President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt appeared on television late Friday night and ordered his government to resign, but backed his security forces’ attempts to contain the surging unrest around the country that has shaken his 28-year authoritarian rule.
He did not offer to step down himself and spent much of the short speech explaining the need for stability, saying that while he was “on the side of freedom,” his job was to protect the nation from chaos.
Several hours earlier, he had ordered the military into the streets to reinforce police struggling to contain riots by tens of thousands of Egyptians.
If you think the situation is bad now, Thomas P. Barnett of forecasting group Wikistrat put it more colorfully: “Let me give you the four scariest words I can’t pronounce in Arabic: Egypt after Hosni Mubarak.”
This is all about the government and other concerned persons resisting the rabid hyper-muslims persecution of Christians in Egypt and nothing else.
In their minds, no one should dare disagree with them or resist their murderous plans to exterminate and banish Christians from Egypt or everywhere else on this earth.
Their actions are characterized by hate, violence, death, conquest, unforgiveness, lies, dominance, pride, lust, misogyny.
It is the opposite of the Christ’s Character and Kingdom which is love, truth, life, humility, forgiveness, mercy, kindness, self-control, freedom, righteousness, peace and joy.
Confessor,
Your litany could be directed at any number of nations in the World, not just the Middle East. There was corruption under the last King, which contributed to the rise of Nasser, who was followed by Sadat. Things may have been a bit different had he not been assassinated? in today’s climate where other regional nations like the Islamic Republic of Iran, Libya, Syria and others do their best to undermine Western interests, who knows how many people with how many agendas are behind the current unrest? The media tell us of the discontent of a new Middle Class. Surely extremists will seek to fill any void; but there were really no open opposition parties.
Agree with #3. There are multiple strands to these protests, and not all are Islamist. I am praying that a non-Islamist government results.
We are now able to reach some of our friends by cell phone in the outlying areas (not central Cairo). They report chaos. With all the police at Tahrir Square and the bridges downtown and around the presidential palace in Heliopolis, there is now widespread robbery and looting throughout the metropolitan area. Businesses would normally open again on Sunday, but many have been canceled for Sunday and Monday. People are huddled in their homes hoping no one breaks in. The Anglican Cathedral and staff housing are within one kilometer of the protests at the bridges and Tahrir Square. Please pray for them.
I had a bout of insomnia last night and got up to tune into BBC and watched some reports. Some reporters were saying that the government was shutting down internet and cell phone communications, but that for the time, land lines were still working. One means of communication that they will not really be effective in shutting down is shortwave/ham radio.
We have word that the Anglican Cathedral and the residence building across the street from it are undamaged and its occupants safe as of Saturday afternoon. The buildings usually have police protection, but not now. Please pray for their safety, and for Egypt, that whatever government emerges from this will not be Islamist.
Cell phones now appear to be working throughout the area. SMS is probably still blocked, and there is no internet at all. I have no idea how prevalent ham radio is. Most Egyptians carry cell phones.