GCIS/MSS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: Hamas wins Cairo's recognition, strikes Israel with 50 mortars

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: Debkafile

21March2011 6:00amEST

GCIS/MSS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: Israeli civilians living around the Gaza border woke up Saturday, March 19, to the most massive mortar attack in years – 50 rounds fired in 15 minutes. Two civilians were injured and substantial damage caused to property. Hamas unusually claimed responsibility, emboldened by the support it has won from a new ally, the new rulers of Cairo, which have now lined up with Syria and Iran.

The Netanyahu government has not informed the Israeli public about the ominous new winds blowing in fromCairo although they are already in motion: Cairo has given Hamas rule of the Gaza Strip de facto recognition, is about to lift the blockade on the Gaza Strip and is forging new understandings with Damascus and the Palestinian Hamas and Islamic Jihad radicals based there.

The Egyptian military which has taken over in Cairo also turned a blind eye to at least two or three Iranian arms ships which, prior to the capture of the A.S. Victoria last week,  made it through the Israeli sea blockade and delivered weapons, including C-704 shore-to-sea missiles at El Arish.

Hamas will be free to go out and collect them through the reopened Rafah crossing.

It is now obvious that Cairo's permission for two Iranian warships to transit the Suez Canal on Feb. 22, knowing that at least one was laden with weapons for extremists, was in line with the new Egyptian policy. (read full report)

"GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE" is an intelligence briefing presented by Griffith Colson Intelligence Service, and provided to the public for informative purposes only. All subject matter is credited to it's source of origin, and is not intended to represent original content authored by GCIS, it's partners or affiliates. All opinions presented are those of the author, and not necessarily those of GCIS or it's partners.

GCIS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: Egyptian protesters breach ‘torture center,’ seize files

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: The Washington Post/Spy Talk

07March2011 6:00amEST

GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: Egyptian protesters breached a secret police compound in eastern Cairo on Saturday and carted boxes of files, according to rights activists and Egyptian media reports.

“Protesters entered the State Security Investigations (SSI) compound in Nasr City, a place they call the ‘torture center’ of Egypt, just before 7 p.m.,” Priyanka Motaparthy, a research fellow with U.S.-based Human Rights Watch, reported from the scene.

“They dragged out as many documents and materials as they could, to protect them from being destroyed,” Motaparthy added.

Army officers did nothing to stop them, she said.

“Protesters began gathering in front of the Nasr City compound around 4 p.m. and by 5:30, we observed a crowd of at least 250” persons gathered outside. “Just before 7, we found a side entrance, where army officers stood by as people entered.”

The invaders amassed “several large trash bags full of shredded paper, file folders still intact, computer hard drives, and a green metal safe,” Motaparthy reported.

Some protesters “wandered through the halls of the building, shouting ‘Where are the prisoners?’” she continued. “They were searching for the secret detention cells where political prisoners were held and often tortured. “ (read full report)

"GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE" is an intelligence briefing presented by Griffith Colson Intelligence Service, and provided to the public for informative purposes only. All subject matter is credited to it's source of origin, and is not intended to represent original content authored by GCIS, it's partners or affiliates. All opinions presented are those of the author, and not necessarily those of GCIS or it's partners.

GCIS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: Iran strategy blamed for Mubarak fall

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: G2 Bulletin via World Net Daily

24February2011 4:30pmEST

GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: Iran helped orchestrate the fall of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak through its close Muslim Brotherhood ties because Egypt had strayed from a hard-line Islamic position – and a change of power would expand Iran's influence across northern Africa including the strategic Suez Canal, according to informed sources who talked with Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin.

According to those sources, Iran, which already wields significant influence in central Asia and the Middle East, has as its goal to exert its influence into the Arab countries, especially those with majority or increasing Shi'ite populations.

At the same time, Tehran wants to isolate Israel, because the leaders of the Islamic republic believe officials there greatly have mistreated Palestinians.

It's not the first conflict between Tehran and Cairo. In fact, the bad blood goes back to the time of the 1979 Iranian Revolution. (read full report)

"GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE" is an intelligence briefing presented by Griffith Colson Intelligence Service, and provided to the public for informative purposes only. All subject matter is credited to it's source of origin, and is not intended to represent original content authored by GCIS, it's partners or affiliates. All opinions presented are those of the author, and not necessarily those of GCIS or it's partners.

GCIS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood seeks political party status

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: CNN

16February2011 8:08amEST

GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: Cairo, Egypt — Egypt's banned Muslim Brotherhood will apply to become a political party, it announced Tuesday.

