Liveblogging Egypt

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

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

 

7:20 a.m. No Internet? No problem. With the last commercial Internet provider in Egypt shut down, Google has come up with an innovative way to help keep Twitter updates from the country alive. Egyptians can now call a number provided by Google, leave a voicemail, and it will automatically be tweeted with the hashtag #egypt.

 

7:10 a.m. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., wrote in The New York Times today that the best outcome for Egypt requires President Hosni Mubarak to end his rule. "President Hosni Mubarak must accept that the stability of his country hinges on his willingness to step aside gracefully to make way for a new political structure," he writes.

Kerry calls Mubarak a "great nationalist" but said it wasn't enough to just pledge fair elections. For elections to really be fair, Kerry argues, neither Mubarak nor his son should be in the running.

 

7:05 a.m. Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi says that Iran supports the protesters in Egypt, USA Today reports. "Popular protests and movements in North African countries including in Egypt show necessity of an overhaul in the region and putting an end to dictatorial rules," he says.

 

6:55 a.m. United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay welcomed the army's decision not to use force on protesters but said past instances of excess violence by the military need to be examined.

"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," Pillay said in a statement, according to CNN.

Pillay's statement suggested that there may be as many as 300 deaths have resulted from the protests, though that number is yet to be confirmed. According to Reuters, there have been at least 140 people killed.

 

6:30 a.m. Protesters have at least one less thing to worry about as of Monday night. The army announced that it would not use force against the opposition, saying that Egyptians had "legitimate" demands for democratic reforms.

9:50 a.m. The first plane taking Americans out of Egypt evacuated a handful of U.S. citizens today, ABC News reports. Five more of these plans are currently being filled.

 

9:35 a.m. With the turmoil in Egypt sure to have a ripple effect on diplomacy in the Middle East and the rest of the world, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has called for a mass meeting of U.S. ambassadors, the Associated Press reports.

The meeting will reportedly be held today at the State Department and will include envoys from almost all of the U.S. embassies in more than 180 countries. Officials say that this is the first time such a meeting has been held.

The meeting is about more than just the situation in Egypt, but AP says that Clinton will take the time to meet with front-line countries to talk about the situation on the ground.

 

9:25 a.m. Former President Carter said Sunday that he believed Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak "would have to leave."

“This is the most profound situation in the Middle East since I left office,” Carter said to about 300 people at a Baptist church in Georgia where he regularly teaches Sunday school, according to the Columbus (Ga.) Ledger-Enquirer.

Carter helped broker the historic peace agreement between Egypt and Israel in 1978.

 

9:05 a.m.The State Department is demanding the release of six detained Al-Jazeera journalists who were arrested today by Egyptian authorities.

“We are concerned by the shutdown of #Al-Jazeera in #Egypt and arrest of its correspondents. Egypt must be open and the reporters released,” State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley tweeted this morning.

With the country in a state of turmoil as protesters demand the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian government has clamped down on media within the country. Al-Jazeera, which played a major role in getting video of the demonstrations sent worldwide, was taken off the air on Sunday. Today, six journalists who work for the network were arrested and had their cameras confiscated.

In a tweet, Egypt-based correspondent Dan Nolan wrote: "4 soldiers entered room took our camera. [We are] under military arrest.''

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has urged Mubarak, whose government gets more than $1 billion in U.S. aid each year, to partner with civil society, not repress it.

At least 74 people have been killed in the protests to date and 2,000 have been wounded, Reuters has calculated from medical sources, hospitals and witnesses.

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