Egypt delays expected reopening of stock market (AP)

CAIRO – Egyptian officials have again delayed the restart of the country's stock exchange, a move that brokers said Tuesday would likely only undercut investor confidence in a market many expect to take a hammering as the country struggles to regain footing after massive protests that ousted its longtime president.

The Egyptian Exchange, shuttered for over a month, was to resume trading on Tuesday. But in an overnight statement, exchange officials said the market would reopen instead on March 6 to "allow investors to profit from the government's support to guarantee stability in the bourse."

The decision reflected the strong undercurrent of unease in the Arab world's most populous nation where the market's benchmark stock index had shed almost 17 percent in two consecutive trading sessions before it closed at the end of the business day on Jan. 27.

"No doubt, it is certainly eroding investor confidence, and we're losing credibility by the day in international markets," said Karim Helal, managing director of brokerage CI Capital. "If the decision is to allow the market to absorb losses, it won't make a difference. It will just make it worse."

The exchange's closure was repeatedly extended as protests in Egypt gained momentum demanding Hosni Mubarak's ouster. Even after he was pushed from power, the suspension continued as massive labor strikes gripped the country and banks closed for a week.

To allay concerns about a panic sell-off, market officials set up safeguards to ensure that the broader EGX100 index would not collapse in one session, including setting up so-called trading circuit-breakers that would halt trading in the case the index shifted by 5 percent and then 10 percent.

The government, already facing a sharp economic blow from the expected downturn in tourism and foreign investment linked to the anti-regime unrest, said it would provide backing for smaller investors and brokerages.

But many remained unconvinced that a crash would be averted. And, as the market geared up for a restart, protests began in front of the exchange.

Analysts and brokers say the decision to delay the restart, however, may also be linked to the investigations of several prominent businessmen with close ties to the Mubarak regime. Many of these businessmen head some of Egypt's largest private sector companies.

Several have had their assets frozen and brokers have been ordered to go through their books and ensure that they can verify the identity of all their clients as many of these businessmen's holdings include significant amounts of shares.

The aim, ostensibly, is to ensure that these individuals do not convert their shares into cash and transfer them out of the country using a pseudonym.

The continuation of the halt in the exchange's operations, however, will likely do little to avoid what many expect will at least be a first day sell-off.

Stock markets across the region have been seeing sharp drops over the past few days because of the violent protests in Libya. Meanwhile the spread of the demonstrations in the oil-rich Gulf Arab region is also stoking fears that it could spillover to OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia.

"There's a combination of reasons" for the continued closure, said Helal, including the "continuing presence of some investors who are demanding the suspension until things stabilize."

"I'm not sure what they mean by that," he said, adding that keeping the market closed will not avert a sell-off.

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In Egypt, Democracy Makes Islamism Less Threatening (Time.com)

The erstwhile spokesman of al-Azhar, the Sunni Muslim seminary that serves as Egypt's highest religious authority, sees unfortunate parallels between his institution's experience and that of the clergy during the French Revolution. In short: both took the wrong side.

"Al-Azhar is the most prestigious institution in the Muslim World. It has great credibility as a bastion of Islamic knowledge and tradition," says Mohamed Rifaah, the vast institution's former spokesman. But its image withered under the 30-year regime of now deposed President Hosni Mubarak, who kept the institution on a tight leash. Mubarak exercised the right of his office to appoint the grand sheik of al-Azhar, and the regime controlled the institution's religious message. "This is what made it lose its credibility," says Rifaah. "If you want to be credible, you have to present yourself independently." (See photos of Mubarak, the man who stayed too long.)

As al-Azhar continued to serve its political master by offering scholarly Islamic interpretations opposed to the democratic uprising, Rifaah resigned along with a number of other officials who joined the revolution in their trademark gray overcoats and red caps. Now, the former diplomat believes that Egypt's new political reality offers al-Azhar the chance to reclaim its former international and domestic stature as an Islamic authority by establishing its independence from the regime.

But like all the state institutions under the Mubarak regime's control, al-Azhar's immediate future remains uncertain. And its fate may be part of a larger debate over the place of religion in Egypt's future. That debate includes the role that the country's largest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, will play in Egyptian democracy once it implements its recent decision to create a political party. And there's also the question of how a more democratic Egypt will deal with the Brotherhood's violent archnemesis, al-Qaeda, and related extremist groups. Even more basic, Egyptians are asking whether Article II of the constitution, which declares Islam the religion of the state and Islamic law the principal source of legislation, needs to be amended. The sheik of al-Azhar has warned that any changes to Article II would lead to conflict. Others, like prominent human-rights lawyer Ahmed Seif, say it's simply too soon to be having the debate about religion's role. Elections need to come first, he says. Many others say the conversation has started, and there is no turning back.

Mazen Mostafa, a member of Mubarak's ruling National Democratic Party who joined the revolution early on, believes Egyptians are on the cusp of a fundamentally different religious reality. "I think al-Azhar will lose its stature after some time as Egypt turns to more of a secular role. Both Islam and Christianity will diminish," he says. (See how democracy can work in the Middle East.)

Others are less certain. Last Friday, a crowd estimated by some to number over 1 million poured into Tahrir Square to celebrate their revolution and maintain its momentum. One of the keynote speeches was a passionate sermon by Islamic scholar sheik Youssef al-Qaradawi, newly returned from exile, who led the midday prayers. Some see al-Qaradawi's return as a sign that Egypt's revolution will open the way for a more Islamist politics. The popular scholar has a large following and a top-ranked al-Jazeera TV show, but he has been criticized by Egypt's Western allies for rationalizing Palestinian terror attacks. Al-Qaradawi supporters, however, insist he is hardly an extremist; the scholar condemned the attacks on Sept. 11, and is consistently at odds with al-Qaeda, having close ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and its more moderate views on Islam.

See more about Egypt's pursuit of the corrupt.

In Friday's speech, al-Qaradawi toed a moderate line in harmony with the revolution, calling for the removal of the corrupt remnants of Mubarak's regime, as well as the release of political prisoners. "I call on the Egyptian army to liberate us from the government that Mubarak formed," he said in the televised sermon. But he also urged protesters to have patience with the Egyptian military and urged striking workers to return to work in the interests of the revolution - sentiments far closer to those of the current military rulers than to many of those in the square.

Many analysts and political activists believe that Islamic extremists will lose out as a more democratic Egypt shapes its religious identity. "The new generation, including the Muslim Brothers and those of them who were in Tahrir Square, have hardly any relationship with al-Qaeda - ideologically, in terms of the outlook, and definitely not organizationally," says Walid Kazziha, a political scientist at the American University in Cairo. "I think al-Qaeda perhaps fears that these young Egyptians have stolen the revolution." (See the Facebook rebel who helped kick off the Jan. 25 revolution.)

Of course, there will be Islamists among the winners in Egypt's democratic revolution, but those are more likely to be the more moderate Muslim Brotherhood types. Denouncing the Brotherhood has long been a staple of al-Qaeda propaganda tapes, while a portion of the Egyptian group's website is titled "MB versus Qaeda" and is dedicated to bashing extremists. The Brotherhood recently announced that it will form a political party to contest elections as soon as constitutional amendments make that possible - a move that al-Qaeda would take as proof of its accusations of the Brotherhood's treachery against the Islamist cause, which al-Qaeda sees as irreconcilable with democracy.

Although members of the Brotherhood comprised a small minority of protesters in Tahrir Square, their cooperative and humble approach to working with other groups - never trying to lead, as well as their declared intention to refrain from fielding their own presidential candidate - will help them gain ground. "The Brotherhood is a part of this revolution," says Waleed Shalaby, the group's clean-shaven media consultant. "They didn't lead it or come late to it. The Brotherhood is at its heart, and it's part of its basic fabric."

The approach taken by the Brotherhood undercut efforts by the Mubarak regime to present Egypt's political choice as one between the dictatorship and the Islamists. In Tahrir, thousands of Egyptians who had previously had no contact with the Islamist group gained a positive experience. "People think the Muslim Brotherhood are terrorists, but they're not," said Hoor Ahmed Shawky, 17. "They just want fairness and justice."

The plurality that comes with democracy, if it is achieved, could also limit the Brotherhood's popularity, and marginalize the extremist fringes. Although the crowd in Tahrir Square on Friday listened in keen silence to al-Qaradawi's sermon, they represented a greater diversity across lines of age, outlook and social class, cooperating in the interests of establishing a truly democratic arena in which to express themselves. Extremist Islam would only triumph, says al-Azhar's former spokesman Rifaah, if the repression continues. "But if we have a democracy, we will not have a society dominated by one faction or by one religious organization. We will have a balanced society where all trends of thought will be adequately represented."

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Protesters say Egypt military uses force on them (Reuters)

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egyptian soldiers fired in the air and used batons in the early hours of Saturday to disperse activists demanding the cabinet appointed by Hosni Mubarak be purged by the country's new military leaders, protesters said.

Thousands had gathered in Cairo's Tahrir Square to celebrate two weeks since Mubarak's removal and remind the country's new rulers, who have promised to guard against "counter revolution" of the people's power.

In the gathering in the epicenter of the uprising against the president, activists urged the military, who had promised there would be "no return to the past" of the Mubarak era, to overhaul the cabinet and install a team of technocrats.

But after midnight, protesters said the military fired in the air, shut off the light from lampposts, and moved in on protesters to force them to leave the square, in an unusual use of military force against protesters since Mubarak's fall.

