A silent military coup behind Hosni Mubarak's exit

Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi

A silent military coup behind Hosni Mubarak's exit
Associated Press
Cairo, February 12, 2011First Published: 13:07 IST(12/2/2011)

It was the people who forced President Hosni Mubarak from power, but it is the generals who are in charge now. Egypt's 18-day uprising produced a military coup that crept into being over many days - its seeds planted early in the crisis by Mubarak himself. The telltale signs of a coup in the making began to surface soon after Mubarak ordered the army out on the streets to restore order after days of deadly clashes between protesters and security forces in Cairo and much of the rest of the Arab nation. "This is in fact the military taking over power," said political analyst Diaa Rashwan after Mubarak stepped down and left the reins of power to the armed forces. "It is direct involvement by the military in authority and to make Mubarak look like he has given up power."

Army troops backed by tanks and armored fighting vehicles were given a hero's welcome by the protesters angry over brutal treatment by the police. The goodwill was reciprocated when the military vowed not to use force against protesters, a move that set them apart from the much-hated police who operated with near impunity under Mubarak. The generals adopted a go-slow approach, offering Egyptians carefully weighed hints that it was calling the shots. They issued statements describing the protesters' demands as "legitimate" and made halfhearted calls on the demonstrators to go home and allow normal life to resume.

Rather than quit the protests, the demonstrators turned out in ever greater numbers. Mubarak offered one concession after another, but they all fell short of the protesters' demands that he immediately leave.

The military was clearly torn between its loyalty to the regime and the millions of protesters. Mubarak is one of their own, a former air force commander and a hero of the 1973 Arab-Israeli war. But as the president continued to defy the growing crowds and cling to power, the Egyptian army moved more definitively toward seizing control for the first time in some 60 years. Thursday brought the surprise announcement that the armed forces' highest executive body, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, was in "permanent session" - meaning that it was on a war footing. State TV showed defense minister Hussein Tantawi presiding over a table seating some two dozen stern faced generals in combat fatigues - but no sign of commander in chief Mubarak. His newly appointed vice president, former army general and intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, was not there either - indicating a rift between the civilian and military leadership.

A statement, tellingly referred to as "communique number 1" - phrasing that in the Arab world suggests a coup - made no mention of Mubarak or Suleiman.

The council, it said, met to "discuss what measures and arrangements could be taken to safeguard the homeland and its achievements and the aspirations of the great Egyptian people." Translation: The generals are in charge, not Mubarak, not Suleiman nor the Cabinet.

The communique set the stage for what the crowds of demonstrators expected would be Mubarak's resignation on Thursday night. Instead, Mubarak announced he would stay in office and hand over power to Suleiman, who told protesters to go home and stop watching foreign news reports.

The protesters were furious - and so were the generals. "Both of last night's addresses by Mubarak and Suleiman were in defiance of the armed forces," Maj Gen Safwat el-Zayat, a former senior official of Egypt's General Intelligence, told al-Ahram Online, the Internet edition of Egypt's leading daily, on Friday. Protest leaders pleaded for the military to take over after Mubarak's speech, saying the country would explode until the army intervened.

If Mubarak had stepped down, handing Suleiman his presidential powers in line with the constitution would have kept his regime largely intact after he had gone, something that would have left the protesters unhappy.

In contrast, a military coup would provide a clean break with a regime they hated for so long, opening up a wide range of possibilities - suspending the constitution that many protesters saw as tailored to keep Mubarak in office and dissolving a parliament formed by an election marred by widespread fraud. A coup seemed to be the best way forward.

The first official word the protesters received from the generals on Friday, however, was discouraging.

A second military communique contained what appeared to be a reluctant endorsement of Mubarak's blueprint for a way out of the crisis, though it also projected the military as the ultimate guarantor of the country's highest interests. El-Zayat said the language in the statement was an attempt to avoid an open conflict. Later on Friday, with millions out on the streets demanding that he step down, Mubarak finally did just that. He may have been denied the chance to announce his own departure - say goodbye to the people he had ruled for nearly 30 years. Suleiman announced the decision for him.

Alternatively, he may have not wanted to go on television to say he was stepping down after less than 24 hours after insisting to serve out the remaining seven months of his current term. It was a humiliating end.

Keeping up appearances, The military later issued a third military statement praising Mubarak as a leader who has done much to his country. It hinted that the military would not be in power for long, saying the armed forces were not a substitute for a legitimate administration. But it gave no clue as to what its plans are. "The truth is that even the senior military now at the top of the power structure under Mubarak almost certainly have no clear idea of what happens next," Anthony Cordesman of the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, wrote in a commentary on Thursday. "It will be days before anyone know how well the transition will function, who goes and who stays, and how stable the result really is."

(Source: The Hidustan Times Sat,12 Feb 2011 World)

Egypt: "The people have brought down the regime."

