Saturday, April 9, 2011

Army Cracks Down on Protests in Tahrir Square

Dear Readers

As you know, there was a massive protest in Tahrir Square yesterday. Local reports suggest as many as one and a half million gathered in the square to ask for more rapid reform and oppose corruption. According to a lecture I attended moderated by Dr. Ibrahim Awad the other day, what may have taken place on January 25th was not so much a Revolution, but a situation in which a slightly more liberal part of the government (SCAF) ousted a more conservative, and stale part of the government (Mubarak).

Citizens are increasingly dismayed by the slow rate of reform in the post-revolutionary period. Further, the SCAF has become gradually more repressive, restricting rights of freedom of organization and freedom of assembly, rushing through edicts with no public input, and limiting the right of the people to form the political parties of their choice. This is leading to anger and frustration among Egyptian citizens.

Things came to a head yesterday. News reporting is very unclear, but some kind of fighting broke out yesterday. Local sources differ regarding exactly what happened. One version is that NDP (Mubarak) thugs caused trouble, dressing up as army people. One version is that some soldiers joined the protesters. Regardless, it appears that there was fighting between protesters and the Army. Protesters have put barricades of barbed wire around square.

Here is a flash update.

Political Leaders Call for Peace with Army as Protesters Pledge to Continue.  http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/393206

Egyptian Museum Closed Following Clashes
http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/392775

Egyptians turn Anger on Army in Tahrir Protest
http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/392702

Police Fire on Crowd in Tahrir Square
http://allafrica.com/stories/201104090016.html

Egypt Army to Use Force To Clear Protests
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/04/20114921821599558.html

Egypt's Youth Leaders Vow Continued Protests
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/04/20114921821599558.html


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