Egypt’s Prime Minister Apologizes for Attacks On Anti-Government Protesters
Signs the Egyptian government realizes that it looks like a tyrant in the eyes of the world:
Egypt’s prime minister went on TV today and apologized to anti-government protesters who attacked them on horses and camels and insisted the attackers were not sent in by the government of President Hosni Mubarak.
Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq, appointed last week by the beleagured Mubarak, spoke after a night of bitter fighting between anti- and pro-government factions in the city’s main square, Tahrir Square.
As the sun rose over the square, which has become a battleground in recent days, exhausted anti-government demonstrators, some with bandages on their faces, slept on the ground near piles of rocks that was their arsenal. Reenforcements answered Twitter pleas for help, streaming in with supplies, including water, bread and blankets.
“I offer my apology for everything that happened yesterday because it’s neither logical nor rational,” Shafiq told state TV. “We never would have thought that the view of Tahrir Square would be the war zone we see today,” he said.
“Anyone that has had a hand in creating the violence that we’ve seen in the past few days will be brought to justice immediately,” the prime minister said.
He added, “We say this was not planned, this was not a strategy, this was not a work of the government.”
Nobody believes him, of course.
