Egypt: Is the Army on the People's Side?

This post is part of our special coverage of Egypt Protests 2011.

Following massive protests across Egypt today, the army was deployed to enforce a night time curfew. On Twitter, the news was received with surprise, with reports that the army was on the people's side.

Following is a selection of tweets from across the region.

@flashboy: AJ report from Alexandria suggests the Egyptian army's decided which side they're on, and it's not Mubarak's – shaking protesters’ hands.

@news_view RT @BreakingNews: Egyptian army ordered onto the streets, but they do NOT appear to be taking any action against protesters -NBC's Richard Engel #Egypt #Jan25

@terriaminute: Demonstrators in Cairo surrounded a military vehicle, but they were cheering the army http://bit.ly/f6WPYV #jan25 #awesome

@SultanAlQassemi Must see: Egyptians saluting massive army presence in downtown Cairo. #jan25 http://yfrog.com/h4a0rgj

@DannyRamadan: Four Army cars on Qasr al-Neel bridge and protesters are standing ontop of them cheering and waving Egypt flags. It looks peaceful. #jan25

@ReneeEverett: People cheering army on the streets of Cairo. #Egypt

@ShahbazWeb: Looks like army is with the revolution – long live Tunis Fever! #Egypt #TunisFever #jan25

@shamanyalkhaili Army joining forces with protests !!!


@lishypo
: “In other words, if the army ever decides to shoot into a crowd of unarmed protestors, it will be shooting with hardware provided by the US”

@strangetales CNN: Nationwide curfew now in effect for #Egypt. Nobody obeying it. Nobody enforcing it. Protesters cheer the army's support. #jan25

This post is part of our special coverage of Egypt Protests 2011.

6 comments

  • […] riot police back away from the protesters who clearly outnumber them. When added to the unexpected behavior from the army: who has taken the streets when ordered by the government, who didn't seem to enforce the […]

  • […] vor den Demonstranten zurückweicht, die sie zahlenmäßig klar übertrifft. Wenn man dann noch das unerwartete Verhalten der Armee betrachtet: sie gingen auf Befehl der Regierung auf die Straße, sie schienen den deklarierten […]

  • […] all'evidente preponderanza numerica dei manifestanti. A questo bisogna aggiungere il singolare comportamento dell'esercito [en], che ha eseguito gli ordini del Governo, schierandosi nelle strade, ma che non ha imposto con […]

  • […] przed protestującymi, którzy są w przewadze liczebnej. Kiedy doda się do tego nieoczekiwane zachowanie armii [ang.] – która wyjechała na ulice kiedy dostała rozkaz od rządu, która nie wprowadziła w […]

  • […] como a polícia se afasta dos manifestantes que claramente os superam em número. Quando junto ao comportamento inesperado [en] do exército: que tomou as ruas quando solicitado pelo governo, que não parece reforlar e […]

  • nosrat

    which army are you talking about ,if you mean heads and high ranking commander ,of course they are NOT in side of ordinery Egyptian pepole ,however i am sure that body of army (in fact 90% of egyptian army) are in the side of people.
    is there anybody who thinks that most Egyptian army will stand in front of thier people,thier family , and thier friends.
    I DO NOT THINK SO.

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