Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: Mubarak orders army to back police against unrest

Entra in scena l'esercito.
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Mubarak orders army to back police against unrest
By Shaimaa Fayed and Yasmine Saleh
CAIRO | Fri Jan 28, 2011 12:30pm EST
CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian armed forces backed by armored cars deployed 
in Cairo and other major cities on Friday to tackle huge popular 
protests demanding the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak.
Mubarak declared a night-time curfew after a day of running street 
battles between police and demonstrators unprecedented in his 30 
year-rule. But clashes continued into the evening and a Reuters witness 
said shots were heard in central Cairo.
Dozens of people were wounded during the day when security forces fired 
rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannon at crowds and baton charged them.
The protesters hurled back stones and shouted "Down, Down, Hosni Mubarak."
Al Jazeera television said at least one person was killed in a square in 
central Cairo, although the report could not be confirmed.
The demonstrations involving tens of thousands of people were the 
biggest and bloodiest in four consecutive days of protests by people fed 
up with unemployment, poverty, corruption and the lack of freedom under 
Mubarak.
"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," 
protester Mohamed Taha in Hussein said after fleeing a police attack.
"I am 70 years old, I am going to die, but these people have to fight to 
live," he said.
"According to what some provinces witnessed in terms of riots, 
lawlessness, looting, destruction, attack and burning of public and 
private property including attacks on banks and hotels, President Hosni 
Mubarak decreed a curfew as a military ruler," a state TV announcer said.
He also ordered the army to back up the police in their efforts to keep 
control of the streets. As darkness fell, tanks took up positions across 
the city.
"The armed forces started to deploy forces in the governorates of Cairo, 
Alexandria and Suez as a first stage in implementing the 
decree...imposing a curfew starting from 6 p.m.," the official news 
agency reported.
Some 2-3,000 people thronged around a military vehicle near the central 
Tahrir square in downtown Cairo, a Reuters witness said. They climbed on 
it, shaking hands with the soldiers, and chanted: "The army and the 
people are united" and "The revolution has come."
Shots were heard near parliament and TV showed the headquarters of the 
ruling party in flames, the blaze lighting up the night sky.
In the eastern city of Suez, site of the strategically crucial canal, 
armored cars deployed in front of the charred remains of a police 
station, a Reuters witness said.
Dozens of protesters climbed on the military vehicles in Suez. They 
tried to talk to soldiers who attempted to wave them off.
The unrest was triggered by the overthrow two weeks ago of Tunisian 
President Zine al-Abidine Ben Al Ben Ali in an uprising that has also 
inspired anti-government protests in Yemen and elsewhere.
The events pose a quandary for the United States, which has professed 
its wish for democracy to spread across the Middle East. Mubarak, 
however, has been a close Washington ally for many years and the 
recipient of huge amounts of military aid.
In response, U.S. President Barack Obama said social and political 
reforms in Egypt were "absolutely critical."
In Washington, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the U.S. 
government was deeply concerned by the violence used by the security 
forces against the protesters and she urged the government to restrain 
them. Protesters should be allowed to express themselves peacefully, she 
said.
Snatch squads of plain clothes security men dragged off suspected 
ringleaders. At the Fatah mosque in central Ramses Square, several 
thousand people were penned in and teargassed.
Protesters often quickly dispersed and regrouped.
Some held banners saying: "Everyone against one" and chanted "Peaceful 
peaceful peaceful, no violence." Others threw shoes at and stamped on 
posters of Mubarak. As clashes intensified, police waded into the crowds 
with batons and fired volleys of tear gas.
"Leave, leave, Mubarak, Mubarak, the plane awaits you," people chanted.
One car was set ablaze and some police cars were surrounded and attacked 
by protesters, witnesses said.
Prominent activist Mohamed ElBaradei, a Nobel Peace Laureate, was 
briefly penned in by police after he prayed at a mosque in the Giza area 
but he later took part in a peaceful march with supporters. Arabiya 
television said later police had "asked" him to stay home but this could 
not be confirmed.
TROUBLE ACROSS EGYPT
In Alexandria, protesters overran police lines and torched police 
trucks, a witness said. In several cities, protesters stormed the 
offices of the ruling National Democratic Party, witnesses reported.
In some parts of Cairo, protests were peaceful. Dozens of people prayed 
together on one road. In Giza, on the city outskirts, marchers shook 
hands with the police who let them pass peacefully.
It is far from a foregone conclusion that the protesters will force 
Mubarak out. They face two key challenges, said Amon Aran, a Middle East 
expert at London's City University.
"One is the Egyptian security apparatus, which over the years has 
developed a vested interest in the survival of President Mubarak's 
regime. This elaborate apparatus has demonstrated over the past few days 
that it is determined to crush political dissent," he said.
"Another obstacle derives from the fact that, so far, the protesters do 
not seem to form a coherent political opposition. The popular outcry is 
loud and clear, but whether it can translate into a political force is 
questionable."
Before Friday's clashes, at least five people had been killed over the 
four days, one of them a police officer. Police have arrested several 
hundred people.
Members of the Muslim Brotherhood opposition group, including at least 
eight senior officials, were rounded up overnight. The government has 
accused the Brotherhood of planning to exploit the youth protests while 
it says it is being made a scapegoat.
Many protesters are young men. Two thirds of Egypt's 80 million people 
are below the age of 30 and many have no jobs. About 40 percent of 
Egyptians live on less than $2 a day.
Egypt has been under emergency rule throughout Mubarak's term in office. 
The government says it is used to combat terrorism. Critics say it is 
used to stifle any dissent.
Elections were due to be held in September and until now few had doubted 
that Mubarak would remain in control or bring in a successor in the 
shape of his 47-year-old son Gamal.
Father and son deny that Gamal is being groomed for the job.
(Additional reporting by Dina Zayed, Marwa Awad, Edmund Blair, Alison 
Williams and Samia Nakhoul in Cairo, Alexander Dziadosz in Suez; Writing 
by Angus MacSwan)
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/01/28/us-egypt-protest-idUSTRE70O3UW20110128?pageNumber=3

 Mubarak orders army to back police against unrest
Mubarak ancora non ha lasciato il Paese????
-- 
Hamlet
http://technosoc.blogspot.com/