CAIRO, Egypt -- On Sunday, May 4, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak celebrated his 80th birthday. On the front pages of government-owned newspapers, oversized pictures of the president were displayed with an extensive list of his accomplishments since acquiring power from the late Answar Sadat in 1981. Nevertheless, on that same bright, humid morning, the presence of five olive-green riot patrol vehicles parked just a few feet from one of Cairo's busiest squares, Talat Al Harb, attested that all is not well in Mubarak's domain. Inside the police vehicle, officers with black uniforms and matching hats sat yawning and smoking cigarettes as typically heavy, chaotic traffic overwhelmed the streets. But what had been planned as a much anticipated follow up to an April 6 strike that shook Cairo with protests for several days never really materialized. Few shunned work, stayed home and wore black, as the organizers of the silent strike had called for: a not entirely surprising result in a country where every step forward towards change is often followed with one step backwards.
Egyptians Take One Step Toward Change, One Step Back
