Saturday, February 19, 2011

The Egyptian army opens a page on Facebook to reach out to young people

The military junta since leaving Egypt Hosni Mubarak has launched its own Facebook page. The site's goal is to approach young people, who used this network frantically to convene and organize the mass demonstrations that ended 30 years of the regime. The site of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which now has about 7,000 followers, is dedicated "to the children and young people and martyrs of Egypt, who started the revolution on January 25, as explained on the site.

Among the messages released by way of proclamation, the army stressed that "the military and the people are one" and share a desire to "live in a free and independent Egypt." The presence of the army in Facebook has been endorsed by the head of the military junta ruling the country, Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi field, ensuring that it is a tool for "cooperation with the Egyptians lead to stability and security.

" The fans have celebrated this digital foray Army. Some netizens have welcomed "the heroes of Egypt" and others have opted to become a forum for dialogue between the military and the people. Given the discrediting of the police, 'executive arm' of the regime, the Army continues to enjoy popular support.

The military announced yesterday that they will be a candidate for presidential elections to be held within six months, once they have been approved in a referendum of constitutional reforms. However, Amnesty International yesterday demanded the Egyptian army to take steps to end the use of torture and other ill-treatment of detainees.

The call came after some former detainees said that organization who were tortured with techniques that included flogging and electric shocks after being arrested by army in the days leading to the resignation of Mubarak. Egypt, with more than 80 million inhabitants, has about 23 million Internet users who connect to the network regularly and there are 65 million mobile subscribers.

The call of Jan. 25, first day of protests came from sites like Facebook and Twitter. To try to avoid mobilizing the Egyptian government first decided to block both Web pages and then stop internet service.

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