Still fighting in Cairo
CAIRO — While the world turns its attention to the riveting drama in Libya, where revolutionaries are seeking to oust the dictator Muammar al-Qaddafi, the revolution next door in Egypt is entering a new phase — one that is just as exhilarating and consequential as the protests that drove President Hosni Mubarak from power in ...
CAIRO — While the world turns its attention to the riveting drama in Libya, where revolutionaries are seeking to oust the dictator Muammar al-Qaddafi, the revolution next door in Egypt is entering a new phase -- one that is just as exhilarating and consequential as the protests that drove President Hosni Mubarak from power in just 18 incredible days.
CAIRO — While the world turns its attention to the riveting drama in Libya, where revolutionaries are seeking to oust the dictator Muammar al-Qaddafi, the revolution next door in Egypt is entering a new phase — one that is just as exhilarating and consequential as the protests that drove President Hosni Mubarak from power in just 18 incredible days.
In fact, the revolution may be gaining momentum. The Egyptian people endured Mubarak’s reign for 30 years, but 33 days of Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq was all it took for them to threaten to take to the streets en masse to demand his ouster. Shafiq, who was appointed by Mubarak during the early days of the revolution in a blatant bid to seem reasonable without conceding much power, was widely seen, along with much of his cabinet, as a relic of the pre-revolutionary era and the man who had overseen — or at least failed to stop — some of the most violent attacks against peaceful demonstrators in Tahrir Square.
M ohamed El Dahshan is the founder of OXCON, a consulting firm focusing on fragile and post-conflict countries; he is also a non-resident Fellow with the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy in DC, and cofounder of Afrilanthropy, a philanthropic advisory firm. Twitter: @eldahshan
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