Egyptian VP Tell Protesters To Go Home Ahead Of Mass Protests Scheduled For Friday

The new vice-president of Egypt Thursday told demonstrators their demands have been met and they should end their sit-in. 

Omar Suleiman, former head of Egyptian state security agencies made the statement in an interview on Egyptian State television Thursday evening on a day when reports of attacks on protesters and journalists poured in.

In his interview, Suleiman went on to blame foreign media organizations for inciting unrest and exaggerating the size of the protests. Reporters for virtually every news organization covering the situation from Cairo this week have been subject to acts of intimidation by pro Mubarak forces, ranging from serious physical attacks to having equipment confiscated. 

Some observers fear today’s crackdown on the press might indicate the government’s intention to intensify attacks against protesters in Tahrir Square tomorrow.

Press freedom groups like the Committee To Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders have already released statements denouncing what they call ” a systematic and concerted effort” to silence coverage of the clashes between protesters and pro-Mubarak’s security forces. Paris based Reporters Without Borders has been able to confirm that at least 26 journalists have so far been assaulted, while 19 others were detained by security forces and three others still reported missing. The organization also says it has recorded at least four instances in which media organizations had their equipment confiscated.

Unrest In Egypt Will Fundamentally Affect American Interest In Region, Say Experts

 The Obama administration is scrambling to find a way to address the current protests and civil unrest in Egypt without compromising its long standing ties with the government in Cairo, says Steven Cook Middle East Policy expert for the Council On Foreign Relations (CFR). 

 Cook says the Obama administration’s dual track policy towards Egypt, which consists of privately pressuring Egyptian President Mubarak to back reform while publicly supporting his government, is becoming increasingly difficult to reconcile given the violence and unrest in the streets.

 “The US needs to signal that ultimately, our values have to kick in. Egyptians have to understand that we are not going to allow them to do just about anything to regain control.” said Cook. 

 Robert Danin, Middle East and African Studies fellow for the Eni Enrico Mattei Foundation, says the Obama administration’s statements on Egypt have so far been quite vague and failed to offer any specifics details.

 ” I do not think the administration has handled it as well as it should have. ” said Danin. “My hope is that when President Obama finally does speak, he doesn’t use the word stability and focuses more on the need for, whoever is in charge in Egypt, to respect the rights of people who are demanding freedom.”

 Danin believes that in private conversations,  US officials are pressuring Mubarak to make concessions but that the Egyptian president likely thinks  any such action at this time would be too great a sign of weakness.

Danin says one of the first steps Mubarak can take towards reform and calm the protests would be repealing Egypt’s 30 year old Emergency Law, which allows for indiscriminate arrests, limits freedom of assembly and freedom of speech.  

  “Perhaps there is some sort of roadmap that Mubarak could lay out for the future out of this , to show that this could end in a way that would ultimately not result in his son becoming President.” 

Code Pink gets "serious" on Bush

Code Pink , an anti-war protest group, gathered outside the, Republican National Committee, to protest the war in Iraq. They said that since U.S. intervention in Iraq more than 4,000 troops have died in combat and the number continues to grow. Code Pink also said that the government spends $11 million an hour, everyday, to fund the Iraq war. Code Pink also called Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) President Bush's best friend, because Pelosi approved $165 billion to fund the war in Iraq.

Wanting their Voices to be heard

Five years after the Iraq invasion, protesters marched on the White House. Organized under "United for Peace and Justice," participants clothed in military uniforms, black hoods, or orange jumpsuits, congregated outside 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Various signs protesting torture, gas prices, and the Bush Administration were waved back and forth as individual protesters passed a bullhorn and shouted messages towards the President's front lawn. "Impeach Bush!" was shouted, along with claiming a citizen's arrest and "come out with your hands up!"

At least one hundred persons dressed completely in black, wearing white hockey masks, and carrying a large name tags identifying themselves as a dead journalist or activist, walked silently in a circle as one man rang a large cow bell to signify death. The "March of the Dead," as it was identified, paraded up and down the sidewalk in front of the gates.