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First it was the snow now it's the riots in Cairo. What next?

edited January 2011 in Off-topic
When my OH was due back from Cairo in December he chose a day when we had blizzards and his flight got diverted from Heathrow to Newcastle and he had to find a hotel then get a train down, it was a nightmare. He was due back from Cairo again today but his BA flight has been cancelled due to all the riots.
Hopefully there will be a flight back soon. It's all very worrying.

Comments

  • Oh, KateyAnne, how awful, what a blow. At least he's not in the centre of Cairo, let's hope they let the later flights out and you can get him home safely today.
    (Bloomin' Fates have all got together and your number came up twice on their Ill Luck List. Bassetts.)
    Thinkin' of you, huggythings
    C
  • It would help if they hadn't blocked the internet and phones. I can't get hold of him
  • The airport was supposed to be okay, as they were saying on the news this morning that the relevent gov't dept in the UK was advising only essential travel to Egypt, hadn't advised prople not to go.
    Hope you get in touch with him soon Kateyanne.
  • thinking of you, Kateyanne, again ... certainly seems as if Life doesn't like you much at the moment. Hold on, everything changes. Usually for the better.
  • Oh dear. Hope he's home with you soon. The waiting's so hard, isn't it?
  • Hope he gets back home soon kateyanne.
  • still no news :(
  • Oh bummer.
    He'll be OK though, as long as he stays out of the city centre.
    what is the flight plan on BA site looking like?
  • There isn't one. No one can tell me anything, they don't seem to know what's happening.
  • AAAARGH!
    Thinkin' of you.
  • BA have sent a plane out to Cairo to pick up people who want to come back so hopefully he might be on that. Earlier in the afternoon they said it would be back this evning but didn't specify times. It was mentioned within the BBC News report just a few minutes ago.
    So fingers crossed Kateyanne.
  • Kateyanne, any news?
  • Yes he got home late last night. I am so relieved. Thanks for asking, Dorothy. He said he was very lucky to get a flight and came back with Egyptair , he went with BA.
    He said there were so many people in the airport trying to get home and upset.
  • I am SO pleased!
    Just been out for coffee in the local coffee bar, watching the news on TV, looks horrendous, talk of violence but -oddly, the army not getting involved. What's going on there? It's obvious Mbarak has to go but - what and who will take his place? Will it be any better?

    Sorry! so pleased you reunited.
  • So glad to hear he's got home safely Kateyanne.
  • Glad all ended well for you, Kateyanne.
  • Glad he's home and ok, Kateyanne.
    (put the chains back on him for a while, I think ;) )

    [quote=dorothyd]the army not getting involved. What's going on there? It's obvious Mbarak has to go but - what and who will take his place? Will it be any better?[/quote]

    Protesters have taken over the centre of Cairo this morning.

    The police are not on the streets anymore.
    There is a heavy military presence in the city, but soldiers are not intervening and citizens have got together their own armed groups to "police" the area.

    The government has announced that al-Jazeera must halt operating in Egypt though the channel has said they have not had a formal order yet.

    Even though Mbarak has appointed a new prime minister and vice president it doesn't seem likely that the protesters will be content with this. I think Mubarak should have resigned. This forming of a "new" government is just going to inflame matters.

    I
  • thanks for the update. The subtitles to the report were obviously voice recognition and some of it was too weird for words. Mbarak should have resigned, yes, a whole new lot of people need to come in. Someone said yesterday that the resentment has been boiling up for years. It finally exploded, it always does.
  • We are watching the BBC news. A new cabinet is going to be announced soon, people just want Mubarak and all his present cabinet to go. It's been coming for a while people getting more and more unhappy with their lot. Surely he must leave now.
  • Glad he's home safe kateyanne. :)
  • [quote=kateyanne]Yes he got home late last night.[/quote]

