Arab spring played a role
Numbers are impressive but it’s the criminal tales that are gripping
Growth in reporting of suspicious financial activity shows significant jump
BERN, SWITZERLAND – Switzerland saw a 40 percent increase in 2011 in the number of suspicious activities reports (Sars) to MROS, the Money Laundering Reporting Office Switzerland, the federal office shows in its annual report published Monday 14 May.
Banks and other financial groups, required by law to report suspicious activity, filed 1,625 Sars in 2011. Of these, 91 percent were forwarded after “careful analysis” to judicial authorities, federal or cantonal, for prosecution. The total asset value was more than CHF3 billion, greater than the combined value of Sars from 2009 and 2010 and a record figure.
“In 2011, 1,625 SARs generated a total asset value of just under CHF 3.3 billion (2010: CHF850 million from 1,159 SARs),” the report notes.
Two-thirds of the reports were triggered by media reports (30 percent of information sources) combined with third party information and information from prosecuting attorneys, which “show(s) that financial intermediaries use modern resources and consult external sources in order to gather information for their inquiries, which is then evaluated and condensed into a considerable number of Sars sent to MROS”, the report indicates.
Seven cases of bribery had total assets of CHF791 million each
The huge increase underscores the continuing progress made against money laundering in Switzerland over the past 10 years but it also provides a window to some significant shifts in money laundering globally. The average asset value in 2011 was approximately CHF2 million, compared to CHF731,000 a year earlier. The sudden jump shows a small number of cases, notably bribery in the Middle East and in particular in Egypt, that involve much larger sums than the cases in 2010. Seven cases of bribery had total assets valued at CHF791m each.
Four cases of online gaming had a total assets value of CHF560m each.
Eight cases had a total asset value of nearly CHF200m each, while in 2010 none of the reported cases had a total assets value over CHF100m.
Types of crimes reported are shifting
Fraud remains the largest group of crimes reported, but the numbers are down slightly due to a change in reporting. Computer fraud, mainly phishing, has been retroactively put into a category of its own starting with 2007. MROS says the report “shows that ‘phishing’ remains a topical subject and that financial intermediaries consistently report the account details of financial agents or ‘money mules’ to MROS”.
A second group, money laundering, consists of activities that are not technically money laundering crimes “despite the fact that the modus operandi suggested acts of money laundering. The increase is due not only to one reported case involving numerous business connections, but also to the general increase in the number of SARs in 2011.”
The drugs category consists of reports linked to “the street sale of drugs by nationals of sub-Saharan African states and the financial transactions associated therewith (money exchange, money transmitting)”.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Eleven people were killed outside the ministry of defense in Cairo Wednesday 2 May, and up to 160 were reportedly wounded. Plainclothes gunmen attacked a group of protesters who were camped outside the ministry. The group, which numbers in the hundreds, has been protesting army rule for a number of days.
Reuters reports that “The violence casts a deep shadow over the presidential election due on May 23 and 24, with a run-off in June, and highlights the fragility of Egypt’s transition to democracy, which has been punctuated by violence and political bickering.”
Links to other sites: Aljazeera, Egypt.com, Reuters
Aljazeera news video
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Egyptian state television is reporting that at least 73 people have died, and numbers are being revised upwards late Wednesday 1 February, after two football teams’ fans clashed in Port Said. More than 150 people are reported to be injured. Fans of Masry and al-Ahly teams, both in the top group, poured onto the football field after a match between the two. Masry won 3-1, an upset that triggered the violence. The BBC reports that some fans appear to have carried knives into the stadium, with policy keeping a lower than usual profile after riots in 2011 that was often directed at police under former President Hosni Mubarak’s regime.
Links to other sites: BBC, Reuters
Aljazeera video
BERN, SWITZERLAND – The Swiss Migration Office’s current backlog of some 3,000 applications must be completed and applications brought up to date by 2013, former Swiss Federal Judge Michel Féraud concluded as part of his final report on applications for asylum in Switzerland.
