Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Britain draws up emergency plans for collapse of Euro after warnings Italy needs £500bn bailout

Rescue package to give Mario Monti 12 to 18 months' breathing room to implement spending cuts

By James Chapman

Last updated at 8:44 AM on 28th November 2011

Britain is drawing up emergency plans for the collapse of the ‘creaking’ Eurozone amid warnings debt-stricken Italy will need a £500 billion bailout involving billions of pounds of UK taxpayers’ money.

Chancellor George Osborne said the Treasury had ‘stepped up’ contingency planning and aimed to be ready for ‘whatever the Eurozone throws at us’.

It emerged yesterday that the International Monetary Fund, in which Britain is a major shareholder, could be forced to offer Italy a €600 billion (£514bn) rescue package to give its unelected new prime minister Mario Monti 12 to 18 months’ breathing room to implement big tax rises and spending cuts.


Chancellor George Osborne, left, has ‘stepped up’ contingency planning while unelected Italian prime minister Mario Monti, right, could be given breathing room to implement big tax rises and spending cuts

And in another move, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy were revealed to be plotting a new pact on economic union without consulting Britain or other countries outside of the EU.

They are determined not to give Britain the chance of insisting on powers being handed back from Brussels by negotiating a major new EU treaty.

Germany's original plan was to try to secure agreement among all 27 EU countries for a limited change to the Lisbon Treaty by the end of 2012, making it possible to impose much tighter budget controls over the 17-member Eurozone.

Countries will be forced to submit their budgets for EU approval before they go to national parliaments, will have to sign up to strict new rules on the size of debts and deficits and will be sued for any breach in the European Court of Justice.


Plot: German Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, right, are plotting a new pact on economic union without consulting Britain or other countries outside of the EU

The Franco-German plan will effectively mean an end to national sovereignty over budgets for countries remaining in the euro.


Source said it had become clear to Mrs Merkel and Mr Sarkozy in recent weeks that it appears impossible to get all 27 EU countries on board for the plan.


It could take years to secure the necessary changes, while a rapid loss of market faith in Italy, Spain and even France suggests urgent measures are required within weeks.


EU sources said French and German civil servants have been exploring other ways of achieving the goal, either via an agreement among just the Eurozone countries.


Alternatively, they could strike a separate agreement outside the EU treaty that could involve a core of around just eight to ten Eurozone countries, officials say.


The move will infuriate British Eurosceptics, who have been urging David Cameron to insist on a repatriation of powers for the UK from Brussels in exchange for agreeing to let the Eurozone countries move towards fiscal and political union.


In a sign of the deepening turmoil in the Eurozone, IMF officials were quoted by the Italian newspaper La Stampa as saying a bailout would be needed to give the country a window of 12 to 18 months to implement urgent budget cuts and growth-boosting reforms.


The IMF would guarantee rates of 4.0 per cent or 5.0 perc ent on the loan -- far better than the borrowing costs on commercial debt markets, where the rate on two-year and five-year Italian government bonds has risen above 7.0 per cent.


The size of the loan would make it difficult for the IMF to use its current resources so different options are being explored, including possible joint action with the European Central Bank in which the IMF would act as guarantor. As a major shareholder in the IMF, billions of pounds of British cash would be put on the line under any deal, though it is not clear how much.


Italy’s vast £1.6 trillion national debt and its low growth rate have caused deepening alarm on the international markets in recent weeks, and even a Brussels-inspired ‘coup’ which saw Silvio Berlusconi removed and a government without a single elected politician in it installed failed to stop the rot.


Mr Osborne confirmed yesterday that Britain is preparing for a break-up of the Eurozone that would have cataclysmic effects for the British economy.


‘Well, of course countries like Germany and France have now openly asked the question whether countries like Greece can stay in the Euro. It is a very, very difficult and dangerous situation,’ the Chancellor said.


‘It is having a hugely chilling effect on the British economy at the moment. We have contingency plans for all situations. We have obviously stepped up that contingency planning in recent months. You would expect us to do that as the British government. But that doesn’t mean we are predicting any particular outcome.


‘We’re just ready for whatever the world, whatever the Eurozone throws at us. Adisorderly collapse of the Eurozone would have a massive impact on the UK. I mean, for example, one in seven pounds we export goes to Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Greece - just those countries.
‘So in other words, it’s a very important part of our economic strategy that we get the Eurozone moving as well.’

