Liveblogging Egypt

Monday, Jan. 31, and Tuesday, Feb. 1

Updated: February 2, 2011 | 3:29 p.m.
February 1, 2011 | 6:50 p.m.

 

1:33 p.m. Al Arabiya is also saying that Vice President Omar Suleiman is meeting with representatives of the political parties.

  

1:30 p.m. Al Arabiya TV is reporting that President Mubarak will give a televised speech today in Egypt.

CNN is also reporting that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will head over to the White House this afternoon for another meeting on Egypt with the president and other National Security advisers.

 

1:17 p.m. A tweet from Delta Airlines (@deltaassist) says they will be resuming service into Cairo with stops in Rome.

 

12:28 p.m. U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay praises the demonstrations in Egypt and calls for an investigation into the role the security forces have played. Excerpts from the statement are below:

“The popular movement in Egypt, unprecedented in recent decades, has for the most part been carried out in a courageous and peaceful manner. The whole world is watching how the President and the reconfigured government will react to the continuing protests demanding a radical change to a wide range of civil, political, social, cultural and economic rights.

“I urge the Egyptian authorities to ensure police and other security forces scrupulously avoid excessive use of force, and there needs to be a full investigation into the role of security forces in the violence that occurred over the past few days.”

 

12:08 p.m. Reuters reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is offering words of support for the pro-democracy protests in Egypt, but is ultimately concerned that Mubarak might be replaced with a radical regime that is unfriendly to Israel. Furthermore, he said, his government is chiefly concerned with maintaining peace with the country, no matter who is in charge.

"Israel believes that the global community must demand that any Egyptian government preserve the peace treaty with Israel," Netanyahu said in a statement today.

 

12:06 p.m. CNN reports that U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates spoke with Egypt's defense minister today, according to Pentagon spokesman Col. David Lapan.

 

12:00 p.m. NJ's Marc Ambinder has a great piece out today that takes you behind the scenes at the White House. Learn about the questions Obama has been asking at his briefings and what kinds of reforms he thinks must be made. You can read it here.

 

11:46 a.m. Al Jazeera reports that the opposition is organizing. A spokesman for Egypt's opposition Al Wafd party said a self-described "new national coalition for change" has been formed, made up of Al Wafd and the National Association for Change, which is affiliated with opposition leader Mohammed ElBaradei.

 

11:40 a.m. Al Jazeera reports that the number of protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square has been estimated to be more than a million people.

 

11:30 a.m. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley confirms via Twitter that "as part of our public outreach to convey support for orderly transition in , Ambassador Scobey spoke today with Mohammed ."

 

11:13 a.m.  A group of Syrian activists are using Facebook and Twitter to promote a day of anger and civil rebellion after prayers on Friday, February 4, to call for a peaceful “2011 Syrian revolution” to end what they say is corruption and tyranny. The online activists said they were not against President Bashir al-Assad “as a person, but against 'monocracy,’ corruption, and tyranny, and the fact the your family and friends have grabbed riches.” The group had about 9,000 members by this time.

”You are like the youth of Tunisia and Egypt. We do not want a violent revolution but a peaceful uprising.... Raise your voice in a peaceful and civilized manner, because freedom of expression is guaranteed by the constitution and the law,” said a statement translated via Agence-France Presse.

 

10:54 a.m. The U.K. Foreign Office confirms that it will send a Boeing 757 to bring British citizens out of Egypt on Wednesday, CNN reports. The flight will cost about $500 per person.


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