Egypt's Mubarak opens door to talks with rival political parties

(CNN) -- After 30 years of mostly unchallenged rule, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak opened the door Sunday to talks with rival political parties while calling out those who, he claimed, used religion to "spread fear" through rampant hooliganism.

According to a transcript of his comments to leaders of his new government read on state-run Nile TV, Mubarak acknowledged what he called "peaceful demonstrations" as well as grievances about the economy. Thousands of protesters have hit the streets of Cairo, Alexandria and beyond calling for the president's ouster as well as substantial reforms.

"The current stage requires us to reorganize the country's priorities in a way that acknowledges the legitimate demands of the people," he said.

The president, again recognizing the depth of the unrest, urged those charged with shaping the new Cabinet -- specifically, his newly appointed Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq -- to pursue "a wide range of dialogue with all the (political) parties."

Such discussions, he said, "will achieve the democratic process."

Mubarak called on new government leaders to "stand against anyone committing any forms of corruption" and stressed "the necessity to continue with fair, serious and effective new steps for more political, constitutional and legislative reforms."

As he did in a nationally televised early Saturday, Mubarak referenced the unsettled security situation across the country, in part due to a void created after police largely abandoned their posts.

He called on new government leaders to "stop all the violence by whoever commits it," while appearing to criticize the Muslim Brotherhood, the country's largest opposition party.

"The citizens and the young people of Egypt have gone out to the streets in peaceful demonstration asking for their right for the freedom of speech," Mubarak said. "However, their demonstrations have been infiltrated by a group of people who use the name of religion who don't take into consideration the constitution rights and citizenship values."

The president claimed that such people of "giving the chance for criminal groups to loot and confiscate public and private property, spread fires and spread fear."

Mubarak commanded the new leaders "to take care of the people," so that they again felt safe from looters and other criminal elements. Mubarak expressed hope that the military could succeed in protecting Egypt and its institutions and soon go back to its original goal, "which is to defend the country and its sovereignty."

The military itself addressed the public Sunday through a statement read on state-run Nile TV.

An unnamed man dressed in a military uniform urged people to respect the government-ordered curfew so that authorities can more easily capture those accused of looting and destruction in recent days.

In the comments, described as the third statement by Egypt's armed forces since the unrest began, the soldier also asked citizens to help detain outlaws as well as the hundreds who have recently escaped from prisons.

Whereas Mubarak's earlier speech dwelled mostly on security, his comments Sunday touched relatively more on substantive political and economic reforms.

The president offered few specific ideas, besides ordering that government subsidies not be touched. Yet he did charge the new government to "regain the trust in our economy." He mentioned the need to "control unemployment," keep inflation low and keep prices of key commodities in check.

"I trust in your ability to realize new economic achievements (and) to relieve the suffering of the people," Mubarak said.

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Experts: Egypt's fate rests in hands of popular, powerful military

photo AP/Ahmed Ali

When tens of thousands hit the streets to decry an authoritarian regime -- calling for its overthrow, trying to overrun police, setting fires -- one might expect the arrival of army tanks would be met with fear, consternation and violence.

But not in Egypt.

The warm embrace that demonstrators gave troops this week illustrated the military's respected and central role in Egyptian society. This fact makes the armed forces potentially a kingmaker in the current crisis, while also showcasing its challenge to somehow re-establish security without undermining its popularity.

"How they behave on the streets is going to matter a whole lot," said Shibley Telhami, a Middle East expert and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution think tank. "That's going to be the dilemma: Can they maintain the order without antagonizing the public that they need?"

The ascendance began in 1952, when the military helped overthrow Egypt's ruling monarch. Its support for a constitutional democracy and its performance in various wars and battles earned it the admiration of many Egyptians.

"There's a good reason that the Egyptian military is held in pretty high esteem," said Peter Bergen, a CNN national security analyst, author and fellow at New York University's Center on Law and Security. "The army has done relatively well."