End of Mubarak era as protests topple president

Vice President Omar Suleiman said a military council would run the affairs of the Arab world's most populous nation. A free and fair presidential election has been promised for September.

A speaker made the announcement in Cairo's Tahrir Square where hundreds of thousands broke down in tears, celebrated and hugged each other chanting: "The people have brought down the regime." Others shouted: "Allahu Akbar (God is great).


The 82-year-old Mubarak's downfall after 18 days of unprecedented mass protests was a momentous victory for people power and was sure to rock autocrats throughout the Arab world and beyond.


Egypt's powerful military gave guarantees earlier on Friday that promised democratic reforms would be carried out but angry protesters intensified an uprising against Mubarak, marching on the presidential palace and the state television tower.


It was an effort by the army to defuse the revolt but, in disregarding protesters' key demand for Mubarak's ouster now, it failed to calm the turmoil that has disrupted the economy and rattled the entire Middle East.


The military's intervention was not enough.


The tumult over Mubarak's refusal to resign had tested the loyalties of the armed forces, which had to choose whether to protect their supreme commander or ditch him.


The sharpening confrontation had raised fear of uncontrolled violence in the most populous Arab nation, a key U.S. ally in an oil-rich region where the chance of chaos spreading to other long stable but repressive states troubles the West.


Washington has called for a prompt democratic transition to restore stability in Egypt, a rare Arab state no longer hostile to Israel, guardian of the Suez Canal linking Europe and Asia and a major force against militant Islam in the region.


The army statement noted that Mubarak had handed powers to govern the country of 80 million people to his deputy the previous day -- perhaps signalling that this should satisfy demonstrators, reformists and opposition figures.


"This is not our demand," one protester said, after relaying the contents of the army statement to the crowd in Cairo's central Tahrir Square. "We have one demand, that Mubarak step down." He has said he will stay until September elections.


The Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist opposition group, urged protesters to keep up mass nationwide street protests, describing Mubarak's concessions as a trick to stay in power.


REFORMS TOO LITTLE TOO LATE


Hundreds of thousands of protesters rallied across Egypt, including in the industrial city of Suez, earlier the scene of some of the fiercest violence in the crisis, and the second city of Alexandria, as well as in Tanta and other Nile Delta centres.


The army also said it "confirms the lifting of the state of emergency as soon as the current circumstances end," a pledge that would remove a law imposed after Mubarak became president following Anwar Sadat's assassination in 1981 and that protesters say has long been used to stifle dissent.


It further promised to guarantee free and fair elections and other concessions made by Mubarak to protesters that would have been unthinkable before January 25, when the revolt began.


But none of this was enough for many hundreds of thousands of mistrustful protesters who rallied in cities across the Arab world's most populous and influential country on Friday, fed up with high unemployment, a corrupt elite and police repression.


Since the fall of Tunisia's long-time leader Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, which triggered protests around the region, Egyptians have been demonstrating in huge numbers against rising prices, poverty, unemployment and their authoritarian regime.


EMERGENCY LAWS
World powers had increasingly pressured Mubarak to organise an orderly transition of power since the protests erupted on January 28 setting off an earthquake that has shaken Egypt sending shock waves around the Middle East.


Mubarak, 82, was thrust into office when Islamists gunned down his predecessor Anwar Sadat at a military parade in 1981.


The burly former air force commander has proved a far more durable leader than anyone imagined at the time, governing under emergency laws protesters say were used to crush dissent.


The president has long promoted peace abroad and more recently backed economic reforms at home led by his cabinet under Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif. But he always kept a tight lid on political opposition.


Mubarak resisted any significant political change even under pressure from the United States, which has poured billions of dollars of military and other aid into Egypt since it became the first Arab state to make peace with Israel, signing a treaty in 1979.


(Cairo newsroom, writing by Peter Millership; editing by Mark Heinrich)

ஒபாமா நிர்வாகமே சர்வாதிகாரி முபாரக் அரசுக்கு முண்டு கொடுக்காதே!

இலங்கையை எகிப்தாய் மாற்ற என்ன செய்ய வேண்டும்?

இலங்கையை எகிப்தாய் மாற்ற என்ன செய்ய வேண்டும்?

பக்சபாசிசத்துக்கு மாற்று UNP ஐ,தே.கட்சியோ , JVP மக்கள் விடுதலை முன்னணியோ அல்ல!


மற்றும் இவற்றில் இருந்து ’பிரிந்து சென்ற’ எந்தக் கிளைகளுமோ அல்ல!


மேலும் ரொட்ஸ்கிய திரிபுவாதிகளும் அல்ல!


தமிழ்மக்களின் பிரிந்து செல்லும் உரிமையை (சுயநிர்ணய உரிமையை), அங்கீகரித்த ஒரு புரட்சிகர தேசபக்த ஜனநாயக விடுதலை முன்னணியே ஆகும்.


