There was widespread resentment over the decision by the Muslim Brotherhood to oppose the demonstration and back the ruling military council. Demonstrators chanted, "Revolutionaries are here, where is the Brotherhood?" and other slogans that pointed to the absence of the Islamic group.
Former Muslim Brotherhood member of parliament Sobhi Saleh, in an interview with the Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram, condemned the demonstration and declared that the Muslim Brotherhood and the military council "share an agreement" on the future course of events in Egypt. The SCAF, he claimed, "took a historic and glorious decision when they decided to protect the revolution."
This is the rewriting of history favored, not only by the Egyptian right, but by the imperialist powers and the various liberal and pseudo-left organizations, all of which claim that the military averted a bloodbath by easing Mubarak out of power.
Meanwhile, the military regime detained four activists for putting up posters calling for the Friday demonstration, including graffiti artist Mohamed Fahmy, film director Aida al-Kashef, musician Abdel Rahman Amin and April 6 Youth Movement member Ibrahim Abd. They were arrested by military police, but later released.
The SCAF sought to blunt the impact of the Friday protest with the latest in a series of cosmetic gestures, aimed at appeasing popular anger while leaving the power and wealth of the ruling elite--which includes the top military brass--untouched.
On Wednesday, the regime announce that it will permanently open its border crossing with the Gaza Strip on the weekend, ending the highly unpopular Egyptian collaboration with the Israeli blockade of Gaza, home to 1.5 million Palestinians. The SCAF has held official meetings with leaders of Hamas, which rules Gaza, and brokered an agreement between Hamas and Fatah to form a joint Palestinian government.
On Tuesday, Egypt's top prosecutor announced that Mubarak would be put on trial for conspiring to kill protesters during the movement against his dictatorship, a charge that could carry the death penalty. He is also to face charges of corruption in relation to his seaside mansion in Sharm el Sheik, and for helping steal $714 million in public funds in a deal to sell natural gas to Israel.
Mubarak will be charged with conspiring with Interior Minister Habib Adli to kill demonstrators, and with "inciting some officers and members of the police to fire their weapons at the victims, shoot them and run over them with vehicles, and to kill some of them in order to terrorize the rest and force them to relinquish their demands."
At the Friday protest, demonstrators told the press that the charges against Mubarak were only brought to forestall further protests, and they expressed skepticism that the ousted dictator, now 82, would ever be put on trial.
Other measures taken by the military in recent weeks include: firing 10 provincial governors appointed by Mubarak; placing Mubarak and his two sons under arrest; disbanding his ruling National Democratic Party; filing corruption charges against former prime minister Ahmed Nazif and other top officials; and removing Mubarak's name from hundreds of public buildings and institutions.
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