All males between ages 18 and 30 must serve one to three years, as the CIA World Factbook notes, meaning almost every family in Egypt has some personal connection to the military.

Still, one of the military's biggest assets in the eyes of everyday Egyptians may be that it is not the widely reviled security force. The U.S. State Department has frequently blasted Egyptian police for torture and otherwise depriving citizens of their civil rights, including in its most recent 2009 Human Rights Report.

"They're held in great disdain by their own population, for very good reason," Bergen said. "They know that security forces have tortured literally thousands of people ... for almost any reason."

This animosity boiled over this week, when angry demonstrators burned and ransacked police stations. On Friday, there were reports of casualties after police fought back citizens' attempts to take the Interior Ministry in Cairo, the security forces' headquarters.

Just blocks away, in Tahrir Square, it was a very different and far more festive scene: Joyous demonstrators gathered near troops and embraced them, sometimes literally.

This showering of love on the military, which were deployed Friday to patrol the streets for the first time since the mid-1980s was repeated many times over throughout Egypt.

Video footage from Cairo showed some protesters celebrating by scaling tanks, with no repercussions. Many of them smiled and shook hands with troops on patrol, with one soldier even cradling a baby and posing for a picture.

In Alexandria, where at least 2,000 gathered in Raml Square on Saturday, protesters chanted, "The military and the people together will change the regime."

That said, these same demonstrators were demanding the overthrow of President Mubarak -- a former hero in the Air Force and the commander-in-chief of the armed forces. He has largely surrounded himself politically with other veterans, including Saturday's appointment of Omar Suleiman (a former lieutenant general in the army) as vice president, the first time Mubarak has tapped someone for that role in his 30 years in power.

Experts aren't surprised Mubarak has moved to align himself with the military even more so, recognizing the armed forces' place in Egypt. Still, by doing so, he also created a quandary for the military: Do they back Mubarak, whom they report to? Or do they support the people, having largely been among them not long ago and wanting to preserve their reputation?

Andrew Pierre, a senior fellow at the U.S. Institute of Peace, said he expects top military officials to remain loyal to the president. But the rank and file are a different story, especially if they are called on to beat back civilians.

"They're military people for two years or so, and I don't know that they will be willing to shoot their brothers and sisters and families on the streets," Pierre said, adding that midlevel officers may be most torn and ultimately determine what happens.

Through the first five days of the crisis, the 450,000-strong armed forces appeared to trying to have it both ways: refraining from acting against demonstrators, but at the same time vowing to bring order.

Still, even as it vowed to enforce a curfew from 4 p.m. Saturday to 8 a.m. Sunday, there were no signs of the military doing anything to the hundreds who roamed the streets regardless.

Telhami, though, thinks that ultimately the military may have to decide where it stands: behind Mubarak or the protesters. And their decision, many believe, will determine Egypt's future.

source:cnn news

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Vandals rip heads off two mummies in Egyptian Museum

Vandals ripped the heads off two mummies and tossed relics onto the ground in Cairo's Egyptian Museum, the country's antiquities chief said Sunday.

But the group of about nine people did not manage to steal anything from the museum's collection, according to Zahi Hawass, secretary-general of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities.

The would-be thieves, who broke into the museum Friday around 6 p.m., were arrested and jailed, Hawass said.

The museum has stepped up security and is now guarded by Egypt's army, he said.

The antiquities chief said 10 small artifacts were also damaged, but can be restored.

The Egyptian Museum is located in Cairo's Tahrir Square, which has been a focal point for anti-government protests.

SOURCE:CNN

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Egypt's protests: What's next?

Egyptian demonstrators demanding the resignation of President Mubarak carry the body of a dead protestor past army tanks

(CNN) -- With unprecedented numbers of protesters on the streets of Egypt calling for President Hosni Mubarak to resign, what clues do earlier demonstrations in the region offer about what will happen in Cairo?

Results have been mixed.

Tunisia, a relatively small and apparently stable country on the Mediterranean, triggered the current wave of anti-government protests across the Middle East.

