Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro, who knows a thing or two about staying in power too long, says Mubarak is toast in his latest column for Granma:

THE die is cast for Mubarak and not even the support of the United States can save his government. An intelligent people, with a glorious history which left its mark on human civilization, live in Egypt. "From the height of these pyramids 40 centuries contemplate you," Bonaparte exclaimed, it is said, in a moment of passion when the encyclopedists’ revolution took him to that extraordinary crossroad of civilizations.

In last week's column, Castro accused the U.S. of playing both sides against each other in the conflict: 

Egypt was the Arab country to receive the largest supplies of armaments. Millions of young Egyptians are suffering unemployment and the food shortages provoked within the world economy, and Washington affirms that it is supporting them. Its Machiavellian conduct includes supplying weapons to the Egyptian government, while at the same time USAID was supplying funds to the opposition. Can the United States halt the revolutionary wave which is shaking the Third World?

It seems that like Robert Mugabe and Muammar al Qaddafi,  Castro's not quite sure how to respond to the recent events in the Middle East. Normally, all three would relish an opportunity to rip the United States for hypocrisy on democracy-promotion, but mass revolts against authoritarian governments are, generally speaking, not a trend they want to celebrate. So the position of all three seems to be that the United States is behind the overthrow of longtime U.S. allies. Seems like an awkward position. 

Incidentally, Castro's missives seem to be getting increasingly incoherent these days. The most recent one consists almost entirely of wire service reports with the latest news from Egypt followed by a lament for the "future of our species".

Hat tip: Robert Schlesinger

The Hamas-controlled government in Gaza allowed a demonstration today in support of the anti-Mubarak protesters in Egypt: 

Nearly 1,000 Hamas supporters rallied in front of the Egyptian representative office in Gaza, waving Palestinian and Egyptian flags and chanting, "Mubarak, you must leave." Some carried banners in Arabic and English that read, "The Egyptian people want to change their regime, we must support and respect that."

One participant, Khalil Mohammed, 21, said Gazans and Egyptians "share the same concerns and the same interests as young men. This is a symbolic stand to show our solidarity."

Hamas security officials stood by and did not break up the protest.

As Mubarak's governmnet has assisted Israel in maintaining the blockade of the Gaza Strip and has clamped down recently on the smuggling tunnels connecting the region to Sinai, Gazans certainly have reason to follow the events in Egypt closely. 

On the West Bank, it was a very different story: 

[P]olice quickly dispersed more than 100 people who gathered in downtown Ramallah in solidarity with the Egyptian people calling for Mubarak's resignation, freelance journalist Mohammed Jaradat said.

Police detained him and three other people, Jaradat said, including a cameraman whose footage was confiscated. Some protesters said police roughed them up.

The incident came hours after a smaller pro-Mubarak demonstration in the same spot.

A reporter from The Associated Press saw about 10 protesters wait for cameramen and photographers to set up their gear, then chant support for Mubarak. They also called Egyptian pro-democracy advocate Mohamed ElBaradei a "coward and "an American collaborator."

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has reportedly instructed his security chiefs to clamp down on anti-Mubarak demonstrations. 

Greetings from the center of the world.

I'm in Cairo, Egypt, where thousands of protesters remain holed up in Tahrir Square in the heart of this city's decaying Beaux-Arts downtown, fighting pitched street battles with pro-regime thugs and defiantly refusing to buckle under, give up, and go home.

I arrived here this afternoon at around 2:30 p.m., after a surprisingly quick ride in from the airport. I found a city that looked largely as it did back in 2005 and 2006, when I lived here as an Arabic student, wannabe journalist, and democracy activist.

There are, of course, some important differences. Commerce has ground to a halt. Army vehicles now dot the major arteries into the city -- I counted at least five armored personnel carriers and five tanks on the way in to downtown -- and the area around Tahrir Square shows the signs of a weeklong siege. There are burned-out wrecks and makeshift barricades at major entrances, which are halfheartedly manned by Army troops. To enter, one must show ID -- presumably one that doesn't say "I'm a police spy" -- and submit to one or more enthusiastic pat-downs by (polite) volunteer guards. But once you're inside, it's generally peaceful, as the raging rock fight near the Egyptian Museum is at the far end of the square, perhaps a quarter-mile away from the main roundabout.

Read on

Over the last few days we've been covering how democratic protesters in countries ranging from Yemen to Russia are trying to invoke the events in Egypt and Tunisia to bolster their cause. But one Robert Mugabe's government seems to be trying to preempt such a movement before it even forms: 

State radio, which is controlled by Mugabe loyalists, said Thursday that Tsvangirai — the former opposition leader — intended to incite his supporters to hold a mass uprising against three decades of authoritarian rule by Mugabe.

