Mubarak Leaves Cairo as Crowds Surge

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

Source: NY Times

CAIRO —The Egyptian military appeared to assert its leadership Friday amid growing indications that President Hosni Mubarak was yielding all power. A Western official said that Mr. Mubarak had left the capital.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/12/world/middleeast/12egypt.html?hp

---

Appears to be coming from more sources now

[shraby]

1. I heard that on AlJazeera also.

[dipsydoodle]

2. BBC News - now in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, where he has a residence.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12428273

For the benefit of anyone that don't know that's the holiday resort that all the Europeans etc use.

[Turborama]

4. And it has an international airport...

Where do you reckon he'll try to escape to? Saudi, Dubai?

:hi:

[dipsydoodle]

10. I don't give a shit where he goes

Anything which suits the Egyptian population, which is what this is all about , suits me too just fine

I'm miffed because Tunisia went out the window for holiday this year closely followed by Egypt. According to Ghostdog a lot are transferring to the Canaries and now it looks as if the other volcano in Iceland might pop which could screw there too. At this rate I'll land up in St Ives...lol. As least I can drive there.

I've never actually been to the Red Sea resort - my son has who really enjoyed it there.

:hi:

[Turborama]

12. I hope he doesn't get out and stands trial, actually.

He has a lot of blood on his hands and has stolen billions from his country.

I can recommend Braunton on the North Devon coast on your way to St. Ives. Excellent beaches and sand dunes.

[gateley]

22. I don't think he's gong anywhere. I still think he doesn't get it and is trying

to fake out the people. Like they won't see through it. :eyes:

[tavalon]

24. Syria is the place where they usually go

It's the retirement home for nasty dictators.

Turbo, it's time to drink a little wine, kiss your wife and get some sleep!!!

[tavalon]

25. Syria is the place where they usually go

It's the retirement home for nasty dictators.

Turbo, it's time to drink a little wine, kiss your wife and get some sleep!!!

[Turborama]

29. I only just got this reply

I've given up smoking (10 months now) and can't drink or I won't be able to resist the cravings. I just tried the second suggestion but was told not to because of the pregnancy symptom which she'd just experienced (if you now what I mean?). Option 3 will happen soon for sure, I've only had max 4 hours sleep a night for the past fortnight or so.

Over the next week I'm going to be catching up on a whole heap of work that's piled up, so won't be around much.


:hi:

[tavalon]

30. Then sleep, sleep, sleep

You've earned it and sooner than you can ever imagine, there will be far less sleep for you.

[Robb]

5. He's settling back in.

The only real surprise for me was that he bothered to come to Cairo in the first place. He's more secure at his compound.

[leftynyc]

3. I heard this yesterday

When they show him sunning himself on the beach, I'll believe it.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

7. did you see it on the front page

of the NYT yesterday?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ashevillein/5435705257/

[leftynyc]

9. Not sure

Things were moving so fast yesterday and I was moving from site to site pretty quickly. I was so disappointed in mubarak's speech yesterday, I just don't want to get my hopes up again (I can't even imagine the disappointment the protesters felt - that they kept their heads and didn't explode is a testament to their honor).

[Roland99]

6. So, the CIA torturer takes over then?

[harun]

20. The Egyptian people just got served out of the frying pan and in to the fryer, thx to our CIA.

[oberliner]

26. Suleiman is out as well

Omar Suleiman, the vice-president, announced in a televised address that the president was "waiving" his office, and had handed over authority to the Supreme Council of the armed forces.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/02/201121125158705862.html

[Roland99]

27. Thanks...then perhaps the people of Egypt stand a chance.

[Botany]

8. CBS is saying he has left Cario too and is in Sharm el-Sheikh

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/02/11/501364/main20031477.shtml

[AnOhioan]

11. He has a residence there....no big deal

[fasttense]

13. And who was it here on DU who claimed protests get no results?

They got him on the run.

They have been doing this for 18 days.

Are you learning anything America??

