Thousands of Egyptians are still in Tahrir Square for a 16th day of anti-government protests. The regime of Hosni Mubarak has backed off, for now, from the violent crackdowns of last week. But with another mass demonstration scheduled for Friday and the regime's patience waning, Egyptians fear the return of the Batalgiya -- essentially, hired thugs using makeshift weapons to enforce the government's orders.
Last week, plainclothes pro-regime goons flooded into Cairo on horse and camelback, using everything from Molotov cocktails to ripped-up masonry to bash in the heads of demonstrators. Many of those were members of the Batalgiya, which Sam Dagher of the Wall Street Journal explains is the "plural of a word of Turkish origin meaning the ax-wielding one." A Batalgi typically comes armed with "batons and other rudimentary weapons, and at times wield swords, butcher knives and even firearms."
Dagher shadows one Baltalgi, Saeed, a former detainee in his 30s who sympathizes with the protesters and feels remorseful about his old goonish ways. Saeed confirmed what many demonstrators last week suspected: that Egyptian cops offered to let prisoners out of jail if they'd agree to attack the protesters. He says he didn't take part in the suppression himself, and blamed his Batalgiya work on his financial and political hardships: "I consider myself a human being lacking sufficient rights."
No one knows how many *Baltalgiya *took part in the riots last week. But Dagher reports that the suspicion of their use is widespread. Demonstrators report seeing mysterious minibuses pick up thugs from Batalgiya-heavy neighborhoods like Cairo's Ezbet Khairallah, sort of like a day labor trade for mercenaries. In a nearby area, a "half-dozen baton-wielding" men pulled a man from his car and beat him when he hesitated to say if he was pro-regime, Dagher writes.
The contrast with the demonstrators couldn't be more stark. A Google executive who anonymously administered the We Are All Khalid Said page on Facebook, an online epicenter of the protest movement, told CNN today that he's "ready to die" to bring change to Egypt. Wael Ghonim was released on Monday by Egyptian authorities after a week-long disappearance and he's become a hero to the protesters. Earlier today he tweeted, "We are hoping that the 'Friday of Martyrs' will be the world largest funeral to bid farewell to 300 Egyptians."
Omar Suleiman, the spychief turned vice president, may be looking to put the demonstrators to the test again. He said Wednesday that the demonstrators need to accept the regime's timetables for transitioning power under elections scheduled for August or September or risk inciting a coup. If that's essentially a warning shot across the protesters' bow, chances are the "axe-wielders" will be among those on the streets trying to destroy Egypt's democracy movement.
Photo: Wikimedia
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