Friday, February 04, 2011

Demonstrations in the Arab world and foreign capitals continued Thursday in support of the ongoing protests in Egypt to demand an end to President Hosni Mubarak’s rule, while lawmakers in Iraq expressed sympathy and solidarity with the Egyptian demonstrators.

In Amman, more than 150 people, including trade unionists and Egyptian expatriate workers, staged a sit-in outside Cairo’s Embassy to demand that Mubarak step down.

“I took part in this sit-in after I saw my brothers getting slaughtered in Tahrir Square” in Cairo, Imad, 30, a sanitation worker, told AFP.

Chanting “down with Mubarak, leave Egypt you coward, it’s no longer your home,” the demonstrators in Amman waved an Egyptian flag and carried banners that read: “Get out, you agent, enough bloodshed.”

Similar protests were held in front of Egyptian embassies in Paris, Sofia, Berlin and Bucharest.
Members of Egypt’s community in the Romanian capital held cardboard posters showing caricatures of President Mubarak, reading “Hosni Mubarak, GET OUT!” and “NO to the violence, No to the torture.”

In Gaza City, around 200 students gathered outside the Egyptian representative’s office, closed since 2007. They waved Egyptian and Palestinian flags and held up slogans such as “Down with Mubarak” and “The Egyptian people want regime change.”

However, in Ramallah, the Palestinians imposed a blanket ban on all rallies in support of Egypt and Tunisia after the security forces were accused of harsh conduct toward demonstrators.

The move came just hours after Human Rights Watch issued a statement condemning the Palestinian security forces and police for forcibly breaking up a pro-Egypt gathering in the West Bank city a day earlier.

“Following reports by American groups about the demonstrations in Palestine … the Palestinian security forces have imposed a ban on any rallies linked to events in [Egypt and Tunisia],” security chief Adnan al-Damiri said in a statement.

It was the second time in four days that security forces had broken up a rally in support of the Egyptian uprising, and prompted the watchdog to call for EU and U.S. donors to cut aid to the Palestinian Authority.
Police and security forces came under fire after they stormed a group demonstrating in central Ramallah Wednesday evening, the rights watchdog and organizers said. – Agencies