"Military police used batons and tasers to hit the protesters," Ahmed Bahgat, one of the protesters, told Reuters by telephone. "The military is once again using force. But the protesters have not responded."

Protesters left the main center but many had gathered in surrounding streets, another protester, Mohamed Emad, said. Witnesses said they saw several protesters fall to the ground but it was not clear if they were wounded or how seriously.

"I am one of thousands of people who stood their ground after the army started dispersing the protesters, shooting live bullets into the air to scare them," said protester Ashraf Omar.

TASERS AND STICKS

"They were using tasers and sticks to beat us without any control. I thought things would change. I wanted to give the government a chance but there is no hope with this regime," Omar said. "There is no use."

"I am back on the street. I either live with dignity or I die here."

Protesters say they want the resignation of the government of Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq, the immediate release of political prisoners and the issuing of a general amnesty.

The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's best organized political group, and others are particularly concerned about the key portfolios of defense, interior, justice and foreign affairs, and want a clean break from Mubarak's old guard.

The military, facing strikes over pay as well as turmoil in Libya, treads a fine line between granting people new freedoms and restoring normal life.

The army officers who moved in on protesters in Tahrir, donned black masks to cover their faces to avoid being identified by protesters, Omar said.

Military busses were parked in the square to take in protesters that were caught, Mohamed Aswany, one protester who had decided to stage a sit-in, told Reuters by telephone.

Protesters were heard yelling and shouting as they were chased down side streets to Tahrir.

"It is a cat and mouse chase between the army and the people," Omar said in dismay. "There is no more unity between the people and the army."

FORMER OFFICIALS DETAINED

In one attempt to appease protesters and show a break with the past, several former ministers and business executives linked to Mubarak's ruling party have come under investigation.

Egypt's public prosecutor referred two former ministers and several prominent businessmen to a criminal court on Thursday on accusations of squandering public funds.

In the latest case, investigators have ordered the detention of former Information Minister Anas el-Fekky for 15 days on charges of profiteering and wasting public funds, the state news agency MENA said on Saturday.

Investigators also ordered the head of the Egyptian Television and Broadcasting Union be detained.

Anti-government protesters had been angered by Fekky because state media, which fell under his charge, had ignored, played down or attacked demonstrations that ousted Mubarak.

Egypt's prosecutor said in its charges against Fekky that he had allocated state television funding to back presidential and parliamentary campaigns for Mubarak and his National Democratic Party, in violation of election laws.

The prosecutor also said Fekky had used excess funding in revamping studios and for channels owned by state television.

The former minister denied the charges, MENA reported, saying that he saw no excess in allocating budgets and that he had made such decisions to maintain competitiveness with other, private channels.

Fekky also denied that state television unfairly helped the campaign for Mubarak or his party:

"Those campaigns spoke of accomplishments in Egypt in general and did not praise one person or one party."

(Additional reporting by Mohamed Abdellah; Writing by Dina Zayed; Editing by Alison Williams)

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Egypt delays stock market's reopening (AP)

By TAREK EL-TABLAWY, AP Business Writer Tarek El-tablawy, Ap Business Writer – Tue Feb 22, 9:08 am ET
CAIRO – Egypt's stock exchange postponed its already long-delayed reopening until next week and markets in the Gulf Arab region posted their third consecutive day of declines as unrest in Libya and elsewhere in the region battered already fragile investor confidence in the Mideast.
Standard & Poor's, meanwhile, became the second credit agency in as many days to cut Libya's ratings, citing the kind of violence that has been unseen in Moammar Gadhafi's nearly 42-year leadership of that OPEC member state.
The Egyptian Exchange's decision to postpone its relaunch would mean that the market will have been closed for a month, assuming it restarts on Feb. 27. The exchange, in an e-mailed statement, said the decision followed consultations with the Egyptian Financial Services Supervisory Authority and brokerage houses. It did not specify a date for the relaunch.
The decision appeared to reflect that continued anxiety in Egypt about the country's economic woes following 18 days of protests that toppled Hosni Mubarak were being compounded by broader unrest in the region.
Unrest also has hit Yemen and Bahrain, putting the demonstrations on the other side of a causeway from Saudi Arabia.
The Dubai Financial Market's main index closed down 2.44 percent, to 1,479 points, while Saudi Arabia's TASI index rebounded from losses of over 1 percent earlier in the day. But the TASI still closed down 0.35 percent, or 6,277 points.
"You've got a political risk that is being leveled on local and regional equity markets. It's increasing day by day as we see more violence," particularly in Libya, said Haissam Arabi, chief executive of Gulfmena Alternative Investments, a fund management firm in Dubai.
"This is a situation where sentiment takes precedence over science and fundamentals," Arabi said.
In Dubai, Emaar Properties, the developer behind Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building, closed down 2 percent, hitting 2.92 Emirati dirhams. Courier Aramex, meanwhile, saw its shares slide 7.36 percent to 1.51 dirhams.
Abu Dhabi's benchmark index closed down 1.57 percent, to 2,579 points, with the construction and real estate sectors recording the biggest declines.
Qatar's exchange was off 3.57 percent, bringing its year-to-date losses to more than 5.3 percent. The country, which is poised for a construction boom as it prepares to host the World Cup in 2022 and has some of the world's biggest natural gas reserves, has been one of the few in the region able to post staggering GDP growth figures, even during the global financial meltdown.
While Arabi said the region's markets are driven largely by retail investors, big institutional buyers overseas are also spooked by the continuing unrest.
"Foreign investors feel as though they really can't tell the difference" between countries in the Middle East and North Africa, he said. "The level of awareness, especially when it comes to politics, is really only what people see on CNN."
As long as the unrest keeps up, Arabi believes there could be further pressure to sell off stocks in the region.
The declines built on losses that have accrued since Sunday and come as ratings agencies take an increasingly critical look at the financial fundamentals of many of the countries in the region.
A day after Fitch cut Libya's ratings, S&P followed suit. The agency cut Libya's long-term sovereign credit rating to BBB+ from A-, placed all of its Libya ratings on credit watch negative and warned that additional cuts could be in the offing.
S&P said the cuts "reflect our reappraisal of political risks in Libya," and that it expects the violence to continue.
"In our view, the longer the unrest continues, the higher the risk of political instability spreading across the country," S&P said.
So far, credit agencies have cut ratings for several Arab nations, including Egypt, Jordan and Bahrain, citing the ongoing unrest and its potential impact on the countries' respective economies.
___
AP Business Writers Adam Schreck in Dubai and Pan Pylas in London contributed.
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Egypt bans former PM from leaving country (AP)

CAIRO – Egyptian state TV says a former prime minister and Cabinet minister have been banned from leaving the country, a move that is often the prelude to a criminal investigation and a possible trial.

It says Egypt's top prosecutor on Wednesday banned Atef Obeid, prime minister from 2001 to 2004, as well as long-serving Culture Minister Farouq Hosni from traveling abroad.

The ban also covers Osama el-Sheikh, the head of state TV and radio.

The attorney general also banned nine businessmen from leaving Egypt.

The bans are the latest move by Egypt's military rulers against stalwarts of the administration of ousted President Hosni Mubarak and businessmen associated with his regime.

Mubarak stepped down Feb. 11 after a popular uprising, handing over power to the military.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

CAIRO (AP) — A security official says hundreds of low-ranking police have set fire to parts of the security headquarters in Cairo after four days of protests to demand better salaries.

The official says the protesters hurled firebombs at the building, setting parts of it ablaze. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.

The official says soldiers tried to disperse the crowd by firing in the air, but failed.

Egypt is now ruled by military commanders after massive protests ousted longtime President Hosni Mubarak.

Egypt's police fired on protesters early in the uprising, cementing the loathing many Egyptians feel for the security forces over widespread bribe-taking, abuse and torture.

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Serbian ousters of Milosevic make mark in Egypt (AP)

By DUSAN STOJANOVIC and JOVANA GEC, Associated Press Dusan Stojanovic And Jovana Gec, Associated Press – 7 mins ago

BELGRADE, Serbia – It was carried through the streets of Cairo during the revolution that ousted president Hosni Mubarak: a black flag emblazoned with a clenched white fist.

The symbol of resistance originated in the most unlikely of places for an Arab uprising — the Serbian pro-democracy movement that overthrew dictator Slobodan Milosevic.

The peaceful sometimes fun-loving tactics of the Balkan student revolutionaries were so successful that they opened up shop mentoring other protest movements in eastern Europe, plotting strategy for successful uprisings in Georgia and Ukraine.

Now, they're becoming a force in the Middle East.

The Serbian movement Otpor evolved into Canvas — a kind of consultancy for would-be revolutionaries. In 2009, in Belgrade, Canvas gave Egyptian youth group April 6 lessons in peaceful protest. The Egyptians adopted the clenched fist symbol, waving it in Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the Cairo protests.

"It makes us Serbs proud that they were inspired by what we have done but it is actually their own thing," said Srdja Popovic, a former Otpor leader who now runs Canvas, which stands for Center for Applied Nonviolent Action and Strategies.

"The young people of the Arab world have awakened and understood that they are powerful and that is what is happening now."

Popovic spoke in his office in a drab communist-style neighborhood of Belgrade where youth activists from around the world take five-day workshops on how to topple their autocrats.

On a wall-mounted drawing board are diagrams with arrows describing peaceful tactics by demonstrators that feature in lectures by the Serb instructors, all former members of Otpor, which means resistance in Serbian.