Source



Arab World Uprisings: A Country-by-Country Look




UPDATED November 28, 2011

Region in Revolt
Arab World Uprisings: A Country-by-Country Look

The convulsions of the Arab Spring find new life as a new wave of protests rock Egypt, and Yemen’s leader agrees — in writing — to step down after 33 years of rule.

Read more

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Iranian Students Storm British Embassy in Tehran



Breaking News Alert
The New York Times


Tuesday, November 29, 2011
-- 8:23 AM EST-----



Iranian Students Storm British Embassy in Tehran, Associated Press Reports



In the latest sign of deteriorating relations with the West, around 20 Iranian protesters entered the British Embassy compound in Tehran chanting “death to England,” tearing down a British flag and ransacking offices, news reports said.


The episode came a day after Iran enacted legislation on Monday to downgrade relations with Britain in retaliation for intensified sanctions imposed by Western nations last week to punish the Iranians for their suspect nuclear development program. Britain promised to respond “robustly.”

The British Foreign Office in London said it was “aware of the reports” from Tehran about its embassy on Tuesday, but declined to comment further.

Read More:http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/30/world/middleeast/tehran-protesters-storm-british-embassy.html?emc=na




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Monday, November 28, 2011

CIA Project Pandora Radio Remote Brain Manipulation



Uploaded by on May 3, 2011

Many thanks to 911InvestigationVids for this vid and great info!

HDTV will be the method. Dr Ross Adey's research at the Brain Research Institute of the University of California, was funded by the CIA. In their Pandora project a catalogue of different brain signals for specific actions, emotions and pathological states of mind were recorded. It was found that when microwaves were used to fire these signals at victims' brains, they experienced the moods, behaviour, and the pathological states, carried by the signals. This meant that by mimicking natural brain frequencies, the human brain could be controlled remotely by use of extremely low frequency broadcast carried by pulse modulated microwave beams (ELF pulse modulated microwave remote mind control technology). MICROWAVE MIND CONTROL by Tim Rifat

The TETRA system pulses at 17.6 Hz broadcast at 400 MHz which is essentially the Pandora Project funded by the CIA in the late '60s and early '70s. Dr Ross Adey, the chief researcher on the Pandora Project has released a video to leading UK researchers which proves that not only does the TETRA system cause ELF zombification by massive release of calcium ions in the cerebral cortex and the nervous system, but the activated calcium ions also cause massive hormonal disturbances which lead to frenzied imbalances, emotional and physical states...... Use of the TETRA system by the police will lead to psychotronicaly controlled officers who may be totally controlled in any situation and are very useful for states of economic or social chaos where extreme and violent behaviour is needed without any conscious or moral compunction - so-called police robots. [2001] The TETRA System: Mass UK Mind Control Technology and the Zombification Of Britain's Police is Now A Reality by Tim Rifat

In quoting this research I refer to documents listed under Reference 15. So sophisticated is this research, and I refer to Operation Pandora Joint CIA/MI6 Operation since the 1960s, Operation Woodpecker USSR 1976, Operation HAARP still running in USA; they are able to define specific pulse frequencies to cause specific brain malfunctions or illnesses. For instance: 4.5: Illness Caused, 6.6: Depression/Suicide, 11: Manic behaviour/Anger, 25:Blindness if aimed at the head/Heart attack if aimed at the chest. Other consequences of frequencies used but not listed here are hysteria, trauma, lust, murder and cancer, and may all be induced. Confidential Report on TETRA for the Police of England and Wales by B Trower

STRATEGIC ELECTRONIC WEAPONRY
It was inevitable that military/intelligence interests would develop electronic RMCT weapons systems. These weapons fall into a number of classes, the simplest being the use of microwaves at low amplitudes, e.g., 10,000 microwatts per square centimetre, to cause local hot-spots in the victim's body areas that have poor circulation, such as the eyes and gall bladder. The microwaves heat up the tissue, which does not have the blood circulation to carry away the excess heat. The victim feels nothing, but sustains acute and chronic illness in these areas. Intelligence organisations in the West use this technology to disable permanently the 'subversive elements' they cannot scare off.