The Brotherhood "envisions the establishment of a democratic, civil state that draws on universal measures of freedom and justice, with central Islamic values serving all Egyptians regardless of colour, creed, political trend or religion," it said in the statement.

Although officially illegal, the Muslim Brotherhood is regarded as one of the most organized groups in Egypt. (read full report)

 

 

 

"GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE" is an intelligence briefing presented by Griffith Colson Intelligence Service, and provided to the public for informative purposes only. All subject matter is credited to it's source of origin, and is not intended to represent original content authored by GCIS, it's partners or affiliates. All opinions presented are those of the author, and not necessarily those of GCIS or it's partners.

GCIS/MSS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: Israel's military caught unready for Sinai front. Tantawi is no friend

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: DEBKAfile

12February2011 5:24pmEST

GCIS/MSS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: Friday night, Feb. 11, as Cairo's Tahrir Square rejoiced over Hosni Mubarak exit, Israel counted the cost of losing its most important strategic partner in the region.

Thirty-two years of peace with Egypt leave Israel militarily unprepared for the unknown and unexpected on their 270-kilometer long southern border: the current generation of Israeli combatants and commanders has no experience of desert combat, its armor is tailored for operation on its most hostile fronts: Iran, Lebanon's Hizballah and Syria; it is short of  intelligence on the Egyptian army and its commanders and, above all, no clue to the new rulers' intentions regarding Cairo's future relations with Israel and security on their Sinai border.

The Israeli Defense Forces are trained and equipped to confront Iran and fight on the mountainous terrain of Lebanon and Syria. After signing peace with Egypt in 1979, Israel scrapped the combat brigades trained for desert warfare, whose last battle was fought in the 1973 war, and stopped treating the Egyptian army as a target of military intelligence. Israel's high command consequently knows little or nothing about any field commanders who might lead units if they were to be deployed in Sinai. (read full report)

 

 

"GCIS/MSS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE" is a cooperative intelligence briefing presented by Griffith Colson Intelligence Service and Machaseh Security Service, and provided to the public for informative purposes only. All subject matter is credited to it's source of origin, and is not intended to represent original content authored by GCIS, MSS or it's advertisers or affiliates.

GCIS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: U.S. checks Egyptian prisons for terrorist escapes

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: The Washington Times

11February2011 9:49amEST

GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: The U.S. intelligence community is closely monitoring the state of Egypt‘s highest security prisons, trying to track dozens of senior members of al Qaeda, the Islamic Group and Egyptian Islamic Jihad to find out whether any have escaped and where they have gone.

“Yes, we are monitoring this,” Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg told The Washington Times on Thursday when asked about reports of breakouts from Egyptian prisons since the Jan. 25 uprisings began in Cairo and Alexandria.

After Pakistan, Egypt holds the largest number of senior al Qaeda leaders, according to two U.S. intelligence officials who spoke to The Times on the condition of anonymity.

The jailbreaks occurred in the first days after the unrest after police left their posts guarding some prisons. Several news reports suggested that the Interior Ministry deliberately allowed the jails to empty in order to justify a crackdown later on. (read full report)

 

 

"GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE" is an intelligence briefing presented by Griffith Colson Intelligence Service, and provided to the public for informative purposes only. All subject matter is credited to it's source of origin, and is not intended to represent original content authored by GCIS, it's advertisers or affiliates. All opinions presented are those of the author, and not necessarily those of GCIS or it's partners.

GCIS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: Muslim Brotherhood: It Looks Like a Military Coup

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: Newsmax

11February2011 8:59amEST

GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: CAIRO, (Reuters) – Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak looked likely to step down on Thursday after more than two weeks of protests against his 30-year rule and the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood said it looked like there had been a military coup.

The armed forces, which have provided Egypt's post-colonial rulers for six decades, announced that they were taking measures to safeguard the nation and the aspirations of the people.

Word Mubarak was going provoked loud cheers in Cairo's Tahrir Square, the focal point for pro-democracy demonstrations, though there was also concern about the future role of the army.

Asked if Mubarak would step down, an Egyptian official told Reuters: "Most probably". State television said that Mubarak would speak to the nation from his Cairo palace on Thursday.

The BBC quoted the head of Mubarak's political party as saying that the president might go.

"I spoke to the new secretary general of the ruling National Democratic Party, Hossan Badrawi," a BBC reporter said. "He said: 'I hope the president is handing over his powers tonight'."

State television later showed Mubarak meeting new Vice President Omar Suleiman at his Cairo palace.

