This is England

British Riot Police

It would seem the Egypt's spirit of rebellion is fast spreading across the world with many protests beginning world-wide, including one of the largest protests in London since the start of the tuition fee debate.

The protest was formed in most part by nearly 2,000 members of the infamous anti-Islamic group, the English Defence League (EDL). This protest was then increased in scale with counter-demonstrators Unite Against Fascism (UAF) attending with a further 1,000 members.

The presence of  UAF was drowned out as nearly the entire duration of the rally was narrated with many anti-Islamic EDL chants such "No More Mosques" and "Get Muslims of our Streets". The leader of the EDL, Stephen Lennon, even made an appearance at the rally and told the press to make a point of the cultural diversity present in the EDL crowd, stating that contrary to popular belief the EDL have no racial issues only religious issues.  

EDL Leader Stephen Lennon

However, unlike Egypt, due to massive police presence the 9 hour long protest went down with relatively little incident with only 7 arrests and 19 injuries. As well as constant CCTV surveillance, the police were fully equipped in full riot gear with many on horse back, and were ordered to remain after the rally to put all protesters back onto their chosen transport to ensure dispersion, as is the norm in Britain. Due to the size of protest, authorities also made use of the state-of-the-art car registration recognition system on all roads into London to record the identities of all citizen entering and leaving London . Although effective this massive police presence cost over £800,000 ($1.2 Million).

The officer behind ensuring peace during the protest, Ch Supt Mike Colbourne was proud of the work carried out by his officers and released the following statement to the press; "The policing operation has been in the planning for weeks and the professionalism of the officers was borne out today. We were assisted by 27 forces and it's a great example of how forces can work together in difficult circumstances."

- Was such a large police force necessary for only 3,000 protesters?
- As a British resident myself, do any non-Britains feels as though the British authorities take to many liberties with the freedom of the British public?

Good night, sweet Prince.

I blog to you today not in joy but in remorse, as my loyal HDD of three years finally died on me.

Goodbye HDD, we hardly knew ye...

Split Civility

Pro-Mubarak Protesters

In the wake of current events it would appear that Egypt is not as unified as many people first thought. Yesterday marked the first conflicts between the anti-government demonstrators and the pro-government demonstrators, a conflict which lasted almost five hours in Tahrir Square.

The conflicts are reported to have began at around midday in Cairo (1000 GMT) where the two groups were said to be fighting with their fists, an array of blunt weapons an various missiles. However this only lasted for around three hours until the conflicts escalated to a violent gunfight between the two sides, which in turn lasted until the army officials vowed that they themselves would open fire upon the pro-government faction unless the situation was to calm down.

These conflicts eventually added to Egypt's death toll, which is past the 300 mark, as five more men were pronounced dead, all with gun shot wound related deaths. On top of these deaths were a further 836 reported injuries officially making it the most violent day since the rebellion began ten days ago.

Prime Minister Shafiq

The anti-government protests have since barricaded themselves in at Cairo where rumors of government involvement are spreading fast, as many protesters believe the pro-government faction has been privately funded by government authorities with the sole purpose of dissuading anti-government protesters. The newly appointed Egyptian Prime Minister Shafiq said that his cabinet had in no way encouraged the rebellion and released this statement to Egyptian television: "When investigations reveal who is behind this crime and who allowed it to happen, I promise they will be held accountable and will be punished for what they did"

Foreign presence is becoming more and more unwelcome on the streets of Egypt with many non-Egyptians fearing for their safety for the first time since protests began, this issue was quickly acted on by the US embassy in Egypt with it warning all American citizens to leave Egypt immediately. Press coverage, which up until now has been welcomed in Egypt has also came under hostility with BBC reporter, Rupert Wingfield-Hayes being handcuffed, blinded folded and interrogated by Egyptian authorities for over three hours.

In response to this, a furious David Cameron threatened with retaliation and released a statement saying "If it turns out that the regime in any way has sponsored or tolerated this violence, that is completely unacceptable".

- Has this gone past the point of a peaceful resolve?

The Sound of a Million Voices

Army Officer Part of Protest

Today is set to be the biggest day of protests yet in Egypt as demonstrators take to Tahrir Square in massive numbers to force Mubarak out of power. Organisers are referring to today's rally as the biggest rally in Egyptian history, calling for a least a million Egyptians to make a stand against the 30-year regime of President Mubarak.

In the wake of deaths totaling over 300, the Egyptian army has vowed not to use any display of force against protesters, with Egyptian army officials releasing this statement; "To the great people of Egypt, your armed forces, acknowledging the legitimate rights of the people... have not and will not use force against the Egyptian people.".

This Statement was welcomed with applause from the Egyptian public who have always maintained a massive amount of respect for the Country's powerful army. After this statement was released, the number of protesters nearly tripled in volume as many men felt it safe bringing their women and children out to make a stand against the regime, because of this the atmosphere has changed from one of violence to a carnival-like atmosphere with dancing and music.

Camping at Tahrir Square

However, the release of the Egyptian army statement came as a suprise to Mubarak who feels it will encourage higher numbers of protesters. In a last minute response to this Mubarak cancelled all rail, bus and train services into the Egyptian capital ahead of today's protests, a decision which was met with violence by the thousands of people waiting at Alexandria rail station, although many say they predicted the move and decided to travel up to the Egyptian capital yesterday and camp in Tahrir Square over night.

