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Egypt Teeters
by jalal Saturday, Feb 5 2011, 7:46pm
international / social/political / commentary

Despite all the machinations of the CIA/Washington and the cooperation of a thoroughly corrupt Egyptian leadership – which includes ‘Mubarak appointee,’ to vice-president, Omar Suleiman, head of the Egyptian Secret Service, known internationally as an arm of the TORTURING, ‘RENDERING,’ CRIMINAL CIA -- the FATE of the Nation rests wholly in the hands of the people, as is the case with ALL Arabic speaking NATIONS.

Hillary Clinton, CFR, Corporatist lackey and flagrant LIAR – Bosnian/Sarajevo 'sniper incident’ -- has recently publicly declared that the US has thrown its support behind the newly appointed -- but old friend to the CIA -- Vice-President, Omar Suleiman. I cannot help -- in full view of the damning evidence -- conclude that an old political adage applies, ‘things must change in order to remain the same!’

Of course Clinton would back a KNOWN CIA ASSET for the ‘stable transition of government’ (don’t make me laugh with that Madison Ave sales pitch) and hopefully establish a KNOWN TORTURER and tyrannical sociopath to the leadership of the American puppet State of Egypt, permanently.

We are easily able to follow the indicators of this overtly US friendly ‘revolution’ directly to the shadowy planning rooms of the ruling Corporatist Plutocracy – the body from which Clinton, Obama and every other Western politician receives its instructions -- in script format in some instances!

Nevertheless, REAL REPRESENTATIVE LEADERSHIP continues to be a viable option for the PEOPLE OF EGYPT and the Arab WORLD. The Egyptian people are aware of the thinly disguised CIA operation/'revolution' underway in Egypt – they may yet set an example for the ENTIRE ARAB WORLD to FOLLOW.

However, non-violent, anti-American sentiments would need to be expressed in order to galvanise a PAN ARAB MOVEMENT with the objective of RIDDING itself of ALL foreign influence and control.

A rare opportunity for REAL CHANGE and social REFORM presents itself in North Africa and the Middle East today; let’s hope the PEOPLE REMAIN VIGILANT and embrace the REAL FREEDOM that AWAITS THEM. Shuffling tyrants and continued Washington interference in Arab affairs is no longer an option in the region today.

Peace.

We are ONE.

CIA asset, Omar Suleiman, the 'Sheik of Torture'


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Egypt's Social Crisis: Financial Bonanza for Wall Street
by Michel Chossudovsky via gan - Global Research Saturday, Feb 5 2011, 10:54pm

Mubarak's decision not to resign was taken in close consultation with Washington. The US administration including US intelligence had carefully identified the possible scenarios. If Washington had instructed Mubarak to step down, he would have obeyed forthright.

His decision not to resign indelibly serves US interests. It creates a situation of social chaos and political inertia, which in turn generates a vacuum in decision making at the government level.

The continued social crisis has also resulted in a massive outflow of money capital. More concretely, what this signifies is that Egypt's official foreign exchange reserves are being confiscated by major financial institutions.

The ransacking of the country's money wealth is an integral part of the macroeconomic agenda. The longer the crisis, the more money will be appropriated.

According to official sources, Egypt's Central Bank had (prior to the protest movement) 36 billion dollars in foreign exchange reserves as well as an additional $21 billion of deposits with international banking institutions which are said to to constitute its so-called "unofficial reserves." (Reuters, 30 January, 2011).

Egypt's external debt, which has increased by more than fifty percent in the last five years is of the order 34.1 billion (2009). What this means is that these Central Bank reserves are de facto based on borrowed money.

In early 2010, there was a large influx of hot money deposits into Egyptian government debt instruments.

Foreign exchange flows into the country and is exchanged for Egyptian pounds (EgP) which is then used by institutional investors and speculators to purchase high yielding government bonds and treasury bills (denominated in Egyptian pounds) with short term interest rates of the order 10 percent.

The interest rate on long term government bonds shot up to 7.2 percent at the outset of the protest movement. (Egypt Banks to Open Amid Concern Deposit-Run May Weaken Pound, Lift Yields - Bloomberg, January 2, 2011)

At the onset of the crisis, international investors owned about $25bn of Egyptian T-bills and bonds, almost a fifth of the total T-bill market and about 40 per cent of the domestic bond market. Foreign investors also accounted for about 17 per cent of the stock market’s turnover, and held about $5bn-$6bn of Egyptian shares. (Ibid)

These hot money deposits are now leaving the country in anticipation of a devaluation of the Egyptian pound. In the days preceding Mubarak's speech, capital flight was running at several hundred million dollars a day.

Bear in mind the dichotomy: Egypt deposits 21 billion with the commercial banks as "unofficial reserves" on the one hand, while the commercial banks acquire (at circa 10 percent interest rate) $25bn worth of EgP debt. What this suggests is that Egypt is financing its own indebtedness.

Under its agreement with the IMF, Egypt is not allowed to implement foreign exchange controls.

The protest movement started on a bank holiday. While the closure of the Cairo stock market and domestic banking system had put a temporary lid on the outflow of money capital, large amounts of capital flight instrumented by major financial institutions had already occurred in the days leading up to the protest movement.