But the most damning part of his report covers applications from Iraqis at the Swiss embassies in Egypt and Syria, from 2006 to 2008: the judge writes that a Swiss Justice and Police Department decision in November 2006 to not handle the applications was not in line with procedures defined by law, and it violated constitutional guarantees.
Rigid system contributed to decision to ignore applications, backlog
His report implies that the blame lies with the rigidity of the legal situation, according to a Federal Council statement issued 11 January: all Swiss embassies are required to accept and handle asylum applications, although they are not equipped, in terms of staffing, to do so. The applicants, had they been turned down by Switzerland, would not have been obliged to return to Iraq, since they had been accepted by Egypt and Syria.
One of the debates that was taking place at the time was how to better distinguish between legitimate asylum seekers and migrants. The number of asylum seekers grew steadily from the 1970s, federal statistics show, and the resident asylum population peaked at some 105,000 in 1999. The number of applicants has been in the range of about 10-15,000 annually for the past decade just under 11,000 in 2007, with 15,567 applicants in 2011.
UNHCR (UN High Commissioner for Refugees) figures published in November show that the decline in applications for asylum occurred worldwide, not just in Switzerland, from 2000 to 2010.
Judge not suggesting legal pursuit
Féraud notes that, given the lapse of time and the Federal Council’s stated desire in 2010 to make the regulations less rigid, thus giving embassies more discretion in handling cases, he is not recommending disciplinary action. His investigation did not turn up any acts of wrongdoing such as overstepping the bounds of their authority on the part of government employees.
Blocher headed department in 2005, successors unaware of decision
Christoph Blocher was the federal councilor with responsibility for the Justice and Police Department at the time; his right-wing UDC People’s Party came in for heavy criticism inside and outside Switzerland in 2006 for posters seen to be racist, as the party campaigned to reduce the number of immigrants.
Blocher was succeeded as head of the department by Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf after he lost his seat on the council in December 2007, but neither Widmer-Schlumpf nor her successor as minister with responsibility for the federal office, Simonetta Sommaruga, were informed of the Iraqi applications and the decision to ignore them.
The report was requested by the Federal Council in August 2011 when it was made aware that the applications had not been dealt with for a number of years.
Féraud filed it 22 December and the Federal Council 11 January acknowledged publicly that it had received and is considering the report.
BERN, SWITZERLAND – Egyptian and Swiss legal experts met Friday 2 December to “take stock of progress made so far and to strengthen bilateral cooperation” for “an efficient restitution of any assets of illicit origin from the entourage of the former Mubarak regime”, says the Swiss Justice Department.
Switzerland froze about CHF410 million in assets in the name of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and his entourage 11 February 2011.
Egypt has made several requests for mutual legal assistance to Switzerland, related to the assets. Bern says these are being reviewed by Swiss authorities.
The delegations were satisfied with the discussions, according to Bern and will continue with follow-up meetings at regular intervals, with the next one at the end of January 2012.
High turnout in Egypt, with new Islamist group taking 24%
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Russians appear to be falling out of love with former leader Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party and turnout has been high, 62 percent, in Egyptian voting as parts of the country move into runoffs in a complex voting system.
Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party has enjoyed almost unrivaled popularity for the past 10 years, but early election results appear to show a change of heart by voters, with the party’s majority in parliament disappearing.
In Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice party, described by Business Week as “broad-based”, is expected to win the largest number of seats in the first elections since Hosni Mubarak’s long reign of power ended early in 2011. But the conservative, Islamist Salafi Nour party, a newcomer, secured 24 percent of early results, surprising observers with its strong showing. The country now faces runoffs in several voting areas; results from the country’s complex voting system will not be known until January 2012.
Links to other sites: Al Jazeera, Business Week, Guardian, Reuters
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – An uneasy peace lies over Cairo and other parts of Egypt after the Egyptian army Thursday offered a public apology for the deaths that occurred earlier this week when protesters took to the streets. A truce between the two groups appears to be holding. Army leaders made it clear shortly after offering the apology that they do not intend to relinquish power in the short term.