The state broadcaster cited recent remarks by Tsvangirai to the U.S.-run Fox News in which he defended mass protests in Tunisia and Egypt and allegedly implied he supported similar action in Zimbabwe. It claimed Tsvangirai was planning an uprising "against himself" as he had taken vows to join the government when a power-sharing coalition was formed in 2009.

Supporters of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's MDC party were reportedly attack by pro-Mugabe mobs throwing stones in Harare this week. For the record, here's what Tsvangirai actually told Fox News during an interview conducted at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week: 

Amy Kellogg: What do you think of events in Egypt and Tunisia, and how do they relate to Zimbabwe?

Prime Minster Morgan Tsvangirai: There are two issues. One is the general resentment of autocratic regimes, the manner in which these governments have stayed in power forever and ever. I think people resent that, naturally. But there is also another aspect which I have pointed out in the last interview. The aspect of incumbents leaving power to their children, dynasties, as we may call it. That is very resented by the people. 

So it’s like a spring. The more pressure you put on a spring, the more it will bounce. 

I think what we are witnessing here is a general suppression of the people. People are demanding more freedoms and there is nothing wrong with that.

AK: Could that happen in Zimbabwe and is President Mugabe nervous?

MT: To me, when people take their rights, and start demanding more rights, there is nothing wrong with that, including in Zimbabwe. That was the whole purpose of our struggle for the last 10 years

It certainly doesn't sound like Tsvangirai's calling for a revolution. Generally speaking, he's preferred to work within the system, even to the point of joining the same government that has imprisoned and tortured him and his supporters. Is it really a good idea for the Zimbabwean state media to be making the Egypt association for him? 

Big news out of Algeria today. Official media are quoting President Abdelaziz Bouteflika saying that the country's state of emergency -- which has been in place for the past 19 years -- will be lifted. There's a pretty big caveat, though: 

Bouteflika also said, at a meeting with ministers, that the government should adopt new measures to promote job creation and that Algerian television and radio, which are controlled by the state, should give airtime to all political parties, the official APS news agency reported.

Bouteflika said protest marches, banned under the state of emergency, would be permitted everywhere except in the capital. Political parties must respect the law to ensure freedom does not degenerate into anarchy, APS quoted him as saying.

As I mentioned yesterday,  anti-government protesters are planning a major rally in Algiers on Feb. 12. I can't imagine this move will placate them. It does, however, make Bouteflika the fourth Arab leader -- following Mubarak, Saleh and Abdullah -- to make a major concession to the opposition this week.

Using emergency powers provisions that give it the right to order mobile phone networks to send text messages to subscribers, the Egyptian government has apparently ordered Vodafone to send a message urging citizens to confront "traitors". Check out this Flickr account for images of the messages. The  Guardian's live blog has a translation:

The Armed Forces asks Egypt's honest and loyal men to confront the traitors and criminals and protect our people and honor and our precious Egypt.

Youth of Egypt, beware rumors and listen to the sound of reason - Egypt is above all so preserve it.

To every mother-father-sister-brother, to every honest citizen preserve this country as the nation is forever.

The Armed Forces cares for your safety and well being and will not resort to using force against this great nation.

Mobile phone service was restored throughout Egypt yesterday after operators were instructed to shut it down last Friday. Vodafone claims they are protesting the current situation and have  “made clear that all messages should be transparent and clearly attributable to the originator.” All the same, many only activists by the company's acquiescence to the regime and have called for a boycott of its services outside Egypt. 

The Socialist International -- the global federation of center-left parties that includes Britain's Labour Party and the French Socialist Party -- finally got around to expelling Hosni Mubarak's National Democratic Party this week, after giving Tunisia's RCD the boot last month. In a letter to the NDP, the International's Secretary General writes:

The current massive calls being made  today by the citizens of Egypt  for freedoms and
rights point to the dramatic failure of the Egyptian government to deliver to its people
and to the failings of the NDP to live up to its promises. The use of violence, with scores
dead and injured, is totally incompatible with the policies and principles of any social
democratic party anywhere in the world.  

Consequently, we consider that a party in government that does not listen, that does
not move  and that does not immediately initiate a process of meaningful  change  in
these circumstances, cannot be a member of the Socialist International.
 
We are, as of today, ceasing the membership of the NDP,  however we  remain
determined  to cooperate with all the democrats in Egypt striving to achieve an open,
democratic, inclusive and secular state. 

The obvious point here is that it's a bit rich for the International to suddenly discover that the NDP isn't democratic -- when it joined the federation in 1989, Egypt had already been under emergency rule for nine years. For that matter, it hasn't even been particularly socialist in recent years.

The International may want to consider a thorough housecleaning of its membership list. I notice, for instance, that still-refusing-to-step-down President Laurent Gbagbo's Ivorian Popular Front  is still listed as a member.