When ELF-modulated microwaves are used, they are keyed to distinctive patterns of brainwaves called preparation sets, which exist for every mechanical gesture the body makes. There are also specific excitation potentials which exist for specific emotional states. Intelligence operatives can induce remote conditioning by creating information-processing effects which can cause excitatory reactions, subliminal stress, behavioural arousal, enhanced suggestibility by inhibition of higher functions, and patterned behaviours. It is alleged that this technology is used by the CIA and MI5 to modify the behaviour of 'high-profile subversives'.

The more advanced electronic RMCT utilises ELF-modulated masers for long-range, penetrative, invasive EM mind-control. Together with Doppler-shifted interrogative RMCT masers, a victim's brain-states can be analysed at a distance-and the 'subversive' can be modified at a distance. Developments on this technique, and the use of low-frequency EM radiation to see through walls, have allowed intelligence agencies in the US to make useful inroads on the path to synthetic telepathy.

Much of this research has been funded by the CIA which began this work on electronic mind-control with its Pandora project. This research was used to build devices like RHIC-EDOM (Radio Hypnotic Intracerebral Control - Electronic Dissolution of Memory), which is allegedly used for forced induction of hypnotic trance in the abduction of and experimentation upon civilians by US Government agencies.



There is unrest in Arab world's includes Egypt, Syria, Morocco, Libya, Yemen, Bahrain and Tunisia


By Gobby Wang
Taiwan News, Staff Writer
2011-11-28 09:22 AM

Associated Press ()
According to AP, it reported, Arab world's unrests in Egypt, Syria = Syria, Morocco,Libya = Libya, Yemen, Bahrain and Tunisia. Below is each notion’s issue.

EGYPT

On the eve of landmark elections, Egypt's military ruler warns of "extremely grave" consequences if the turbulent nation does not pull through its current crisis — an attempt to rally the public behind his council of generals in the face of pressure from protesters to step down immediately. Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi urges voters to turn out for the start of parliamentary elections Monday despite nine days of protests and clashes that some have dubbed a "second revolution."

SYRIA

In an unprecedented move against a fellow Arab nation, the Arab League approves economic sanctions on Syria = Syria to pressure Damascus to end its deadly suppression of an 8-month-old uprising against President Bashar Assad. But even as world leaders abandon Assad, the regime refuses to ease a military assault on dissent that already has killed more than 3,500 people. Damascus slams the sanctions as a betrayal of Arab solidarity and insists a foreign conspiracy is behind the revolt.

MOROCCO

Morocco's Interior Ministry says an Islamist party has won the most seats in parliamentary elections and is set to lead the country's next government. Announcing final results, the ministry said the Justice and Development Party had taken 107 seats in the 395-seat legislature following the nationwide vote two days earlier. The PJD — known by its French initials — is the latest Islamist party to win an election brought about by the Arab Spring. The right-of-center Istiqlal, a potential ally for the PJD, placed second with 60 seats.

LIBYA

Hundreds of people push their way to the door of the Libya = Libyan prime minister's office, demanding representation in government for the Amazigh, one of the country's largest ethnic minorities. The Amazigh, whose culture was suppressed during the decades of Moammar Gadhafi's rule, say they're angry that they are not part of a new transitional government, despite their large size and contribution to toppling Gadhafi. The tensions reflect simmering tribal tensions — one of many challenges facing the interim government as it tries build democratic institutions from scratch.

YEMEN

Yemen's vice president issues a decree assigning a veteran independent politician to form a national unity government. This is part of the power transfer deal signed by Yemen President Ali Abdullah Saleh last week. Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi's decree follows the part of the accord that requires the new government to include equal number of ministers from the opposition and Saleh's party. The choice for premier, Mohammed Basindwa, an independent, held several positions in Saleh's government, including foreign and information minister.

BAHRAIN

Bahrain's state media says the country's king has ordered the creation of a special commission to study recommendations from an independent investigation into political unrest. The decision by King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa follows the release last week of a 500-page report that detailed abuses such as torture and excessive force in a crackdown on protests by Bahrain's majority Shiites for greater rights.

