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

Categories: Middle East & North Africa, Egypt, Breaking News, Politics, Protest

This post is part of our special coverage of Egypt Protests 2011 [1].

Following massive protests across Egypt today, the army was deployed [2] 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 [3]: 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 [4] 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

[5]

@terriaminute: [6] Demonstrators in Cairo surrounded a military vehicle, but they were cheering the army http://bit.ly/f6WPYV #jan25 #awesome

@SultanAlQassemi [7] Must see: Egyptians saluting massive army presence in downtown Cairo. #jan25 http://yfrog.com/h4a0rgj

@DannyRamadan [8]: 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 [9]: People cheering army on the streets of Cairo. #Egypt

@ShahbazWeb [10]: Looks like army is with the revolution – long live Tunis Fever! #Egypt #TunisFever #jan25

@shamanyalkhaili [11] 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 [12] 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 [1].