Clinton Urges Egypt to Allow Protests
Bloomberg reports:
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today urged the Egyptian government to allow peaceful protests to continue and not to block social media sites like Twitter Inc. and Facebook used by anti-government demonstrators.
“We call on all parties to exercise restraint and refrain from violence, ” she told reporters in Washington. “We urge the Egyptian authorities not to prevent peaceful protests nor block communications, including on social media sites.”
Egyptian authorities banned protests and tightened security after thousands of people took to the streets of Cairo and major cities yesterday to denounce President Hosni Mubarak, inspired by the revolt that toppled Tunisia’s leader, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. The U.S. today urged the Egyptian authorities to release journalists detained during a crackdown on protests.
“We are aware that certain reporters have been detained, a couple of AP reporters,” said Philip J. Crowley, the State Department spokesman, referring to the Associated Press. “We have raised this issue already with the ministry of foreign affairs. We are calling for the release of journalists.”
Twitter, which was used to help coordinate the Tunisian protests, yesterday said access to its services was blocked in Egypt.
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