TUNISIA

Tunisian airlines suspends flights to Libya = Libya's capital Tripoli after armed men swarm the runway and stop a plane from taking off. Flights are suspended until "an improvement in the security conditions," says Soulafa Mokaddem, a spokeswoman for Tunisair. On Saturday afternoon, a TunisAir flight leaving from Tripoli's military airport of Maitiga carrying 47 wounded Libya = Libyans to be treated in Tunisia was stopped by 300 armed men.


Source


Algeria surrounded by Islamism in the east and terrorism in the south

ennahar

image

The Maghreb and the Sahel regions have become France’s zones of influence after the fall in a series of regimes in North Africa and south of the grand Sahara, as what happened in Libya, Tunisia, Morocco and in terms of security in Mauritania, Chad, Niger and Mali.

  • The Maghreb and the Sahel regions have become France’s zones of influence after the fall in a series of regimes in North Africa and south of the grand Sahara, as what happened in Libya, Tunisia, Morocco and in terms of security in Mauritania, Chad, Niger and Mali.
  • These Sahelian countries have become French provinces that receive orders from Paris and accept its military intervention on their land under the guise of the fight against terrorism in the region.
  • The latest events experienced by the Maghreb and the Sahel countries throughout the year, show how France has managed to establish its influence on a number of former colonies like Chad, Mali and Niger, and the exploitation by France of what is called the "Arab spring" to install political systems that obey her in Libya, Tunisia and Morocco, although the latter is since the sixties as French protectorate, when King Hassan II had proclaimed himself Governor General of French policies in his own kingdom.
  • A plain reading of the new political map, after the latest developments in these areas, confirms the revival of France. As a result, Algeria remains the only country outside the circle, surrounded from the east and the west by pro-France Islamist governments and from the southeast by a country ruled by armed gangs after the fall of Gaddafi and from the extreme south by weak regimes that can not disobey orders from the Elysee.
  • Observers see in this new situation the return of the traditional war of interests between France and the United States, mainly regarding countries like Algeria for their strategic position and its oil. Algeria will not be immune against the French attempts to extend its influence in the Arab Maghreb region.

  • Ennahar / Yacine Abdelbaki


Source


Algerian prelate speaks of ministry in a Muslim state


Photo (Courtesy) http://www.asianews.it/news-en/The-Algerian-Church-has-the-same-right-to-spread-its-message-(as-Muslims-do)-17654.html


November 28, 2011

Algeria’s leading prelate discusses at length the challenges of ministering in an overwhelmingly Muslim state where conversion is punished by fine or imprisonment. Only 4,000 of the nation’s 34.8 million people are Catholic, according to Vatican statistics.

“The Church is alive, it is present and doing its best for the well-being of its faithful and the country,” said Archbishop Ghaleb Moussa Abdalla Bader of Algiers. “Our first mission is to be there, to live our faith, and to be faithful to our religion and to respect the other faiths despite our differences. The Church believes--and I believe--that religious freedom is a human right.”



A conspiracy is found among the men of Judah



9And the LORD said unto me, A conspiracy is found among the men of Judah, and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

10They are turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, which refused to hear my words; and they went after other gods to serve them: the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant which I made with their fathers.

11Therefore thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon them, which they shall not be able to escape; and though they shall cry unto me, I will not hearken unto them.

12Then shall the cities of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem go, and cry unto the gods unto whom they offer incense: but they shall not save them at all in the time of their trouble.

13For according to the number of thy cities were thy gods, O Judah; and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem have ye set up altars to that shameful thing, even altars to burn incense unto Baal.

14Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up a cry or prayer for them: for I will not hear them in the time that they cry unto me for their trouble.

15What hath my beloved to do in mine house, seeing she hath wrought lewdness with many, and the holy flesh is passed from thee? when thou doest evil, then thou rejoicest.

16The LORD called thy name, A green olive tree, fair, and of goodly fruit: with the noise of a great tumult he hath kindled fire upon it, and the branches of it are broken.

17For the LORD of hosts, that planted thee, hath pronounced evil against thee, for the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have done against themselves to provoke me to anger in offering incense unto Baal.

Jeremiah 11:9-17.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Putin Warns West on Interference

EUROPE NEWS
NOVEMBER 28, 2011

By ALAN CULLISON

MOSCOW—Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin launched his official
presidential campaign on Sunday, accusing foreign powers of trying to influence
Russia's elections and promising to press ahead with plans to boost defense
spending to safeguard the country's dignity.




