<strike>They Pulled the Plug. We're in the Dark.</strike> UP AGAIN...

By John Ballard

Checking a few hours later I found the Al Jazeera live feed again on line.

As I write the banner reads "Egyptian TV: Military urges citizens to obey curfew" then "Thousands of protesteres defy the curfew imposed across Egypt."

The scene is a multitude gathered in the Tahrir Square.

Narrator:  "US shouldn't be seen as micromanaging the situation...Muslim Brotherhood has talked about backing Baredei..."

Encouraging.

~~~~~~~~~~~�~~~~~~~~~~~~

Egyptian "authorities" ordered Al Jazeera to stop broadcasting from Egypt.

Egypt shuts down Al Jazeera bureau
Network's licences cancelled and accreditation of staff in Cairo withdrawn by order of information minister.

The Egyptian authorities are revoking the Al Jazeera Network's licence to broadcast from the country, and will be shutting down its bureau office in Cairo, state television has said.

"The information minister [Anas al-Fikki] ordered ... suspension of operations of Al Jazeera, cancelling of its licences and withdrawing accreditation to all its staff as of today," a statement on the official Mena news agency said on Sunday.

In a statement, Al Jazeera said it strongly denounces and condemns the closure of its bureau in Cairo by the Egyptian government. The network received notification from the Egyptian authorities on Sunday morning.

"Al Jazeera has received widespread global acclaim for their coverage on the ground across the length and breadth of Egypt," the statement said.

An Al Jazeera spokesman said that the company would continue its strong coverage regardless.

'Designed to stifle'

"Al Jazeera sees this as an act designed to stifle and repress the freedom of reporting by the network and its journalists," the statement said.

"In this time of deep turmoil and unrest in Egyptian society it is imperative that voices from all sides be heard; the closing of our bureau by the Egyptian government is aimed at censoring and silencing the voices of the Egyptian people.

"Al Jazeera assures its audiences in Egypt and across the world that it will continue its in-depth and comprehensive reporting on the events unfolding in Egypt.

"Al Jazeera journalists have brought unparallelled reporting from the ground from across Egypt in the face of great danger and extraordinary circumstances. Al Jazeera Network is appalled at this latest attack by the Egyptian regime to strike at its freedom to report independently on the unprecedented events in Egypt."

This. Sucks.

This move has American fingerprints all over it.
Look what Xeni Jardin posted and decide for yourself.

• Egypt turns off internet, Lieberman wants same option for US 


• Joe Biden says Mubarak isn't a dictator, questions legitimacy of protesters' demands Geoff was right. He said as much earlier in his comment.


• Egypt: to thwart protests, government attempts to leave the internet


• NYT: Wikileaks cables reveal details of US-Egypt diplomacy


• After Egypt, Tunisia unrest, Syria cranks up the 'net censorship


• What is happening in Egypt, explained


• Egyptian activists' protest plan, translated to English

If blocking the Internet and censorship of broadcasting continues, it is only a matter of time until pirate broadcasting and alternate communication systems take their place. Meantime, all that remains are Facebook, Twitter and You Tube.

The Arabist's post a few hours ago now makes sense.

Something very fishy is taking place � the Egyptian people are being manipulated and terrified by the withdrawal of the police yesterday, reports (some of them perhaps untrue) of widespread looting, and yesterday's (during the day) relatively low military presence in the city. I can only speak about central Cairo, I suspect the situation is much worse in the Suez Canal cities, Alexandria and the Delta, and perhaps most of all the Sinai. I spoke to my former bawaab (doorman) who is near Aswan, where is he the police is still out and there is no military, although the local NDP office was ransacked and set on fire. So the situation is different from place to place, and there is very little national-level visibility.

There is a discourse of army vs. police that is emerging. I don't fully buy it � the police was pulled out to create this situation of chaos, and it's very probable that agent provocateurs are operating among the looters, although of course there is also real criminal gangs and neighborhoods toughs operating too.

For me, Omar Suleiman being appointed VP means that he's in charge. This means the old regime is trying to salvage the situation. Chafiq's appointment as PM also confirms a military in charge. These people are part of the way Egypt was run for decades and are responsible for the current situation. I suspect more and more people, especially among the activists, are realizing this.

I hope to have more steady internet access later. For now, the questions are:

• Why was the NPD building fire not put out even though it risks spreading to the Egyptian Museum?


• Why is Egyptian state TV terrifying people with constant pictures of criminal gangs? - Why was there such a small military deployment during the day yesterday?


• Why were all police forces pulled out, and who made that decision?


• What is the chain of command today in the military? Is Armed Forces Chief of Staff Sami Enan still in position?


• If the reports about prison breakouts are true, how come these facilities have not been secured?


• Why are we getting reports of intelligence offices burning documents, CDs and tapes?

The situation is obviously very confusing at the moment. All I can say is that I have a hard time believing that Mubarak is still in charge, and that the hard core of the regime is using extreme means to salvage its position.

Mubarak may no longer be in charge. But the US obviously still has a heavy hand on the throttle.
What???
Did someone say "puppet"???