Strong reactions at home and abroad have put pressure on the army after 38 people died. Aljazeera reports that 3,000 have been wounded in the fighting.
Army leaders promised that they will let elections go ahead as scheduled Monday.
Links to other sites: Aljazeera, Guardian, New York Times
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Organizers of protests in Cairo’s Tahrir Square in Egypt are calling for a million people to come out on the streets Tuesday 22 November to force military rulers to hand over power no matter what the results of next week’s elections. At least 25 people have died in fighting in the past four days as the protests turned violent. The civilian cabinet of the military rulers resigned late Monday, adding to the confusion. The military have been ruling since overthrowing Hosni Mubarak’s dictatorship early in 2011.
Links to other sites: Al Arabiya, Aljazeera, BBC
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – At least 24 people are dead and 212 injured as a result of clashes among Christians, radical Muslims and Egyptian security forces outside the state television building in central Cairo, Egypt over the weekend.
Egyptian authorities say clashes have resumed, “with hundreds pelting the police with rocks outside a central Cairo hospital”.
Christian Copts, who make up about 10 percent of the population, are accusing the governing military council of being too lenient on the perpetrators of a string of anti-Christian attacks.
Prime Minister Essam Sharaf called for restraint and blamed the “enemies of the revolution who would benefit from this chaos”.
“What is taking place are [sic] not clashes between Muslims and Christians but attempts to provoke chaos and dissent,” he said on his Facebook page.
Links to other sites: BBC News, Daily News Egypt
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Egypt’s former leader, Hosni Mubarak, arrived in court Wednesday 3 August on a hospital bed for the opening of his trial: he and his sons Alaa and Gamal, and several senior officials and officers are being tried on a number of charges, from killing protesters to illegally gaining wealth. The former president could be given the death sentence if found guilty of ordering protesters to be killed.
Mubarak, 83, fell from power in February 2011. According to Aljazeera, “More than 800 people were killed and about 6,000 wounded in the 18 days of protests that eventually toppled Mubarak’s regime.”
The court case is being widely shown on television, in several countries. The judge decided three days ago to move it to a police academy in Cairo for security reasons, although Egyptian media reported in June that the former president was too frail and ill to be moved.
BERN, SWITZERLAND – The Swiss Department of the Interior Thursday moved to ban, effective immediately, several Egyptian agricultural products to protect consumers from the possibility of E. Coli (EHEC) contamination. The ban is effective until 31 October and covers a number of types of sprouts, beans and seeds sold to consumers as well as sprouts and seeds for planting and for animals foods.
The move follows the 6 July announcement by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) that the German and French E. Coli outbreaks had been traced imported Egyptian fenugreek seeds. Switzerland issued an alert against consuming fenagreek, as a precaution, 6 July, but EFSA informed the Swiss after that grains were found in animal foods that Switzerland imports.
Fenugreek is an ages-old remedy to increase the flow of breast milk when nursing.
Bern says that epidemiological tests have now shown the E. Coli appeared due to handling problems during production, but the precise source of the problem is still being sought by European health authorities. A tiny amount of a product carrying the bacteria can cause severe health problems.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Seven people from seven countries, a collection of bloggers and journalists, all of them human rights activists in their countries, were presented Thursday 9 June in Geneva, and given an opportunity to tell their stories at a conference, “The Human Voice of Freedom, the Internet and Human Rights”.
The seven are:
- Egypt – Wael Abbas
- Burma – Aung San Thar
- Uganda – Rosebell Kagumire
- Indonesia – Andreas Harsono
- Tunisia – Henda Chennaoui
- China – Wen Yunchao (Bei Fung)
- Korea – Kwon Eun Kyoung
A mother and her young child, saved at sea after their boat sank in the Mediterranean (photo ©22011 UNHCR/ F Noy)
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The UNHCR (UN High Commissioner for Refugees) in Geneva says it is seeing a disturbing new trend as growing numbers of refugees who fled Libya are heading back into the country in a desperate attempt to reach Europe.
