and confronted police officers outside the station. Police fired at the demonstrators, who then surged forward to take over the station. The protesters dragged fleeing riot officers off their motorbikes and seized their batons and equipment....

CBS Radio news is now reporting that the staff of the Israeli Embassy have been evacuated. This is eerily similar to 1979. “The entire staff of the Israeli Embassy in Cairo has been evacuated by helicopters.”

Egyptian activists have been circulating a kind of primer to Friday's planned protest.What follows are side-by-side translations of nine pages from the 26-page pamphlet. They were translated over the last hour and pasted up in Photoshop to give you an idea of what's in the protest plan. While the plan itself contains specifics about what protesters might do, these excerpts show how one might equip oneself for clashes with riot police. Egyptian security forces have repeatedly beaten protesters as the level of violent repression of demonstrations has ratcheted upwards. For more context on the pamphlet itself, the Guardian UK ran...

Condi's speech in Cairo 2005 is an American Classic! Compare this to zer-O's Cairo speech. http://www.verumserum.com/?p=20976

From FOX: DEVELOPING: Loud explosions and gunfire were heard in the Egyptian capital of Cairo Friday, as protesters demanding the removal of President Hosni Mubarak defied a curfew, Al Jazeera reported. Egyptian television reports the ruling party headquarters in Cairo are on fire. From TWITTER: WashingtonPost: Clinton: We urge #Egypt authorities to allow peaceful protest, reverse unprecedented steps it has taken to cut off communications less than 20 seconds ago

Egypt needs a period of transitional rule, new parliamentary elections and amendments to the constitution so a president can stand for only two six-year terms, the head of the opposition Wafd party said on Friday. His comments, made in a televised statement, follow a day of violent protest calling for an end to the rule of President Hosni Mubarak, 82, in power for five consecutive six-year terms. The army has been deployed in Cairo and other cities. Wafd, a decades old liberal, nationalist party, boycotted the parliamentary election in November saying the vote was rigged in favor of Mubarak's ruling...

Despite the government crackdown that included an unprecedented internet and telephone blackout, some Egyptians are finding ways to communicate. (snip) A well-known blogger in Cairo, who does not want to be named as he is also a journalist said: “We are currently using proxies to avoid the crackdown on internet. They have been targeting media and particularly foreign media since the morning and we saw even women and children beaten up.”

Saudi authorities detained hundreds of demonstrators on Friday in Jeddah who gathered to protest against poor infrastructure after deadly floods swept through Saudi Arabia's second biggest city, police and witnesses said. Some Jeddah streets remained submerged on Friday, and electricity was still out in low-lying parts of the city two days after torrential rains caused flooding that killed at least four people and swept away cars. The protest came after mass messages sent over BlackBerry smart phones called for popular action in response to the flood, an unusual move in the Arab state at a time of spreading anti-government unrest...

"Are the peoples of the Middle East somehow beyond the reach of liberty? Are millions of men and women and children condemned by history or culture to live in despotism? Are they alone never to know freedom and never even to have a choice in the matter?"... "Sixty years of Western nations excusing and accommodating the lack of freedom in the Middle East did nothing to make us safe - because in the long run, stability cannot be purchased at the expense of liberty," Bush said. "As long as the Middle East remains a place where freedom does not flourish,...

....The whole exercise is galling, considering that Mubarak has been under U.S. sponsorship for decades, and has received strong support even until the last two weeks. Does Diehl think these angry Egyptians want another U.S. crony? But it is worse than that – most of the commentary on Egypt is based on a fantasy that the opposition to Mubarak would naturally be a rights-respecting, pro-market democratic movement. Four years ago, during some of the headiest days of Bush’s “democracy agenda”, our own State Department officials in Cairo told me that truly liberal parties in Egypt were “interesting to talk to...