Tahrir Square - News, photos, topics, and quotes

Tahrir Square - News, photos, topics, and quotes- Latest news from 2 minutes

Crowd Gathering Again In Cairo, But Outside Square Life Is Normal

NPR 58 MINUTES AGO

Protesters chanted slogans during clashes with Egyptian riot police near Tahrir Square in Cairo earlier today (Nov. 22, 2011). As The Associated Press writes, "the two sides have been engaged in intense clashes since the unrest began on Saturday with...

3 Americans arrested in Egypt as clashes continue

KSAT SAN ANTONIO 1 HOUR AGO

David Lynfield, deputy press officer for the U.S. Embassy, said the "claims are being currently investigated." Tuesday marked the fourth consecutive day of clashes between protesters and police in and around Tahrir Square. Demonstrators are calling for...

REUTERS PICTURES 1 HOUR AGO

A policeman helps protesters take cover behind a damaged car as riot police fire tear gas and rubber-covered bullets along a road which leads to the Interior Ministry, near Tahrir Square in Cairo November 22, 2011. Egyptians frustrated with military... View Photo »

CNN's Anderson Cooper went all the way to Egypt to cover protests at Tahrir Square but won't go down the block to cover #occupywallstreet

SOURCE: THE DAILY O'COLLEGIAN

1 MONTH AGO

3 Americans arrested in Egypt as clashes continue

CNN 1 HOUR AGO

David Lynfield, deputy press officer for the U.S. Embassy, said the "claims are being currently investigated." Tuesday marked the fourth consecutive day of clashes between protesters and police in and around Tahrir Square. Demonstrators are calling for...

Egypt politicians call for military to hand over power to civilian government - video

GUARDIAN UNLIMITED 1 HOUR AGO

Leaders of political parties have held an emergency meeting after violence in Egypt killed 33 people over the past three days. They have demanded an investigation into the police response to protesters at Tahrir Square in Cairo and want a timetable for...

Egyptian protesters struggle to throw off army rule

LONDON FREE PRESS 1 HOUR AGO

On Monday night the army council called for calm and voiced its “deepest regret” for the casualties so far. Islamist presidential candidate Hazem Salah Abu Ismail, who had joined the protests in Tahrir Square, described the apology as worthless. “I...

REUTERS PICTURES 1 HOUR AGO

 

A protester flashes a sign in front of smoke from tear gas during clashes along a road which leads to the Interior Ministry, near Tahrir Square in Cairo November 22, 2011. Egyptians frustrated with military rule battled police in the streets again on... View Photo »

How smart was the decision by the government of President Hosni Mubarak to completely shut down the Internet and cellphone service on Jan. 28, in the middle of the crucial protests in Tahrir Square? His conclusion was, not so smart, but not for the reasons you might think. 'Full connectivity in a social...

SOURCE: BIG THINK

2 MONTHS AGO

Egypt military, political parties in crisis talks

ATLANTA JOURNAL CONSTITUTION VENDOR 1 HOUR AGO

Three foreigners were arrested after they were seen throwing fire bombs at security forces from the roof of a building belonging to the American University near Tahrir Square, an Interior Ministry official said. The official did not give the...

Egyptians pack Tahrir Square as clashes resume

DENVER POST 1 HOUR AGO

The report Tuesday came as tens of thousands massed in Cairo's Tahrir Square to demand the military set a date for presidential elections soon to enable the

Egypt to Free Jailed U.S.-Israeli Citizen Accused of Spying

A dual U.S.-Israeli citizen imprisoned in Egypt on spy suspicions since June will be released soon, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement Monday.

The statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Israel will release 25 Egyptian prisoners in exchange.

Ilan Grapel was arrested in Cairo on June 12 and has been held without charge since. Egypt's state TV confirmed that a deal was made and said the swap would be carried out on Thursday.

Grapel, who is 27, was suspected by Egyptian officials of spying for Israel during the height of Egypt's uprising that ousted President Hosni Mubarak earlier this year. Israel and his relatives in the U.S. denied Grapel was a spy, saying he worked for a Cairo legal aid project.

The Israeli government will convene a special Security Cabinet meeting Tuesday to approve the deal, the statement said. The list of prisoners included in the deal will be published so that Israelis would be able to appeal. The swap can take place 48 hours after the prisoners' names are made public.

"In the framework of Israel and Egyptian efforts and with the help of the United States, Egypt has agreed to release Ilan Grapel. Israel has agreed to release 25 Egyptian prisoners," the statement said

The statement said there are no "security prisoners" on the list, Israeli shorthand for militants. It is assumed that the Egyptians to be freed are mostly smugglers working the porous border between the two countries, sneaking into Israel with contraband and people seeking asylum or work.

Last week Egypt was instrumental in mediating a deal that won freedom for an Israeli soldier, Sgt. Gilad Schalit, held for more than five years by the militant Hamas rulers of Gaza. Under that deal, Israel freed 455 Palestinian prisoners and is set to free hundreds more in two months. Some were convicted in deadly attacks against Israelis, including involvement with suicide bombings.

Schalit was captured in a 2006 cross-border raid in which Palestinian militants killed two other soldiers.,

Israeli officials said Grapel's release is not connected to the Schalit deal. They were speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

Grapel moved to Israel, where his grandparents live, as a young man and did his compulsory military service during the 2006 war between the Israeli military and Hezbollah, where he was wounded. Israeli news websites have published what they identified as wartime pictures of Grapel lying in his hospital bed.

Grapel later returned to the U.S. for law school.

His father, Daniel Grapel, spoke briefly to Israel's Channel 10 TV from his home in New York Monday evening. "I haven't been officially notified, but I do know that things are happening between the U.S, Egyptian and Israeli governments," he said.

Grapel's connections to Israel, including his past military service, are easy to find on the Internet, adding to doubts that he was a spy.

He appears to have traveled to Egypt under his real name and made no secret of his Israeli links, including his past military service.

Israeli and Egyptian newspapers and websites often run pictures of Grapel in his army uniform, taken from his Facebook page. Pictures of him with protesters in Cairo's Tahrir square, the epicenter of the uprising that toppled Mubarak, also lifted from Grapel's Facebook page are frequently displayed.

Grapel graduated from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, in 2005 with a bachelor's degree in international studies and was planning to return to Emory for his third and final year of law studies.

Since Mubarak's ouster, Egypt's military rulers have often warned against what they call "foreign" attempts to destabilize the country. Egypt, like other Arab states, has a long history of blaming internal problems on Israel.