"We tell them first to identify the pillars of power of their autocratic regimes, like the police, army and media," Popovic said. "Then we say don't attack those pillars, that would lead to violence, but try and draw support from inside of those pillars."

He said protesters did this perfectly in Egypt, engaging with the army, which refused to crack down.

The Egyptians did not adopt some of Otpor's more whimsical tactics. At the height of the Belgrade uprising, Otpor erected a giant cardboard telescope to let people watch a falling star dubbed "Slobotea," and gave people a chance to punch a Milosevic effigy for a penny. But they used other means to ridicule Mubarak, such as waving cartoons of him cooking Egypt in a pot for over 30 years.

About a year and a half ago, April 6 activist Mohamed Adel traveled to Belgrade to consult Canvas on how to organize a peaceful protest movement. Back in Egypt, he relayed his knowledge to other members of the group, which together with a similar movement called Kefaya, became the main organizers of the revolt.

April 6 displayed the clenched fist symbol in its Cairo headquarters and waved it at rallies, until the opposition decided to use only the Egyptian flag as a symbol of unity.

Popovic's clients include youths trying to shake off autocratic regimes in Iran, Zimbabwe, Myanmar, Venezuela, and elsewhere. The non-profit group is entirely privately funded; there is no charge for workshops and revolutionary know-how can be downloaded for free on the Internet.

Canvas teachings are available in a documentary, "Bringing Down a Dictator," featuring Otpor strategies to topple Milosevic and its manual "Nonviolent Struggle, 50 Crucial Points" which was translated in 16 languages, including Farsi and Arabic, and downloaded 17,000 times from Iran during that country's 2009 protests.

"For eight years now we have worked with people from 37 different countries, which of course includes people from the Middle East and countries like Egypt," he said.

"We don't tell them what to do, but give them tools on how it can be done," Popovic said. "When they come to us, the first rule we tell them is never use violence. The second is never use foreigners to lead your uprisings."

To win a nonviolent struggle "you must have hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, sometimes hundreds of thousands or millions of people," Popovic said. "And those millions would never follow a Serb in Egypt."

Popovic says Middle Eastern nations are young societies — and that bodes well for successful revolution. In Egypt, the average age is 24, while 65 percent of Iranians were born after the Islamic revolution.

"The new generations don't take that crap any more," he said. "One cannot keep them frozen any longer and serve them lies. One can only try for so long."

Canvas first made its mark in former Soviet lands.

The clenched fist symbol was flying high on white flags in 2003 in Georgia, when protesters stormed the country's parliament in an action that led to the toppling of former autocratic President Eduard Shevardnadze.

The Serbian group also had well-trained followers in Ukraine during its "Orange Revolution" in 2004.

Popovic said the uprising in Egypt bore many hallmarks of the Belgrade protests in 2000. But he said each revolution is different and that the people who come to his courses only pick up "universal tools" that they later apply in their own countries.

Popovic praised Egypt's 19-day protests as "impressive." He said the demonstrations were well-planned, that the leaders managed to maintain political and religious unity and remained peaceful, despite repeated attempts by Mubarak's regime to create bloodshed.

In Iran, he said, it remains unclear how far the Islamic regime is ready to go to maintain power. But, he said the "Iranian system is expired for the people living in Iran, young people, energetic people."

Those young people communicate through new social media and want change, he said.

"Once the fear disperses, enthusiasm rises. Everything is possible."

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Wooing Jittery Tourists Back to Egypt (Time.com)

Chantal and Jean Gabriel Blanc are having the vacation of their lives. After all, they practically have Egypt's most famous destinations all to themselves. The French couple rave about the deserted beaches at Red Sea resorts that are usually overrun with tourists. The recent revolution, which overthrew one of the Arab world's longest serving dictators, may have been a victory for the Egyptians (and the Blancs), but it was a disaster for the country's tourism industry. More than a million visitors fled during the first week of the 18-day-long protests, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Visitors who ignored international travel advisories and stayed may have suffered the occasional whiff of tear gas, curfews or disturbing sights like tanks on the streets. But these more intrepid visitors also got the chance to witness modern history in the making and can perhaps better appreciate Egypt's past. On a day trip to visit the pyramids, just outside of Cairo, the Blancs relished the solitude. "You can almost imagine what it was like during the Pharos' time, when it was just desert and no people," says Jean Gabriel Blanc, gesturing to the stone courtyard between the outstretched paws of the Sphinx. "I could meditate here." (See the Mideast democracy wave.)

Of course, not everyone is thrilled. Just in front of the pyramids, tour guides, trinket sellers and men offering camel rides stand morosely in small groups, listlessly smoking cigarettes and fretting about how they will be able to afford their next meal. Guide Abdullah Faid says he hasn't had a job since January 25th, the day the protests started in Cairo's Tahrir Square. His family's papyrus shop is shuttered for lack of business, though he offers to open it up in the hopes of a quick sale. He's not sure yet if the revolution has been good for his country. Faid acknowledges that Egypt's overthrown leader, Hosni Mubarak, was corrupt and stole from the people. But he says that the doings of the elite rarely had an effect on his own livelihood, which came from generous foreign tourists. The protestors in the square may be happy, he grumbled, but his own life had decidedly taken a turn for the worse. "Before, I never had to worry about feeding my family. Now I'm not even sure I will have enough to eat by the end of the day."

An estimated 1.8 million Egyptians are directly employed in the tourism sector, and another five million in secondary industries like the manufacture and sale of tourism-related merchandise. If you multiply that by an average family size of eight, says Tarek Swelim, an art historian who leads specialized tour groups for visitors from the U.S., "You will realize what huge impact this has on Egypt as a whole." The Ministry of Foreign Affairs estimates that tourists spend some $318 million a day. (See TIME's special package "The Middle East in Revolt.")

Such a significant loss of income might explain the bizarre footage broadcast around the world of a camel charging through Cairo's Tahrir Square on day nine of the protests. The camel-rider and a group of men on horseback wheeled around the square bashing protestors with riding crops while yelling at them to clear out. If anyone knows who the men were, Faid won't say. But he does admit that they came from the very same group of camel guides and horsemen now milling around the base of the pyramids in search of customers. "Look, I don't like that camel man, because I think he gave a wrong image of Egyptians, and now people won't want to take camel rides any more," says Faid. Still, he understands the guy's motivation. Standing in front of the great pyramid of Cheops, Faid waves his hand at the entrance gates just down the road. Normally, he says, the lines in front of the ticket booths would be scores deep. Now, you can just make out a couple of horses dozing in the shade of a tree and a street empty of taxis. "We are not asking for the government to give us anything. We just want to work. We want to do our jobs. But the protesters scared everyone away. We were upset."

Despite the short term losses, Swelim, who has had two major American tour groups - one from the Stanford Alumni Association and the other from Yale - cancel planned trips, believes that Egypt will eventually be better off. "Yes, tourism definitely flourished during Mubarak. But that doesn't mean everything else did." He describes a deteriorating education system and stagnating political scene. It was economy that benefited a tiny elite and a society in decline. "We have a chance to start over, and when we do, we will have even more tourists coming. They will want to go to Tahrir Square to see where Egyptians stood up to a modern-day pharaoh. This isn't so far fetched. After all, New York's "Ground Zero," site of the attacks of September 11th, is now one of the city's visited sites.

Turning the site of the revolution into a tourist destination can only happen after Western countries lift their travel advisories warning their citizens not to visit. At the moment, say officials, the situation is still too tense to make a call. Tanks are still out on the streets, and protests - over housing, pay or labor disputes - could turn violent. The police have not returned to their posts, and while crime does not seem to be too much of a concern, it is true that security at several prisons was breached during the prisons, allowing criminals to escape. (See pictures of demonstrations across the Middle East.)

Until the embassies are comfortable that security has returned, they are unlikely to alter their warnings. American state department regulations require a minimum 30-day wait period before Egypt's status can be changed. That's when things will start looking up, says Swelim. "The Americans are the most fragile. Once it's known that the Americans are coming back, everyone else will come too." Until then, the more adventuresome tourists like the Blancs will enjoy having the country to themselves. "Last year it would have been impossible to get a picture in front of the Sphinx with out a crowd," says Chantal Blanc, holding up her camera like a trophy. "This is the best time to visit Egypt." Egyptians are hoping that idea catches on.

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After the carrot, Egypt military shows the stick (Reuters)

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt's military, after promising to deliver civilian rule in six months, warned workers using their new freedom to protest over pay that strikes must stop, in a move businessmen said on Saturday could have come sooner.

The military council, under pressure from activists to speed up the pace of reform, has adopted a softly-softly approach since taking power after the downfall of Hosni Mubarak, but said late on Friday that labor unrest threatened national security.

It issued the order, effectively banning strikes, after millions celebrated across Egypt with fireworks, dancing and music to mark a week since Mubarak, 82, was swept aside after 30 years, triggering a cascade of Middle East protests.

"I think it is a very late decision. The army should have given a firm statement for all kinds of sit-ins to stop, immediately after Mubarak stepped down," Sami Mahmoud, a board member of the Nile Company food distributor, said on Saturday.

"Though this statement should have come way earlier, I think the army was just allowing people to take their chance to voice their demands and enjoy the spirit of freedom," said Walid Abdel-Sattar, a businessman in the power industry.

"It's Not The Time For It," said Saturday's banner headline in the state-owned Akhbar Elyom newspaper, urging the nation to end work stoppages which were causing "a state of paralysis to our national economy" and losing Egypt crucial revenue.