One large group at risk for making the treacherous sea journey from Libya to Malta or Italy includes members of the Somali, Ethiopian and Eritrean communities in the camps at Shousha near Tunisia’s border with Libya.
The Geneva refugee group said at a press briefing in Geneva 17 May that hundreds of people who fled Libya for Tunisia and Egypt in recent weeks have crossed back into Libya with the intention of boarding boats for Europe.
Some 14,000 people have landed in Italy and Malta to date, but the UNHCR says, based on accounts from survivors and family members, over 1,200 people are unaccounted for since March 25.
It believes that thousands more are preparing to undertake the journey from Libya by sea.
(GenevaLunch) - Egypt’s former first lady, Suzanne Mubarek, was reported to be scheduled for open heart surgery late Sunday 15 May, following two days of treatment in intensive care in Sharm el-Sheikh. She remained under police care after suffering what may have been either a heart attack or a panic attack Friday 13 May.
She has been by her husband’s side since he was hospitalized in April, but she was taken to intensive care Friday after fainting, with her blood pressure rising, the government says. She was detained last week for questioning in relation to the family’s wealth and investments, in Egypt and abroad, as part of larger corruption investigations into the family that have her husband and their two sons also in police custody, although Mosmi Mubarek, the former president, is still in hospital.
No details have emerged about the reason for the surgery, or if it has taken place, early Monday Swiss time. Suzanne Mubarek was successfully treated for leukemia 10 years ago, reports Aljazeera.
Links to other sites: Aljazeera, CNN, Egypt News
Former Egyptian leader Hosne Mubarak was hospitalized Tuesday 13 April for a heart attack, and shortly afterwards he and two sons were put under arrest but face different charges, local media report. The 82-year-old former president, who has been under house arrest since late March, was the target of a 15-day warrant issued by the prosecutor general to determine is he ordered weapons used against protesters before his regime fell in February 2011. His sons are being investigated for corruption.
Links to other sites: Aljazeera, Voice of Russia, Sky News
Situation becoming desperate as funds to evacuate dry up, human smugglers find victims
Some 84,000 migrants evacuated from Libya have been sent home, but another 75,000 will need help
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The International Organization for Migration, at its weekly Friday briefing in Geneva, has asked for “donor stamina” in the face of fresh appeals for funding to help thousands of migrant workers to escape the conflict in Libya.
The group is making a fresh appeal for $160 million to ensure that evacuations can continue. The $44 million pledged until now falls “far short” of what is needed, says the IOM, and human smugglers are starting to take advantage of the situation to offer to take those fleeing the fighting to Europe.
Some 84,000 migrants have been helped by the IOM, the UNHCR (UN High Commissioner for Refugees) and other humanitarian groups, to reach their homes after fleeing the fighting.
In total, more than 410,ooo people have fled Libya in the past month.
Another 75,000 migrants are expected to need help getting home in coming days, according to the IOM. Caring for and organizing their repatriation will cost an additional $160,000, says the Geneva organization.
The IOM notes in a statement 1 April:
“[New funds] would also enable the continued provision of humanitarian assistance such as food and medical attention at the border areas, travel health checks for all those being evacuated and health referrals for particularly vulnerable people in addition to providing reintegration assistance to some of the returning Tunisian and Egyptian migrants.
“This is the third IOM appeal since the Libyan crisis began. So far, the Organization has either been pledged or received US$44 million, far short of what is required.
“As a result, funding for IOM operations have now dried up. IOM has been forced to dramatically reduce the number of people it can evacuate on a daily basis from more than 6,000 a day at the height of its operations to a bare minimum.
“This is despite the fact that at least 6,000 people are fleeing Libya each day towards Egypt and Tunisia alone and thousands more towards Chad and Niger.”
More than 12,000 migrants still remain stranded on Libya’s border with Tunisia and Egypt with more migrants in need of help in Niger, Algeria and Chad.
Those waiting for help in Tunisia and Egypt have become increasingly impatient to return home and are now looking to alternatives out of their situation.
