Which group will prevail in such a coalition? Given how events unfolded in Iran in 1979 and the general tendency of Middle Eastern politics in the present day, the smart money is on the Brotherhood. “Egyptian protesters in fresh push to oust Mubarak,” from NewsCore, February 1:
(NewsCore) – CAIRO — Tens of thousands of Egyptian anti-government protesters gathered in central Cairo on Tuesday in what could be the biggest push yet to oust President Hosni Mubarak.
Men, women and children converged on Tahrir (Liberation) square in the heart of the capital, the epicenter of eight days of unrest that threatens to end Mubarak’s 30-year rule, Sky News reported.
In a bid to stem the protest, authorities blocked all intercity highways and all roads leading to Cairo were closed, Fox News reported.
Train services were shut for a second day and all bus services were halted, while the cellular network was shut down.
The army said Monday it will not fire on demonstrators, giving yet another boost to the pro-democracy movement. Army generals said they respected the “legitimate rights of the people.”
Tuesday’s rallies, dubbed the “Marches of a Million,” were also planned in Alexandria.
Mohamed ElBaradei, the Nobel peace laureate seen as a key figure in the protests, said Mubarak should leave “if he wants to save his skin.”
“When a regime withdraws the police entirely from the streets of Cairo, when thugs are part of the secret police, trying to give the impression that without Mubarak the country will go into chaos, this is a criminal act. Somebody has to be accountable,” he told Britain’s The Independent newspaper.
“And now, as you can hear in the streets, people are not saying Mubarak should go, they are now saying he should be put on trial. If he wants to save his skin, he better leave.”
The officially banned Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist movement that is backing the protests, told Sky New it is working with secular opposition groups and the army to secure the removal of Mubarak.
“He wants to say the army is with me and not with the people but this is wrong because the Egyptian army is apart from Egypt,” Dr. Abd Al-monem Abo Al-fotouh, one of the leaders of the Brotherhood told reporters….