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Saturday, January 29, 2011

Egypt unrest


Egyptian security forces are on high alert, with thousands of people expected to join anti-government rallies after Friday prayers. The government says it is open to dialogue but also warned of "decisive measures" as the fourth day of violent protests loomed. Widespread disruption has been reported to the internet and mobile phone messaging services. There are also reports of arrests of opposition figures overnight. The reported crackdown on the largest opposition movement, the Muslim Brotherhood, came after it said it would back the Friday protests. On Thursday, Egyptian opposition figure and Nobel laureate Mohamed ElBaradei returned to Cairo, promising to join the demonstrators. Overnight clashes between protesters and security forces have been reported in Suez. Timeline: Egypt unrest Following is the chronicle of the demonstrations against the country's leadership. January 2011: Activists in Egypt call for an uprising in their own country, to protest against poverty, unemployment, government corruption and the rule of president Hosni Mubarak, who has been in power for three decades. January 25: On a national holiday to commemorate the police forces, Egyptians take to the streets in large numbers, calling it a "day of rage". January 26: A protester and a police officer are killed in central Cairo as anti-government demonstrators pelt security forces with rocks and firebombs for a second day, according to witnesses. January 27: Mohamed ElBaradei, the former head of the UN nuclear watchdog turned democracy advocate, arrives in Egypt to join the protests. ElBaradei says he is ready to "lead the transition" in Egypt if asked.  Meanwhile, protests continue across several cities. Hundreds have been arrested, but the protesters say they will not give up until their demand is met. Protesters clash with police in Cairo neighbourhoods. Violence also erupts in the city of Suez again, while in the northern Sinai area of Sheikh Zuweid, several hundred bedouins and police exchange live gunfire, killing a 17-year-old man. In Ismailia, hundreds of protesters clash with police. Lawyers stage protests in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria and the Nile Delta town of Toukh, north of Cairo. Facebook, Twitter and Blackberry Messenger services are disrupted. January 28: Internet and mobile phone text message users in Egypt report major disruption to services as the country prepares for a new wave of protests after Friday prayers.  Meanwhile, a lawyer for the opposition Muslim Brotherhood says that 20 members of the officially banned group have been detained overnight. Egypt remains on edge, as police and protesters prepare for a showdown. 

Raymond Davis US Consular Worker May Face Murder Charges


A US consular worker has been remanded in police custody for six days after shooting dead two armed assailants in Pakistan. Raymond Davis may face murder charges after the pair approached him on a motorcycle shortly after withdrawing money from an A.T.M. in the eastern city of Lahore on Thursday. Police say Davis believed the men intended to rob him in his car in a crowded street. He apparently produced a Bareta and opened fire. One gunman was killed at the scene by four separate shots. The second died later in hospital from three rounds. A third Pakistani was killed by a U.S. consulate S.U.V. as it rushed to Davis’s aid after he apparently called the mission for help. The consulate says it will surrender the vehicle and the driver to police for the official investigation. Appearing Friday in a Lahore military court, Davis apologized to the two men’s families. In a two-sentence statement Friday, the U.S. embassy confirmed that a consulate staffer "was involved in an incident yesterday that regrettably resulted in the loss of life."The U.S. was working with Pakistanis to "determine the facts and work toward a resolution," it said. But a Pakistani police officer described Davis, said to be from Virginia, as a “security official” at the Lahore consulate while others said he called himself a “technical adviser” to the authorities. As foreign mission worker he enjoys diplomatic immunity but Davis’s case is complicated by a ban on foreigners from carrying weapons in Pakistan and by local self-defense laws. Under Pakistani law one can only act in self-defense if attacked first. Merely being approached by someone wielding a gun is insufficient cause under law for the victim to pull the trigger. Also, when firing in self-defense it is only admissible to aim at non-life threatening parts of the assailant's body, such as arms or legs. The killings complicate further an already fraught relationship the United States has with Pakistan, its most important ally in fighting terrorism and Islamic militancy. Pakistani deaths at American hands are an immensely emotive issue here, where relentless CIA drone strikes aimed at insurgents have claimed the lives of hundreds of civilians in the past two years. In recent weeks there have been rallies countrywide involving thousands of protesters, angry at the attacks that they view as an invasion of national sovereignty and resentful of the US-led occupation of Afghanistan which is often sold by radicals as an American war on Islam.