Tunisia, Egypt keep borders open as their citizens rush to provide aid
International funds needed to ease pressure on Libya’s neighbours
Update 08:40 Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Humanitarian agencies based in Geneva are reporting massive numbers of refugees fleeing Libya over the weekend as they step up emergency aid. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other world leaders flew into Geneva Sunday for a special session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) Monday.
Switzerland has sent two of its Rapid Intervention teams to the Tunisian and Egyptian borders with Libya to assess the situation. “The humanitarian situation in Libya and the border areas is precarious,” the Swiss federal government said late Sunday in a statement. “It is difficult at the moment, however, to evaluate the extent of the problem.”
Tunisia Saturday told United Nations’ HCR, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, that 100,000 people had crossed the border from 20-26 February and another 10,000 were expected Saturday: 18,000 are Tunisian, 15,000 Egyptian, 2,500 Libyan and 2,000 Chinese, according to UNHCR.
(story continues below)
ICRC deliveries, video
Egypt has had 55,000 people cross its border with Libya since 19 February: 46,000 Egyptians, 2,100 Libyans and 6,900 third country nationals, mainly from Asian countries.
The two nations, which have both deposed their rulers in recent weeks, are desperately in need of emergency aid to cope with the influxes, say the organizations, which are appealing for generous help from other countries.
Red Cross and Red Crescent funds appeal launched
The International Red Cross, ICRC, launched an emergency funds appeal Friday night, “launched a preliminary emergency appeal for 6 million Swiss francs ($6.4 million/€4.7 million) to meet the emergency needs of people affected by the violent unrest in Libya.”
African refugees treated with distrust in Libya because of mercenary rumours
UNHCR reports that its staff have “met with Libyan police and military who said that they had defected from Government forces and were now working directly with local committees of tribal leaders. The police arranged for UNHCR to meet with tribal leaders, who highlighted the need for humanitarian assistance, with a critical shortage of food throughout the eastern region, as well as shortages of some medical supplies.
“According to the tribal leaders, Africans are being treated with suspicion in eastern Libya, due to rumours about the Government employing mercenaries from sub-Saharan Africa. During the meeting UNHCR staff highlighted the fact that thousands of refugees from sub-Saharan Africa are in Libya, and are very vulnerable at this time. The tribal leaders promised to pass this information on to their communities.”
Tunisians, Egyptians: “ordinary citizens” respond to the crisis
Ayman Gharabeih, a senior emergency specialist with UNHCR at the Ras Adjir border with Libya, is working closely with the Tunisian Red Crescent. “It is impressive to see how quickly the government, the Red Crescent and ordinary citizens have responded to this crisis,” he says, noting that according to the Tunisian Red Crescent “Tunisians are driving from far and wide to bring food, blankets and to offer people a safe place to stay.”
ICRC’s Georgios Georgantas, is in charge of coordinating International Red Cross relief efforts in Libya and neighbouring countries at the organization’s headquarters in Geneva, says “our colleagues in Tunisia tell us that the arrival of tens of thousands of displaced people along the border is putting a strain on local infrastructure and that the need for basic services, such as sanitation facilities, is likely to increase as the numbers continue to rise.”
Sunday afternoon, ICRC staff in Egypt were reporting that the situation along the border there was calm, according to Georgantas, in an ICRC statement.
The BBC early Monday qualified the border situation as a “crisis” but, while the numbers leaving Libya are dramatic, reports of numbers of people stranded vary the UNHCR’s Sunday 27 February figure of 75 sent in a statement Sunday 27 February to the BBC’s quote from an unnamed source at a UN refugee agency that “20,000 Egyptians were stranded and needed food and shelter.”
Simon Brooks, the ICRC’s team leader in Benghazi, said Sunday, “We hear that surgeons and orthopaedic specialists are needed in Benghazi’s hospitals, as well as medicine for patients suffering from chronic illnesses. Our initial assessment is that there is no urgent need for food supplies. It’s difficult to know, however, what the needs are outside the city.”
