CAIRO: Egypt is already on the edge, facing citizen arrests and fears that the protesters currently engaged in a sit-in in Cairo's Tahrir Square are “spies.” On Wednesday afternoon, the head of Egypt's military junta said that foreign countries were “meddling” in the internal affairs of the country. The statements by Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi come as a public battle for support is being waged between the protest movement and the military, who last week claimed the 6th of April youth movement had a “suspicious plan” for Egypt. Those comments, made public in an official Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) statement led to clashed between residents in the Abbassiya neighborhood on Saturday that saw some 300 people injured. “There are foreign players who feed and set up specific projects that some individuals carry out domestically, without understanding,” Hussein Tantawi, head of the ruling military junta said in an address to officers. “It is possible that there is lack of understanding, that foreign players are pushing the people into inappropriate directions,” Tantawi said, adding that such foreign parties “did not want stability for Egypt.” Tantawi, who has received the brunt of activists calls for change – including his removal – did not call on his troops to intervene in the civilian battles last weekend. “It was the people who intervened and confronted this,” he said, stressing that “the armed forces have protected the revolution.” Tantawi added that the army was staying the course and was “committed” to handing over power to a civilian government after elections, scheduled to begin this November. However, worries are growing in Egypt that the military is attempting to maintain power and is not moving swiftly enough to implement the demands of the protesters, namely the ending of military trials for civilians and the speedy trials of former regime officials. On the ground, the PR fight is taking its toll, with many average Egyptians believing the military's denouncements of the protesters in Tahrir, which has led to worries that violence could spark in greater numbers. BM
