Rattlesnake Ridge      

 
      BFF

“Alaa Abd El Fattah is in jail. He was arrested on Sunday – accused of inciting violence against the Egyptian military – and on Monday was given 15 days’ detention for refusing to answer questions to a military court. A campaign to secure his release has also got under way with extraordinary rapidity: protests in the streets, a Twitter hashtag (#FreeAlaa) and even graffiti appeared within the first 24 hours or so. That is not especially surprising as Alaa, besides being a pioneer of Egyptian blogging, belongs to one of the most famous families of leftist agitators. By arresting him, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which is currently running Egypt (and increasingly being referred to as “the junta”), has picked a fight with the core of the movement that toppled President Mubarak in January……….”

Saudi King Abdullah famously claimed last February that the Egyptians participating in the uprising were “foreign infiltrators and agents”. Maybe it was a fatwa issued by his tame ulema, his Salafi palace clerics. Apparently millions of foreigners, mostly Iranian and Hezbollah agents with a handful of Hamas operatives, had infiltrated Cairo and Alexandria and el-Mahalla el-Kubra and Suez because these are good places to riot. It is possible the ruling military junta (SCAF), known for its tin ears, also believes the same. They have been doing their best to abort the Egyptian uprising, with a lot of help from their friends among absolute tribal Arab potentates.  Maybe the visiting former shaikh of Bahrain (currently king) can advise them on crowd control. Which makes me wonder: wtf is the king of the Saudi province of Bahrain doing in Cairo?
Cheers
mhg


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