Banks, which have been closed this week because of strikes that have disrupted business, are due to open on Sunday, the first day of the working week in Egypt. The military believes this is an important step toward restoring normality.

FREEDOM TO SPEAK OUT

Workers cite a series of grievances. What unites them is a new sense of being able to speak out in the post-Mubarak era.

The message to return to work was reinforced by influential preacher Sheikh Yousef al-Qaradawi at Friday prayers.

Most Egyptians, however, are keen to get back to normal, begin earning again and restart the damaged economy.

Life is far from normal in Egypt after the 18-day uprising erupted on January 25, with schools closed, tanks on the streets in major cities and nationwide public sector strikes.

In a sign of economic nervousness, Egypt's stock exchange, closed since January 27 because of the turmoil, said it would remain shut until it was sure banks were functioning properly.

Nine airlines canceled flights to and from Egypt's capital on Saturday, Cairo airport officials said. The unrest prompted foreign embassy travel warnings, hitting tourism.

The military statement also said that "some elements" were preventing state employees from working. Others were appropriating state land and building on farm land.

"The Supreme Council for the Armed Forces will not allow the continuation of those illegitimate practices," it said in the strongly-worded statement, without specifying precisely what steps would be taken against the perpetrators.

Protests, sit-ins and strikes have occurred at state-owned institutions across Egypt, including at the stock exchange, textile and steel firms, media organizations, the postal service, railways, the Culture Ministry and the Health Ministry.

The council understood workers' demands and had instructed the relevant state bodies to study and act on them, the military statement said. But citizens had a duty toward the state.

"It was also noted that the continuation of the state of instability and the consequences resulting from it will lead to damage in national security," the statement said.

Pro-democracy campaigners welcomed the army's suspension of the constitution, dissolution of parliament and a referendum on constitutional amendments but still want the immediate release of political prisoners and lifting of emergency laws.

A Cairo court on Saturday approved the establishment of an Egyptian political party that has been trying to secure an official license for 15 years.

The Wasat Party (Center Party) has applied four times for a license since the 1990s. Saturday's ruling made it the first party to gain legal status since Mubarak was toppled.

The ruling paves the way for the Wasat Party, founded by a former Muslim Brotherhood member, to take part in coming elections.

(Additional reporting by Sarah Mikhail, Edmund Blair, Sherine El Madany, Yasmine Saleh, Shaimaa Fayed, Marwa Awad, Dina Zayed, Tom Pfeiffer, Tom Perry, Patrick Werr, Alexander Dziadosz; Writing by Peter Millership; editing by David Stamp)

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Egypt Through the Lens of Iran's 1979 Revolution (Time.com)

Ever since the crowds flooded into Tahrir Square, I've begun talking to the living-room television. "Drop that hand!" I shouted at the raised fist of a pro-Mubarak thug a few days ago. On Friday, watching the fireworks over the skies of Cairo, I enviously mumbled: "How come we didn't do that?"

We, as in the young Iranians who flooded Tehran's own equivalent of Liberation Square, Azadi, on the same exact day 32 years ago. I was 12 at the time, but the events of that year remain my existential paradox, my life's most cherished trauma. (See "official" photos of Iran from its state news agency.)

The pundits now breezily call Iran's 1979 revolution "Islamic." But at the time, religious and secular, villagers and urbanites, educated and illiterate, all equally angrily, were marching in the streets and demanding the removal of the Shah. Iran's future was as unknowable then as Egypt's future is now.

Comparisons between Iran and Egypt abound and the guessing goes on as to what number Egypt's needle truly points on the Iranian time scale: 1979, or 2009 - the year the Green movement took the streets of Tehran. One of the dozen exuberant wallposts on my facebook page on Friday reads: "Egypt did it in 18 days. Iran will do it in a week!"

Egypt is not Iran. No two histories or nations, no matter how much they have in common, are interchangeable. But movements striving for common democratic goals have consistently exchanged the lessons of their struggles to inform and warn their comrades elsewhere against the pitfalls and to also facilitate a change of their own. The fear that fleeing dictators exude is very potent. (See how democracy can work in the Middle East.)

Today's Egyptian democratic forces ought to heed the errors of their Iranian counterparts from 1979. Above all because those errors were, by and large, not rooted in malice or ignorance but in good intentions. And also because their sinister effects did not reveal themselves until long after the euphoria had ebbed and the crowds had left the squares to resume their lives once again.

The first misstep of the Iranian secular movement came as early as 1978, when they blindly embraced a union with the religious opposition, having been perfectly disarmed by them. When the exiled Ayatollah Khomeini said that he had no political ambitions, and that, once the Shah was gone, his only wish was to hunker down with a Koran at a seminary in Qom, everyone believed him. When he spoke against the violations of human rights in the Shah's prisons, the intellectuals called him their homegrown Gandhi. When he talked of gender equality and women's rights, he was hailed unequivocally as if he'd been the heir to Betty Friedan. Before rising to power, the religious opposition to the Shah, headed by the Ayatollah, told Iranians what they wished to hear and they believed everything they heard.

The few who were smart enough not to believe the Ayatollah made the common mistake smart people often make: they underestimated the intelligence of others. They were confident that they could outmaneuver the Ayatollah. The Western-educated, stylishly-suited secular leaders assumed themselves far too sophisticated to be outwitted by the plainly-dressed provincial clerics.

See photos of the rise and fall of Iran's shah.

They also did not realize that keeping the movement peaceful and nonviolent was detrimental to keeping themselves relevant and credible. Once the army had opened fire and the first victims had fallen, the religious co-opted the movement. The seculars had no substantive plans for retaliation or political comeback in light of a military attack. But the shedding of blood was the cue for the religious to enter the stage and move into the spotlight. When it came to death, the religious had a full lexicon and complete repertoire of rituals to balance the strategic shortcomings of their secular counterparts. After all, death and all of its conceptual by-products, especially martyrdom, had always been the proverbial bread-and-butter of the clergy, the spring of their livelihood. (Comment on this story.)

As time passed, it quickly became clear that the easiest part of the revolution was the very thing that had seemed the hardest all along: the overthrow. Navigating the future was a most daunting task for which individuals who had spent decades dreaming of the Shah's fall had never planned for. With the revolution's victory, the movement, overcome by joy, lost its direction. They became overambitious and gave into globalistic hubris. Freedom for Iranians, employment and education for the youth, or the implementation of civil liberties were no longer enough. Those bÊte noires, evil Uncle Sam and his bastard child, Israel, had to also be uprooted. Once they shifted their focus from domestic issues, they had empowered the religious once again. Within months after the fall of the Shah, Iraq attacked Iran and the Ayatollah dragged the nation into a decade of destruction because, he argued, the quickest way to annihilating the world's two greatest evils was through conquering Baghdad en route to Jerusalem. Tehran, and its residents, did not satisfy the grand agenda. (See more about Tehran's worry over the spread of the recent Middle East protests.)

Iranians allowed themselves to be manipulated. The regime cowed them into making concessions by preying on their fears - of the return of the Shah, or the staging of a coup by his loyalists within the army. Instead of remaining uncompromising on the issues that defined them, they made compromises and bought into piecemeal, gradual, interim promises. Lest monarchy return, women were told to defer their demands for equal rights. Then in 1979 the U.S. embassy in Tehran was seized which the Ayatollah celebrated as a day second only to Feb. 11, the date of his revolution. Of course, he did. The seizure of the American embassy gave the Islamic radicals the ammunition they needed to conduct their assault on the hard-won and fledgling civil liberties in Iran because, the manipulative reasoning went, there was no telling how the angry Americans were going to infiltrate and avenge themselves on the nation.

In the end, the religious proved too smart to be outwitted by the secular. It made no claim to power until it had fully seized it - a quest fueled by bloodshed and extraterritorial ambitions. Let us hope that the new, wired generation of Egypt will remain as vigilant in seeing their victory through as they had been in bringing it about.

Roya Hakakian is the author of Journey from the Land of No: A Girlhood Caught in Revolutionary Iran (Crown 2004) and the forthcoming Assassins of the Turquoise Palace (Grove/Atlantic Press 2011).

See TIME's most unforgettable images of 2010.

See TIME's special report "The Middle East in Revolt."

View this article on Time.com

Most Popular on Time.com:

View the original article here

Egypt Through the Lens of Iran's 1979 Revolution (Time.com)

Ever since the crowds flooded into Tahrir Square, I've begun talking to the living-room television. "Drop that hand!" I shouted at the raised fist of a pro-Mubarak thug a few days ago. On Friday, watching the fireworks over the skies of Cairo, I enviously mumbled: "How come we didn't do that?"

We, as in the young Iranians who flooded Tehran's own equivalent of Liberation Square, Azadi, on the same exact day 32 years ago. I was 12 at the time, but the events of that year remain my existential paradox, my life's most cherished trauma. (See "official" photos of Iran from its state news agency.)

The pundits now breezily call Iran's 1979 revolution "Islamic." But at the time, religious and secular, villagers and urbanites, educated and illiterate, all equally angrily, were marching in the streets and demanding the removal of the Shah. Iran's future was as unknowable then as Egypt's future is now.

Comparisons between Iran and Egypt abound and the guessing goes on as to what number Egypt's needle truly points on the Iranian time scale: 1979, or 2009 - the year the Green movement took the streets of Tehran. One of the dozen exuberant wallposts on my facebook page on Friday reads: "Egypt did it in 18 days. Iran will do it in a week!"