Reuters
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, left, with President
Dmitry Medvedev at the United Russia party congress in Moscow on
Sunday.


Mr. Putin's appearance in a soccer stadium here before 10,000 flag-waving
supporters was a clear signal that he planned no changes to the top-down
political system that he has shaped since assuming the presidency in 2000,
despite some weakening of his own popularity in public-opinion polls.
It was his first appearance before a large public arena since he was booed a
week ago at a martial-arts competition.

He lashed out at domestic opponents—many of whom have been excluded from the
coming parliamentary and presidential elections—accusing them of playing a role
in the Soviet collapse in 1991 and looting the country during the ensuing
chaos.

He praised Russia's neighbors Kazakhstan and Belarus for helping with his
plan to reintegrate former Soviet states into a "Eurasian Union" whose members
would enjoy exclusive trade ties.

Mr. Putin, 59 years old, is expected to switch places with his longtime
protégé, President Dmitri Medvedev, after March presidential elections in what
critics and Kremlin officials alike have called a "castling"—referring to a
chess move—of the two leaders. Elections for the State Duma on Dec. 4 will be a
closely watched precursor to that contest; the Kremlin-controlled party, United
Russia, is expected to win a majority of seats.

Kremlin officials say there are few differences between Messrs. Putin and
Medvedev, and that their switch in roles will bring scant change. But analysts
say the official return of Mr. Putin to the Kremlin may present difficulties for
the West, amid his insistence that the U.S. and European Union are trying to
undermine him.

Mr. Putin's speech Sunday before the pro-Kremlin United Russia party was
riddled with parallels to a speech he delivered a few months before Russia's
last presidential elections four years ago, where in the same stadium he
promised a revival in Russia's government and denounced his critics as
foreign-financed "jackals."

After accepting the party's formal nomination for president on Sunday, he
told the cheering audience that "some foreign countries are gathering those they
are paying money to—so-called grant recipients—to instruct them and assign work
in order to influence the election campaign themselves."

He called the alleged funding a "wasted effort, as we say money thrown at the
wind, firstly because Judas is not the most respected biblical character in our
country."

In a clear jab at the financial troubles in the EU and the U.S., he advised
governments that "it would be better to pay off their debt with this money and
stop pursuing inefficient and costly economic policies."

Mr. Putin, who was initially installed in the Kremlin after the resignation
of Boris Yeltsin 12 years ago, said he believed that only his government had the
experience to take Russia into a better, more prosperous future. His critics, he
said, had already discredited themselves with their own efforts to run the
country and "ran it to complete collapse—I mean the collapse of the Soviet
Union—while others went on to degrade the government and organize the
unprecedented looting of the 1990s" in Russia.

"They destroyed industry, agriculture and the social sphere," he said, and
"thrust the knife of civil war into Russia's very heart," referring to the two
wars the Kremlin fought against Chechen separatists.

Because he stepped down from the presidency for the past three years, Mr.
Putin now is eligible for two more six-year terms in office, and so could become
the longest-serving Kremlin leader since Joseph Stalin.

Mr. Medvedev, who introduced Mr. Putin at the party meeting Sunday, said
"there is no more successful, experienced or popular politician in Russia" and
that in nominating him for president "we have officially determined our
political future not just for the short term but for the long term."

Another high-level member of Mr. Putin's circle, Finance Minister Alexei
Kudrin, resigned from the government in September after the so-called castling
of leaders was announced. People close to Mr. Kudrin said he was disappointed
that he wasn't offered the prime minister's job; Mr. Kudrin also said he was
against a planned boost in military spending after elections.

Mr. Putin said on Sunday that he did plan such a boost and that "in the next
five to ten years, we have to bring a new level and our armed forces to a new
level."

"Of course it will be expensive," said Mr. Putin. "But we must do this if we
want to protect the dignity of the country."


Source

The Students Arrested in Egypt Back in America

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy


Egyptian court orders release of Georgetown student, 2 others



(AP, WJLA) - Egyptian officials say a court has ordered the release of three American students arrested this week during the unrest in Cairo.

