Egyptian army delivers ultimatum to Tahrir protesters
Egypt's military delivered an ultimatum to dozens of committed protesters in Tahrir Square, nerve-centre of a movement that toppled Hosni Mubarak, to leave and let life get back to normal or face arrest.
Soldiers scuffled with protesters on Sunday as the army ensured traffic flowed through the central Cairo square. Some protesters insisted on staying, determined to see through their demands for civilian rule and a free, democratic system.
"We have half an hour left, we are cordoned by military police," protester Yahya Saqr told Reuters. "We are discussing what to do now," he said, adding that a senior officer "told us we have one hour to empty the square or we will be arrested."
Protest leaders say Egyptians will demonstrate again if their demands for radical change are not met. They plan a huge "Victory March" on Friday to celebrate the revolution, and perhaps remind the military of the power of the street.
Egypt's generals are asserting their command over the country following the overthrow of Mubarak.
Having suspended the constitution and dissolved parliament on Sunday, moves welcomed by those who saw both institutions as perverted to Mubarak's personal ends, the military council was planning to issue orders intended to stifle further disruption and get the country back to work, a military source said.
Disgruntled employees are already pressing for better deals. The interim military rulers called a Bank Holiday on Monday after disruption in the banking sector and there is a national holiday on Tuesday to mark the Prophet Mohammad's birthday.
Free and fair elections will be held under a revised constitution, the military said, but it gave no timetable beyond saying that it would be in charge "for a temporary period of six months or until the end of elections to the upper and lower houses of parliament, and presidential elections".
Nor did it detail what civilian or other participation there would be in amending basic laws during the transition. The cabinet appointed by Mubarak last month will go on governing, reporting to the army chiefs.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/egyptian-army-delivers-ultimatum-to-tahrir-protesters-2214167.htmlThis sounds ominous. The one hour deadline has long since passed. Has anyone heard anything about the military arresting the die hards ?
Let´s hope they don´t suffer the same fate as this young man :
A picture of his back
Mohammed Yahya
The Egyptian military tortured protesters
13. February 2011 19:26
The Egyptian military have, unlike the hated police forces, played a hero role during the historic upheavals in the country.
But it's not the whole army that deserve the Egyptians admiration and gratitude
DR correspondent Steen Noerskov has found one of the hundreds, perhaps thousands, of young demonstrators, the military have arrested and subjected to severe torture.
Protester: It was definitely the military
- who beat me. It said 'Sa'aqa' (military elite unit, ed.) on his sleeve. They wore green camouflage uniforms. It was the army. Not others, "say Mohammed Yahya and shows his tortured back to DR News.
The military arrested Mohammed Yahya in Tahrir Square the fourth February at 00:47.
Electrocuted him
He does not feel safe either at home or in Tahrir Square, so DR borrowed an office in an apartment in the center of the city where Mohammed Yahya showed the correspondent his back.
- They took my clothes off. Tied my hands and feet together and hung me up in them. Every five minutes they lowered me into water. It went on for approx. 1 ½ hours, tells the demonstrator.
They held him under water untill he thought he would drown, then they electrocuted him, and hung him up and beat him over the back, again and again. He saw others die from the same mistreatment, he said.
Many are still missing
And he is sure, that many protesters are still in danger.
- There are still so many imprisoned who haven´t been relesaed. Many of them are being tortured. One of my friends has been missing since 28 January. Nobody knows what happened to him.
In Tahrir Square the martyrs, the dead, are being commemorated. In the midst of the crowd many are missing, hundreds of youngsters who just 'disappeared'. Nobody knows if they are dead or alive.
- People think the army is protecting them, but it was just the opposite. The army protected only people in the square. Not those who were arrested outside or abducted by the secret police, said Mohammed Yahya.
http://www.dr.dk/Nyheder/Udland/2011/02/13/192303.htm
Topic: Egypt protests: Three reported dead in 'day of revolt'