Friday, February 4, 2011

Offensive Mubarak loyalists

After the opponents of Mubarak's report is now his supporters say - with clubs, knives and baseball bats. Is that the response of the regime to the legitimate demands of the demonstrators for democracy and freedom? Suddenly they are back. In Bahtim, Zeytoun, Heliopolis, Cairo and other parts of town they are on the streets, directing traffic, waving by busloads of Mubarak supporters who drives it towards Tahrir Square: Egypt black uniformed policemen.


For days they were all but swallowed by the earth and the army had virtually left the city. But since Wednesday, in time for the counter-offensive Hosni Mubarak, for large-scale mobilization of his supporters and the "normalization of relations", as stated by the government, the police again taking up their positions.

For the protection of Mubarak's opponents, it seems, the police did not appear suddenly. During a trip through the north of Cairo is no trace of government critics. Have stayed here only graffiti on the walls of houses, "conservation - Hau ab" and "We hate Mubarak". What remains are the remains of street barricades, paving stones and garbage cans that are put to the militia against the looters in recent days to defend.

In the working-class neighborhood Bahtim a man handed out flyers to drivers. "Stop the demonstrations, with the final betrayal" stands out. On the opposite lane attracts a huge convoy of cars toward the center of Cairo. In the honking buses, cars and pick-ups, sit and swivel young older men, few women, the Egyptian flags and effigies of President Mubarak and "No to Chaos, Yes to Mubarak!" .

Call Some of them have openly NDP party emblem of the state party to the suit. Further north, in the dusty shantytowns Shoubra el-Kheima, standing close together in a sea of mud residential boxes and red brick, lives Magdi Hussein (name changed by editor) - A man telling of a remarkable history.

"I want to express any political views, I will take the party to anyone, I just want to tell you what my son Hisham has happened to these days." It was last Sunday morning when Hisham, who is serving currently a three-year sentence in a prison desert between Cairo and Alexandria, was visited.

At four clock morning a truck stopped in front of the building. Ten masked men with machine guns at the ready stormed into the dormitory, where Hisham was staying. "Everyone out!" they shouted, "Otherwise, we shoot you!" Within seconds, the prisoners hurried into the night, they saw a helicopter circling above the jail, they heard shots were fired.

For hours Hisham was in prison garb through the wilderness, until he eventually reached a small town on the western bank of the Nile Chatatba. Who was responsible for the outbreak of the prison population? "My son is officially in prison, because he was smoking hashish," said Hussein, "the real reason is that he criticized the state party.

But he is not one of the murderers and criminals with whom he shared the room. He always had Fear of death in there. " Almost two days remained in Chatatba Hisham, then followed a television call the Ministry of Interior to take residence at the nearest police station. "When my son, he was received as a reward like a pasha.

There was suddenly clean sheets, real food. And they promised to reduce his sentence as a reward. The main criminals but were not seen." 2200 prisoners disappeared that night. Only 150 of them stood. "Everyone knows that the security apparatus has itself adopted in order to open the prisons and to create chaos," says a critic of Mubarak, who has since gone into hiding.

"The fear factor is being last means of government to stifle the protests." With violence and intimidation came forward on Wednesday as the "other" to speak, those who claimed to eliminate the chaos in Egypt and to ensure stability - in line with Mubarak. They waved, but not only images of the president.

They waved and sticks and knives. "The regime strikes back," whispers an employee at the Marriott Hotel in Zamalek. Behind him, flickering images of Tahrir Square on the television. "May God assist us."

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