Derrik Sweeney, right, a 19-year-old Georgetown University student. (Photo: Egypt's Ministry of Interior)

An Egyptian official said Thursday the three who attend the American University in Cairo were arrested on the roof of a university building near Cairo's iconic Tahrir Square. They were accused of throwing firebombs at security forces fighting with protesters.

The three, arrested Sunday, are Derrik Sweeney, a 19-year-old Georgetown University student, Luke Gates, a 21-year-old Indiana University student, and Gregory Porter, a 19-year-old Drexel University student.

"It was confirmed, officially," Joy Sweeney, Derrik's mother, said. "The attorney general is not going to appeal."

In a series of tweets, Derrik's sister, Nicole, says that her brother and the other two students finally were fed and were allowed accept visitors from the American University in Cairo.

"Our entire Georgetown community is deeply grateful to all those whose prompt attention and work led to their release," Georgetown President John J. DeGioia said in a statement.

On Thursday morning, Joy Sweeney, Derrik's mother, told the Associated Press that the counsel general confirmed early Thursday morning that her son would be released.

In a statement, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said that they appreciated the "expeditious consideration of this case by the Egyptian authorities."

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.




Posted at 10:26 AM ET, 11/22/2011

Derrik Sweeney third American student arrested in Cairo

Derrik Sweeney, a Georgetown University student, has been identified as the third American student from the American University in Cairo who was arrested and paraded on state television Tuesday.


Derrik Sweeney, as shown on state TV. (Image via YouTube)
The other two students areGregory Porter and Luke Gates, according to Morgan Roth, a spokeswoman for the university. They are accused of setting off molotov cocktails and clashing with police in Tahrir Square, where anti-government protesters are gathering in response to calls for a “million-man march.”

Sweeney’s father told the Post his son was “caught up in the hype” of Egypt protests. “I suspect that being with a bunch of Egyptian students he probably got caught up in something. Who knows?”

Sweeney was an intern for Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mo.) from February to May 2011. The congressman's spokesman, Paul Sloca, said Sweeney answered phones and attended meetings, did “intern stuff.” “He was a good intern,” Sloca said.

Georgetown University spokeswoman Stacy Kerr says university officials are in contact with the American University in Cairo, the U.S. State Department and embassy officials.

According to his Facebook profile, Sweeney studies psychology at Georgetown.

On Twitter, Sweeney was identified as being from Los Angeles and majoring in Arabic. A Twitter user Reem Morsy posted this photo of Derrik Sweeney in Cairo a month ago:

By and | 10:26 AM ET, 11/22/2011



Source


Posted at 10:27 AM ET, 11/22/2011

Luke Gates, American student arrested in Cairo, wrote on Twitter of wanting to die in Egypt

Luke Gates, of the three American students from the American University in Cairo who was arrested and paraded on state television Tuesday, wrote often on his Twitter account of his experiences in Tahrir Square and of wanting to die in the country. Gates is a student at Indiana University on the semester abroad program in Cairo.


(Image via Twitter)
Two days ago, Gates wrote on Twitter that he threw rocks in the square, and Monday he wrote that a part of his ear was missing after being in the square with rubber bullets.

“I just don’t want to feel anymore,” he wrote Saturday, just before heading to the square.

Along with Drexel University student Gregory Porter and Georgetown University student Derrik Sweeney, Gates is accused of setting off molotov cocktails and clashing with police in the square. American University in Cairo President Lisa Anderson said the university is working closely with the U.S. embassy to get the young men released.

Gates updated his current city of residence to Cairo on Aug. 31, according to his Facebook profile.

Read the tweets below:

By and | 10:27 AM ET, 11/22/2011


Source


US student arrested in Tahrir Square not being held in prison, sister says


Derrik Sweeney one of three American students accused of throwing molotov cocktails at Egyptian security forces


American students Greg Porter, Luke Gates and Derrik Sweeney
Derrik Sweeney (right), shown with Greg Porter (left) and Luke Gates (centre), was not being detained in prison, according to his sister Nicole. Photograph: Egyptian state TV/AP

The sister of one of three US students arrested in Cairo and shown on state television said he was being held in an Egyptian courthouse, which she hoped was a good sign.

