For those asking about leadership in the revolution, here's something

[EFerrari]

you might check out. (Note, as Elbaradei said, he met with 9 leaders on Sunday and after the meeting, they were all arrested. "These are Mubarak's promises". One of of the FB organizers is missing, presumed detained and other leaders are also presumed to be in custody. This might be a response to those events, in part.)


Egypt youth to announce formation of 25-person negotiating body, including Baradei, Zewail and Moussa

The coalition of youth movements providing field leadership to the pro-democracy protesters is to announce, tomorrow, the formation of a 25-person committee mandated to negotiate with the Egyptian state

Ahram Online, Friday 4 Feb 2011




Members of the coalition of youth movements, which triggered the 25 April popular uprising and have since provided field leadership to the occupation of Tahrir Sq have agreed on mandating a 25-person committee of public and political figures to negotiate on behalf of the pro-democracy protesters, lawyer Ziad El-Eleimy, a leading member of one of the youth movements and a close associate of Mohamed El-Baradei, revealed to Ahram Online.

According to El-Eleimy, the 25-person committee is to include an assemblage of Egyptian luminaries, among whom the former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency and Nobel laureate, El-Baradei, himself. Another Egyptian Nobel laureate on the committee is Ahmed Zewail, a professor of chemistry and physics at the famed California Institute of Technology (Caltec), who also sits on US President Barak Obama’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. Over the past few years, Zewail has been increasingly vocal in criticizing the Egyptian regime for its lack of democracy. Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa, who retains wide popularity among Egyptian and Arab publics is also expected to be a member of the committee.

Not surprisingly, these three public figures have been among the names suggested as possible candidates for the presidency, once President Mubarak steps down.

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/5005/Egypt/Politics-/Egypt-youth-to-announce-formation-of-person-negoti.aspx

[seafan]

1. Robert Fisk: First concrete political plan by protesters begins

Exhausted, scared and trapped, protesters put forward plan for future

Robert Fisk
5 February 2011

Caged yesterday inside a new army cordon of riot-visored troops and coils of barbed wire – the very protection which Washington had demanded for the protesters of Tahrir Square – the tens of thousands of young Egyptians demanding Hosni Mubarak's overthrow have taken the first concrete political steps to create a new nation to replace the corrupt government which has ruled them for 30 years.

Sitting on filthy pavements, amid the garbage and broken stones of a week of street fighting, they have drawn up a list of 25 political personalities to negotiate for a new political leadership and a new constitution to replace Mubarak's crumbling regime.

They include Amr Moussa, the secretary general of the Arab League – himself a trusted Egyptian; the Nobel prize-winner Ahmed Zuwail, an Egyptian-American who has advised President Barack Obama; Mohamed Selim Al-Awa, a professor and author of Islamic studies who is close to the Muslim Brotherhood; and the president of the Wafd party, Said al-Badawi.

Other nominees for the committee, which was supposed to meet the Egyptian Vice-President, Omar Suleiman, within 24 hours, are Nagib Suez, a prominent Cairo businessman (involved in the very mobile phone systems shut down by Mubarak last week); Nabil al-Arabi, an Egyptian UN delegate; and even the heart surgeon Magdi Yacoub, who now lives in Cairo.

The selection – and the makeshift committee of Tahrir Square demonstrators and Facebook and Twitter "electors" – has not been confirmed, but it marks the first serious attempt to turn the massive street protests of the past seven days into a political machine that provides for a future beyond the overthrow of the much-hated President. The committee's first tasks would be to draw up a new Egyptian constitution and an electoral system that would prevent the president-for-life swindle which Mubarak's fraudulent elections have created. Instead, Egyptian presidents would be limited to two consecutive terms of office, and the presidential term itself would be reduced from six to four years.

But no one involved in this initiative has any doubts of the grim future that awaits them if their brave foray into practical politics fails.

.....

May God be at the side of these courageous people of Egypt.

[EFerrari]

2. Fisk is right that it is naive to trust the army.

Mubarak is only the face of the Egyptian MIC.

[Agony]

18. Springborg and Shehata discuss this issue

they talk about this in the below interview linked to by Snot downthread.

Notably Springborg is suspicious of Moussa

http://www.kcrw.com/media-player/mediaPlayer2.html?type
Go to: News ---> To The Point -----> The "Day of Departure" in Egypt? listen from 9:00 - 23:00

Angry Arab does not agree however...
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/02/robert-springborg-on-egypt.html
"Now Bob knows a lot about Mubarak's Egypt and was an early writer about the military-security apparatus of the regime (and he speaks Arabic with an Egyptian accent) but it seems to me that his piece here is way too categorical in declaring the victory of the regime. The process that has been ignited in Egypt is and will be out of tight control, by either sides, and the momentum will be determined by many factors so the ability of any one side to dictate events is lessened. Remember that it took Nasser 2 years to take control of Egyptian regime after the Revolution. This is a process and no one can predict the outcome at this point. I should also say that he is wrong about the public attitudes toward the Army. I urge Bob to watch Aljazeera and even Al-Arabiyyah to detect a change in the public tone toward the Egyptian Army. "

I hope that Springborg's analysis does not manifest itself...

[EFerrari]

19. I initially objected to the categorical quality of his statements, too.

Changed my mind on reflection as the revolution would have to dismantle an economic autocracy as well as a political and social one.

[suffragette]

3. Mini profiles of some of those mentioned

Stumbled on an item in the Globe & Mail earlier tonight that has pics and brief profiles of some of those mentioned and then saw your post.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/crisis-in-egypt/who-are-potential-players-in-egyptian-reform/article1888783/

Might be helpful to tie faces to names.

