Richard
01-31-2011, 17:09
Egypt's protests are now into their second week. Curfews are starting earlier and Internet remains down, but the crowds in Tahrir Square continue. There's plenty to follow, but there are a few people to keep a particularly close eye on as events unfold.
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Richard :munchin
Egypt Protests: People To Watch
CSM, 31 Jan 2011
Mohammed ElBaradei
Born and raised in Cairo, ElBaradei returned home from Vienna after the Egypt protests began. A Nobel prize winner and former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, he is not tied to a particular party and has spent most of the past decade outside of the country. Some expect him to act as a transitional figurehead for Egypt’s fractured opposition groups and democratic forces. The Muslim Brotherhood, a key opposition group in Egypt, is backing him as a chief negotiator in the transition period. While the protests are driven by the people rather than a particular person or party, ElBaradei says he is hoping to channel demands for change.
Omar Suleiman
Omar Suleiman, who Mubarak appointed vice president this weekend (the first vice president in 30 years), was previously Mubarak’s intelligence chief and is a close associate. He has strong support in the Egyptian military, Egypt’s strongest institution, because of a distinguished military career. He has also worked closely with the CIA on the rendition and interrogation of terrorist suspects (and, some say, their torture) and has acted to mediate between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, as well as between rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas. He’s been considered a possible successor to Mubarak for years, though his close relationship with the president makes makes him unpalatable to many protesters.
Ahmed Shafiq
Former Egyptian Air Force Commander Ahmed Shafiq was appointed prime minister by Mubarak on Saturday – a position with little influence, as most power is bestowed on the president, not the prime minister. Shafiq’s ties to the current establishment – he also served as aviation minister – have not made him a popular choice among protesters. According to Al Jazeera, signs in Sunday’s protests read “No to Suleiman, no to Shafiq.”
Mohammed Hussein Tantawi
Mohammed Hussein Tantawi, Egypt’s defense minister, is a key person to watch as the Egyptian military struggles to figure out its role in the protests. The military is caught between its long-standing loyalty to Mubarak and the protesters who seem to hope the military will fall in on their side, the Monitor reports. In a letter to Mr. Tantawi, Human Rights Watch says the Egyptian forces are “the only security organs of the Egyptian state that retain the trust of the Egyptian people.”
The Muslim Brotherhood
The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt’s best organized opposition group, is technically banned in Egypt. The Islamist organization has avoided directly challenging the presidency of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak with its own candidate and in return President Mubarak has allowed the party some freedom to operate in the country, such as running its members in parliamentary elections as unaffiliated candidates (though fraud on behalf of Mubarak’s National Democratic Party in 2010 parliamentary elections wiped the Brotherhood out of parliament). The Muslim Brotherhood has avoided trying to harness the protests into an Islamist movement, but has so far joined the secular opposition that has thrown its support behind Mr. ElBaradei.
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2011/0131/Egypt-protests-People-to-watch/Mohammed-ElBaradei
Place your bets...
Richard :munchin
Egypt Protests: People To Watch
CSM, 31 Jan 2011
Mohammed ElBaradei
Born and raised in Cairo, ElBaradei returned home from Vienna after the Egypt protests began. A Nobel prize winner and former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, he is not tied to a particular party and has spent most of the past decade outside of the country. Some expect him to act as a transitional figurehead for Egypt’s fractured opposition groups and democratic forces. The Muslim Brotherhood, a key opposition group in Egypt, is backing him as a chief negotiator in the transition period. While the protests are driven by the people rather than a particular person or party, ElBaradei says he is hoping to channel demands for change.
Omar Suleiman
Omar Suleiman, who Mubarak appointed vice president this weekend (the first vice president in 30 years), was previously Mubarak’s intelligence chief and is a close associate. He has strong support in the Egyptian military, Egypt’s strongest institution, because of a distinguished military career. He has also worked closely with the CIA on the rendition and interrogation of terrorist suspects (and, some say, their torture) and has acted to mediate between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, as well as between rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas. He’s been considered a possible successor to Mubarak for years, though his close relationship with the president makes makes him unpalatable to many protesters.
Ahmed Shafiq
Former Egyptian Air Force Commander Ahmed Shafiq was appointed prime minister by Mubarak on Saturday – a position with little influence, as most power is bestowed on the president, not the prime minister. Shafiq’s ties to the current establishment – he also served as aviation minister – have not made him a popular choice among protesters. According to Al Jazeera, signs in Sunday’s protests read “No to Suleiman, no to Shafiq.”
Mohammed Hussein Tantawi
Mohammed Hussein Tantawi, Egypt’s defense minister, is a key person to watch as the Egyptian military struggles to figure out its role in the protests. The military is caught between its long-standing loyalty to Mubarak and the protesters who seem to hope the military will fall in on their side, the Monitor reports. In a letter to Mr. Tantawi, Human Rights Watch says the Egyptian forces are “the only security organs of the Egyptian state that retain the trust of the Egyptian people.”
The Muslim Brotherhood
The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt’s best organized opposition group, is technically banned in Egypt. The Islamist organization has avoided directly challenging the presidency of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak with its own candidate and in return President Mubarak has allowed the party some freedom to operate in the country, such as running its members in parliamentary elections as unaffiliated candidates (though fraud on behalf of Mubarak’s National Democratic Party in 2010 parliamentary elections wiped the Brotherhood out of parliament). The Muslim Brotherhood has avoided trying to harness the protests into an Islamist movement, but has so far joined the secular opposition that has thrown its support behind Mr. ElBaradei.
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2011/0131/Egypt-protests-People-to-watch/Mohammed-ElBaradei