For the army, Major General Hassan Roweny told tens of thousands of protesters in Tahrir, or Liberation, Square: "Everything you want will be realized." (read full report)

 

 

 

"GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE" is an intelligence briefing presented by Griffith Colson Intelligence Service, and provided to the public for informative purposes only. All subject matter is credited to it's source of origin, and is not intended to represent original content authored by GCIS, it's advertisers or affiliates. All opinions presented are those of the author, and not necessarily those of GCIS or it's partners.

GCIS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: Egypt nears military coup. USS warships in Suez Canal

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: DEBKAfile

09February2011 8:53amEST

GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: A fresh surge of popular anti-Mubarak protest ripping across Egypt Tuesday, Feb. 8 has brought the country closer to a military coup to stem the anarchy than at any time since the street caught fire on Jan. 25.

Vice President Omar Suleiman warned a group of Egyptian news editors that the only choice is between a descent into further lawlessness and a military takeover in Cairo. The distinguished political pundit of the 1960s and 1970s Hasnin Heikal saw no other way out of the crisis but a government ruling by the army's bayonets.

The arrival of US naval, marine and air forces in the Suez Canal's Greater Bitter Lake indicated that the crisis was quickly swerving out of control. (read full report)

 

 

 

"GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE" is an intelligence briefing presented by Griffith Colson Intelligence Service, and provided to the public for informative purposes only. All subject matter is credited to it's source of origin, and is not intended to represent original content authored by GCIS, it's advertisers or affiliates. All opinions presented are those of the author, and not necessarily those of GCIS or it's partners.

GCIS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: Assassins fail to murder Egyptian Vice President Suleiman

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: DEBKAfile

08February2011 10:23amEST

GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: Early Saturday, too, US intelligence sources disclosed that exactly a week ago, on Jan. 29, an attempt was made on the life of Egyptian Vice President Omar Suleiman in central Cairo as his convoy left the presidential palace. He had just been sworn in by President Hosni Mubarak as Vice President. Suleiman escaped unharmed but two of his bodyguards were killed. The sources said the attack bore the marks of professional, well-trained hitmen.

The attack was denied in Cairo but US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton confirmed it in Munich when she said the assassination attempt was a sign of instability in Egypt.

Asked about this incident at his press briefing Friday night, Feb. 4, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said tensely: "I'm not going to… get into that question." (read full report)

 

 

"GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE" is an intelligence briefing presented by Griffith Colson Intelligence Service, and provided to the public for informative purposes only. All subject matter is credited to it's source of origin, and is not intended to represent original content authored by GCIS, it's advertisers or affiliates. All opinions presented are those of the author, and not necessarily those of GCIS or it's partners.

GCIS/MSS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: Sinai gas pipeline blast. Cairo diverts supplies to Israel, Jordan for domestic use

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: DEBKAfile

08February2011 10:00amEST

GCIS/MSS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: Egypt's suspension of gas supplies to Israel after the North Sinai pipeline was blown up Saturday, Feb 5 has suddenly cut Israel off from 25-30 percent of its gas neds and 80 percent of Jordan's. A few hours after the blast, Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmad Shafiq announced the gas supplied to both countries under contract would henceforth be diverted to domestic requirements.

With Egyptian gas cut off for the foreseeable future, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu went into hasty non-stop consultations with ministers and energy military and security officials. Alongside the emergency declared by Israel's electricity corporation, those consultations centered on three additional facets of the crisis: The expanding occupation of North Sinai by Palestinian Hamas extremists from Gaza and anti-Egyptian Bedouin tribesmen, culminating in the gas pipeline explosion; the failure of joint Israeli and Egyptian military efforts to contain it and, thirdly, concerns that Hamas may cross into Israel and sabotage Israeli power stations or fuel reservoirs to bring about the collapse of Israel's electrical power system.

DEBKAfile reported earlier Saturday.
The pipeline supplying Egyptian gas to Israel and Jordan was blown up near the North Sinai town of El Arish early Saturday Feb. 5.  Egyptian state TV reported "terrorists" had carried out the attack which caused a huge explosion and fire. Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu conferred urgently with Infrastructure Minister Uzi Landau and energy firms over the abrupt cutoff of 25 percent of Israel's gas needs and ordered security beefed up at energy installations.

The Egyptian and Israeli accounts are contradictory. (read full report)

 

 

"GCIS/MSS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE" is a cooperative intelligence briefing presented by Griffith Colson Intelligence Service and Machaseh Security Service, and provided to the public for informative purposes only. All subject matter is credited to it's source of origin, and is not intended to represent original content authored by GCIS, MSS or it's advertisers or affiliates.

