Egypt Protests Spark Confrontations in Yemen, Algeria
14 February 2011By Juan Cole
An attempt by the military police to clear Tahrir
Square in downtown Cairo Sunday of all protesters
seemed as though it were succeeding until mid-morning.
They removed most of the tents, and made a path for
traffic through the area, a vital artery. There were
some beatings of protesters and minor scuffles.
Then protesters poured back into one area of the
square, to the side of the traffic. Aljazeera is
saying that some of them are from the countryside and
cannot so easily just pick up stakes and go home.
Others are committed to staying in the square until
the state of emergency is lifted and other reforms are
practically implemented. On the other hand, most
protesters have returned to work or school (Sunday is
a work day for many in Egypt), and can hardly afford
to continue to abandon their day jobs.
The Egyptian military on Saturday had made a mistake,
it seemed to me, in declaring that the military
cabinet assembled by ousted dictator Hosni Mubarak
would be charged with running the day to day affairs
of the government until new elections. Initially the
army had declared that a council of officers was in
charge, and I think that way of putting things was
more acceptable to the protest movement.
Some reports say that the protesters are forming a
council to negotiate the direction of the country with
the military, and to guide supporters as to whether
they should call, or call off, demonstrations.
In part in order to mollify the January 25 movement,
the cabinet (which met on Sunday) announced that
several members of the old regime, including former
prime minister Ahmad Nazif and feared former Interior
Minister Habib Adly, were barred from leaving the
country as their finances were investigated. Likewise,
the assets of several fixtures of the Mubarak regime
were being investigated, including steel magnate Ahmad
Izz, former housing minister Ahmad al-Maghribi, and
former trade and industry minister Rashid Mohammed
Rashid. This step did not satisfy everyone, obviously.
Information minister Anas al-Fikki, widely hated
because of his pro-Mubarak propaganda, has been forced
to resign from the cabinet and some reports say he is
also on the no-fly list.
The Telegraph is reporting that Mubarak himself used
his last 18 days in power to move billions of dollars
in ill-gotten assets around, into secret accounts so
that this wealth could not be seized.
The effect of the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions
was felt elsewhere in the Arab world on the weekend.
On Saturday in Algiers, several thousand protesters
defied police to rally for the resignation of
President Abdel Aziz Bouteflika. They were prevented
from marching through the city, and the demonstration
was broken up by police.
In Yemen, some 2000 protesters convened at the
university and then marched for the resignation of
President Ali Abdullah Saleh. They were then attacked
by a knife-wielding mob of Saleh "supporters," who
stopped the demonstration.
In Jordan on Saturday, trade unionists and members of
the Muslim Brotherhood celebrated Mubarak's departure.
Some saw it as a blow to US influence in the region.
Meanwhile, Iran's Green Movement is calling for
peaceful demonstrations on Monday.
Opposition parties in Tunisia hailed the changes in
Egypt, which they had helped spark.
Billionaire autocrat Hosni Mubarak could not have
imagined that an educated, over-qualified
vegetable-seller's self-immolation (that of the martyr
Mohamed Bouazizi) in a small town in rural Tunisia
could set off a political tsunami that would sweep him
from power in distant Cairo.
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