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September 10, 2011

After Attack on Embassy, Egypt Vows a Tougher Stance on Protests

By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK

CAIRO Acknowledging a credibility crisis after it allowed a mob to invade the Israeli Embassy here, the military-led transitional government said Saturday night that it would exploit a reviled emergency law allowing extra-judicial detentions as part of a new crackdown on disruptive protests. Egypt is undergoing a real crisis that is threatening its internal and external security, Osama Heikal, minister of media, said in statement after an emergency meeting of the cabinet with the military council that seized power this year with the ouster of former President Hosni Mubarak. What happened has damaged Egypts image and its international position, and it cannot be condoned. The statement marked an abrupt reversal for the military council, which had promised to eliminate the 30-year-old emergency law, a measure allowing indefinite detentions without trial that was considered emblematic of Mr. Mubaraks authoritarian rule. Its repeal was a signature demand of the revolution. It is not yet clear how the military government will apply its new declaration a council of officers has already governed for seven months in suspension of the Constitution, obviating the right to a fair trial, and it has previously warned with little effect of its intolerance of disruptive protests. But the statement appeared to threaten a rollback of Egypts new freedoms. It also underscored the severity of the challenge facing the military-led government as it struggles to restore order to the Egyptian streets without jeopardizing its own tenuous legitimacy. Although it has sometimes surprised protesters with heavy handed force and sent as many as 12,000 civilians to swift military trials, the military council has also sought to avoid confrontation with street protesters or to accommodate their demands in order to preserve its own standing in the eyes of the public. That strategy proved disastrous Friday night when thousands of protesters attacked the Israeli Embassy. They first methodically demolished a week-old protective wall as Egyptian security forces stood by. A few scaled the building and tore down the Israeli flag, while about two dozen broke into the offices and began tossing binders of documents into the street. And when a battalion

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of riot police finally began filling the streets with tear gas, the protesters fought back with rocks and Molotov cocktails for most of the night. Egyptian officials said Saturday that at least two protesters had died from the clashes around the embassy one from a bullet wound and the other from a heart attack while as many as 1,200 had been injured and at least 19 arrested. Signaling its new crackdown, the military council said Saturday that all those arrested would be sent to military trials instead of civilian courts. But at least one protester who had broken into the embassy early Saturday morning said that Egyptian military police had forced him out but then let him go free, raising questions about the consistency of the militarys new crackdown. Israeli officials, for their part, said Saturday that six members of their staff had been trapped inside the embassy until an early morning rescue by Egyptian commandos. This went on for 13 hours and there was real concern for the safety and lives of our people, an Israeli official said. The mob penetrated the embassy and at the end there was only one wall separating it from six of our people. The Israeli ambassador and about 85 diplomats and their family members were evacuated at dawn. Only one diplomat, a deputy ambassador, remained, and he took refuge in the protection of the American Embassy, diplomats familiar with the arrangements said. Diplomats said allowing the invasion of a foreign embassy was an extraordinary breach of Egypts international commitments that immediately raised new security concerns at other embassies around the city. It has led to a complete loss of credibility in the government internationally from all directions, a Western diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the delicacy of the situation. In addition to attacking the Israeli Embassy, witnesses said, protesters also menaced the nearby embassy of Saudi Arabia, which many Egyptians believe has pushed their own government to avoid setting a precedent by taking retribution against Mr. Mubarak. Saudi Arabia and Mubarak are one hand, protesters chanted. (Mr. Mubarak is currently on trial for corruption and conspiring in the killing of protesters earlier this year.) Mr. Heikal, the Egyptian government spokesman, specifically addressed worries by diplomats, pledging that Egypt would fully uphold all its international commitments. The violence of the attack on the Israeli Embassy, and another attack that defaced the walls of the Egyptian Interior Ministry, marked a departure from the previously peaceful character of the frequent demonstrations in Cairos Tahrir Square since the revolution. The difference reflected in part the changing composition of the crowd, which on Friday was dominated for the first time by hard-core soccer fans, known here as Ultras, who turned out looking for revenge against the police

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after a melee at a soccer match a few days before. Egyptian politicians at every level from the young leaders of the revolution to older liberals and Islamists spoke out Saturday against the use of violence. A coalition of young organizers of the revolution held a press conference to fault the military council for failing to provide any security throughout the day and evening, only to respond late at night with brutal force. But many political leaders were also careful to distance themselves from any support for Israel. Among the many objections to Mr. Mubarak was his steadfast devotion to Egypts alliance with Israel and the United States even at the price of suppressing popular resentment of Israel over its treatment of the Palestinians. And both aspiring political candidates as well as the ruling military council have been careful to stay on the popular side of those sentiments. Given the growing public pressure, said Gamal Abdel Gawad, director of the Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, repairing relations with Israel could be an uphill battle.
Heba Afify contributed reporting from Cairo, and Ethan Bronner from Jerusalem.

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