Looking for Trouble

Protesters in Egypt oust Mubarak

(Don’t miss great comments from Egyptian protester in video at end of post.)

The ouster of Hosni Mubarak gives new meaning to Liberation Square.

From Al Jazeera:

Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president, has resigned from his post, handing over power to the armed forces.

Omar Suleiman, the vice-president, announced in a televised address that the president was “waiving” his office, and had handed over authority to the Supreme Council of the armed forces.

Suleiman’s short statement was received with a roar of approval and by celebratory chanting and flag-waving from a crowd of hundreds of thousands in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, as well by pro-democracy campaigners who attended protests across the country on Friday.

The crowd in Tahrir chanted “We have brought down the regime”,  while many were seen crying, cheering and embracing one another.

“Tonight, after all of these weeks of frustration, of violence, of intimidation … today the people of Egypt undoubtedly [feel they] have been heard, not only by the president, but by people all around the world,” our correspondent at Tahrir Square reported, following the announcement.

Pro-democracy activists in the Egyptian capital had marched on the presidential palace and state television buildings on Friday, the 18th consecutive day of protests.

Read the full story here.

See streaming video of developments in Egypt on Al Jazeera here.

And here are just a few of the hundreds of Facebook comments on the “We are all Khaled Said” page:

We are all Khaled Said

I CANT BELIEVE IT … FOR 30 YEARS .. 30 YEARS OF DICTATORSHIP… MUBARAK RESIGNSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS …………………

BACKGROUND STORY ABOUT KHALED SAID

Khaled Said, a 28-year-old Egyptian from the coastal city of Alexandria, Egypt, was tortured to death at the hands of two police officers. Several eye witnesses described how Khalid was taken by the two policemen into the entrance of a residential building where he was brutally punched and kicked. The two policemen banged his head against the wall, the staircase and the entrance steps. Despite his calls for mercy and asking them why they are doing this to him, they continued their torture until he died according to many eye witnesses.     

Khaled has become the symbol for many Egyptians who dream to see their country free of brutality, torture and ill treatment. Many young Egyptians are now fed up with the inhuman treatment they face on a daily basis in streets, police stations and everywhere. Egyptians want to see an end to all violence committed by any Egyptian Policeman. Egyptians are aspiring to the day when Egypt has its freedom and dignity back, the day when the current 30 years long emergency martial law ends and when Egyptians can freely elect their true representatives.

It is believed that Wael Ghonim is the creator of the Facebook page “We are all Khaled Said” and that he works with a colleague in England on the website. Wael Ghonim is a Google executive in Cairo who played a vital part in the Internet discussions on Facebook that helped spark the rebellion in Egypt. Wael Ghonim was held captive for 12 days by Egyptian security forces shortly after the protests began.