The Arabist

The Arabist

By Issandr El Amrani and friends.

The officer

The man on the front page of today's al-Masri al-Youm is a national hero. He's an army officer who decided to join the protestors (he hadn't been part of those deployed in Cairo). I spoke to him about what he and the Egyptian people wanted — here's the video. Again, please translate it in the comments if you have time, but a summary is below.

 

His demands, in brief:

  1. The end of the Mubarak regime and its apparatchiks
  2. Constitutional reform
  3. Free and fair elections
  4. No more presidencies for life
  5. An honest police force "like any developed country"