It had been ruled by President Zine El Abedine Ben Ali for 23 years and was seen as a well-established police state.

But in December 2010, a fruit seller named Mohamed Bouazizi, 26, set himself on fire in protest after police took away his fruit cart. The profoundly symbolic act of protest awakened a suppressed fury in the population.

President Ben Ali visited Bouazizi's hospital bedside -- the college graduate lived for three weeks before dying January 4 -- but he was unable to assuage the nation's rage at decades of corruption, low living standards and grinding repression.

After weeks of protests in which more than 100 people died, according to the United Nations, Ben Ali fled the country on January 14.

Longtime Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi took the reins of power and created a national unity government, including both members of the old guard and opposition.

But the people demanded fuller reform, and Ghannouchi has continued to shuffle the government to try to appease an angry populace.

New presidential elections have been promised within 60 days of Ben Ali's flight.

That's a dramatically different outcome from what happened in Iran a year and a half earlier, when huge protests erupted after presidential elections in June 2009.

Many Iranians expected the defeat of incumbent hardline President Mahmoud Ahamdinejad, but official results showed him as the winner.

Incredulous at the outcome and determined to overturn it, Iranians took to the streets, declaring that a "Sea of Green" -- the color of Islam -- would force Ahmadinejad out of power.

The apparent revolution captured the imagination of the world, especially after a young woman, Neda Agha-Soltan, was killed by a bullet to the chest during a demonstration.

The last moments of her life were caught on a shaky video that was seen by millions after it was posted online.

But Iranian security forces cracked down hard. The government-backed plainclothes militia known as the Basij waded into demonstrations with motorcycles and clubs, and untold numbers of protesters were rounded up and thrown into prison.

Over time, demonstrations petered out, and the regime stayed in power. A year after the disputed election, Ahmadinejad made a triumphant speech defending it as "free," and accusing "unjust" foreign governments of interfering in Iran's affairs.

"But the Iranian nation defeated them," he declared.

A shocking act of violence led to a peaceful revolution in Lebanon in 2005.

Popular former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was killed by a massive bombing as he drove through Beirut.

The bomb contained hundreds of pounds of explosives. It killed 22 other people besides Hariri, and left buildings shattered and streets littered with the mangled wreckage of vehicles. .

Many Lebanese -- as well as the United States and United Nations investigators -- thought Syria was responsible.

At the time of Hariri's death, neighboring Syria had immense political influence in the country, and had maintained troops in its smaller neighbor since the 1980s.

The killing sparked widespread protests known as the Cedar Revolution, which led to the eventual withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon and the election of an anti-Syrian bloc in parliament.

Hariri's son Saad became prime minister.

But even in Lebanon, which has much more experience of democracy than most other countries in the region, the results of the revolution remain unclear.

Saad Hariri was forced from power this year after government ministers allied with the Syrian- and Iranian-backed militant movement Hezbollah quit the government.

Najib Mikati, a new prime minister loyal to Hezbollah, took office last week -- on the very day that Hariri supporters took to the streets for a "Day of Rage."

That was Tuesday, the very same day that Egyptians ramped up their own ongoing protests against Mubarak.

In both countries -- and across the Middle East -- the region, and the world, watch and wait to see what happens next.

Source: CNN 

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The military and the media: Holding the cards in Egypt?

Egyptian protesters gather around the national television building as members of the presidential guard stand by Friday in Cairo

(CNN) -- As mass protests swept Egypt on Friday, the actions of two key institutions served as indicators for what lies ahead for the embattled regime: the military and the media.

President Hosni Mubarak deployed the Egyptian army for the first time to the streets to quell angry demonstrations against his authoritarian regime. That's a sure sign of the government's desperation, according to experts on the region.

And for the first time, the state-run media didn't ignore the unrest or dump on the demonstrations as acts of terrorism in its usual manner. That, too, say experts, was a key indicator that Mubarak could be facing trouble.

It's a given that the military, a pillar of Egyptian authority since a 1952 coup toppled the monarchy, holds the keys at this critical juncture.

