GCIS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: Protesters retake Bahrain square

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: AlJazeera

19February2011 10:08amEST

GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: Thousands of anti-government protesters have reoccupied their former stronghold in the capital, Manama, after troops and riot police retreated from the Pearl roundabout in the centre of the city.

The cheering protesters carrying Bahraini flags, flowers and signs that said "Peaceful, peaceful" marched to the square on Saturday. They chanted, "We are victorious".

Protesters kissed the ground in joy and took pictures of about 60 police vehicles leaving the area.

Sheikh Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa, the crown prince, had earlier in the day ordered the military to withdraw, saying that the police would now be responsible for enforcing order, the Bahrain News Agency reported.

Soon after the crown prince's directive, protesters had attempted to stream back to the roundabout, but were beaten back by the police. According to the Reuters news agency, about 80 protesters were taken to a hospital after being hit by rubber bullets or tear gas.

The protesters, however, were successful in the next attempt, when the riot police withdrew from the traffic circle as well. (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: Egypt tense after bloody protest

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: ALJAZEERA

28January2011 10:48pmEST

GCIS/MSS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: Protesters in the Egyptian cities of Cairo, Alexandria and Suez have defied a nighttime curfew and continued with demonstrations demanding an end to Hosni Mubarak's 30-year presidency.

Speaking on national television in the early hours of Saturday, the president said he had ordered the government to step down and that he would name a new cabinet later in the day.

Al Jazeera's Ayman Mohyeldin, reporting from Cairo, said protesters had been "galvanised" by Mubarak's announcement that he was staying in power.

"The streets are definitely still abuzz," he said at 4am local time. "The chants have died down in the last hours but there are still many people out and about in the street despite the fact that there is a curfew supposed to have been imposed, starting from 6pm to 7am.

"The protests and the clashes with police have completely died down as a result of the fact that the police have melted away and the military has taken over."

Military armoured vehicles rolled onto the streets of the capital on Friday night in a bid to quell the protests. People cheered as the army arrived, and hundreds of people thronged around a military vehicle near Cairo's Tahrir square.

"The army is a respected establishment in Egypt, and many feel they need their support against what they see as excessive force by the police and security forces," our correspondent said. (read full report)