Wikileak:U.S. secretly supported Egyptian opposition groups

The U.S. government secretly supported leading opposition figures in Egypt who have been preparing to topple President Hosni Mubarak for the past three years, according to diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks.

Riot police clash with protesters in Cairo, Egypt, January 26, 2011.

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The UK newspaper, the Daily Telegraph reported that the U.S. embassy in Cairo assisted a young Egyptian dissident in attending a US-sponsored summit in New York, while concealing his identity from Egyptian state police. Upon the young man’s return to Cairo in December 2008, he informed American diplomats that opposition groups had devised a plan to overthrow Mubarak and put in place a democratic government in 2011. In the cables, the dissident in question alleged that “several opposition forces” had “agreed to support an unwritten plan for a transition to a parliamentary democracy, involving a weakened presidency and an empowered prime minister and parliament, before the scheduled 2011 presidential elections”.

Apparently, this young man has been arrested by Egyptian police during the current unrest. The cables also revealed that US diplomats urged Mubarak’s regime to free other dissidents. The documents appear to indicate how thin US support for Mubarak really is.

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Mubarak, cool as a cucumber while his country crumbles, even said that he sympathizes with the plight of the poor and jobless in Egypt. Unlike the former president of Tunisia Ben Ali (or the former Shah of Iran thirty years ago), Mubarak refuses to flee into exile. This suggests to me that he doesn’t fear for his safety and that he has the support of his military or secret police (who have historically inflicted extreme violence on Egyptian dissidents). In a way, Mubarak reminds me of Don Vito Corleone, the fictional Godfather of movie lore.

Like Corleone, Mubarak exudes an air of imperious placidity and cooperation (while commanding a fearsome army of killers and enforcers behind him). Also, like the godfather, he seems committed to having his son Gamal succeed him when he dies. Mubarak’s claim of aligning himself with Egypt’s poor is particularly interesting – didn’t Michael Corleone(the next don) himself state that one should keep ones friends close, but his enemies closer?

Egypt riots knock Wall St to biggest drop in 6 months

Stocks suffered their biggest one-day loss in nearly six months on Friday as anti-government rioting in Egypt prompted investors to flee to less risky assets to ride out the turmoil.

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, January 28, 2011.

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Increased instability in the Middle East drove up the CBOE Volatility Index <.VIX>, the stock market's fear gauge, as investors scrambled for protective positions."The market hates uncertainties, especially geopolitical ones, and based on how that shapes up throughout the weekend (in Egypt), next week's trading will be impacted," said Thomas Nyheim, portfolio manager for Christiana Bank & Trust Co in Greenville, Delaware.

Trading volume was the highest of the year at 9.97 billion shares on the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, compared to last year's estimated daily average of 8.47 billion shares.

The market drop ended the Dow's eight-week winning streak and pushed the S&P 500 below its 14-day moving average for the first time in two months. Disappointing results from Amazon.com and Ford further added to the gloom.Developments in the Middle East could be a trigger for investors to sell at a time when many expected a correction after a market rally of about 18 percent since September.

"I think the next two to three weeks, the crisis in Egypt and potentially across the Middle East, might be an excuse for a big selloff of 5 to 10 percent," said Keith Wirtz, president and chief investment officer at Fifth Third Asset Management in Cincinnati, Ohio.Nasdaq quotations for its main stock indexes suffered an outage of nearly one hour at the open, causing confusion among traders. Nasdaq OMX Group blamed a glitch with its global index data service.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> ended down 166.13 points, or 1.39 percent, at 11,823.70. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was down 23.20 points, or 1.79 percent, at 1,276.34. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> fell 68.39 points, or 2.48 percent, at 2,686.89.For the week, the Dow fell 0.4 percent, the S&P lost 0.5 percent and the Nasdaq dipped 0.1 percent.Amazon.com shares slipped 7.2 percent to $171.14, a day after the online retailer recorded revenue below the consensus view.Ford Motor Co slumped 13.4 percent to $16.27 after a steep drop in quarterly profit. Rival automaker General Motors Co also lost 5.4 percent to $36.60.Dow component Microsoft Corp also fell 3.9 percent to $27.75 a day after its profit dipped.In Egypt, President Hosni Mubarak sent troops and armoredcars into cities in an attempt to quell street fighting and mass protests, and medical sources said at least five protesters had been killed and 870 wounded.

The VIX settled up 24.1 percent at 20.04. The percentage gain was the largest since May 20. U.S. Treasuries prices and the dollar -- assets considered safe compared to stocks -- rallied.U.S. crude futures rose 4.4 percent to $89.43 a barrel as the protests in Egypt threatened Middle East stability. Oil companies with operations in the region were hit, including Apache Corp and Occidental Petroleum Corp .Apache shares were down 1.3 percent at $144.84 and Occidental Petroleum fell 3.3 percent to $93.81.Equities garnered support from data showing the U.S. economy grew at a 3.2 percent rate in the fourth quarter as consumer spending accelerated.

Declining stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 2,533 to 484. On the Nasdaq, decliners beat advancers by 2,221 to 413.(Additional reporting by Jennifer Ablan; Editing by Kenneth Barry)