Many feared that the army will silence the protesters with its firepower and tanks that are now out on the streets of Cairo and Alexandria.

But Edward Walker, a former U.S. ambassador to Egypt, said that a military crackdown would be a "death knell not only to the military but the regime." Such a crackdown didn't happen in nearby Tunisia, where the authoritarian ruler fled the nation, and it was hardly what happened in Egypt on Friday.

On the contrary, Egypt's 450,000-strong armed forces are well-established and respected by the people. Journalists reported seeing protesters cheer army convoys as they drove into Cairo and Alexandria. Some embraced the soldiers on the ground; they were seen as saviors from excessive police brutality.

U.S. reacts to Egypt turmoil AC360 Latest in Egypt Friday Wrap up of Egypt protests Egypt revolts

To Mohammed el-Nawawy, a professor at Queens University in North Carolina, the fact that the military was called out Friday showed that Mubarak was desperate. The all-important question is how loyal the armed forces will remain to the aging leader who has ruled Egypt with an iron fist for three decades.

Meanwhile, the state-controlled television network walked a tightrope Friday.

Early in the day, Nile TV began showing footage of the demonstrations of "tens of thousands of people" and reported the use of police tear gas. It aired opposition leaders criticizing the government for shutting down the lines of communication.

Shawn Powers, a Georgia State University assistant professor who studies international media, said it was unusual for an arm of the government to even cover these events or portray them as anything but acts initiated by unsavory elements of society.

"I'm amazed," Powers said of the coverage.

Even with social media and mobile phone messaging blocked, Egyptians could see events unfolding live on international networks including CNN. The Egyptian media may have felt that they would lose all credibility with the people if they were to completely distort the story.

Did officials underestimate revolt? Egyptians demand a better life Egypt: Revolution captured in real time

Ultimately, Powers said, he suspected fissures within Mubarak's ranks and said some in the government may be thinking of their own future in a nation barely holding back from the brink.

"What we're seeing today is parts of the government feeling increasingly isolated from Mubarak or intentionally doing so to hold on to power after Mubarak goes," he said.

By the end of the day, however, Nile TV's coverage shifted, reverting to words like "hooliganism" and "lawlessness" to describe the demonstrations.

El-Nawawy, who has studied Egyptian media in depth, said Friday's media coverage could mean that Mubarak has no one left to blame, so he gave the protesters, many of whom are young people, a little wiggle room.

"The state media is walking a fine line to give credit to the young people, but in the meantime, it has to justify intervention and crackdown," el-Nawawy said.

El-Nawawy said things will get really thorny if Egypt's impoverished masses join hands with the protesters -- believed to be largely from the educated middle classes -- and the demonstrations grow to even more chaotic proportions.

That's when the military and the state-run media will both have to come to terms with events in their country.

That's when Mubarak, el-Nawawy said, may realize that he can shut down Facebook but not the People's Book.

Source:CNN News

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5.56mm Cartridge M193 NATO 5.56mm ball cartridge. There are currently five 5.56mm cartridges in service.

History

In the mid 1950s testing was begun on finding a lighter replacement for the Winchester .308 (NATO 7.62mm) infantry rifle cartridge used by the in the M-14 rifle. Eventually three cartridges were select for further testing; the .222 Special, .224 Springfield, .222 Winchester. All were essentially lengthened versions of the recently introduced .222 Remington. Eventually the .222 Special was adopted and re-designated as the .223 Remington. The .223 Remington was introduced, along with the Armalite AR-15 Assault rifle, for experimental use by the Army in 1957. In 1964 the cartridge was officially adopted by the U.S. Army as the M193 5.56mm ball for use in the M-16 rifle (which was, itself, based on the Armalite AR-15.

Description

There are currently five 5.56mm cartridges in service.

M193 NATO 5.56mm ball cartridge: Introduced in 1964, the M193 was the original 5.56mm cartridge designed for use in the M-16 rifle with a 1 in 12 rifled barrel twist. No longer in production, but still in stock, it has been replaced by the heavier M855 cartridge. The M193 can be identified by its unpainted (copper) tip.