GCIS/MSS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: Separate whirlwinds demolish two Middle East figures in one day

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: DEBKAfile

02February2011 12:49pmEST

GCIS/MSS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: Close observation of the circumstances surrounding the seven-day popular uprising that ended Hosni Mubarak's 30-year old presidency cannot avoid noticing the skillful choreography which brought it up to a well-judged climax Tuesday night, Feb. 2. In fact, the hands of the United States, Britain and the Egyptian army heads were plain to see at every stage. Their agents pushed the levers for speeding up the street action when it flagged and hit the brakes before it went too far.

Interestingly, the outburst of fury appeared to be leaderless and totally spontaneous, an apparent liability in a popular revolution. In fact it was an asset. Mubarak's dread security forces were bereft of the power to break up the protest movement by the usual means of grabbing the ringleader, figure or group at its head. They were also denied an object of penetration for finding out what the street had in store and when – and getting their blows in first.

Without these levers of control, Mubarak's week-long struggle to keep his head above water was doomed from the start. (read full report)

GCIS/MSS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: "Free Egypt" regimes planned alongside March of Millions

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: DEBKAfile

01February2011 2:56pmEST

GCIS/MSS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: Certain opposition groups, backed by retired army and security forces officers are planning to take over a key delta city, proclaim it liberated territory and establish there a "Free Egypt" government, DEBKAfile's Middle East sources report Tuesday, Feb. 1. The masses flooding central Cairo for the March of Millions are marching on the presidential palace in their biggest protest demonstration in eight days. President Hosni Mubarak is working there at present.

Opposition leaders have come to the same conclusion as most Western and Middle East observers that Mubarak; whose effigy hangs high from a noose over Tahrir Square, has no intention of leaving in the foreseeable future and all his maneuvers are a play for time.  (read full report)

GCIS/MSS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: Armed Gangs Free Muslim Militants in Egypt

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: Newsmax

30January2011 12:46pmEST

GCIS/MSS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: CAIRO (AP) — Gangs of armed men attacked at least four jails across Egypt before dawn Sunday, helping to free hundreds of Muslim militants and thousands of other inmates as police vanished from the streets of Cairo and other cities.

The U.S. Embassy in Cairo told its citizens in Egypt to consider leaving the country as soon as possible, a display of Washington's escalating concern about the stability of its closest Arab ally.

The army sent hundreds more troops and armored vehicles onto the streets of Cairo and other cities but appeared to be taking little action against gangs of young men with guns and large sticks who were smashing cars and robbing people.

At least one Nile-side shopping mall in Cairo was on fire after being looted the previous day. (read full report)

GCIS/MSS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: Opposition leader ElBaradei calls for Mubarak to leave

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: CNN

30January2011 11:27amEST

GCIS/MSS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: Egyptian opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei on Sunday called for embattled President Hosni Mubarak to "leave today and save the country."

"This is a country that is falling apart," ElBaradei told CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS."

Egypt is entering a period of transition, and a government of national unity is needed to fill the void and hold "fair and free" elections, ElBaradei said.

Mubarak continues to cling to power, though he sacked his government and appointed a new vice president and prime minister.

"I think this is a hopeless, desperate attempt by Mubarak to stay in power," ElBaradei said. "I think it is loud and clear from everybody in Egypt that Mubarak has to leave today, and it is non-negotiable for every Egyptian. (read full report)

GCIS/MSS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: Tanks, Fighter Jets Enter Cairo

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: Israel National News

30January2011 11:07amEST

GCIS/MSS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: Egypt sent its tanks into Cairo over the weekend and its fighter planes soared through the skies overhead in an effort to persuade protesters to return home.

Military helicopters hovered over the crowds and trucks of soldiers appeared in the central square of the capital where protesters continued to call for the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak.

State media reported that Mubarak held talks with top military commanders earlier in the day, as troops attempted to enforce a 4:00 p.m. curfew in a city of some 18 million people.

Hundreds of Muslim terrorists and thousands of other inmates were freed by armed gangs from jails across the capital just before dawn on Sunday. The former prisoners rushed into the city with guns, sticks and clubs, indiscriminately smashing cars and robbing people. (read full report)

GCIS/MSS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: Hamas gunmen from Gaza battle Egyptian forces in Sinai

Muslim Brotherhood more active than it appears

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: DEBKAfile

30January2011 10:50amEST

GCIS/MSS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE:  Gunmen of Hamas's armed wing, Ezz e-Din al Qassam, crossed from Gaza into northern Sinai Sunday, Jan. 30 to attack Egyptian forces and push them back. They acted on orders from Hamas' parent organization, the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, confirmed by its bosses in Damascus, to open a second, Palestinian front against the Mubarak regime. The Muslim Brotherhood is therefore more active in the uprising than it would appear.

