Mubarak’s Trial a Landmark of Egypt Revolution

The revolution has been so successful even before the democratic general election is held. Its success in sending the former Egypt’s big boss to trial is revolutionary something that Indonesian Reformasi could not achieve. Bravo Egypt’s Arab Spring!

The trial of ex-President Hosni Mubarak could be a key moment for Egypt’s future following his toppling in February.

He is charged with corruption and ordering the killing of protesters – the latter a charge that carries the death penalty.

A temporary courtroom has been set up inside Cairo’s police academy, formerly known as the Mubarak police academy, until the name was hastily amended.

Mr Mubarak, who has been under arrest at a hospital in the coastal resort of Sharm el-Sheikh since April, is charged alongside his sons Gamal and Alaa, former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly and other officials.

Libya Revolution: Gaddafi Has Hourst Left

Tunisia revolution really has the domino effect to the Middle East countries. Just weeks after the successful revolution, Egypt followed suit which forced Husni Mubarak to step down. Now, Libya, Yemen and Bahrain. Are the rulers likely to budge the people demands?

People power has successfully dethroned the dictators in Tunisia and Egypt. Will it succeed in Libya?

The Timeline (live update) of Libya unrest (taken from various sources, particularly CNN and Al Jazeera):

February 14

Three days after the fall of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, calls go out on Facebook for peaceful demonstrations in Libya against leader Moammar Gadhafi.

The Libyan leader, who has ruled over the country for more than four decades, voiced support for Mubarak during the Egyptian crisis.

Feburary 16

Roughly 200 protesters take to the streets in the coastal city of Benghazi to show support for lawyer and human rights activist Fathi Terbil, according to witnesses.

Several are arrested amid confrontations with police. A highly placed source close to the Libyan government tells CNN, “there is nothing serious here. These are just young people fighting each other.”

February 17

State-run media reports that the government has released 110 political prisoners and that a committee would be convened to consider major changes to the government.

Calls are posted on websites for a “Day of Rage” on what is the five-year anniversary of an incident in which security forces killed at least a dozen protesters. Seven people are killed in clashes between security forces and anti-government protesters, according to medical sources.

February 18

Raucous pro-government demonstrators take to the streets in the nation’s capital in support of Gadhafi, witnesses say. Images from state television, labeled as “live,” feature men chanting pro-Gadhafi slogans, waving flags and singing around the Libyan leader’s limousine as it creeps through Tripoli.

In Benghazi, human rights groups and protesters claim they’re under attack by pro-government security forces. Among the tens of thousands of protesters who take to the streets, at least 20 people are killed and 200 are wounded, according to medical sources.

February 19

Protests continue to turn violent, however the death and injury toll is unclear. In Benghazi, witnesses report bloody clashes with soldiers firing tear gas and bullets. A doctor treating the injured at Al Jala hospital says at least 30 people are dead, most of them from gunshot wounds to the head.

Witnesses say protests have erupted in cities across the country, including al-Baida, Ajdabiya and Misratah, where anti-government protesters leaving noon prayers at a local mosque were confronted by demonstrators supportive of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.

Human Rights Watch reports that 84 people have been killed in Libyan demonstrations since Tuesday. The organization bases that estimate on telephone calls made to medical providers across the country.

February 20

Violence surges in Benghazi where eyewitness say protesters have taken control of the city and much of Tripoli.

Gadhafi’s son, Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, appears on state television to warn demonstrators that if their protests do not subside, the country could fall into a civil war.

February 23

In eastern Libya, in the city of Bayda, a provisional government was being formed. The new leadership also is holding some Gadhafi loyalists hostage.

February 24

Al Jazeera carries an article titled Gaddafi has lost everything used to be in his control. It says, it’s only a matter of time before he finally steps down or forced to do so. A successful revolution seems in to be on edge.

February 25

Juan Cole of Informed Comment concludes that protesters has taken over almost 90 percent of Libya from Gadhafi.

February 26

Al Jazeera English reports that Libyan protesters have taken control of a number of areas in the capital, Tripoli.

They also said at least seven people were killed in Tripoli yesterday when security brigades opened fire on protesters. It was not immediately possible to verify their accounts however.

Ynetnews reports Rebels hold a long sweep of about half of Libya’s 1,600- kilometer Mediterranean coastline where most of the population lives, and even captured a brigadier general and a soldier Saturday as the Libyan army tried to retake an air base east of Tripoli.

The recently resigned Libyan representative to the Arab League, Abd Al-Mun’im al-Huni, said Saturday said that Gaddafi currently controls just a small part of Tripoli – his estate and four camps. He even said, Gaddafi has hours left.

February 27,

Al Jazeera quoting Diplomats say about 2,000 or more people have been killed across the country so far.
Much of the oil-producing regions in opposition hands.

Meanwhile, Libya’s former justice minister announced he was forming a “transitional government” to replace Gaddafi’s crumbling regime, which now controls only some western areas around the capital and a few long-time bastions in the arid south, reporters and witnesses say.
Follow more of Al Jazeera’s special coverage here

In al-Baida, Mustafa Abdel Jalil said the new administration would include commanders of the regular army, many of who defected to the opposition, and would pave the way for free and fair elections in three months’ time.

Egypt could Emulate Indonesia Political Landscape

The New York Times argues that Egypt could imitate Indonesia’s political landscape in which many Islamic parties, like PKS, embrace democracy and abandon its political Islam’s credo. In terms of Egypt, Muslim Brotherhood (Ikhwanul Muslimin) could be Egypt’s PKS in the future.

… But what the [PKS] party has not done is call for turning Indonesia into an Islamic state, for the simple reason that Indonesian voters would reject it, said Anis Matta, the secretary general of PKS. Replacing Indonesia’s nonsectarian Constitution with a Shariah state “is not under debate in the PKS anymore,” Mr. Matta said.

“We’ve entered into democracy as the best frame for us. We believe in democracy, we’re working in the system and working within the system’s demands, which includes making compromises,” Mr. Matta said. The party has trimmed back its expectations of voter support while moderating its platform, he said, and expects just over 10 percent of the vote in national elections in 2014.

Egypt Revolution: President Husni Mubarak Resigns

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak stepped down Friday and handed over power to the military — three decades of his iron-clad rule ended by an 18-day revolution.

Vice President Omar Suleiman announced the resignation on state television and said the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces will “run the affairs of the country.”

Tens of thousands of emotional Egyptians exploded in deafening cheers on the streets of Cairo, electric with excitement. It was a moment they had anticipated throughout long days of relentless demonstrations — sometimes violent — that demanded Mubarak’s departure. Full story