M855 NATO 5.56mm ball cartridge: Introduced as a replacement for the M193 cartridge, the M855 fires a heavier projectile with greater accuracy. While the cartridge was designed to be fired from the newer heavy barreled M-16A2 assault rifle and M-4 carbine (each of which has a 1 in 7 twist barrel) it may be fired out of older M-16 models without severe degradation of accuracy. The M855 can be identified by its green painted tip.

M856 NATO 5.56mm ball/tracer cartridge: Introduced with the M855, the M856 is the tracer variant of the M855. It is, in all respects, identical to the M855. The M856 can be identified by its orange painted tip.

M200 NATO 5.56mm blank firing cartridge: Designed for use with training simulators, the M200 has no projectile and contains a reduced powder charge. The M200 can be identified by its crimped and sealed cartridge opening in place of a projectile.

M862 5.56mm Short Range Training Ammunition: Designed for indoor use, the M862 is a restricted range alternative to the M193/M855 cartridge. With a maximum range of 250 meters and an effective range of 25 meters, the M862 serves as an excellent low cost substitute for Basic Rifle Marksmanship (BRM) training. The M862 can be identified by its blue plastic tip.

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M18A1 Claymore The claymore mine is a frag munition that contains 700 steel balls and 682 grams of composition C4 explosive.

Description

The M18A1 antipersonnel mine was standardized in 1960, and replaced the M18 antipersonnel mine. Both mines are similar in appearance and functioning. The M18A1 claymore mine is a fragmentation munition that contains 700 steel balls and 682 grams of composition C4 explosive. It weighs 1.6 kilograms and can be detonated by command It is activated by electric or nonelectric blasting caps that are inserted into the detonator well. When employed in the controlled role, it is treated as a one-shot weapon. It is primarily designed for use against massed infantry attacks; however, its fragments are also effective against light vehicles. The M18A1 mine is equipped with a fixer plastic slit-type sight (knife-edge sight on later model), adjustable legs, and two detonator wells. The number of ways in which the Claymore may be employed is limited only by the imagination of the user. The Claymore is used primarily as a defensive weapon, but has its application in the offensive role. It must be emphasized that when the Claymore is referred to as a weapon, this implies that it is employed in the controlled role. In the uncontrolled role, the Claymore is considered a mine or boobytrap. When detonated, the M18A1 mine will deliver its spherical steel fragments over a 60? fan-shaped pattern that is 2 meters high and 50 meters wide at a range of 50 meters. These fragments are moderately effective up to a range of 100 meters and can travel up to 250 meters forward of the mine. The optimum effective range (the range at which the most desirable balance is achieved between lethality and area coverage) is 50 meters.

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M93 Hornet An anti-tank off-route munition made of lightweight material that a person can carry and employ.

Description

The M93 Hornet is an anti-tank off-route munition made of lightweight material (35 pounds) that one person can carry and employ. The Hornet is a non-recoverable munition that is capable of acquiring targets by using sound and motion detection methods. It will automatically search, detect, recognize, and engage moving targets by using top attack at a standoff distance up to 100 meters from deployment site. It is employed by combat engineers, rangers, and SOF.

The RCU is a hand-held encoding unit that interfaces with the Hornet when the remote mode is selected at the time of employment. After encoding, the RCU can be used to arm the Hornet, reset its self-destruct (SD) times, or destroy it. The maximum operating distance for the RCU is 2 kilometers.

High winds, heavy rain, snow, ice, extreme cold, and extreme heat reduce the Hornet's ability to detect targets at maximum range. Radio-frequency (RF) jamming devices (such as the hand-emplaced, expandable jammer [HEXJAM]), limit the Hornet's communication capabilities if they are placed in the munition field, but they will not affect the Hornet's ability to engage targets and will not damage the system. RF jamming devices will also affect the remote arming of current Hornet systems.