[madmax]

14. Egyptian President Mubarak leaves Cairo, state television reports

Source: WaPo

----------------------------------------
Breaking News Alert: Egyptian President Mubarak leaves Cairo, state television reports
February 11, 2011 9:38:14 AM
----------------------------------------

Egyptian state television has reported that President Hosni Mubarak and his wife, Suzanne, have left the capital of Cairo. Their destination was unknown.

http://link.email.washingtonpost.com/r/F490YD/ZBO3YZ/X81VGS/7F9CBL/NC0Y9/ID/h

For more information, visit washingtonpost.com



No link yet.

[AnOhioan]

15. He has gone to a resort city where he has a residence

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x394231

[MineralMan]

16. I think he's gone to the ranch to cut cedar or something.

Apparently, he's gone to a residence he has at the shore.

[CrossChris]

23. Is this his version of "clearing brush?"

Birds of a feather...

[Monique1]

17. I read not long ago

that his wife and son moved to London a few weeks ago. Is this another of his pretend actions?

[madmax]

18. If I knew my geography

:( When I read it I thought he'd left Europe. Will edit subject or if Mods deem - delete.

[Jack Rabbit]

19. Does Sharm el-Sheikh have lamp posts?

According to the BBC, that's where he went.

[Veronica.Franco]

21. Ah, don't let him leave without confiscating the 70 billion ...

the US was foolish to line his pockets and create this mess ... does the CIA have the Swiss bank account number and will they reclaim the money? ... Please, Leon! ... stop the insanity ...

[Peace Patriot]

28. Well, this oughta be interesting...

I figured he was dickering over the terms of his retirement, the money and protection from prosecution, with the CIA and other interested parties (Egyptian secret security, Egyptian military, neighbors), and that was why the delay. Egypt was one of the Bush Junta "rendition" countries, so he's probably got a stash of damning documents somewhere, which name U.S. names; maybe was using it as a bargaining chip. The main U.S. interest is, and always will be, control of the Suez Canal but protecting the Bush Junta principles, CIA personnel and possibly others, is a big item.

The U.S. just went to extraordinary lengths to protect and coddle the Bush Junta thug in Colombia, Alvaro Uribe, including extradition of death squad witnesses to the U.S. and their "burial" in the U.S. federal prison system--out of the reach of Colombian prosecutors and over their objections--by complete sealing of their cases (cases 'disappeared') in U.S. federal court in Washington DC, and helping the chief spying witness against Uribe to flee justice in Colombia and get instant asylum in the U.S. client state of Panama--also out of the reach of Colombian prosecutors and over their objections.

For slaughtering thousands of trade unionists and other troublemakers in Colombia, and running Colombia as a criminal enterprise (death squads, drug trafficking, bribery, spying, corruption, etc.), Uribe received the reward of cushy academic sinecures at Georgetown and Harvard (teaching international law!), and appointment to a prestigious international legal commission. Also, he recently asked for (don't know if he has received) what he calls "sovereign immunity"--that is, as the former king of Colombia the U.S. should immunize him from prosecution in the U.S. or even from having to give depositions here (--a lawsuit has been filed here by survivors of death squad victims; they served Uribe with a deposition warrant, which he ignored).

So, you never know. Mubarak could end up lecturing law students at Harvard, where students are taught how to "look forward not backward" when it comes to prosecuting the rich and the powerful (who never commit crimes in the past, you see, only in the future, so you can't prosecute them, cuz maybe they won't do it any more...).

But my main point is I think the reason that Uribe received all this protection and coddling is that he knows something about Bush Jr./Bush Junta crimes in Colombia. (And I do have reasons to believe that they committed or authorized crimes in Colombia.)

Just a side trip: Current CIA Director Leon Panetta is an old Bush Sr associate (member of his "Iraq Study Group"--remember that?) and is also "old CIA," in my opinion. (That's why bleeps about his "inexperience," when he was nominated by Obama, went away quickly.) And I think one of his primary duties is cleaning Junior's filthy bloody trail. Thus, all this obviously CIA-assisted help to Uribe, to make his legal problems go away, and the coddling. Junior may have a similar problem in Egypt, and this would certainly be an issue in a Mubarak retirement package.

[Marthe48]

31. TOO bad MSM didn't cover the protests against Bush

in 2000--maybe we wouldn't be in the mess we are in. Seems like MSM thought they could outsource political uprising to entertain the audience while it snows outside. How many people have died since Bush and Cheney manipulated our country?