Muslim Brotherhood joins protests against Mubarak

This is an update to my original post

After sitting out the initial protests against the Egyptian President, the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) has ordered their members to join the unrest. This is an important development, because the MB is the most powerful opposition group within Egypt and most certainly has ties to the terrorist regime in Iran. Iran has much to gain if the MB overtakes the current government and the world has much to lose. If this tragedy were to happen, Iran would have troops by proxy on Israels Egyptian, Gaza, and Lebanon borders.

Look for this unrest to spillover to Jordan. The Jordanian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood formed in 1942 and has formed a strong political party (Islamic Action Front) within Jordanian politics. Hezbollah may also take advantage of the worlds attention with the unrest in Egypt to violently takeover of the whole of Lebanon. The Obama White House hasn't shown much leadership in this developing crisis, but lets hope they have contingency plans in place when it comes to the control of the Suez Canal. We cannot allow allies of Iran to control this important waterway and we need to do everything in our power to prevent that. Here are the latest headlines coming out of Egypt:

• Almost a million security officers and units of the Interior Ministry's special units, have been on their feet for three days quelling outbreaks. They are exhausted and demoralized. They managed to keep the demonstrations from getting out of hand, but not to suppress them. Now that millions of Muslim Brotherhood loyalists have been told to throw in their lot with the protest movement, the beleaguered 82-year old President Hosni Mubarak can no longer avoid sending the army in to stem the unrest, which looks increasingly like turning into a popular revolution. DEBKAFILE

• Mubarak declared a night-time curfew after a day of running street battles between police and demonstrators unprecedented in his 30 year-rule. But clashes continued into the evening and a Reuters witness said shots were heard in central Cairo. Dozens of people were wounded during the day when security forces fired rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannon at crowds and baton charged them. The protesters hurled back stones and shouted "Down, Down, Hosni Mubarak." REUTERS

• Internet and cell phone services, at least in Cairo, appeared to be largely cut off since overnight in the most extreme measure so far to try to hamper protesters form organizing. However, that did not prevent tens of thousands from flooding the streets, emboldened by the recent uprising in Tunisia — another North African Arab nation. Even Nobel Peace laureate Mohamed ElBaradei, one of the country's leading pro-democracy advocates, was under house arrest after joining the protests. AP

• Thousands of people in Jordan have taken to the streets in protests, demanding the country's prime minister step down, and the government curb rising prices, inflation and unemployment. In the third consecutive Friday of protests, about 3,500 opposition activists from Jordan's main Islamist opposition group, trade unions and leftist organisations gathered in the capital, waving colourful banners reading: "Send the corrupt guys to court".
• The crowd denounced Samir Rifai's, the prime minister, and his unpopular policies. Many shouted: "Rifai go away, prices are on fire and so are the Jordanians.'' ALJAZEERA
• Tanks began deploying around Cairo, Alexandria and Suez, the official MENA news agency reported, after a day of violent clashes between police and protesters demanding an end to Mubarak's rule. A number of police members removed their suits and joined protests against the regime, according to Al Arabiya. Egypt's four main Internet service providers (ISPs) cut off international access to their customers in a near simultaneous and unprecedented move, an Internet monitoring company said. "Virtually all of Egypt's Internet addresses are now unreachable, worldwide," said James Cowie of Renesys, a New Hampshire-based firm which monitors Internet routing data in real-time. AL ARABIYA

Stay tuned for further developments. I am getting many visitors from Egypt, if any of my Egyptian readers have photos or stories that they wan't to share-contact me at www.thecloakroom04@yahoo.com

UPDATE-02-08-11
Pro-democracy supporters attempt to topple a van driven by a Mubarak backer after he had targeted the crowd with his bus at high speed. Close up footage shows the crowd dragging the driver away after pulling him from his van. His fate is unknown.

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Another fine example of Sharia Law and the Religion of Peace

Another fine example of Sharia Law and the Religion of Peace.

TALIBAN SPOKESMAN: 'Anyone who knows about Islam knows that stoning is in the Koran, and that it is Islamic law. There are people who call it inhuman - but in doing so they insult the Prophet. They want to bring foreign thinking to this country'

WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT
Horrific video footage has emerged of Taliban insurgents stoning a couple to death for alleged adultery in northern Afghanistan. Hundreds of villagers can be seen on the video standing around as the woman, Siddqa, is buried up to her waist in a four foot hole in the ground.
Two mullahs pass sentence before the crowd begins to throw rocks at her head and body as she desperately tries to crawl free.

But the 19-year-old collapses to the ground, covered in blood - but miraculously still alive.

At this point a Taliban fighter shoots her three times in the head with an AK-47The crowd can be heard shouting allahu akbar as she is killed.

Her lover, Khayyam, is then marched in front of the crowd with his hands tied behind his back.

He is blindfolded with his own tunic and crouches down close to the ground as he tried to protect his body from the stones.

Punished: Her alleged lover, Khyyam, crouches down after being blindfolded and having his hands tied behind his back, but he is battered to the floor by a barrage of rocks. He can be heard sobbing before eventually falling silent. The stoning - the first to be documented on film since the Taliban were ousted from power - took place in the district of Dashte Archi, in Kunduz, last August.

Officials said that Siddqa had run away after being sold into an arranged marriage for $9,000 against her will. She ran away to be with Khayyam, who was already married and had two children, and the pair eloped to Pakistan. Charges: Khyyam was marched in front of hundreds of villagers in Dashte Archi, Afghanistan, before they hurled rocks at his head and body. Brutal: Men hurl chunks of rock, some bigger than a fist, during the execution, but it is understand that they returned to their home village after being reassured by leaders that they would be unharmed.

