February 3, 2012 - 19:59 AMT
ARTICLE
Arab world sinking into tribal feud
Islamism may be good, but not in the way executed by radical groups, whose main business is terrorism and disturbances.
The scuffle on the football field at Port Said was not something unexpected, at large. Egypt, like all the other countries of the “Arab Spring” came to be involved in the chaos currently on in Libya, Tunisia, and outlined in Syria. Just a reason was necessary for starting the war «all against all», and this football match was just a finest occasion.

Once again, in Tahrir Square there gathered several thousand people to protest against the events of February 1 in Port Said. They demanded, as always, the government's resignation and execution of Chairman of the Supreme Council of the armed forces of Egypt, Marshal Hussein Tantawi, presently performing the function of the head of state until presidential election. It turns out that Hosni Mubarak, a tyrant and a dictator, for whom a death penalty is demanded, at least kept the country in a tight grip and did not give vent to the instincts of killing and robbing. One can even assume that the present Parliament of Egypt, consisting mainly of “Muslim Brothers” sought exactly such orgy in the country to introduce Sharia law as soon as possible and deal shortly with the Christian population. Now it’s a fact that soon there will be no Christians in Egypt. First, the tribes will get square with one another, then the rest will kill the Copts. Though ... the Copts are already being murdered: Not for nothing nobody touched them under Mubarak, although they were not allowed to climb the career ladder.

The lower house of the Egyptian Parliament put the victims of the Port Said football stadium tragedy on a par with the victims of the revolutionary events in January 2011 shot to disperse the mass anti-government demonstrations. In fact, Parliament accused Mubarak of authorizing both last year’s shooting down and the current carnage, though being a sick old man behind bars and confined to bed. It is quite understandable that “Muslim Brotherhood” should try to shift the responsibility for the collapse of the country on the “dictator” and not on themselves, who lost control over the state. Islamism may be good, but not in the way executed by radical groups, whose main business is terrorism and disturbances.

It should be noted that the fans of “Al-Ahly”, also known as “ultras”, are especially famous for their bad behavior. Recently they have often been involved in clashes with the police.

According to the BBC, the opposition blames the government for what happened, because, as they say, it proved unable to ensure the safety of its citizens. Many recall that the fans of Cairo “Al-Ahly” took part in demonstrations in Tahrir Square in Cairo, which resulted in the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak. Presidential candidate Hamdin Sabahi declared that “what happened in Port Said was a terrible punishment for fans of “Al-Ahly” for they participated in the revolution.”

Let us recall that the scuffle on the football field at Port Said was the worst since October 16, 1996, when during the panic at the stadium in Guatemala 78 people were killed and 189 got injured after the World Cup qualifying match between Guatemala and Costa Rica.

However, the situation wouldn’t be so bad, but for the hypocritical message of the UN Secretary-General, in which he was “extremely saddened by the death of over 74 people and hundreds of others injured in the violence that erupted in the Egyptian city of Port Said.” “Ban Ki-moon has expressed his condolences to the bereaved families and wished a speedy recovery to the injured,” the UN News Center cites the press secretary of the Secretary-General. Ban Ki-moon also expressed confidence that Egyptian authorities will take appropriate measures in response to this tragic incident.

Meanwhile, a civil war is gaining momentum in Libya, another country that fell victim to the “Arab Spring”. In the Libyan capital, Tripoli explosions are bursting out, a dense smoke lies over the city, and an armed clash has erupted between two “revolutionary brigades”.

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Libya, the conflict involves militia of Misurata, an opposition center during the Libyan uprising, and a division from Zintana, another important stronghold of the rebels. The parties exchange fire by the beach Es Saadi near the center of Tripoli. According to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, “The government of Libya has not yet achieved effective control” over the “revolutionary brigades”, groups, which last year took part in the hostilities against the army of Gaddafi. Thus, either the UN is unaware of what is actually happening in Arab countries, or it deliberately turns a blind eye to the prolonged spring. The second viewpoint, unfortunately, is more probable and it is the path by which the UN and the West are determined to take Syria. However, they’ve failed so far: Russia and China voted down the demands of resignation of President Assad not for great love, but for a simple calculation that if intertribal war starts also in Syria, it could spread over to anywhere, even to Russia. The number of Islamist groups openly proclaiming jihad is growing rapidly, and President Barack Obama obviously hurried declaring that by the killing of Osama bin Laden there was put an end to the threat of “Al-Qaeda”. Alas, this threat will linger for a long time, even after the U.S. withdraws its troops from Afghanistan or, what is almost impossible, refrains from its bases in Saudi Arabia. Until then, “revolutions” in Arab countries will continue with a surprising regularity. If the Arab states proved unable to unite against a common enemy – the State of Israel – they will never come to an agreement with each other.

And last of all, most apparently, the thought of success of Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi’s murderers keeps the Egyptian “revolutionaries” awake at night: they must also execute Mubarak, and now Tantawi. Whether they will be happier and richer afterwards is a big issue. Sooner no, than yes.

Karine Ter-Sahakyan