The Middle East unrest-Egypt - Page 5

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ruky786 thumbnail
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Posted: 15 years ago
#41
so happy to see Mubarak stepping down but just hope the military aren't worse
return_to_hades thumbnail
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Posted: 15 years ago
#42

I do have more faith in the Egyptian revolution because

- Unlike Pakistan this was not a military coup

- Unlike Pakistan the first call of order by the military after dissolving parliament was scheduling elections in six months.

- Unlike Iran there is no religious presence like the Ayatollah, the cause has been primarily democracy and economy

- Youth are putting the Muslim Brotherhood on the sidelines. Educated secular people like Wael Ghonim and Mohammed El-Baradei are the people Egyptian people are considering as their spokesperson.

- Culturally Egypt is more like Turkey rather than the more extreme Islamic states. The Coptic Christians have always been a prominent ethnic group.

However, only time will tell. Even Iran did seem promising for a while. There is no doubt that right now Egypt is volatile and any group could emerge dominant. Lets just pray and hope for the people of Egypt that it's the right people and good sense, democracy and moderation prevail.



441597 thumbnail
Posted: 15 years ago
#43

Originally posted by: return_to_hades

I do have more faith in the Egyptian revolution because

- Unlike Pakistan this was not a military coup

- Unlike Pakistan the first call of order by the military after dissolving parliament was scheduling elections in six months.

- Unlike Iran there is no religious presence like the Ayatollah, the cause has been primarily democracy and economy

- Youth are putting the Muslim Brotherhood on the sidelines. Educated secular people like Wael Ghonim and Mohammed El-Baradei are the people Egyptian people are considering as their spokesperson.

- Culturally Egypt is more like Turkey rather than the more extreme Islamic states. The Coptic Christians have always been a prominent ethnic group.

However, only time will tell. Even Iran did seem promising for a while. There is no doubt that right now Egypt is volatile and any group could emerge dominant. Lets just pray and hope for the people of Egypt that it's the right people and good sense, democracy and moderation prevail.



@ Bold: There's a slight catch here. Most people of Egypt would NOT consider Mohammad-El-Baradei as their spokesperson, for probably the reason that he's stayed out of his homeland too much.
441597 thumbnail
Posted: 15 years ago
#44
Forgot to add:
Iraq wasnt a Revolution.😃
Edited by krystal_watz - 15 years ago
Summer3 thumbnail
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Posted: 15 years ago
#45
Looks like Iraq is next after Egypt.
I hate to see the west getting involved over domestic issues and create another Iraq.
15 February 2011 Last updated at 03:23 GMT

Clinton expresses US support for Iran protesters

Iran Crisis

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has expressed her firm support for the thousands of opposition supporters who protested in Iran's capital on Monday.

Mrs Clinton said they deserved to have "the same rights that they saw being played out in Egypt" and that Iran had to "open up" its political system.

One person was reportedly shot dead in the violent clashes between protesters and security forces in central Tehran.

Dozens were detained, and opposition leaders were placed under house arrest.

The BBC received reports of banned demonstrations in other Iranian cities, including Isfahan, Mashhad and Shiraz.

'Hypocrisy'
Continue reading the main story

Analysis

image of James Reynolds James Reynolds BBC Iran correspondent

Iranian protesters say that there is a certain symmetry to events in the Middle East. They believe the rallies they held after disputed presidential elections in 2009 helped to inspire the protests in the Arab World in 2011.

Now, in return, Iran's protesters say that they have been fired up by the demonstrations in Tunisia and Egypt.

But there are big differences between the situation faced by protesters in Iran and by those in Arab countries.

One of these is the role played by security forces. In Egypt, the army largely stood back. By contrast, Iran's security forces have tried to make sure that there is no dissent at all.

Iran's government defeated the protesters in 2009. It expects that it will be able to do so again in 2011.

It is difficult to tell if one day of protest by several hundred demonstrators in Tehran will have much impact. But even if nothing else happens, Iran's opposition Green movement has proved an important point - it is still alive.

In their first major show of dissent December 2009, when eight people were killed, thousands of opposition supporters gathered at Tehran's Azadi Square on Monday in solidarity with the popular uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt.

They chanted: "Death to dictators".

But the BBC's Mohsen Asgari, who was at the rally, says it was not long before riot police fired tear gas, while men on motorbikes charged the crowd with batons.

Witnesses told the Associated Press new agency that at least three protesters had been wounded by bullets, with dozens of others taken to hospital as a result of the beatings.

Iran's semi-official Fars news agency meanwhile reported that one person was shot dead by protesters and several others wounded.

Opposition websites said hundreds of people were arrested. There has been no official confirmation.

As night fell, hundreds of riot police remained on the streets of the capital.

Later in Washington, Mrs Clinton told reporters that the US administration "very clearly and directly" supports the protesters.

"What we see happening in Iran today is a testament to the courage of the Iranian people, and an indictment of the hypocrisy of the Iranian regime - a regime which over the last three weeks has constantly hailed what went on in Egypt," she said.

Mrs Clinton said the US had the same message for the Iranian authorities as it did for those in Egypt, where President Hosni Mubarak was forced to step down after 29 years in power by nationwide mass protests.

"We are against violence and we would call to account the Iranian government that is once again using its security forces and resorting to violence to prevent the free expression of ideas from their own people," she said.

Clash between protesters and police in Tehran (14 February 2011) Thousands defied the government's ban on demonstrations and gathered in Tehran

"We think that there needs to be a commitment to open up the political system in Iran, to hear the voices of the opposition and civil society," she added.

Earlier on Monday, police placed the opposition leader, Mir Hossein Mousavi, under house arrest and blocked access to his home.

His website said they intended to prevent the former prime minister attending the Tehran rally.

Fellow opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi, a former speaker of parliament and a senior cleric, is also reportedly being held under house arrest.

Both men disputed the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in June 2009, which triggered protests that drew the largest crowds in Iran since the Islamic Revolution in 1979. The authorities responded by launching a brutal crackdown.

The opposition says more than 80 of its supporters were killed over the following six months, a figure the government disputes. Several have been sentenced to death, and dozens jailed.

Although Iran's establishment supported the Egyptian and Tunisian protests, describing them as an "Islamic awakening" inspired by the Islamic Revolution, it said the opposition rallies were a "political move".

return_to_hades thumbnail
20th Anniversary Thumbnail Stunner Thumbnail + 6
Posted: 15 years ago
#46

Originally posted by: krystal_watz

Forgot to add:

Iraq wasnt a Revolution.😃



I know, and that is precisely the point.

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