It was a terrible mistake. They were dragged from their families' homes at 2am by Taliban fighters and then put before a kangaroo court before being executed. The incident took place last October near the Afghan border with Tajikstan, a conservative district with a heavy extremist presence. The area remains under Taliban control, but regional police have said those behind the stoning will be charged.

For complete story and photos, go to The Daily Mail.

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Egyptian protests continue, Gamal Mubarak flees to UK

It is being reported that Gamal Mubarak,Hosni Mubarak's heir apparent, has fled to England by private jet with nearly one hundred pieces of luggage. There are unconfirmed reports that Egyptian first lady Suzanne Mubarak was spotted at London Heathrow by airport workers. If these reports turn out to be true, it could spell doom for the 83 year old President. More than 100,000 protesters took to the streets in Cairo and other Egyptian cities Tuesday to demonstrate against the thirty year rule of Hosni Mubarak. Protesters are using Twitter and Facebook to organize demonstrations, but some are reporting the social networks as being blocked to some degree.

If Egypt follows the same path as Tunisia and the Mubarak government is overthrown, it could create more chaos for that region of the world. The Muslim Brotherhood movement in Egypt could rise to power in the vacuum created by a toppled government. The Muslim Brotherhood's stated goal is to instill the Quran and Sunnah (Sharia Law) as the sole reference point for Muslim life in Egypt. The Hamas terrorist organization grew out of the Muslim Brotherhood. Beginning in the late 1960s, Hamas's founder and spiritual leader, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, preached and did charitable work in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, both of which were occupied by Israel following the 1967 Six-Day War.

In 1973, Yassin established al-Mujamma' al-Islami (the Islamic Center) to coordinate the Muslim Brotherhood's political activities in Gaza. Yassin founded Hamas as the Muslim Brotherhood's local political arm in December 1987, following the eruption of the first intifada, a Palestinian uprising against Israeli control of the West Bank and Gaza. Hamas published its official charter in 1988, moving decidedly away from the Muslim Brotherhood's ethos of nonviolence. What this would mean for Egyptian/Israeli relations remains to be seen.

I have written Dr. Tawfik Hamid to get his thoughts on the current crisis and I will report his analytic thinking once I get a response. For those of you that aren't familiar with Dr. Hamid, Mr. Hamid is an Islamic thinker and reformer, and one time Islamic extremist from Egypt. He was a member of a terrorist Islamic organization JI with Dr. Ayman Al-Zawaherri who became later on the second in command of Al-Qaeda. Some twenty-five years ago, he recognized the threat of Radical Islam and the need for a reformation based upon modern peaceful interpretations of classical Islamic core texts.

***UPDATE***

Just heard back from Dr. Hamid. He theorizes the Egyptian military establishment will sacrifice President Mubarak so as to look like heroes to the masses. He goes on to state the Muslim Brotherhood has infiltrated the government and the police, but the public has lost respect for them for boycotting the current protests. Dr. Hamid ends his email with this prediction: "The Military regimen will regain control of the country but I do not think that Mubarak or his son (especially after his escape to London) will be part in the coming election of Egypt."

Stay tuned for further developments!

Raw Video: Man shot in Egypt protest

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IRANIUM, the documentary the Iranians don't want you to see

Watch the movie the Iranians don't want you to see. The Free Thinking Film Society was set to screen this controversial documentary at the National Archives of Canada, but the National Archives caved into threats from the Iranian Embassy. Iranium,the documentary critiques the Iranian nuclear weapons program and is set to screen across the United States in select AMC movie theaters on February 8th, 2011. The producers of this film are offering the first 50,000 entries a free pass to watch this documentary online. For more information about the movie and the Free Thinking Film Society go here and here.

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Hezbullah Resigns-Lebanese Gov't Topples. Obama Offers Support

As predicted, Hezbullah (March 8 coalition) has pulled out of the Lebanese coalition government and might be setting the stage for a coup d'état. Minister of State Adnan Sayyed Hussein (Hezbullah) announced Wednesday his resignation from Prime Minister Saad Hariri's government raising the number of resigned ministers to 11. The Hezbullah ministers resigned over tensions stemming from a UN-backed tribunal investigating the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri. It is widely expected the U.N. tribunal will name Hezbullah officials in the assassination of Hariri.

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri met with Barack Obama today (Wednesday) and will be flying to Paris to meet with French President Sarkozy to discus the situation. It has been reported that President Obama offered Prime Minister Hariri his support, but what kind of "support" isn't known. What is known is the United States ordered US Navy vessels to reinforce the Sixth Fleet stationed in the eastern Mediterranean in case of conflict. The USS Enterprise carrier strike group and the USS Bainbridge missile destroyer are said to be in the area. It has been reported the French Navy was also ordered to strengthen it's presence opposite Lebanon.

Hezbullah Energy Minister Jibran Bassil was quoted as saying, "This cabinet has become a burden on the Lebanese, unable to do its work, we are giving a chance for another government to take over." I think that may be the clue Hezbullah intends to take over the reins of government by force. This crisis has been in the making for many months now and has been orchestrated by the terrorist Iranian regime of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Whether Hezbullah creates a situation in northern Israel that ignites another war remains to be seen, but it certainly cannot be discounted. Hezbullah is armed to the teeth (60,000) with Iranian, Syrian supplied missiles and may want use them to create a distraction. I always assumed Iran would use their terrorist proxy in Lebanon to attack Israel when Israel attacked Iran's nuclear infrastructure, but that may change. The U.N. tribunal may release their findings within days, so don't be surprised if new violence breaks out in Lebanon. Stay tuned!

UPDATE: 1/19/11

Hezbullah appears to be rehearsing a takeover of Beirut. Read story from Jpost HERE.

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