Egypt is not Iran. No two histories or nations, no matter how much they have in common, are interchangeable. But movements striving for common democratic goals have consistently exchanged the lessons of their struggles to inform and warn their comrades elsewhere against the pitfalls and to also facilitate a change of their own. The fear that fleeing dictators exude is very potent. (See how democracy can work in the Middle East.)

Today's Egyptian democratic forces ought to heed the errors of their Iranian counterparts from 1979. Above all because those errors were, by and large, not rooted in malice or ignorance but in good intentions. And also because their sinister effects did not reveal themselves until long after the euphoria had ebbed and the crowds had left the squares to resume their lives once again.

The first misstep of the Iranian secular movement came as early as 1978, when they blindly embraced a union with the religious opposition, having been perfectly disarmed by them. When the exiled Ayatollah Khomeini said that he had no political ambitions, and that, once the Shah was gone, his only wish was to hunker down with a Koran at a seminary in Qom, everyone believed him. When he spoke against the violations of human rights in the Shah's prisons, the intellectuals called him their homegrown Gandhi. When he talked of gender equality and women's rights, he was hailed unequivocally as if he'd been the heir to Betty Friedan. Before rising to power, the religious opposition to the Shah, headed by the Ayatollah, told Iranians what they wished to hear and they believed everything they heard.

The few who were smart enough not to believe the Ayatollah made the common mistake smart people often make: they underestimated the intelligence of others. They were confident that they could outmaneuver the Ayatollah. The Western-educated, stylishly-suited secular leaders assumed themselves far too sophisticated to be outwitted by the plainly-dressed provincial clerics.

See photos of the rise and fall of Iran's shah.

They also did not realize that keeping the movement peaceful and nonviolent was detrimental to keeping themselves relevant and credible. Once the army had opened fire and the first victims had fallen, the religious co-opted the movement. The seculars had no substantive plans for retaliation or political comeback in light of a military attack. But the shedding of blood was the cue for the religious to enter the stage and move into the spotlight. When it came to death, the religious had a full lexicon and complete repertoire of rituals to balance the strategic shortcomings of their secular counterparts. After all, death and all of its conceptual by-products, especially martyrdom, had always been the proverbial bread-and-butter of the clergy, the spring of their livelihood. (Comment on this story.)

As time passed, it quickly became clear that the easiest part of the revolution was the very thing that had seemed the hardest all along: the overthrow. Navigating the future was a most daunting task for which individuals who had spent decades dreaming of the Shah's fall had never planned for. With the revolution's victory, the movement, overcome by joy, lost its direction. They became overambitious and gave into globalistic hubris. Freedom for Iranians, employment and education for the youth, or the implementation of civil liberties were no longer enough. Those bÊte noires, evil Uncle Sam and his bastard child, Israel, had to also be uprooted. Once they shifted their focus from domestic issues, they had empowered the religious once again. Within months after the fall of the Shah, Iraq attacked Iran and the Ayatollah dragged the nation into a decade of destruction because, he argued, the quickest way to annihilating the world's two greatest evils was through conquering Baghdad en route to Jerusalem. Tehran, and its residents, did not satisfy the grand agenda. (See more about Tehran's worry over the spread of the recent Middle East protests.)

Iranians allowed themselves to be manipulated. The regime cowed them into making concessions by preying on their fears - of the return of the Shah, or the staging of a coup by his loyalists within the army. Instead of remaining uncompromising on the issues that defined them, they made compromises and bought into piecemeal, gradual, interim promises. Lest monarchy return, women were told to defer their demands for equal rights. Then in 1979 the U.S. embassy in Tehran was seized which the Ayatollah celebrated as a day second only to Feb. 11, the date of his revolution. Of course, he did. The seizure of the American embassy gave the Islamic radicals the ammunition they needed to conduct their assault on the hard-won and fledgling civil liberties in Iran because, the manipulative reasoning went, there was no telling how the angry Americans were going to infiltrate and avenge themselves on the nation.

In the end, the religious proved too smart to be outwitted by the secular. It made no claim to power until it had fully seized it - a quest fueled by bloodshed and extraterritorial ambitions. Let us hope that the new, wired generation of Egypt will remain as vigilant in seeing their victory through as they had been in bringing it about.

Roya Hakakian is the author of Journey from the Land of No: A Girlhood Caught in Revolutionary Iran (Crown 2004) and the forthcoming Assassins of the Turquoise Palace (Grove/Atlantic Press 2011).

See TIME's most unforgettable images of 2010.

See TIME's special report "The Middle East in Revolt."

View this article on Time.com

Most Popular on Time.com:

View the original article here

Egypt echoes across region: Iran, Bahrain, Yemen (AP)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – The possible heirs of Egypt's uprising took to the streets Monday in different corners of the Middle East: Iran's beleaguered opposition stormed back to central Tehran and came under a tear gas attack by police. Demonstrators faced rubber bullets and birdshot to demand more freedoms in the relative wealth of Bahrain. And protesters pressed for the ouster of the ruler in poverty-drained Yemen.

The protests — all with critical interests for Washington — offer an important lesson about how groups across Middle East are absorbing the message from Cairo and tailoring it to their own aspirations.

The heady themes of democracy, justice and empowerment remain intact as the protest wave works it way through the Arab world and beyond. What changes, however, are the objectives. The Egypt effect, it seems, is elastic.

"This isn't a one-size-fits-all thing," said Mustafa Alani, a regional analyst at the Gulf Research Center in Dubai. "Each place will interpret the fallout from Egypt in their own way and in their own context."

For the Iranian opposition — not seen on the streets in more than a year — it's become a moment to reassert its presence after facing relentless pressures.

Tens of thousands of protesters clashed with security forces along some of Tehran's main boulevards, which were shrouded in clouds of tear gas in scenes that recalled the chaos after the disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in June 2009. A pro-government news agency reported one bystander killed by gunfire.

"Death to the dictator," many yelled in reference to Ahmadinejad. Others took aim Iran's all-powerful Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei with chants linking him with toppled rulers Hosni Mubarak in Egypt and Tunisia's Zine Al Abidine Ben Ali.

"Bin Ali, Mubarak, it's Seyed Ali's turn," protesters cried.

The reformist website kaleme.com said police stationed several cars in front of the home of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi ahead of the demonstration. Mousavi and fellow opposition leader Mahdi Karroubi have been under house arrest since last week after they asked the government for permission to hold a rally in support of Egypt's uprising — which Iran's leaders have claimed was a modern-day replay of their 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Karroubi and Mousavi, however, have compared the unrest in Egypt and Tunisia with their own struggles. Mousavi said all region's revolts aimed at ending the "oppression of the rulers."

A new U.S. State Department Twitter account in Farsi took a jab at Iran in one of its first messages Sunday, calling on Tehran to "allow people to enjoy same universal rights to peacefully assemble, demonstrate as in Cairo."

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton expressed support for the Iranian protesters, saying they "deserve to have the same rights that they saw being played out in Egypt and are part of their own birthright."

In Yemen, meanwhile, the protests are about speeding the ouster of the U.S.-allied president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has promised he would step down in 2013.

Monday's protests mirrored the calls in Egypt and Tunisia against the leaders there who had been in power for decades: "The people want the regime to step down."

Protesters in the tiny Gulf nation of Bahrain are not looking to topple its monarchy. But their demands are no less lofty: greater political freedom and sweeping changes in how the country is run.

The next possible round of demonstrations gives a similar divide.

A coalition in Algeria — human rights activists, unionists, lawyers and others — has called protests Saturday to push for the end of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's 12-year rule. Kuwait's highly organized opposition, including parliament members, plans gatherings March 8 to demand a wholesale change of cabinet officials, but not the ruling emir.

"We are experiencing a pan-Arab democratic moment of sorts," said Shadi Hamid, director of research at The Brookings Doha Center in Qatar. "For opposition groups, it comes down the question of, 'If not now, when?'"

But he noted that the newfound Arab confidence for change will go in various directions.

"The Arab opposition are using the Egyptian model as a message that anything is possible," Hamid said. "Then they interpret that into their local context."

In Yemen, more than 1,000 people, including lawyers in their black courtroom robes, joined a fourth consecutive day of protests in the capital of Sanaa — a day after police attacked anti-government marchers with sticks and daggers. Human Rights Watch said police on Sunday also used stun guns and batons to disperse protesters.

"We will continue our protests until the regime falls," independent lawmaker Ahmed Hashid said.

Police separated the opposition rally from a hundred government supporters holding pictures of the president.

Bahrain was more violent. Security forces fired tear gas, rubber bullets and birdshot pellets at thousands of anti-government protesters heeding calls to unite in a major rally and bring the Arab reform wave to the Gulf for the first time. At least 25 people were injured, and one man died after suffering severe head trauma.

Police later used vans and other vehicles to block main roads into the capital of Manama to prevent a mass gathering that organizers intended as an homage to Egypt's Tahrir Square.

Social media sites have been flooded with calls by an array of political youth groups, rights activists and others to join demonstrations Monday, a symbolic day in Bahrain as the anniversary of the country's 2002 constitution that brought pro-democracy reforms such as an elected parliament.

But opposition groups seek deeper changes from the country's ruling dynasty, including transferring more decision-making powers to the parliament and breaking the monarchy's grip on senior government posts. Bahrain's majority Shiites — about 70 percent of the population — have long complained of systemic discrimination by the Sunni rulers.

