Group of men beat up Egyptian opposition leaders

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2005/February/middleeast_February762.xml§ion=middleeast

CAIRO - A group of 22 men broke up an Egyptian opposition party meeting in a Cairo hotel and beat up at least three leading members of the Ghad (Tomorrow) Party, a party official said on Friday. snip

“Fifteen thugs in white ’training suits’, accompanying seven men wearing plain civilian suits yet armed with handguns, stormed the hall, interrupted the speaker and started insulting the panel,” Nawara said in a statement.

“When Nawara attempted to ask them to be seated ... about 10 of the thugs attacked him, threw chairs, glasses and cups at him then got closer and started to beat him on the head, chest and back. They smashed his spectacles and attempted to strangle him with his own tie, then scarf,” it added.

Police, who are posted at the door of every large Egyptian hotel, did not turn up to help for 60 minutes, it added.

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[theHandpuppet]

1. Ah yes, another strongarm bully in the ME....

... that Herr George can point to as a model ally. Perhaps he's taken inspiration from the likes of Mubarak and Musharraf (not to mention the House of Saud) on how to scuttle term limits!