Nicole Sweeney told the Guardian that her parents knew very little, but had been told that 19-year-old Derrik Sweeney, who was arrested on Monday, was not being detained in prison.

Derrik, a Georgetown University student, is one of three US students who have been accused of throwing petrol bombs at security forces in Tahrir Square.

In an email, his sister said: "The response from the State Department has largely been one of 'We'll let you know when we know more', but the only contact has been that initiated by my parents."

"They do know that he's being detained at a courthouse, rather than a prison, which we assume is a good thing."

His family voiced their concern for their son's safe return. In a statement issued to the Georgetown Voice, they thanked the "Georgetown University community" for their help, and said: "Seeing the outpouring of love and concern from his friends at a school he cherishes has been valuable moral support for us. We are hopeful that Derrik will very soon be able to thank you himself."

They added: ""At present, we know very little about the situation, though we are in contact with the State Department."

Derrik's father, Kevin, from Jefferson City, Missouri, said his son was a "huge believer in American freedom". He said he had hoped his son's youth would stand him in good stead.

"I'm hoping the fact that he's 19 years old will be a mitigating factor, and hopefully they put him on a plane home," Kevin Sweeney said.

"I suspect what happened is … their government probably isn't absolutely free," he told the Washington Post. "I suspect it's a military government … and I suspect that being with a bunch of Egyptian students, he probably got caught up in something. Who knows?"

"I suppose thoughts of the American revolution were things that probably crossed his mind. He's a huge follower of US constitutional history and the Revolutionary war."

Asked about the molotov cocktail accusation, he said: "I have no idea."

Derrick, who is studying Arabic in the hope it would help a career in law and the military, worked on Barack Obama's election campaign in 2008, but switched allegiances and interned this year with Republican congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer in Washington.

Luetkemeyer's spokesman, Paul Sloca, said he had also been in contact with the State Department and was trying to find out more.

"Our primary concern is that he is safe and being treated fairly," Sloca said.

Sloco said Sweeney came highly recommended and was "very outgoing: a good intern."

The US embassy in Cairo is investigating the detention of Sweeney and two other students at the American University of Cairo: Luke Gates, 21, of Bloomington, Indiana, and Greg Porter, 19, of Glenside, Pennyslyvania.

The three were arrested during clashes outside the interior ministry on Monday, authorities said.

Adel Saeed, a spokesman for the Egyptian general prosecutor's office, told CNN: "The three boys were throwing molotov cocktails, and had no passports on them when they were picked up. They have been questioned by the police and will be further investigated by the Cairo prosecutor."

Egyptian state television showed footage of them standing against a wall, with pictures of their driving licences and ID cards spread out next to what it said were petrol bombs.

Further footage, allegedly taken in Tahrir Square, showed demonstrators – at least one of whom was wearing a mask – with caucasian features, including a young man with blond hair.

A spokesman for the State Department said that no-one from the US embassy had yet met with the students. He said: "Our embassy has been in contact with the Egyptian authorities throughout the day. We have requested consular access and we expect to have it tomorrow."

When asked if they had been charged he replied: "To my knowledge they have only been detained."

A Twitter account that appears to be from Gates – @lhgates – speaks of his experiences in Cairo and of "wanting to die" in Egypt.

On Monday, Gates wrote: "I think I am missing part of my ear" and, a day earlier, told of injuries to his knee and elbow. He wrote: "Back to Tahrir tonight as police set fires to everything, no doubt they will blame it on protesters."

Three days ago he wrote of "feeling reckless" and "honestly, hopefully I die here". Another read: "I just don't want to feel anymore" and one which said: "saw them hanging from the bridge, realise death is the only thing that's immortal."

On what appears to be his Facebook account, Gates changed the current city of residence to Cairo on 31 August this year.

A spokesman for the University of Indiana, where Luke Gates was double majoring in political science and near eastern languages and cultures, said that they had been in contact with his parents. The spokesman, Ryan Piurek, said: "The American University of Cairo and the US embassy are reaching out to him to provide him with any legal assistance he needs."

At Drexel University, where Porter is a student, a spokesman said: "Drexel administrators are in contact with Porter's parents and are working with authorities at the American University in Cairo and the US embassy to have Porter released and returned home safely."

