Breaking News & LIVE THREAD- Egypt and Middle East

Various on the internet | 28 January 2011

[SE Mom]

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

[SE Mom]

The link to the piece Nina Shea was responding to- I posted it upthread but anyway:

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/258381/hamas-muslim-brotherhood-andrew-c-mccarthy

[mewzilla]

From Rooters...

Al Jazeera told to shut down in Egypt, signal cut

I suppose it would be too much to hope that this is good news....

[PghBaldy]

Al Jazeera is back broadcasting LIVE from Egypt... (which tells me they are ignoring the Egyptian govt, or, there is no Egyptian govt anymore).

[mewzilla]

Per the Beeb again....

Sharm el-Sheik: 'There was a barricade in front of the hotel'

[mewzilla]

Well, the plug didn’t stay pilled very long :)

[mewzilla]

pulled...

[Jim Noble]

The Shia-Sunni split is real, but with the Caliphate in sight is of minor importance.

After Bin Laden is installed in Medina as Caliph and America is bathed in nuclear fire, there will be plenty of time for the Islamic civil wars.

Right now, they have bigger fish to fry.

[PghBaldy]

Yes ;) Like I said, this could be a ominous sign. OH- I just heard something VERY disturbing about the US on Al Jazeera (that we only had local embassy dealing with Mubarak govt recently...?)

Now, thousands of journalists are asking Mubarak to resign.

[Girlene]

Egypt protests resume; Al-Jazeera shut down
"Some 1,000 protestors take to streets of Cairo, chant 'Mubarak and Suleiman are American agents.' In bid to restore order, authorities suspend operations of Qatari network which encouraged uprising

Egypt said on Sunday it had shut down the operations of Arab satellite broadcaster Al-Jazeera, which according to the authorities had encouraged the uprising in the country, in an attempt to restore order.

"The Information Minister ordered ... suspension of operations of Al-Jazeera, cancelling of its licenses and withdrawing accreditation to all its staff as of today," a statement on the official Mena news agency said. The Qatari network said the move was aimed at "silencing the Egyptian people".

The protests resumed on Sunday morning as more than 1,000 people took the streets of Cairo and called on President Hosni Mubarak to resign. The Al-Arabiya network reported that military forces deployed in the capital were working to guard the interior ministry building in the city center. ........

...........The demonstrators, however, called on the two leaders to resign. "Hosni Mubarak and Omar Suleiman, you are both American agents," they chanted. "Mubarak, Mubarak, your plane awaits you."

Meanwhile, the US said on Sunday it was offering evacuation flights to Europe for US citizens who wish to leave Egypt. "The U.S. Embassy in Cairo informs US citizens in Egypt who wish to depart that the Department of State is making arrangements to provide transportation to safehaven locations in Europe," the statement said.

Turkey was also sending two Turkish Airlines planes to Egypt on Sunday to evacuate is citizens, state-run Anatolian news agency quoted embassy officials in Cairo as saying.

European tour operators and airlines have cancelled trips to Cairo since protesters took to the streets, dealing a blow to a tourism industry that provides about one in eight jobs in the country.................

.............Security sources told Al-Arabiya that thousands of prisoners had escaped from the Wadi el-Natrun Prison, north of Cairo, where radical Islamic activists are held. Some of the inmates managed to escape to Gaza. Palestinian sources said several prisoners had already reached their homes in the Strip. "

[PghBaldy]

Various Egyptian govt links: http://www.egyptembassy.net/showLinks.cfm?id=1

[mewzilla]

Speaking of our embassy, from last March and Bikyamasr

US report praises Ambassador to Egypt Scobey

[Uncle Ike]

” Shia vs Sunni aspect. Maybe that’s a secondary matter to them at this stage. “

Nailed it, Mom - granted that there are ‘differences’ between Sunni and Shia factions, I think those differences have been overemphasized — a thin reed for wishful-thinking diplomats, ‘analysts’, and pundits to cling to...

There have been indications (largely ignored) all along that (Shia) Iran has supported (Sunni) Al Qaeda in its efforts in Iraq....

[mewzilla]

Jeez louise, check this out, mentions Scobey....

US doubted dissident, leaks show

[itsahoot]

You presume that we would rapidly move to develop Oil production here, I presume we would not. We have systematically shut down our ability to produce energy, in this country, and the Federal Government has stolen millions of acres of land where energy is available.

If we moved to a war time footing, then.........Yes to everything, but we won't.

[mewzilla]

I think those differences have been overemphasized

FWIW, I don't. But that doesn't mean I think we can rely on those differences to keep them at each others throats and away from ours.

[Lazamataz]

Make me the King of Egypt, and I promise a secular JudeoChristian-centric state with the blood of many Islamics running in the Nile.

Plus I'd get to hit it with hot Egyptian women.

(click) OH YEAH....

[sport]

The only thing the obama administration is declaring war on is the productive and responsible citizens of the United States. The obama administration has been waging war on them since Jauuary 2009 and the Democrat Party has been waging war on them for a number of decades. Both enities call on the Republican Party for assistance as needed. And the Republican Party always obliges.

[SE Mom]

Oh goody.

evanchill By many accounts, some kind of confrontation seems likely tonight, probably in Tahrir Square. #jan25
12 minutes ago via HootSuite

http://twitter.com:80/ajenglish/egyptprotests

[mewzilla]

With a FWIW....

Gagged Al Jazeera a powerful counter to Mideast regimes

[PghBaldy]

“Fighter planes” flying over Cairo.