The nation — no bigger in area than New York City — is among the most politically volatile in the Gulf. A crackdown on perceived dissidents last year touched off riots and street battles in Shiite areas.

Some protesters carried mock Valentine's Day greetings from a prominent Bahraini blogger in custody, Ali Abdul-Imam.

"Arabs have been inspired by Egypt and empowered to believe that their voices must be heard and respected," wrote James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute, in a commentary in Abu Dhabi's The National newspaper. "It will make life more complicated for Western and Arab policy makers."

Monday's unrest touched on two key points of Washington's Mideast constellation.

Bahrain is home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet, one of the Pentagon's main counterweights to Iran's attempts to expand influence in the Gulf. Yemen's militant networks offer safe haven for al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, which has planned and launched several attack against the U.S., including the attempted airliner bombing on Christmas Day 2009 and the failed mail bomb plot involving cargo planes last summer.

The U.S. military plans a $75 million training program with Yemen's counterterrorism unit to expand its size and capabilities in the nation's difficult mountain terrain. Last month, the U.S. also delivered four Huey helicopters to Yemen and has been training the aviation units.

"What has happened in Tunisia and Egypt has terrified pro-Western Arab rulers," said Fawaz Gerges, a professor of Middle Eastern politics at the London School of Economics.

"One of the lessons that the U.S. will take from current unrest is that the status quo is no longer sustainable," he added. "There are huge cracks in the Arab authoritarian wall. It's the end of an era and the U.S. must make very tough choices and decisions."

Turkish President Abdullah Gul, who is visiting Iran, urged governments in the Middle East to listen to the their people.

"When leaders and heads of countries do not pay attention to the demands of their nations, the people themselves take action to achieve their demands," the official Islamic Republic News Agency quoted Gul as saying.

___

Associated Press writer Dale Gavlak in Amman, Jordan, contributed to this report.

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Iran opposition returns to streets, energized by Egypt (The Christian Science Monitor)

Baghdad, Iraq – Energized by people power revolts in Tunisia and Egypt, the opposition in Iran took to the streets on Monday, breaking a spell of fear and intimidation for the first time in more than a year.

Security forces fired tear gas, paintball guns, and bullets into the air, to disperse crowds as tens of thousands of protesting Iranians defied rally bans in Tehran and major cities to voice their solidarity with Arab revolts and anger at Iran's hard-line leaders.

Officials had declared the opposition Green Movement a "corpse," while taking every measure to preempt a rekindling of past protests – and lethal street battles – that lasted for weeks after disputed June 2009 elections.

Exclusive Monitor photos of Egypt's revolution

The irony wasn't lost on Iran's latent opposition in recent days, as Iran's top leaders claimed to be at the forefront of a popular "Islamic awakening" that was sweeping across the Arab world – but would not allow it to touch Iran.

"The government tried to say this movement is dead, it's a corpse," says an observer in Tehran who could not be named. "But for a corpse, you don't organize maximum security forces all over Tehran. This is the most important point today.... Do [hard-liners] doubt finally? Or still hold the illusion that it's just a few hundred crazy people out there?"

"It's not that the number is huge by any standards," adds the observer. "It's huge because there was so much repression during the last year, so these people risking and coming out was beyond expectation."

The fact that there was any turnout at all, after the systematic measures taken against the Green Movement and its leaders since mid-2009 – among them executions, rape in detention, and stiff prison sentences – served to invigorate its foot soldiers.

Think you know the Middle East? Take our geography quiz.

"People will definitely believe in themselves again," says a London-based Iranian analyst who closely monitored events on Monday. "The [Green] Movement showed it still has strength.... It has, at least in people's hearts and minds, [been given] great boost of morale and knowing the movement is still there."

The scenes on the streets on Monday resembled those of the protests of 2009 against the declared reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Scores, if not hundreds, died and thousands were arrested then. More than 100 were charged with fomenting a "velvet revolution" in a show trial.

'Death to the dictator'On Monday cellphone video showed people chanting "Death to the dictator," and linking Iran's supreme religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

One poster made for the event showed comparison pictures of Mr. Mubarak and President Ahmadinejad striking the same arms-raised-in-victory pose. That was a note struck by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who called for the Iranian government to recognize the “aspirations” of its people, as it had for Egyptians.

“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,” Mrs. Clinton said. “And now, when given the opportunity to afford their people the same rights as they called for on behalf of the Egyptian people, [they] once again illustrate their true nature.”

State television dismissed the protesters as "hypocrites, monarchists, thugs, and seditionists who wanted to create public disorder in Iran [and] were arrested by our brave nation.... These people set garbage bins on fire and damaged public property."

In one violent episode caught on video, a basiji religious militiaman tried to stop a crowd desecrating a banner with a portrait of Ayatollah Khamenei and the founder of Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. The basiji was viciously kicked and beaten as an agent of the regime.

The government tried to headline news of Turkish President Abdullah Gul's visit to Iran. But Mr. Gul's call for Middle East leaders to hear their people gave Iran's opposition a boost.

"We see that sometimes, when the leaders and heads of countries do not pay attention to the nations' demands, the people themselves take action to achieve their demands," Gul said on Monday during a joint news conference with Ahmadinejad.

Green Movement protests peaked in December 2009, but huge rallies planned for February 2010 were preempted by arrests and saturation deployment of security forces and intelligence agents.

Virtual house arrest for opposition leadersSince then opposition leaders – former presidential candidates Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, both of them senior former officials – have been under virtual house arrest and vilified by hard-line officials as traitors.

Before his phone lines were cut off, his house surrounded, and guards placed to prevent visits from anyone, including his children – and to prevent him from attending Monday's demonstration –Mr. Karroubi told The New York Times in a Skype interview last week that the event was a test for the Iranian regime.

"If they are not going to allow their own people to protest, it goes against everything they are saying, and all they are doing to welcome the protests in Egypt is fake," said Karroubi.

Prior to Monday's protest, dozens of journalists and activists were detained, though protest routes had already been mapped out in 30 cities and circulated on the Internet.

On Monday, security forces in riot gear – and in some places, according to eyewitnesses, wearing face masks for the first time – deployed in major squares and patrolled the streets in motorcycle posses.

The security forces have "also learned," since 2009, says the London analyst. "They are showing crowd management now, less thug-like and more trained. Still brutal, but dispersing people before a nucleus is formed, funneling [crowds] to keep [people] moving."

Still, he says, the images of Iran's most sacred leadership icons being driven over by cars – even more than video of burning trash bins and clashes – are the ones that will resonate at the top in Iran.

"It took ages to get there [in 2009], but a few hours this time," he says. "It's there, the people do have it in them."

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Military urges halt to strikes gripping Egypt (AFP)

CAIRO (AFP) – Egypt's military government urged an end to widespread strikes following the popular uprising that overthrew Hosni Mubarak, as the United States pressed for an end to 30-year-old emergency laws.

The orders came after the elderly generals now ruling the country met some of the young Internet activists who triggered the revolt against Mubarak, reportedly promising a referendum on a new constitution within two months.

European governments, meanwhile, moved on Egyptian requests to freeze the assets of several officials of the ousted regime amid accusations that they had salted away billions of dollars in ill-gotten assets.

In its latest announcement since it took power on Friday, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces urged union leaders to call off their action.

They stopped short however of issuing a decree banning strikes, as it had been rumoured to be preparing to do.

"Honourable citizens can see that protests at this critical time will have a negative effect in harming the security of the country," its spokesman said.

The uprising that toppled Mubarak's 30-year rule has splintered into pay strikes by workers in the banking, transport, health care, oil, tourism and textiles sectors, as well as state-owned media and government bodies.

"It's difficult to say exactly how many people are striking and where. Who isn't striking?" Kamal Abbas of the Centre for Trade Union and Workers' Services said.

Many of the strikes were aimed at removing corrupt union leaders tied to Mubarak, he said.

At one such protest, public transport workers demanded better working conditions, accusing officials of corruption.

"They send us out with vehicles with bad brakes... There is no maintenance," said one demonstrator.

At another protest, hospital workers formed a human chain to stop traffic on the highway south out of the capital, causing a major traffic jam and infuriating motorists.

The strikes prompted the stock exchange to once again postpone reopening until next week.

The cyber campaigners said the junta, which dissolved parliament and suspended the constitution on Sunday, had vowed to rewrite the document within 10 days in line with the protesters' demands for democratic change.

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces has set a six-month timetable for holding elections but said the cabinet Mubarak hastily appointed on January 31 -- headed by a former air force commander -- would stay on.

"We met the army... to understand their point of view and lay out our views," said 30-year-old Google executive Wael Ghonim and blogger Amr Salama, in a note on a pro-democracy website that helped launch the revolt.

Ghonim became an unlikely hero of the uprising after tearfully describing his 12 days in detention in a televised interview.

The sweeping changes announced by the council dismantled the political system that underpinned Mubarak's rule, which ended Friday when he was driven from power after the 18-day pro-democracy uprising.

The dissolved parliament was seen as illegitimate following elections last year marred by widespread allegations of fraud, which gave Mubarak's National Democratic Party (NDP) an overwhelming majority.

Protesters had also demanded the overhaul of the constitution, which placed restrictions on who could stand in elections and made it virtually impossible to seriously challenge the NDP.

Several members of the previous government, including sacked premier Ahmed Nazif and widely hated interior minister Habib al-Adly, have been banned from leaving Egypt by authorities investigating graft allegations.