Egypt's banking system reopened on February 5, leading to a renewed process of capital flight resulting in the depletion of central bank reserves and a corresponding increase in Egypt's foreign debt.

A devaluation of at least 20 percent is envisaged. According to UBS' emerging markets currency division, "the pound could “easily” drop by a further 50 per cent or so to E£9 per US dollar". FT.com / Currencies - Banks weigh risk of capital flight, February 1, 2010)

Domestic prices of food are dollarized. If there is a devaluation of the Egyptian pound, this would inevitably trigger a renewed increase in the prices of essential food staples, leading to a further process of impoverishment.

A scenario of currency devaluation coupled with a renewed package of IMF sponsored austerity measures would inevitably lead to an accentuation of the social crisis and a new wave of protests.

The newly appointed Finance Minister Samir Radwan is firmly committed to the Washington consensus, which has served to impoverish the Egyptian people.

Radwan is abiding by IMF-World Bank guidelines: no restrictions will be placed on capital flight. The Central Bank will ensure the conversion of hot money deposits into hard currency by major financial institutions.

Moreover, in a statement on February 3, Radwan confirmed that "the government won’t reduce subsidies even if global prices of food and commodities rise. Public spending will be used as a tool to “achieve social justice,” he told a news conference in Cairo." (Bloomberg, February 5, 2011)

With capital flight, domestic debt is transformed into foreign debt, putting the country into the stranglehold of foreign creditors:

Radwan said Egypt will honor its debt obligations and urged foreign investors to have confidence in the country. “All the bond obligations, everything will be honored on time,” Radwan said in a Feb. 4 telephone interview from Cairo. “We are not defaulting on any obligations.” (Bloomberg, February 5, 2011)

In a bitter irony, Mubarak's decision to remain as head of State with Washington's approval has served the interests of institutional investors, currency traders and speculators.

© 2011 Michel Chossudovsky, Global Research

Mubarak's net worth estimated at $40-70 billion
by sadh Sunday, Feb 6 2011, 8:29am

Dictator and tyrant is a highly lucrative 'vocation,' especially when you're in the pay of the Americans. Consider Indonesia's Suharto, who died with over $300 million stashed in offshore banks and Marcos, no one really knows how many hundred million he pilfered from the nation's coffers.

Then there's dozens of Western compliant African dictators, in the pay of Transnational Corporations -- African dictators ride high on their corruption money while their nations' are raped and polluted by Western Corporations; meanwhile the majority of Africans continue to live in abject poverty.

But times have changed; no longer is the stolen wealth of corrupt dictators measured in hundreds of millions; today, as the Egyptian Dictator, Mubarak, exemplifies, their personal wealth is measured in the tens of BILLIONS!

What does it matter to America, it prints money on demand and corrupts the officials of every nation it has designs on. The US military flew Palette loads of shrink-wrapped, freshly printed bills into Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan, to buy everyone that could be bought and CORRUPTED! The Mubarak appointed Vice-President of Egypt is a known TORTURER and CIA asset, Washington has recently thrown its support behind him -- birds of the feather!

However, the FINAL selection of new leader will be DETERMINED BY THE PEOPLE of Egypt not the criminals in Washington. Have a nice paranoid day CIA operatives and the bought, traitorous, Egyptian scum that support them -- don't forget to watch your backs, you are KNOWN, REVILED and TARGETED!


Report on Mubarak's net worth from IBN Live, follows:

Cairo: The net worth of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who is under pressure to quit following a massive movement, and his family is estimated to between $ 40 billion to $ 70 billion, a media report said.

'ABC News' quoted experts as saying that the Mubarak family wealth was built largely from military contracts during his days as an air force officer.

Hosni Mubarak, a former air chief who was sworn in as President in 1981 and has ruled the country for nearly 30 years, is facing a political upheaval that has turned violent, leaving eight people dead.

The media report said that Mubarak diversified his investments through his family when he became President and the family's net worth ranges from $ 40 billion to $ 70 billion, by some estimates.

Amaney Jamal, a professor at Princeton, said, "The business ventures from his military and government service accumulated to his personal wealth."

"There was a lot of corruption in this regime and stifling of public resources for personal gain," she was quoted as saying.

The professor said that Mubarak's assets are probably in banks outside Egypt, possibly in Britain and Switzerland.

"This is the pattern of other Middle Eastern dictators so their wealth will not be taken during a transition. These leaders plan on this."

Aladdin Elaasar, an author, said the Mubarak family owns several homes in Egypt.

"He had a very lavish lifestyle with many homes around the country," Elaasar was quoted as saying.

According to his estimate, the family's wealth is between $ 50 billion to $ 70 billion.

A report said that the Mubarak family owns properties in London, Paris, Madrid, Dubai, Washington, New York and Frankfurt.

Robert Springborg, a Middle East scholar, said the family is very wealthy, but they have not been extremely overt with their wealth.

"One of the sons has a nice apartment in Cairo but nothing hugely lavish," Springborg was quoted as saying.

"There are many other people in Egypt who live a more lavish lifestyle than them, " Springborg said.
© 2011 IBNLive.com India


 
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