Civil War in Egypt?

Cairo is burning once again: Pro-Mubarak protesters are throwing stones and clashing with the masses of opposition, anti-Mubarak demonstrators. There are claims that the pro-Mubarak crowd is actually the police force, wearing plain clothes. The Egyptian army, including armored vehicles and tanks isn’t intervening. At first, they separated between the groups, but currently they’re not intervening at all.

AlJazeea is reporting about the Egyptian police (via Guardian):

Anti-government protesters have shown al-Jazeera the ID cards of plain clothed security police they say they seized from attackers.

Yesterday, president Hosni Mubarak went on national TV and said he’ll be stepping down in September, following the presidential elections. The opposition, holding protests across Egypt estimated by 4 to 5 million, weren’t pleased. They want Mubarak to step down now.

Earlier, it seemed that things are returning to normal, as internet and telephone began operating again, and that there’s a general notion that Mubarak is on his way out.

There were rumors that Mubarak left to Bahrain, but his speech in the evening proved they were false. The larger fear is that the conflict in Egypt, will turn from an internal affair (or civil war) to a regional conflict. One leader of the Muslim brotherhood wants war with Israel.

The Muslim Brotherhood rejected Mubarak’s speech, in which said he’ll step down in September.

Update: There are reports that 3 army vehicles have been taken over by pro-Mubarak supporters. More anti-Mubarak supporters are coming into the square.

Forex Impact

The fresh violence in Cairo strengthens the US dollar. EUR/USD is now down under 1.38, after riding higher yesterday and earlier today. GBP/USD is also losing ground, after earlier enjoying a better-than-expected Construction PMI figure.

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