First 4,600 of 30,000 Chinese evacuated, citing threats and violence towards them
Libyan rights group in Geneva reports wounded in hospitals have been executed
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Tunisians have been streaming over the border from Libya as violence there continues, joined by growing numbers of people from other countries, reports the Geneva-based International Organization for Migration (IOM) Thursday 24 February. The group has voiced concerns about the very few sub-Saharan Africans or Asians leaving Libya, despite the large number employed there, saying it fears for their safety.
The UNHCR (UN High Commissioner for Refugees) says Tunisia and Egypt have both agreed to keep their borders open to people fleeing the violence in Libya. It is working with the Ministry of Defense in Tunisia to set up a camp for the 10,000 people expected to cross the border this weekend.
China announced Thursday evening that 4,600 Chinese have been evacuated from Libya, the largest evacuation ever by Chinese authorities, and the start of efforts to get some 30,000 Chinese nationals “out of the riot-torn country”. Xinhua, the government news agency, quotes one of the first workers who arrived Thursday morning in Shanghai, Xie Guangfu, as saying “‘The situation is very critical there. People broke into houses, threatening and robbing us with knives and guns.’”
The IOM in Geneva says that 6,700 Tunisians have fled across the Ras Adjir border point in three days and large numbers of Egyptian and Chinese migrant workers arrived at the border Tuesday night. “Some 850 Egyptians are today travelling onwards to Djerba airport accompanied by IOM staff and Red Crescent volunteers. Two planes sent by the Egyptian government will transport them home,” the IOM said in a statement.
Some 830 Chinese workers arrived on buses rented by the Chinese consulate in Tripoli, and from there they were taken to Tunis.
“IOM staff say that those arriving at the border are mainly coming from Tripoli. They include embassy staff and the ambassadors of various countries, who have decided to quit the capital. But they are concerned that there is no evidence of large numbers of migrant workers from Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia leaving Libya for either Tunisia or Egypt.
“Large numbers of Sub-Saharan irregular migrants in Libya work informally in the service sector or as manual labour. Poorly paid and in irregular work, it is unlikely they have the resources to rent vehicles to get to border areas and reach safety. ‘Of the tens of thousands of Sub-Saharan Africans and South Asians working in Libya, only a handful have managed to reach the border so far. This is probably because they do not have the resources to pay for transport,’ says Laurence Hart, IOM’s Chief of Mission for Libya.”
Hospital executions in Tripoli, says human rights group
Geneva newspaper Le Temps reports Thursday evening that the Libyan Human Rights League, based in Geneva because of a ban on independent organizations, has received information that protesters who were taken to hospitals in Libya with injuries have been executed and doctors who object are being threatened.
Update 18:05 Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Switzerland in 2010 exported CHF640.5 million in “war materials” to 69 countries, down 12 percent from the previous year (CHF727.7m), compared to overall Swiss export, which rose by 8 percent, Bern announced Tuesday 22 February.
Arms exports accounted last year for less than half a percent of the country’s exports, 0.32 percent but with governments in several Arab nations using arms against their own citizens, observers in Switzerland are likely to look more closely this year at the details of Swiss arms exports.
Bern is putting the accent on transparency, pointing out that it remains high on the annual barometer for transparency established by the Small Arms Survey, which is attached to Geneva’s Graduate Institute. Small arms and light weapons account for only about CHF24 million of the total CHF640.5m arms exported by Switzerland last year, however. They fall under legislation covering arms and war materials.
Change in Swiss arms exports, 1983-2010 (source, Seco)
Top, Swiss arms exports in francs. Bottom, Swiss arms exports as a percentage of all exports. Source: Seco (click on image to view larger)
Air defense system sold to Saudi Arabia in 2006 covered 2010 delivery
One of the largest arms exports in 2010 was to Saudi Arabia, a partial delivery of an air defense system worth CHF132.6, which Bern is quick to point out was authorized in 2006.
Update 19 February Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The assets of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and his entourage that have been reported by banks and others to the Swiss government in the past week now amount to tens of millions of francs, the Swiss foreign ministry told news agencies late Friday.