Egypt's generals have claimed foreign intervention is behind some of the violence in Cairo. Foreign media has experienced difficulties attempting to work in Egypt.

Since the Egyptian revolution began at the start of the year, thousands of foreign activists have flocked to Cairo in solidarity with the aims of the Arab spring.

Occupy Wall Street and other Occupy movements, including in the UK, have issued statements of solidarity with Tahrir Square protesters. At a general assembly, Occupy Wall Street voted to send 20 election observers to Egypt at a cost of $29,000 (£18,000).

The arrest of the three students was announced as Egyptians began flowing to Tahrir Square for a fourth day of protests, despite a crackdown by police in which at least 29 people have been killed.

Activists hope to increase the number of protesters in the square, which was the centre of the revolt that ousted Hosni Mubarak in mid-February.

The violence continued, with security forces – backed by military troops – firing volleys of teargas and rubber bullets to block protesters, who responded by hurling stones and firebombs. The two sides have been engaged in intense clashes since the unrest began on Saturday.

State TV reported that three people were killed in the Suez canal city of Ismailia, east of Cairo, overnight.

Hundreds of protesters arrived early on Tuesday to join several thousand who have been camping on Tahrir Square. The crowds hoisted a giant Egyptian flag and chanted slogans demanding that the generals immediately step down in favour of a civilian presidential council.

One man held a sign reading "Ministry of Thuggery" with photos of Mubarak, Hussein Tantawi, the senior military ruler, the prime minister, Essam Sharaf and others.

A few hundred young men nearby chanted "Say it, don't fear, the council must go" and "The people want to execute the field marshal."

On Monday, the civilian cabinet of Sharaf submitted its resignation to the military council, a move that had been widely expected given the government's perceived inefficiency and its almost complete subordination to the generals.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KedKHVc2PeU&feature=player_embedded

Three US students arrested in Cairo protests

Riot police in Cairo Tahrir Square 22 November 2011Protesters in Cairo Tahrir Square are worried the military may try to cling to power in Egypt


Three US students have been arrested, accused of throwing petrol bombs at security forces during protests in the Egyptian capital's Tahrir Square.

The trio, studying at the American University in Cairo, have been named as Derrik Sweeney and Gregory Porter, both 19 years old, and Luke Gates, 21.

They were questioned earlier on Tuesday, university spokeswoman Morgan Roth told the BBC.

US embassy officials in Cairo told the BBC they are involved with the case.

The students, whose photos have been shown on Egyptian national TV, have been in Egypt on a study-abroad programme.

Dozens of people have died during four days of protests in Cairo, as demonstrators demand the military yield power to a democratically elected leadership.

An official from the Egyptian interior ministry told the Associated Press that when arrested the students had been on the roof of a university building overlooking Tahrir Square, throwing firebombs at police.

According to Ms Roth, the American University in Cairo spokeswoman, the three have been held by Egyptian authorities since the arrest.

A university counsellor, as well as two US embassy officials were present at the trio's questioning, Ms Roth said.

Joy Sweeney, Mr Sweeney's mother, described her son as an idealist who has been caught up in the protests.

She and Mr Gates father, Bill Gates have been contact with the US embassy, but have little information on their sons.

"I don't think anybody really knows what to expect," Mr Gates said.

'Change-the-world'
Joy Sweeney said her son had found himself in the middle of dramatic events.

"He got caught up in the whole college-change-the-world mentality, and he believes in democracy strongly," she told the Associated Press news agency.

Mrs Sweeney said, however, that her son is not a violent person, and that he often serves as the family peacemaker.

"I don't believe that he would intentionally throw a bomb at anyone," she said. "I don't believe that."

A student at Georgetown University in Washington DC, Mr Sweeney had interned earlier in 2011 with Representative Blaine Luetkemeyer, a Republican from Missouri.

Mr Sweeney told his mother he attended previous protests in Cairo but stopped after people were killed in one demonstration.

Mr Sweeney is from Jefferson City, Missouri; Mr Gates, of Bloomington, Indiana, studies at Indiana University; and Mr Porter, from Glenside, Pennsylvania, attends Drexel University.

Mr Porter graduated from high school in 2010. A spokesman for the school said he was a "really good kid" who came seventh in a national debate competition in 2009.