DEBKAfile's military sources report that Hamas gunmen went straight into battle with Egyptian Interior Ministry special forces (CFF) in the southern Egyptian-controlled section of the border town of Rafah and the Sinai port of El Arish. Saturday, Bedouin tribesmen and local Palestinians used the mayhem in Cairo to clash with Egyptian forces at both northern Sinai key points and ransack their gun stores. (read full report)

GCIS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: Egyptian authorities order closure of Al-Jazeera offices

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: JPOST

30January2011 10:40amEST

GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE:  Egyptian authorities ordered Al-Jazeera's offices in Cairo shut down on Sunday morning following the network's non-stop coverage of the country's massive protests against the government. The move triggered a sharp response from the Al-Jazeera which released a statement accusing the Egyptian authorities of censorship.

"Al-Jazeera sees this as an act designed to stifle and repress the freedom of reporting by the network and its journalists,” read the statement, adding that the closure was aimed at "silencing the voices of the Egyptian people." (read full report)

GCIS/MSS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: Israel silently watches the unfolding of two new fronts

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: DEBKAfile

29January2011 6:12pmEST

GCIS/MSS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: Egypt, one of the only two Arab states to sign peace with Israel, is wobbling dangerously on the brink of revolutionary change with potentially spreading fallout.

This week, Israel was dismayed to find itself looking suddenly at three latently hostile fronts about to spring up around its borders:  Lebanon, which has dropped into the Iranian orbit, followed by Egypt, which is heading for terra incognita, and the Gaza Strip, where the Palestinian Hamas, offshoot of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, has gained altitude as a Middle East player from the rise of its less radical parent.

Indeed Gaza's rulers, who are close to Iran, are puffing themselves up as a bridge between the Shiite Revolution of Iran and the Sunni-led revolution of Egypt. (read full report)

GCIS/MSS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING (UPDATED): Egypt's President Names Deputy for 1st Time

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: Newsmax / Bloomberg

29January2011 3:52pmEST

GCIS/MSS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE:  CAIRO (AP) — Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak named a vice president Saturday for the first time since coming to power nearly 30 years ago. It was a clear step toward setting up a successor in the midst of the biggest challenge ever to his rule from tens of thousands of anti-government protesters.

Mubarak named his intelligence chief of nearly two decades and close confidant Omar Suleiman, state television reported.

The president had been seen as grooming his son Gamal to succeed him, possibly even as soon as in presidential elections planned for later this year. However, there was significant public opposition to the hereditary succession.

The appointment of Suleiman, 74, answers one of the most intriguing and enduring political questions in Egypt: Who will succeed 82-year-old Mubarak? (read Newsmax report)

According to Bloomberg:

“The president appears to be trying to position the country in a way that if he leaves, the country is in the hands of the military and intelligence,” said Emad Gad, an analyst at the Al Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, a Cairo-based research firm. “He has to leave or the protests won’t stop. But the army will not remove the president.”

Mubarak also named Aviation Minister and former air force commander Ahmed Shafik as prime minister to replace Ahmed Nazif, who resigned today at the 82-year-old president’s request.

Mubarak’s two appointments may not be enough to placate protesters as they put former military officers in charge of the top three jobs in the country. The president was a commander of the air force. Seventy-three people were killed and 1,000 wounded across the country in the past two days, Al Arabiya television reported, citing medical sources.

“The Egyptian government can’t reshuffle the deck and then stand pat,” State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley said in a message on Twitter. “President Mubarak’s words pledging reform must be followed by action.” (read Bloomberg report)

GCIS/MSS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: Egyptian-American leaders call for U.S. support of 'Lotus Revolution'

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: CNN

28January2011 11:20pmEST

GCIS/MSS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: As public protests against the Mubarak regime spread from Cairo to New York City, Egyptian-American activists on Friday called on the Obama adminstration to back the "Lotus Revolution" to oust the authoritarian ruler.

They also called on President Hosni Mubarak's government to end its purported practices of detentions, torture and "extrajudicial killings."

"This day, I assure you, will be mentioned in history as a point of change all over the Middle East, said Mokhtar Kamel. "Gone are the old days where antiquated brutal regimes are controlling the area."

"To those in the United States and in the West who are quoting stability as an excuse for brutality. Guys, this is too late," Kamel said. "You have to change your mentality."
Kamel, vice president of the Coalition of Egyptian Organizations in North America, was one of several Egyptian-American activists to appear at the National Press Club in Washington Friday to talk about the protests. (read full report)