Bern had already been notified of some of these assets as early as 15 February a spokeswoman for the department told GenevaLunch last week.
Switzerland can normally provide assistance to Egypt to rrecover any assets considered to have been illicitly obtained by the Mubarak group if the country’s new government files a legal request for help. It did so Wednesday 16 February, according to swissinfo, which also notes that Swiss travel restrictions for Egypt have been eased.
Related story, Mubarak assets: first clues trickle in to Bern, GenevaLunch, 15 February (including names of 12 whose assets must be blocked under Swiss law)
US television’s CBS news chief foreign affairs correspondent, Lara Logan, age 39, was mobbed and, according to CBS,”she was surrounded and suffered a brutal and sustained sexual assault and beating shortly after Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak stepped down Friday 13 February.” The reporter had been covering the crowds iin Tahrir Square and their reaction to the news for a “60 Minutes” programme when she became separated from her news team.
She was saved by a group of women and about 20 soldiers. She managed to rejoin her team and she flew back to the US on Saturday, where she is being treated in hospital. CBS says neither she nor the network will be commenting on the assault, and they are asking that her privacy be respected.
The attack was one of many on journalists during the weeks leading up to Mubarak’s departure: 52 journalists were attacked and 76 detained by the government, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Links to other sites: BBC, CBS, Committee to Protect Journalists
Update 15 February Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Assets that may have been deposited by Hosni Mubarak and those close to him were the target of a Swiss government directive to banks and other financial institutions within 30 minutes of the announcement of his resignation Friday 11 February.
The Swiss government’s decision but not the amount of assets that could be affected were confirmed by Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Rey Friday evening 11 February, at 17:45 Swiss time, while she was on an official visit to Madrid, Spain.
The Federal Finance Department issued a new ordinance to banks to seek and freeze any assets with a link to the newly-resigned president. This includes any real estate holdings, which cannot be sold or transferred.
The announcement by Bern falls in line with Switzerland’s programme to freeze assets of deposted dictators to determine if they were legitimately gained.
Estimates have varied widely for the amount of money Mubarak and his friends and family may have in Switzerland and elsewhere. Ed. note: GenevaLunch incorrrectly implied in an earlier version of this post that CHF3.6 billion in Egyptian money in Switzerland may have belonged to Mubarak. The figure covers all Swiss bank liabilities to Egypt and Egyptians in 2009.
Egyptians are filling the streets of Cairo and other cities Friday night 11 February, upon the news of the resignation of Hosni Mubarak as the country’s president. The announcement came at the end of the afternoon. Power has been handed to the army. Analyses and possible implications are starting to come in from around the world.
Links to other sites: Al Jazeera, BBC, CNN, Guardian, New York Times
Video, Al Jazeera
Thousands of Egyptian workers, bus drivers and public transport workers in Cairo are on strike 10 February, spreading labour unrest and furthering the wave of anti-government protests calling for the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak.
With its efforts to manage the crisis failing, the government warned of the potential for a coup, says the Associated Press.
In the meantime, civil rights groups in Egypt claim that scores of protesters have been secretly detained, some have “disappeared” while many more are being tortured.
Human Rights Watch says that the Egyptian government, “instead of running scared, is fighting back with both words and violence, to quash its opponents, portraying the opposition as a foreign-backed, un-Egyptian group of conspirators.”
Links to other sites: Associated Press, CNBC, CNN and Human Rights Watch
Friday in the Arab world has dawned with relative quiet, albeit a likely temporary pause, as the position of several governments in many places shifts.
Egypt: widespread rumours that appear to have started with the New York Times have the US and President Hosmi Mubarak discussing his departure with a three-head government to replace him.
Tunisia: the interim government is dismantling the old Ben Ali regime by replacing all 24 governors and several top security officers.
Algeria: President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has agreed to lift the 19-year-old state of emergency that limits internal travel and is behind other restrictions.