The Hornet's active battery pack is inserted during pre-arming and has an estimated life of four hours. The active battery pack powers the munition from the time it is inserted until the end of the safe-separation time, when the built-in reserve battery is activated. To prevent munitions from becoming duds, do not pre-arm them too early. Allow adequate time for traveling to the obstacle site, emplacing mines, throwing arming switches, and expiration of safe-separation times.

Once the Hornet is armed and the self-test is performed, the munition will remain active until its SD time expires or until it is encountered. The SD time (4 hours, 48 hours, 5 days, 15 days, or 30 days) is determined by the user. The munition will self-detonate after the SD time has expired.

Hornet munitions have an employed life of 60 days in the pre-armed mode (remote arming) and 30 days in the armed mode. If the temperature exceeds 100?F, the employed life drops to 15 days in the pre-armed mode and 30 days in the armed mode.

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MG3, The MG3 is air cooled, belt fed, short recoil operated, and capable of firing on full automatic only.

History

The MG3 (an abbreviation for the German word Machinengewehr meaning ""machine gun, model #3"") is a direct descendent of the WWII era German machine gun, the MG42, which was in turn, an improvement the MG34, originally developed by Metall und Lackierwarenfabrik Johannes Grossfuss AG, which entered production in 1942. The MG42 was one of the most terrifying infantry weapons of its time (nicknamed "Hitler's chain saw" and "Hitler's zipper" because of its high ROF.)The original MG34/42 was chambered to fire 8mm (7.92x57mm) Mauser ammunition, the same rifle ammunition used in the Mauser K98 bolt-action rifle service rifle. In 1959 the MG42 was rechambered to fire 7.62x51mm NATO and redesignated the MG42/59. In 1968 the MG3 officially entered production. 

The MG3 is still in production and in service world wide. It is one of the most popular MGs ever produced (it is one of the most reliable weapons in service today and has one of the highest ROFs for any single barreled machine gun.) The MG3 currently serves as the primary MG in the German army (Bundeswehr) where it serves as an infantry support weapon (it can either be carried and fired off of an attached bipod by an individual soldier, or tripod mounted and fired from a defensive position.) as well as a vehicular MG (the MG3 is used as an anti air/ GP MG on all German armored vehicles, such as the Leopard II and the Marder.)

Description

The MG3 is air cooled, belt fed, short recoil operated, and capable of firing on full automatic only. It fires from the open bolt position to facilitate cooling. ROF exceeds 1200 rounds per minute. Barrels are changed every 150 rounds or so to extend barrel life and prevent thermal damage to the barrels. Barrels are replaced by pushing the barrel locking lever (located on the right hand side of the receiver) forward to unlock the barrel. Once unlocked, the barrel can be withdrawn and a cold barrel inserted and locked into place. This entire process can be accomplished in as few as 5 seconds. Since the weapon fires from the open bolt, the chamber remains empty, which helps facilitates these quick barrel changes. The bolt operates off of a dual roller principle, where by the bullet cartridge pushes out a pair of rollers when chambered to lock the bolt and barrel together. Once fired, the barrel/bolt group recoil a short distance whereupon the spent cartridge is extracted, unlocking the rollers, and allowing the bolt to travel freely to the rear, ejecting the spent casing.

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Iran Claims to Shoot Down Spy Planes

TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran's Revolutionary Guard claims to have shot down several Western spy planes, including two in the Persian Gulf, but provided no evidence.

The U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet, which is based in the Gulf, says it has no reports of aircraft downed "recently."

Iran's semiofficial Fars news agency on Sunday quoted the head of the Guard's air force wing, Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, as saying Iran has "shot down a large number of ... highly advanced spy planes" that violated Iranian airspace.

Hajizadeh provided no proof, and did not say when the aircraft were downed or what country they belonged to.

Iran is locked in a dispute with the U.S. and its allies over Tehran's disputed nuclear program, which the West believes aims to develop nuclear weapons. Iran denies the accusations.

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