In an attempt to show their solidarity with the uprising, hundreds of members of Mubarak's police force -- widely viewed as corrupt and brutal -- have called for Adly, their former boss, to be publicly executed.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she hoped the military leaders would lift the three-decade old emergency law as promised.

In comments to Al-Jazeera television, Clinton stressed that the process should be "directed and defined" by the Egyptian people.

But she added: "One of the demands which we have supported for a long time is to lift the emergency decree.

"There has been an announcement that will be done and we hope that it will be," she added.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said his government had been asked to freeze the assets of several former regime officials. A German foreign ministry said Berlin had received a similar request.

The Tunisian uprising was an inspiration to Egypt's protest movement, which in turn triggered anti-government demonstrations around the Middle East, from Algeria to Iran and Yemen.

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Key members of Egypt Armed Forces Supreme Council (AP)

Key members of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which is chaired by the minister of defense and chief commander of the armed forces.

• Commander-in-Chief and Defense Minister: Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi

• Chief of Staff : Lt. Gen. Sami Hafiz Anan

• Air Forces commander: Air Marshal Reda Mahmoud Hafez

• Naval Forces commander: Naval Vice Adm. Lt. Gen. Mouhab Mohammed Hussein Mamish

• Air Defense commander: Lt. Gen. Abdel-Aziz Seif el-Din

• Commander of Central District: Gen. Hassan el-Rawini

• Defense Minister Assistant: Gen. Mohsen el-Fangari

• Border Guards Commander: Gen. Mohammed Abdel-Nabi

View the original article here

Egypt Through the Lens of Iran's 1979 Revolution (Time.com)

Ever since the crowds flooded into Tahrir Square, I've begun talking to the living-room television. "Drop that hand!" I shouted at the raised fist of a pro-Mubarak thug a few days ago. On Friday, watching the fireworks over the skies of Cairo, I enviously mumbled: "How come we didn't do that?"

We, as in the young Iranians who flooded Tehran's own equivalent of Liberation Square, Azadi, on the same exact day 32 years ago. I was 12 at the time, but the events of that year remain my existential paradox, my life's most cherished trauma. (See "official" photos of Iran from its state news agency.)

The pundits now breezily call Iran's 1979 revolution "Islamic." But at the time, religious and secular, villagers and urbanites, educated and illiterate, all equally angrily, were marching in the streets and demanding the removal of the Shah. Iran's future was as unknowable then as Egypt's future is now.

Comparisons between Iran and Egypt abound and the guessing goes on as to what number Egypt's needle truly points on the Iranian time scale: 1979, or 2009 - the year the Green movement took the streets of Tehran. One of the dozen exuberant wallposts on my facebook page on Friday reads: "Egypt did it in 18 days. Iran will do it in a week!"

Egypt is not Iran. No two histories or nations, no matter how much they have in common, are interchangeable. But movements striving for common democratic goals have consistently exchanged the lessons of their struggles to inform and warn their comrades elsewhere against the pitfalls and to also facilitate a change of their own. The fear that fleeing dictators exude is very potent. (See how democracy can work in the Middle East.)

Today's Egyptian democratic forces ought to heed the errors of their Iranian counterparts from 1979. Above all because those errors were, by and large, not rooted in malice or ignorance but in good intentions. And also because their sinister effects did not reveal themselves until long after the euphoria had ebbed and the crowds had left the squares to resume their lives once again.

The first misstep of the Iranian secular movement came as early as 1978, when they blindly embraced a union with the religious opposition, having been perfectly disarmed by them. When the exiled Ayatollah Khomeini said that he had no political ambitions, and that, once the Shah was gone, his only wish was to hunker down with a Koran at a seminary in Qom, everyone believed him. When he spoke against the violations of human rights in the Shah's prisons, the intellectuals called him their homegrown Gandhi. When he talked of gender equality and women's rights, he was hailed unequivocally as if he'd been the heir to Betty Friedan. Before rising to power, the religious opposition to the Shah, headed by the Ayatollah, told Iranians what they wished to hear and they believed everything they heard.

The few who were smart enough not to believe the Ayatollah made the common mistake smart people often make: they underestimated the intelligence of others. They were confident that they could outmaneuver the Ayatollah. The Western-educated, stylishly-suited secular leaders assumed themselves far too sophisticated to be outwitted by the plainly-dressed provincial clerics.

See photos of the rise and fall of Iran's shah.

They also did not realize that keeping the movement peaceful and nonviolent was detrimental to keeping themselves relevant and credible. Once the army had opened fire and the first victims had fallen, the religious co-opted the movement. The seculars had no substantive plans for retaliation or political comeback in light of a military attack. But the shedding of blood was the cue for the religious to enter the stage and move into the spotlight. When it came to death, the religious had a full lexicon and complete repertoire of rituals to balance the strategic shortcomings of their secular counterparts. After all, death and all of its conceptual by-products, especially martyrdom, had always been the proverbial bread-and-butter of the clergy, the spring of their livelihood. (Comment on this story.)

As time passed, it quickly became clear that the easiest part of the revolution was the very thing that had seemed the hardest all along: the overthrow. Navigating the future was a most daunting task for which individuals who had spent decades dreaming of the Shah's fall had never planned for. With the revolution's victory, the movement, overcome by joy, lost its direction. They became overambitious and gave into globalistic hubris. Freedom for Iranians, employment and education for the youth, or the implementation of civil liberties were no longer enough. Those bÊte noires, evil Uncle Sam and his bastard child, Israel, had to also be uprooted. Once they shifted their focus from domestic issues, they had empowered the religious once again. Within months after the fall of the Shah, Iraq attacked Iran and the Ayatollah dragged the nation into a decade of destruction because, he argued, the quickest way to annihilating the world's two greatest evils was through conquering Baghdad en route to Jerusalem. Tehran, and its residents, did not satisfy the grand agenda. (See more about Tehran's worry over the spread of the recent Middle East protests.)

Iranians allowed themselves to be manipulated. The regime cowed them into making concessions by preying on their fears - of the return of the Shah, or the staging of a coup by his loyalists within the army. Instead of remaining uncompromising on the issues that defined them, they made compromises and bought into piecemeal, gradual, interim promises. Lest monarchy return, women were told to defer their demands for equal rights. Then in 1979 the U.S. embassy in Tehran was seized which the Ayatollah celebrated as a day second only to Feb. 11, the date of his revolution. Of course, he did. The seizure of the American embassy gave the Islamic radicals the ammunition they needed to conduct their assault on the hard-won and fledgling civil liberties in Iran because, the manipulative reasoning went, there was no telling how the angry Americans were going to infiltrate and avenge themselves on the nation.

In the end, the religious proved too smart to be outwitted by the secular. It made no claim to power until it had fully seized it - a quest fueled by bloodshed and extraterritorial ambitions. Let us hope that the new, wired generation of Egypt will remain as vigilant in seeing their victory through as they had been in bringing it about.

Roya Hakakian is the author of Journey from the Land of No: A Girlhood Caught in Revolutionary Iran (Crown 2004) and the forthcoming Assassins of the Turquoise Palace (Grove/Atlantic Press 2011).

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Uncertain future for US policy as Egypt shifts (AP)

WASHINGTON – The United States faces an intensely uncertain future in Egypt, a stalwart ally of decades in the volatile Middle East, where key tenets of American foreign policy are now thrown into doubt.

Behind President Barack Obama's praise for Egypt's protesters and the outcome they achieved lie major unanswered questions about what will come next now that President Hosni Mubarak has been overthrown after 30 years of authoritarian rule. For many people in Egypt, they were years of oppression, corruption and poverty; but for the U.S., Mubarak was an anchor of stability at the helm of the world's largest Arab nation, enforcing a peace treaty with Israel and protecting vital U.S. interests, including passage for oil through the Suez Canal.

For now, the military is in charge, but whether, when or how a transition will be made to the kind of democratic society that meets the protesters' demands remains unknown. Speaking at the White House on Friday, Obama acknowledged difficult days ahead and unanswered questions but expressed confidence that the answers will be found.

Most tellingly, as the U.S. warily eyes the days ahead, Obama singled out the Egyptian military for praise in the restraint it showed through more than two weeks of largely peaceful protests. But the president emphasized the military's role as a "caretaker" leading up to elections now set for September and said it must now "ensure a transition that is credible in the eyes of the Egyptian people."

He said that means lifting Egypt's hated 30-year-old "emergency" police powers laws, protecting the rights of citizens, revising the country's law and constitution "to make this change irreversible and laying out a clear path to elections that are fair and free."

But just as the U.S. had limited influence during the uprising that seemed to spring almost out of nowhere to overtake Egypt, it has limited influence over what happens next. The U.S. provides some $1.5 billion a year in aid to Egypt, the vast majority of it to the military, and has a good relationship with the Egyptian military, which often sends officers here for training. That doesn't guarantee a commanding U.S. role.

"Do we have leverage or influence?" asked Aaron David Miller, a former Mideast adviser to six U.S. secretaries of state. "Well, did we have leverage and influence over the past few weeks? That's highly arguable."

Miller, now with the Woodrow Wilson Center think tank, said it will take weeks or months to sort things out. And in the end, he said, "I think Egypt will be a far less forgiving place for American interests as democracy takes root — if in fact it does."

Asked about the uncertainty ahead, especially with respect to the role of the military, presidential spokesman Robert Gibbs could only answer: "I don't think we have to fear democracy."

