NovaNews
Just returned from Tahrir. The people at the checkpoints were extremely tense. Normally I am apologetically patted down once. Was patted down three or four times amidst a rough conversation about my identification. People have reason to be angry. Human rights researcher Amr Gharbeia was just arrested after a march from Tahrir Square to the SCAF headquarters demanding an accelerated schedule for implementing reforms. Pro-regime media, including stalwarts like al-Arabiyya and al-Jazeerah, reported that the people were planning on attacking the military. The military instead attacked the people, barricading them from reaching the SCAF headquarters, whereupon pro-regime thugs attacked and arrested many of them.
The regime is accusing protesters of being spies: when they grabbed Gharbeia they said vocally that “he is part of 6 of April movement and a spy.” Over 100 people are injured. There were ambulances in the Square. There are also an unknown number of detainees. The SCAF also issued a communiqué stating that the April 6 Movement – the mostly-youth-led group that played an active role in organizing the January 25 protests – was trying to divide the “regime from the people,” a charge which in theory seems pretty much true, since Tahrir abounds with signs saying “away with the SCAF.”
The movement responded, saying that “entity responsible for driving a wedge between the people and the armed forces is the SCAF itself in issuing hostile statements that question the loyalty of those who played a major role in the revolution.” Returning from the abortive march to SCAF headquarters, crowds of people walked by my window, singing the national anthem and saying, “remove the terrorists” – the thugs who had just attacked them. One friend writes, “This is verging on the Camel Battle all over again.”
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