Reports from Egypt say that protests across the country’s major cities are getting violent. And now the ruling National Democratic Party’s headquarters are on fire in Cairo (follow the live stream here). But even before the demonstrations that were held after Friday prayers today turned volatile, Egyptian authorities had turned up the heat. Here’s a disturbing YouTube video of a lone protestor shot in the back, presumably by security officials.
What’s changed in the last 24 hours is that Mubarak has called out the army to work in tandem with the Central Security Forces. It’s worth recalling that the country’s last wide-scale riots in 1986 were essentially instigated by the Central Security Forces when it demanded a hike in wages. Central Security Forces officers are generally drawn from the same socio-economic strata of Egypt that’s taken to the streets of Cairo, Alexandria, etc., whereas the military is more like a sequestered elite. In addition, there are longstanding rivalries between Egypt’s internal security apparatus and its foreign intelligence services aligned with the military. The arrival of the army suggests that it has now earned some leverage in whatever internal struggles are taking place in the regime.
