Hillary Clinton Calls on Egyptian Government Not to Use Violence Against Protestors

Excellent statement by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

We continue to monitor the situation very closely. We are deeply concerned about the use of violence by Egyptian police and security forces against protestors and we call on the Egyptian government to do everything in its power to restrain security forces. At the same time, protestors should also refrain from violence and express themselves peacefully.

As we have repeatedly said, we support the universal human rights of the Egyptian people, including the right to freedom of expression, of association, and of assembly. We urge the Egyptian authority to allow peaceful protests and to reverse the unprecedented step it has taken to cut off communications.

These protests underscore that there are deep grievances within Egyptian society, and the Egyptian government needs to understand that violence will not make these grievances go away. As President Obama said yesterday, reform is absolutely critical to the well-being of Egypt. Egypt has long been an important partner of the United States on a range of regional issues. As a partner, we strongly believe that the Egyptian government needs to engage immediately with the Egyptian people in implementing needed economic, political and social reforms…

In other news, according to Stratfor, there are unconfirmed reports of army and police forces clashing in Cairo. Also, a curfew has been extended to the entire country. And, Stratfor reports, “Police and Central Security Forces (CSF) have fallen back from Tahrir Square in Cairo, ceding the position they spent most of the day defending.” On the “flip,” see video of Stratfor analyzing “Mubarak coming to the end of his days.”