Tunesia, Egyt and now Yemen: a domino effect in the Middle East?

3.31pm: The Daily News Egypt is reporting on Twitter that, not only is Gamal Mubarak not going to stand for president in September, but he has also resigned from the ruling National Democratic Party.

Vice President Omar Suliman: Gamal Mubarak resigned from the ruling National Democratic Party #jan25 #fb

1450: Shahira Amin, was until yesterday a journalist with the state-run Egyptian channel, Nile TV. She told the BBC World Service that she had to leave her job because she no longer felt able to report the state view when what she saw on the street was so different: "We were basically showing the pro-Mubarak rallies all day long, as if that was the only thing that was happening. I couldn't show what was happening here in Tahrir. I couldn't even report the figures as they were. So no thank you. I feel liberated."

3.50pm: The Egyptian health ministry has updated its toll of the number of casualties from the violence in Cairo over the past two days. It now says 13 people have been killed and 1,200 have been injured

4.00pm: Turi Munthe, the chief executive of international citizen journalism network Demotix, said one of its citizen journalists had been beaten:

Quote:

Foreign journos – and anyone with laptop or camera – are now targets. One of our guys just got smashed up.

Sounds like even anti-Mubarak protesters have given up on foreign media and assume they're not helping the cause or have their own agenda. Four al-Arabiya reporters have been attacked, possibly because the Arabiya channel is universally seen as pro-Mubarak.

On the violence: "Before every demo, we were told that the anti-Mubarak protestors searched fellow protesters for weapons. That has now fallen apart because pro-Mubarak gang got through, and it's escalated."

3.59pm: An Amnesty International representative was among those arrested in the raid on Hisham Mubarak Law Centre

Amnesty issued this statement:

Quote:

An Amnesty International representative has been detained by police in Cairo after the Hisham Mubarak Law Centre was taken over by military police this morning.

Amnesty International USA called on President Obama to immediately demand the release of the Amnesty International staff members.

The Amnesty International member of staff was taken, along with Ahmed Seif Al Islam Khaled Ali, a delegate from Human Rights Watch, and others, to an unknown location in Cairo. Amnesty International does not know their current whereabouts.

"We call for the immediate and safe release of our colleagues and others with them who should be able to monitor the human rights situation in Egypt at this crucial time without fear of harassment or detention," said Salil Shetty, secretary general of Amnesty International.

A number of other activists are still being held in the Centre, including a second Amnesty International member of staff.

3.55pm: There is a huge protest going on in Alexandria, which has not yet seen the violence that has been witnessed in the capital.

The quote you cited, George:
"I find it ironic that many foreigners criticize us for our past failures to influence the internal governance of Egypt in one breath, and in the next fault us (as you have done) for our presumed arrogance in thinking we can direct the affairs of others."

That damn if you do, damned if you don't. It's a bit impossible to take criticism seriously when it's criticism du jour - based on whatever is wrong in the world at the moment. If they'd all get together and decide which they believe, I'd appreciate it.

George originally indicated that fomenting democracy in the Middle East was one of the reasons for the Iraqi invasion, and it was.

Lash indicated that what is happening in North Africa right now is an outcome contemplated by George Bush's professed strategy for the region, and it is.

One last comment on Iraq, of course no one can prove that without the US invasion the people of Iraq would not have risen up and overthrown Saddam, but your argument was that it was likely to have happened without the invasion. You made this argument not so much to declare your confidence in the human spirit of freedom, but of an intense desire to deny any credit at all to America.

I suspect one of the complications here is our European friends (and their post colonial offshoots) are trying hard to forget history, in particular their own, and operate under the fantasy that they have been reborn into a new world of their own making. Their problem is that, while much of the world is new, it is not of their making and they have not been reborn .... indeed in demographic terms many (not all) of them are dying.

4.10pm: Reuters has compiled a round-up of international reaction to the situation in Egypt:

German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle:

Quote:

I spoke to representatives of the opposition including [Mohamed] ElBaradei, and it's completely obvious that this is a matter for the political opinion makers in Egypt to decide for themselves who shapes the democratic transition and how. This requires beginning with a direct exchange of ideas, a peaceful dialogue, and we are counting on progress here today since otherwise I am afraid that - in view of Friday prayers tomorrow - there will be another escalation of the situation.

US president Barack Obama:

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We pray that the violence in Egypt will end and that the rights and aspirations of the Egyptian people will be realised and that a better day will dawn over Egypt and throughout the world.

Michael Spindelegger, Austrian foreign minister:

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I urge the Egyptian leadership not to let batons do the talking nor to block the media, but to be responsible and to deal with the demands of the demonstrators. The demonstrators and their valid demands cannot be silenced by violence. The political forces in the country must to everything to avoid a further escalation.

Greek prime minister George Papandreou:

Quote:

Egyptian people want change, democratic rights, liberties. All these need to be established, also constitutionally. It is necessary that this transition to democracy, these changes take place with credibility, stability, that they happen quickly and without violence.

International Monetary Fund (IMF) spokeswoman Caroline Atkinson:

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We just don't know yet how the economic situation will develop because it is not yet clear how the political situation will develop. There is an issue of who is in charge of what now.

EU foreign affairs chief Lady Ashton:

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I urge the Egyptian authorities to immediately take the necessary measures to ensure that the law enforcement authorities protect the demonstrators and their right to assembly freely. I have made clear that it is the responsibility of the army and law enforcement to protect its citizens. Last night we were sending messages to the Egyptian authorities in phone calls and other messages, saying: "Look, you have to get the army in to protect the people, you have to make sure that we've got ambulances able to get in and out of the square."

Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain - joint statement:

Quote:

We are observing a deterioration of the situation in Egypt with extreme concern. We condemn all those who use or encourage violence, which will only worsen Egypt's political crisis. Only a rapid and orderly transition towards a broadly representative government will allow Egypt to overcome the challenges that it is facing. This process of transition must start now.

It doesn't change the outcome.

My interest was that this specific scenario was used as one of the positive reasons to establish a democracy in Iraq in several of Bush's speeches.

however, the young people seeing a democracy take hold and work in their region has obviously made them bold to get it for themselves.

That damn if you do, damned if you don't. It's a bit impossible to take criticism seriously when it's criticism du jour - based on whatever is wrong in the world at the moment. If they'd all get together and decide which they believe, I'd appreciate it.

More than a little irony in this statement, fellow American. We are finding ourselves in a very similar boat these days.