Yemen: The largest gatherings against the government in two weeks of protests, 3 February, brought out several thousand people in what turned out to be mostly peaceful calls for the president to step down, in a country where unemployment runs at 40 percent.
29 January 2011: dust storm leaving Egypt (photo, Jeff Schmalz / NASA Modis rapid response team
(2 videos) Egyptians marching in the streets against the government of Hosmi Mubarak have been faced in recent days with more than the threat of military action against them: a weekend dust storm swept across Cairo and much of Egypt, adding to their woes.
The storm has now flown out of Egypt, over the Mediterranean.
Mubarak late Tuesday 1 February promised he will step down as president, but not as quickly as the crowds would like, reports indicate. Some rioting broke out in Alexandria after the president made his announcement.
They, and now US President Barack Obama, are encouraging Mubarak to move with greater speed, perhaps that of the desert dust storm that rapidly left the country.
Links to other sites: Al Jazeera, New York Times, Telegraph, UK
Reuters video of Mubarak’s announcement
Barack Obama video, White House
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Swiss government over the weekend joined Britain and some other countries in counseling its citizens not to travel to Egypt except in case of emergencies and to leave the country using existing transportation services. Officials in Bern emphasized that travellers should stay away from any areas where crowds are gathering.
It also reminded Swiss citizens to observe the Egyptian curfew from 16:00 to 08:00.
The Swiss Embassy in Egypt set up a desk at the airport in Cairo once the curfew ended Sunday morning 31 January, to advise travellers on their options.
Al Jazeera TV signal cut, told to shut down, while China blocks “Egypt” Twitter searches
President Hos Mubarak, facing what Reuters refers to as “unprecedented pressure” on his regime, is holding closely watched meetings with military officials in the country, as Egypt has its sixth day of protests against Mubarak’s 30-year-old presidency. Saturday 29 January Al Jazeera TV, which operates out of Qatar, was told it could no longer work in the country, cancelling accreditation for journalists and Nilesat, an Egyptian satellite, cut its signal. The shutdown affected the network’s operations in some other countries as well, but Al Jazeera says it is able to offer viewers its new from other signals. It claims to have some 400 reporters worldwide, and its Arab world coverage is some of the most thorough among news agencies.
In Cairo, thousands of people have continued to gather despite curfews and a ban on crowds, with looting reported and gangs reportedly freeing prisoners from jails. Numbers of people reported to have died in protests vary, but it appears that more than 100 have been killed, and the government claims that it has arrested hundreds of looters.
China, according to Reuters, began blocking “Egypt” as a search term on micro-blogs, the Chinese equivalents of Twitter, in what it says appears to be a sign “aimed at preventing events in Egypt from setting an example of political opposition at home.”
Links to other sites: Al Jazeera, Jerusalem Post, Reuters, Xinhua
Nobel peace prize winner reportedly “detained”
Cairo is the scene of continuing protests against the government of Hosmi Mubarak, in power for 30 years, and as protests appear to have spread to Alexandria and Suez, the government has clamped down on the Internet, severely disrupting access to it throughout the country. The government has banned crowds, but thousands are taking to the street despite the ban.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Mohamed ElBaradei, who has opposed the government, returned to Egypt Thursday, saying he would join in the protests and Friday afternoon he is reported to have been “detained”. Media in Cairo say police are using tear gas and rubber bullets against crowds.
Links to other sites: Al Jazeera, BBC, Guardian, Jerusalem Post, New York Times
Fourth person dies after Tuesday demonstrations
Four people died in demonstrations against the government Tuesday 25 January in Egypt, three protesters and a police officer. Gatherings have now been banned by President Hosni Mubarak and social media sites that were used to organize the protests, including Twitter and Facebook, are blocked. Police fired tear gas on people who stayed late into the night into Cairo’s Tahrir square, to disperse the crowds. Reuters reports the city to be calm Wednesday morning, but the organizers of yesterday’s marches are calling for more protests against the Mubarak regime, in power for 27 years.
Links to other sites: Al-jazeera, Financial Times, Reuters
