REFILE - SPECIAL REPORT-The real force behind Egypt's 'revolution of the state'
Reuters
6:47 a.m. CDT, October 10, 2013
(Clarifies in paragraph 7 that GIS is not part of Interior
Ministry)
By Asma Alsharif and Yasmine Saleh
CAIRO, Oct 10 (Reuters) - In Hosni Mubarak's final days in
office in 2011, the world's gaze focused on Cairo, where
hundreds of thousands of protesters demanded the resignation of
one of the Arab world's longest serving autocrats.
Little attention was paid when a group of Muslim Brotherhood
leaders broke free from their cells in a prison in the far off
Wadi el-Natroun desert. But the incident, which triggered a
series of prison breaks by members of the Islamist group around
the country, caused panic among police officers fast losing
their grip on Egypt.
One officer pleaded with his comrades for help as his police
station was torched. "I am faced with more than 2,000 people and
I am dealing with them alone in Dar al Salam, please hurry," the
policeman radioed to colleagues as trouble spread. "Now they
have machine guns, the youth are firing machine guns at me, send
me reinforcements."
In all, 200 policemen and security officers were killed that
day, Jan 28, called the Friday of Rage by anti-Mubarak
demonstrators. Some had their throats slit. One of the Muslim
Brotherhood leaders to escape was Mohamed Mursi, who would
become president the following year.
in full: http://www.chicagotribune.com/sns-rt-egypt-interior-special-report-pix-graphiccorr-20131010,0,5142771,full.story
