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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...