 In a final attempt to stay in power, Mubarak vowed that he would have "clear and definite policies to tackle unemployment, poverty, corruption and the cost of living".

-But, is it too little, too late?

The Flames of Rebellion

50,000 gather at Tahrir Square

Protesters appear in their highest numbers since the start of the rebellion in only one day after President Mubarak called police off the streets. Mubarak has now ordered police to take to the streets again on the 7th day of protests for fears of looting and 'mob violence'.

Today is set to be another strong day of rebellion after demonstrators called for a massive protest after their Monday prayers to honor those fallen over the last week of civil unrest. In an attempt to calm those taking to the streets Egyptian news networks have been regularly airing a message sent from the president to the Egyptian Prime Minister in which he states the importance of making political reform through dialogue and suggested new economic policies to bring down the massive unemployment rates, which is thought to be the initial issue that sparked the rebellion.

Yesterday marked record high numbers of civilian protest within Egypt with over 50,000 protesters gathering in Tahrir Square alone. In response to this, the Egyptian government has ordered regular fly-overs by the Egyptian air force as a show of force on top of the tanks and military already present, however this show of force is having no apparent effect on the demonstrations moral.

Barack Obama

Outside of Egypt more and more problems are arising because of the week long protests, New Zealand has joined the U.S, China, Japan, Britain and France in advising citizens to avoid all non-essential travel both to and through Egypt; this will only add to Egypt's economic problems as tourism accounts for up to 6% of the country's GDP. Japanese car makers Nissan have also closed down their Egyptian  plant fearing for the safety of their non-Egyptian employee's, which is sure to add the anxiety caused by unemployment.

The White House has finally taken a stance against the protests after days of trying to remain unbiased. US President Barack Obama was reported making various calls to Arab higher-ups such as King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and other world leaders such as British Prime Minister David Cameron. Another of Egypt's close allies, China, have released a statement saying  "Egypt is a friend of China's, and we hope social stability and order will return to Egypt as soon as possible"

- Are things set to get worse?
- Is there anyway to resolve this situation without the removal of President Mubarak?
- Who can step up to lead the country if the protesters get their way as the rebellion still has no official leader?

The Morning After

Tutankhamun

In response to the massive protest on Friday the Egyptian government have set a widespread curfew between the hours 1600 to 0800, anybody caught outside their homes during these times will 'be in danger'. These warnings however were ignored as protesters grouped in their thousands in major cities all across the Arab nation.

In accordance with their warnings the Egyptian army were given permission for the use of live ammunition against a crowd of rebellious civilians in the city of Alexandria resulting in the announcement of 45 deaths with fears of tens more unconfirmed. The death total since the protest began is now at 52 with over 2,000 injured officials and civilians.

In an attempt to protect national treasures the Egyptian government ordered tanks to guard the Museum of Egypt, which holds many priceless articles such as the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun, tanks were also found in large numbers surrounding the country's famous pyramids. In protecting these heirlooms President Mubarak left many locations with little protection, the rioters then used this break in defence to set fire the main government building in Cairo, which had fortunately been evacuated earlier that day.

The protest has now reached all corners of Egypt as the riots spread to Abu Za'abal prison yesterday leaving over one hundred inmates in charge of one sector. One of these rioters was political prisoner Mohamed Mahmud  who released a statement to Egyptian press saying;  "Security forces are trying to storm in, but we can see that the soldiers are reluctant to fire at us, as if they want to side with the rebelling people of Egypt"

Government Building (Click to Enlarge)

Protesters are now said to be calming down, partly due to the reactivation of phone service across Egypt, however Internet access in many strategic locations has remained down for fear of 'outside sources' instigating further riots.



- Is this the end of the riots or is the worst still to come?

Update: Looters and protesters have fought through military in Cairo forcing their way into the National Museum, other sites of reported looting include the local hostpitals and a specialist child cancer medical building. Gunshots becoming more and more regular from both civilians as military, fears of many more deaths.

Watch live stream here: http://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now/

The Right to Fight



Rioters meet police resistance

Egyptian officials and security forces have been place under the highest possible alert ahead of todays expected anti-government rally. The government has released an official statement saying that they were happy to allow for open dialog during the rally but warned of 'decisive measures' in the wake of violence.



The rallies have been ongoing for the last few days and are all based around the removal of the President Mubarak, who has ruled over the Arabic country since 1981. The main organisers of the rally are the 'Muslim Brotherhood' who are Egypt's oldest and largest Islamist organisation.

 

President Mubarak

 The Muslim Brotherhood have been officially banned from political activity, and in an attempt to limit their influence the government had instigated large disruptions to all internet and phone service within the country.  The rallies are planned to take place after Friday prayers, but the Brotherhood insisted that the rally was not about religion and was open to all who wished to join.

The US, who are a key ally in regards to Egypt, have refused to make any official comment regarding the rallies; however, when asked President Obama did say that the events were based around 'pent-up frustrations'



Even with the Egyptian government blocking media disturbing citizen captured video footage showing police tactics has been leaked online.

WARNING; This video contains  images in which you may not be comfortable seeing.



http://video.ap.org/?f=None&pid=oT7qj_wiVHTbYae3scwok4_irYjJ2R8Z

- What are your thoughts on the matter?