இதை சிங்கள மக்கள் மத்தியில் கட்டியெழுப்புவது ஒடுக்கும் சிங்களப் பெருந்தேசிய இனத்தில் உள்ள புரட்சியாளர்களதும், ஜனநாயகவாதிகளினதும் உடனடி அவசியக் கடமையாகும்.


இன,மத, சிறுபான்மை மக்களான மலையக இஸ்லாமிய மக்களின் மத்தியில் உள்ள புரட்சிகர ஜனநாயக சக்திகளும், புரட்சிகர தேசபக்த ஜனநாயக விடுதலை முன்னணிகளை கட்டியெழுப்பப் பாடுபடவேண்டும்.தீவிரமாக உடனடியாக செயலில் இறங்க வேண்டும்.


ஈழத்தமிழ் அதிகார அரசியலின் குறுந்தேசியவாத, ஏகாதிபத்திய விசுவாச, இந்தியவிரிவாக்க அரசாதரவு அடிமைத்தனத்தை எதிர்த்து, ஒற்றையாட்சி சமரசத்தை எதிர்த்து, அதிகாரப் பரவலாக்க சந்தர்ப்பவாதத்தை எதிர்த்து, சர்வதேச சட்டவாத மாயையான நாடுகடந்த அரசாங்கத்தை எதிர்த்து,மாவீரர்களின் தமிழீழத் தாயக அரசியல் இலட்சியத்தை நிறைவாக்க ஈழப்புரட்சிகர தேசபக்த ஜனநாயக சக்திகள் தேசிய சுயநிர்ணய உரிமையை உயர்த்திப் பிடிக்கும் புரட்சிகர தேசபக்த ஜனநாயக விடுதலை இயக்கத்தைக் கட்டியெழுப்ப வேண்டும்.


இதன்மூலமே நாடு பரந்த தேசபக்த பாசிச எதிர்ப்பு ஐக்கிய முன்னணியைக் கட்டியெழுப்பி மக்கள் ஜனநாயக குடியரசை நிறுவ முடியும்.


இத்தகைய ஒரு அரசியல் மாறுதலை நிகழ்த்தும் வரையில், ஈழத்தமிழர்களுக்குத் தீர்வு பிரிவினையே ஆகும்!

ஈழத்தமிழர்களின் பிரிவினைக்காக நம் குரலை உயர்த்தும் அதேவேளையில் மேற்குறிப்பிட்ட அரசியல் மாறுதல் நிகழவும் நாம் மிக உறுதியாகப் போராடுவோம்.

=====   புதிய ஈழப்புரட்சியாளர்கள் (ENB)    =====

நடனம்: எந்தக் கலாச்சாரத்தில் இந்த அற்புதத்தை அடக்குவது?

Conquering Liberation

We will not go down (Song for Gaza) - by Michael Heart

وينك يا صدام

Egyptian military detains Al Jazeera journalist Ayman Mohyeldin

பிந்திய செய்தி: விசாரணையின் பின் அய்மான் மொகைல்டீன் சில நாட்கள் கழித்து விடுதலை செய்யப்பட்டார். எனினும் இவர் தற்போது விடுதலைச்
சதுக்கத்தில் பணியாற்றுவதில்லை.

Egypt detains Al Jazeera journalist

Channel calls for immediate release of correspondent Ayman Mohyeldin, detained by Egyptian military.

Last Modified: 06 Feb 2011 19:14 GMT

Al Jazeera is calling for the immediate release of Mohyeldin, who has earlier reported from Tunisia and Gaza

An Al Jazeera correspondent reporting on the popular uprising in Egypt has been detained by the Egyptian military near Tahrir Square in Cairo.

Ayman Mohyeldin's arrest by the army on Sunday prompted a call by the channel for his immediate release.

Dozens of journalists have been detained, injured and threated while covering events in Egypt, where hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets calling for an end to the 30-year rule of Hosni Mubarak, the president.

Nadia el-Awady, president of the World Federation of Science Journalists, told Al Jazeera that both foreign and Egyptian media workers were being specifically targeted during the protests.

Speaking about her experiences reporting from Tahrir Square, she said: "There were pro-Mubarak civilian-clothed people planted within the square that were trying to instigate other protesters to get angry.

"They tried to create this kind of mob mentality among protesters to get angry at the journalists."

Al Jazeera, which has dedicated rolling coverage to the uprising in Egypt, has several times been targeted by Egyptian security forces.

Abdel Fattah Fayed, the channel's Cairo bureau chief, and Mohammed Fawi, a journalist, were arrested on Saturday but later released.

Other journalists from the channel have also been briefly detained and last week armed men attacked the Cairo bureau, destroying some equipment.
Source: ALJAZEERA

SADDAM'S STATUE TOPPLES