And a K&R to your OP.

[EFerrari]

4. Super. Thank you!

[Turborama]

5. I was just about to post this, glad I searched in DU's search engine to double check

Excellent article, thanks for posting!

:hi:

BTW Did you know that I'm "Following" you now on Twitter? Does that mean I get all the tweets that you receive as well? I seem to be getting a lot of tweets from people I haven't even signed up to... :shrug:

[EFerrari]

6. You'll get the tweets that people you "follow" forward.

If you look closely, the name of the author is bold at the left margin, and the name of the retweeter is in a light font a little to the right.

How are you liking twitter? :hi:

[Turborama]

7. It's really good, thanks again to you and Sabrina for pushing me over the edge

Did you know I was following you then? I didn't know as you're not on my list of followers yet.

Thanks for all your tips, they make it a lot easier to work it out. I'm usually really good with stuff like this but Twitter seems to be purposefully un-newbie friendly for some reason.

[EFerrari]

8. I felt that way, too, at first and then realized, I was trying to work too hard.

Maybe we should have a twitter thread to see who everyone is following for #Egypt. :)

[Dappleganger]

15. That's a good idea.

My twitter name is @Basye

[Turborama]

11. Sorry for sounding so dumb, but...

How do I forward? I want to forward something to you but have only been able to retweet it...

[EFerrari]

12. Well, two ways. If I follow you, which I am now, I will get it when you RT.

But, you could also send me a direct message @myusername but that would mean repasting the info into a new message.

[Turborama]

13. Oh, ok. So you would have got this instantly then?

@AJELive
AJELive
Our reporter says #Tahrir Square seems to be "more tense" now with troops in helmets apparently getting ready http://aje.me/ajelive #egypt

Thanks again!

[EFerrari]

14. Yes!

[Dogmudgeon]

9. A slight bit of nagging and FYI

It's "ElBaradei", complete with the infix capital letter "B". "Baradei" and "El-Baradei" are incorrect forms. The issue came up when he was the director of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

But it's a good article, and gets a K&R from me.

--d!

[snot]

10. I want to call attn to this bec. I'm v. concerned about it and

I haven't heard these points discussed elsewhere, even though I've followed this story closely:

The US Is Working to Keep Egyptian Military In Power & Will Leave Protesters in Lurch

Edited on Fri Feb-04-11 11:20 PM by snot
You can hear the program at http://www.kcrw.com/media-player/mediaPlayer2.html?type ... .

Rough transcription of remarks of Prof. Springborg, which start 9 min. in:

US negotiations are on track; its intent is to retain the Egyptian military in power, w/o Mubarek; but Frank Wisner's probably done what he was assigned, i.e. to come to terms with the military bec. our intent is to retain the military in power. Prof. thinks far better to open discussion with the opposition so as to legitimate them, but no doubt Pres. Obama instructed Wisner NOT to do that, and so as time goes by the opposition will become not only marginalized but they'll fear for their lives bec. they're being left in the lurch.

Q: What about the idea of a civilian democracy?

A: We didn't entertain that. To entertain that, Wisner would have had to publicly embraced the opposition, but he didn't do that. Ambassador Margaret Scoby held little sessions with them on the side but those were meaningless. The military will of course have some kind of civilian face, and so we saw Amar Moussa show up in Tahrir Square, who now when he's asked come elections can say he was there; and he's someone the military can live with. And he's Sec. General of the Arab League, and he's known to be someone who's had a bit of a tiff with Mubarek; so he's the most acceptable face that the military's going to allow.

Q: How can the gov't get away with killing of the opposition?

A: Just yesterday, security forces rounded up members of the Center for Legal Rights and they haven't been seen since. Two hours ago we were told, Mohammid Rashid has been arrested, passport taken, assets seized -- a prominent, independent thinker with real integrity, opposed to some of the things the military's done. And if they can do this to these people, they can do it to anyone, and they will.

Q: Why would the US want the military to remain in power?

A: Bec. they've done our bidding. We do not trust the pro-dems. What we see is fascist behavior by the military. Yet we are making it possible. We pledged continuation of foreign assistance to the military. Our VP has been speaking directly to the military, etc.; our lines of communication are entirely with them.

Next, Prof. Shehata agrees entirely.

And there's more that's well worth listening to. Again, I found the best part began around 9 min. in.

[readmoreoften]

16. I'm voting for Tagammu--the progressive union labor party.

Not likely, but they're my fave so far.

[chimpymustgo]

17. Thank you for this informative post. It is crucial that we find reliable sources outside the MSM.

We cannot rely on our government or media to tell us the truth. And we must be informed in order to continue to support this movement.

[EFerrari]

20. It's interesting, the way this committee is buried in the corporate media

which reflects how unwelcome they are by the system now in place. (I guess when one or more of them is embraced and made much of in the press we should worry about that person. lol)

[flamingdem]

21. On CNN they just finished calling the organizers leaderless and losing momentum nt

[bemildred]

22. They are trying really hard to get a rope on the horse right now.

The longer the protestors stall and keep the pressure on, the more they will get in the end.

[chimpymustgo]

24. Hearing news stories today about people needing to get back to work, banks need to reopen, square

needs to be cleaned up and re-opened.

It might be over.

[autorank]

23. k*r This scares the big boys. They don't know who to buy off

And they probably can't, in this instance. Thanks for this.