Beyond the question of who will end up in control in Egypt and whether the U.S. will still be able to count the country as a firm and stable ally, there are concerns over whether the unrest that brought down Mubarak will spread to other nations in the Middle East, including oil-rich autocratic neighbors.

That prospect looms even as the U.S. handling of the Egypt situation has angered some leaders in the region who thought Washington was too quick to abandon Mubarak — although Obama and his administration studiously avoided ever calling outright for the president's ouster.

On Friday, after Mubarak's resignation was announced, Obama was able to give fuller expression to his views.

"By stepping down, President Mubarak responded to the Egyptian people's hunger for change," Obama said, in words reminiscent of his own presidential campaign.

Of the protesters, the president said: "This is the power of human dignity, and it can never be denied." He compared them to the Germans who tore down the Berlin Wall and to independence leader Mohandas K. Gandhi's nonviolent ranks in India.

Mubarak's resignation came less than 24 hours after he'd surprised the White House and many others by delivering a defiant speech Thursday in which he refused to step down, confounding widespread expectations that he'd do so. Obama learned of the announcement of his resignation Friday morning when an aide brought him a note during a meeting in the Oval Office.

Then he spent a few moments, along with the rest of the world, watching the joyous celebrations in Cairo on TV.

"Egyptians have inspired us, and they've done so by putting the lie to the idea that justice is best gained through violence," Obama said. "For in Egypt, it was the moral force of nonviolence — not terrorism, not mindless killing — but nonviolence, moral force that bent the arc of history toward justice once more."

The protests arose in a country with enormous social problems, with vast differences between the haves and the have-nots. It is a country where more than 50 percent of the adult population is illiterate and some 40 percent live below or close to the poverty line. Rising costs of food were among the leading factors underpinning the protests. Some of the impoverished Egyptians are beneficiaries of U.S. food aid; officials said Friday that U.S. aid to Egypt was not expected to be affected by Mubarak's departure.

It was not clear what role Islamic militant groups such as the now-banned Muslim Brotherhood might play in the new government that emerges. Also of critical importance: whether the evolving new government will continue to honor the landmark 1979 peace treaty with Israel.

The top U.S. military officer, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen, will be in Israel on Sunday and Monday, with developments in Egypt expected to be at the top of the agenda. The meeting was previously scheduled. Mullen is also visiting Jordan, another Mideast ally facing the prospect of civil unrest.

___

Associated Press writers Tom Raum, Robert Burns, Ben Feller and Mathew Lee contributed to this report.

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Key members of Egypt Armed Forces Supreme Council (AP)

Key members of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which is chaired by the minister of defense and chief commander of the armed forces.

• Commander-in-Chief and Defense Minister: Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi

• Chief of Staff : Lt. Gen. Sami Hafiz Anan

• Air Forces commander: Air Marshal Reda Mahmoud Hafez

• Naval Forces commander: Naval Vice Adm. Lt. Gen. Mouhab Mohammed Hussein Mamish

• Air Defense commander: Lt. Gen. Abdel-Aziz Seif el-Din

• Commander of Central District: Gen. Hassan el-Rawini

• Defense Minister Assistant: Gen. Mohsen el-Fangari

• Border Guards Commander: Gen. Mohammed Abdel-Nabi

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On U.S. TV, Egypt, Israel officials stress continuity (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Egypt's envoy to the United States said on Sunday his country's peace treaty with Israel would stand because it benefited Egypt, while Israel's defense minister said he did not see any risk to their bilateral relationship.

Both officials, in appearances on U.S. news talk shows, stressed continuity in the wake of the ouster of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Friday, which left deep uncertainty and huge challenges for America's Middle East policy.

Egypt's ambassador to the United States, Sameh Shoukry, told ABC'S "This Week" the Israeli peace treaty has been beneficial to his country for 30 years and he expected it to remain in place, as military leaders in Cairo have stated.

"We have derived a peace dividend from the treaty," Shoukry said. "We've been able to establish security and stability in the region. And I believe it is a main element in terms of our foreign policy."

Israel's Defense Minister Ehud Barak, in a taped interview on the same program, expressed wariness about Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood's potential strength in any elections there but said he said he did not see a threat to Israeli-Egypt ties.

"I don't think that the relationship between Israel and Egypt ... is under any risk or that any kind of operational risk is waiting us just behind the corner," he told ABC.

Barak said he did not think Egypt's uprising was "something similar to the Iranian events" that created a hard-line Islamic state that is a dedicated foe of Israel.

"It was not something that was organized by extremist groups of Muslim radical origins," he said.

"I think that they have to listen to voices from the rest of the world."

While noting the Muslim Brotherhood was not the instigator of the protests that unseated Mubarak, Barak voiced his country's wariness that the group was better-placed than the idealist protesters to win early elections in Egypt.

"Later on, sooner or later, the only group which is coherent, focused, ready to kill and be killed if necessary takes power," he said. "That should be avoided in Egypt because that could be a catastrophe for the whole region."

Barak added, however, that, "We should not very easily compare them to ... the most extremist groups ... it's an Egyptian version. Many of them are less extremist."

Shoukry told ABC that Egypt's interests dictated its ties to the United States and that Washington could count on Cairo's support in the region.

"These issues are driven by mutual interest, by Egyptian interests, and interest remains a close association to the United States," he said.

(Reporting by Paul Eckert; Editing by Bill Trott)

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Key members of Egypt Armed Forces Supreme Council (AP)

Key members of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which is chaired by the minister of defense and chief commander of the armed forces.
• Commander-in-Chief and Defense Minister: Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi
• Chief of Staff : Lt. Gen. Sami Hafiz Anan
• Air Forces commander: Air Marshal Reda Mahmoud Hafez
• Naval Forces commander: Naval Vice Adm. Lt. Gen. Mouhab Mohammed Hussein Mamish
• Air Defense commander: Lt. Gen. Abdel-Aziz Seif el-Din
• Commander of Central District: Gen. Hassan el-Rawini
• Defense Minister Assistant: Gen. Mohsen el-Fangari
• Border Guards Commander: Gen. Mohammed Abdel-Nabi
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Obama urges 'genuine democracy' in Egypt (AFP)

WASHINGTON (AFP) – US President Barack Obama has called on the now-ruling Egyptian military to ensure a transition towards "genuine democracy," saying that the people of Egypt had spoken.

Obama gave a statement Friday, soon after it emerged from a euphoric Cairo that President Hosni Mubarak, a 30-year US ally who America subtly helped push towards the exit, had resigned after days of raging street protests.

"The people of Egypt have spoken -- their voices have been heard and Egypt will never be the same," Obama said.

"Egyptians have made it clear that nothing less than genuine democracy will carry the day," Obama said, praising the military for safeguarding the state, but also calling on them to secure a credible political transition.

The US administration had struggled for days to find ways of making an impact on the 18-day crisis, as Mubarak had defied pressure to end his long authoritarian rule.

Obama had ratcheted up calls for a peaceful, swift transition to democracy, and on Friday pledged that the United States would stand with the people of Egypt -- one of America's staunchest allies and a recipient of some two billion dollars in annual aid.

"By stepping down, President Mubarak responded to the Egyptian peoples' hunger for change," Obama said in his brief statement.

On taking power Friday, the military moved quickly to reassure the citizens whose street revolt toppled Mubarak that it would respect the popular will.

And the White House called on the new authorities in Egypt to honor existing peace agreements with Israel.

"It is important the next government of Egypt recognize the accords that have been signed with the government of Israel," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.

Mubarak's hurried departure Friday -- a day after he said he would stay until September's elections -- will have brought relief in Washington, facing a dearth of options to force an end to the crisis.

But Mubarak's exit also posed searching questions about future US Middle East policy, with a possible power vacuum in Egypt.

Obama nevertheless hailed the toppling of the Arab strongman, brought down by two weeks of mass protests in Cairo's Tahrir Square, as a defining moment in world history.

"The word Tahrir means liberation. It's a word that speaks to that something in our souls that cries out for freedom," Obama said.

The president also drew parallels to other tumultuous world events, referring to the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Indonesian revolt against president Suharto, and Indian independence icon Mahatma Gandhi.

He called on the armed forces to ensure a political transition that was "credible in the eyes of the Egyptian people," warning of "difficult days ahead."

"Over the last few weeks, the wheel of history turned at a blinding pace, as the Egyptian people demanded their universal rights," he said.

And he emphasized the peaceful nature of the uprising.

"Egyptians have inspired us and they've done so by putting the lie to the idea that justice is best gained through violence," Obama said.

"For Egypt, it was the moral force of non-violence, not terrorism, not mindless killing, but non-violence, moral force, that bent the arc of history towards justice one more."

The Pentagon announced that the top US military commander will visit Israel and Jordan Sunday and Monday to reaffirm US support following the collapse of the Mubarak presidency.

Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will begin his trip in Amman where he will meet with King Abdullah II and his Jordanian counterpart, Lieutenant General Meshaal Al-Zabn.

"He will discuss security issues of mutual concern and reassure both these key partners of the US military's commitment to that partnership," Pentagon spokesman Captain John Kirby said.

In Israel, Mullen will hold talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Shimon Peres and the country's military leaders.

US lawmakers on Friday were also weighing tighter controls on exports that can help repressive regimes cling to power.

"We continue to watch and have concerns about the misuse of any equipment that the United States provides or sells to another nation," said a spokesman for the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, Josh Holly.

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