UCLA STUDENT SPEAKS OUT AT PROTEST
By Christopher J. McCoyStaff Writer[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH9simZEs0c?rel=0&w=480&h=390]PROSPECT:Were you were able to talk to your family back in Egypt?OMAR:It took ages to be able to reach them, the internet was cut, I managed to call them on the land line, and right now when I reached them they say the police aren't doing anything, there is looting everywhere. So right now what people are doing now is standing underneath their houses and anyone who has any type of weapon , a gun a stick a knife a sword, that's all people are doing right now.PROSPECT:What do you think will happen in the next couple of weeks?OMAR:It's anyone's guess. Because if you would have asked me would this have happened last week, I would have thought this was impossible. People with these numbers rising against them? No fear at all. No one knows what is going to happen. I think the pressure's on him [Mubarak]. I really don't think he'll be able to run [for office] this November's elections.PROSPECT:What do most Egyptians want to happen?OMAR:As you see, most people want him to get down and out now. I don't know if we have a direct replacement for him right now. So I would say, we have candidates run for election in November; he would just not run again. And definitely his son is not running, that's for sure.PROSPECT:What do you think about Mohammed El Baradei?OMAR:I think he's a good leader. I don't know if he's the right person for the job. I like the way he's been talking, and actually he came back to Egypt a couple of days ago to join the protests, and I think a lot of people are backing him. He's a really good leader.PROSPECT:What do you think about the Muslim Brotherhood's role in all this?OMAR:I don't know. I think it would be a disaster if they took control. We don't need fundamentalism or extremism, that's the opposite of where we're supposed to be going.PROSPECT:What do you think President Obama and the United States of America?OMAR:They should speak up, America speaks up and intervenes in cases where it has interests even though Mubarak is an ally, he has to show he has American morals, the right to free speech, to protest in the streets without getting beat up, the right to vote for a President, I think you should speak up a lot.PROSPECT:Anything else you want to say to your friends back home?OMAR:God Bless Egypt. I hope we can get through this.