    Thank goodness. A friend's in-laws are still there. They want the grandchildren to leave, but it hasn't happened yet.
  • Kateyanne - he must be so glad to be home.
  • Thank goodness for that - just in time. The airport is in some chaos now according to Radio 4 news
  • Glad to see they are fighting for change.
  • Yes I am glad he got home when he did as it looks even worse now. He's worried about his family out there though.
  • I'm glad hamid got home and I will hold his family in my thoughts for you both.
  • The situation is getting more worrying by the day. How is it going to end? We managed to speak to my husband's brother via internet last night briefly. He said they have hardly any food left now and don't know when it will get through.
  • It really is scary. The scenes are quite frankly terrifying when you see them on TV, what it must be like to be in that city right now, and the others which are also suffering the same way, cannot be imagined by us safely here.
  • It does look frightening and hopefully the voice of the people will win through in the end. Let's hope the end isn't too far away though.
  • It is dreadful what you see on the news each day.
  • What a lot of hypocrites we are. When it suited the US, UK and the EU, a blind eye was turned to Mubarak's supposed bad rule..for THREE decades! But now, when it appears he might lose control, we dump him in favour of....The Muslim Brotherhood, allied to Hamas, Hezbolah, and dedicate to the destruction of Israel..FIRST, then (you'd better believe it) the ending of all Christian presence in the area. Why no loud denunciation of the murder of 23 Coptic Christians in Egypt recently?
  • Wow toothlight bit overboard there and also misjudged I think.
  • Don't think so,Silent Tony. Even Cameron is beginning to appreciate the danger in our society, and admits 'multiculturalism' isn't working. Anyway, why is there STILL a deafening silence over Mugabe who continues to ignore the so-called sharing of power in Zimbabwe?
  • As I understand it, the Muslim Brotherhood is banned in Egypt, and people have been arrested for being involved in it. Supporters of the group run for office as independents.
    It doesn't say they are at war with the West like the Jihadis and it's supposed to be non violent but this has been questioned by Mubarak's government. They accused them of killings in Egypt after WW2 against the British ruling there.
    Middle East politics and religion is very difficult for us in the west to understand. There are so many intricate details that are interwoven with culture that you have to live it to understand it. Many who live it don't understand it !
    I think toothlight is expressing an opinion so not sure about misjudging the situation.


    [quote=toothlight]Anyway, why is there STILL a deafening silence over Mugabe who continues to ignore the so-called sharing of power in Zimbabwe?[/quote]

    Is it because the people like Jack Straw who was the Home Secretary at the time don't recognise him without their contact lenses in or when it's dark ? (Controversial handshake in 2004)
  • my ex has had the cheek to tell my daughter we didn't have discussions when we were married, we had arguments because I was 'too dim' to have a discussion.
    Whatever he thinks, there were two occasions when we did fight, once when Mugabe took over and he said he would be a good leader .. (????????????) and the second, a fight which lasted a year, was the entire length of the miners' strike, as I opposed both it and Scargill throughout. He said the miners would win ... I said, anyone receiving a food parcel who was standing on their doorstep smoking did not deserve any support at all. And Scargill definitely did not.
    But back to the point raised here, Mugabe did look like the best hope for Zimbabwe, for all of five minutes. Then he showed his true colours and the scene was set for disaster. It has continued to be disaster, too. But without oil or anything the UK needs from Zimbabwe, the government is not going to say a word, is it?
  • The present Egyptian administration is including the Muslim Brotherhood in the talks, which does not bode well for a democratic change of Government. I was an Ian Smith supporter and member of the Rhodesian support group: great fun with my phone tapped and being followed everywhere by the police! People forget that Mugabe lead a bunch of thugs in the Bush, killing and torturing the black populace into support. He said in a speech that when in power there would be a one Party State. It was twits like Carrington who pushed for elections before the country was ready, and Maggie Thatcher (to her eternal shame) who tore up the agreements made with the Wilson Govt for a gradual handover to majority rule. These are the facts folks, and we backed the overthrow of the Shah in favour of....!!! I fear the same will happen in Egypt.
  • what a chequered history we have for not supporting people... the Shah is just one ... in 6 years' time we have the 100th anniversary of the assassination of the Romanovs. Their story will be told ... if only so people don't say 'who?' when I mention them ... I also had that reaction from an 87 year old when I mentioned the Shah. Sometimes I despair!
  • Most governments decide who to support by asking "what's in it for us?" - although sometimes they just take the easy way out.

    Unfortunately doing what's right rarely comes into it.
  • [quote=toothlight]Even Cameron is beginning to appreciate the danger in our society, and admits 'multiculturalism' isn't working. Anyway, why is there STILL a deafening silence over Mugabe who continues to ignore the so-called sharing of power in Zimbabwe?[/quote]

    Well I totally disagree with Dave on that one and think it was highly irresponsible to have said it in public. Talk about lighting the fuse, he also provided the gunpowder and painted his name on the barrel.

    I couldn't agree with you more about the Zimbabwe situation. I feel ashamed that we took people like Saddam to task yet leave Mugabe alone. Hopefully we are entering a new era in foreign policy and that should bring about huge changes in the way we either tolerate or support people we should condemn.
  • Mubarak has stepped down.

    Congratulations to the people who have made this protest.
    Let's hope the "new rule" will be democratic and that a new peaceful era for Egypt will begin.
  • edited February 2011
    Let's hope everything settles down quickly.
  • Yes H is very pleased with the outcome. Lets hope it's not a case of better the devil you know...
  • Hope his family are all OK.
  • what's this thread all about?

    has summat happened in Eygpt only there's a lotof people congregating in Cairo's main square?
  • edited February 2011
    Dora where have you been?
  • H has been phoning friends and family In Egypt all day to discuss the recent events, some of them have been in Tahrir square for days. They are all celebrating and are hopeful that things will be good in the future for their country.
  • History longer than the Nile, civilisation going back to before Biblical days - let's hope Egypt has a future!
    Watch this space though ...
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