Egyptian family

[redfox]

I have immediate family who are Egyptian and Egyptian American. I'm following the events closely, and will be going to a rally in Seattle today. I am listening to an Egyptian reporter live in Cairo. Here is an update:

Mohamed El Baradei, former Chief of the IAEA, is being "contained" in his Mosque, where he had gone to pray. Security forces have surrounded it keeping him from leaving. He was preparing to lead a march after praying. He is being quoted as saying that this government is in it's last moments.

Suez is the most violent at the moment. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch are making strong statements deploring the the arrests, detentions & actions of police & military forces.

Please hold all Egyptians in your thoughts and prayers as a spontaneous uprising for democracy is in process... thank you.

[IshbelRobertson]

One of my children lived in Egypt for a year.. Cairo and Alexandria.

I just hope the troubles are soon resolved and that Mubarak is removed from power... Although I suspect he is being helped by his US and European allies.

[loosechickens]

gosh, redfox.......hoping that your family is and will remain safe.

incidentally, for those of you with DirecTV satellite TV. Channel 375 (Worldlink) has been broadcasting a lot of Al Jazeera's coverage of the protests, and I've noticed that they seem to have more personnel and cameras there than the U.S. outlets can manage, and their headquarters looks out on an area that has been central to the protests.

Besides Al Jazeera, in the evenings on Mosaic, there's also a lot of coverage of the situation from the perspective of other Arab countries.

Some additional information, from different perspectives.......not a substitute for our own coverage, but a good addition to it.

The U.S., is, as it's been before, in a really sticky place here. We celebrate the wish for democracy, but have historically backed some pretty tough, authoritarian governments in the region, and when the tear gas canisters the police were throwing are shown to the cameras as being stamped "Made in the USA", it adds to the distrust of the U.S. from people in the region.

Hard to know how this is going to end, and whether places like Algeria, Syria, Jordan and other countries erupt as well. Lots of danger here, but lots of possibilities as well.

Let us just hope for the resolution to be with the least possible loss of life, and hopefully some transitition to a more democratic government. Although sometimes when the peoples' exercise of democracy produces results the U.S. does not like, we behave in ways that often do not reflect well upon us or our ideals. I am hoping for the best.

[danna]

redfox..we are hoping that your family is and will remain safe.
No good words to give you or others at this time.....

[JaneV2.0]

I'm hoping for the best possible outcomes for democracy, the Egyptian people, and their antiquities.

[screamingflea]

Redfox, hugs to you and yours. My family, two generations back, got caught in the crossfire in Cairo in 1967. I hope everything works out for you.