Abdul Rahman Mansour Mastermind behind Egypt Uprising

Abdul Rahman Mansour Mastermind behind Egypt Uprising

Much controversy has risen lately about the mastermind behind Egypt’s uprising as Shady Ghazali Harb, member of the January 25 coalition, revealed that activist and journalist Abdel Rahman Mansour is one of the administrators of the “We are all Khaled Said" (Kolona Khaled Said) Facebook page.

 

Mansour, a 24-year-old journalism graduate, is one of the founders of Wikileaks Arabic and has been blogging since 2005. ElBaradei’s supporters know him very well because of his activities. Information was with held as Mansour has been performing his military service since 17 January.

 

As for the creation of the Facebook page, Ahmed saleh, an activist and friend of Mansour, stated that Mansour and Ghoneim got to know each other through Mansour’s work for Al-Jazeera; an acquaintance that was further developed following Mohamed ElBaradei’s return to Egypt.

 

He created his Facebook page in June 2010 as it was devoted to publish everything related to the murder of Khaled Said, a 28-year-old man from Alexandria who was beat to death by two policemen. Authorities claimed that Said died of asphyxiation as a result of swallowing a plastic roll full of drugs and that the injuries sustained during his arrest did not cause his death. According to activists, Khaled was killed “after he posted a video on the Internet of officers sharing the spoils from a drug bust among themselves.“

 

Salih, a lawyer working a doctorate in law at Toronto University Canada, has emphasized that Wael created the Facebook page in June 2010, and was then joined by Abdul-Rahman as "administrator" after only 3 days.

 

Saleh discontinued his studies and returned to Egypt to live temporarily in Egypt and work with the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), as well as to assist in organizing Khalid Saeed’s demonstrations.

 

Although Saleh had been in contact with Khalid Saeed’s administration for many months on the Internet, he identified him by chance.

 

"I met Abdul Rahman with members of the popular campaign in support of ElBaradei", Saleh said. A prominent activist also said, "This is the activist who told me that Abdul Rahman is Khalid Saeed’s administrator".

 

Close ties forged between Saleh and Abdel-Rahman have contributed to the development of the page and Abdel-Rahman reveled the identity of another "admin" his name, Wael Ghoneim; Google`s regional marekting director in the Middle East, who is an Egyptian working in Dubai and one of the creators of the Facebook page calling for successful protests and sit-ins in various forms, such as wearing black and sending SMS messages in which they reproach police officers who have accounts on Facebook.

 

The Egyptian uprising was inspired by Tunisia’s upheaval and it was suggested to Abdul Rahman to be dated 25 January because it is a national police day and Khalid Saeed’s page was called on for mass protests in association with national political powers and this contributed to the emergence of mass protests against the Egyptian government.

 

 

Ayash made sure to add that in the run-up to the day, many activists, including lawyers from Al-Nadeem Center, contributed to and supported their efforts.

 

Mansour and Ghoneim had agreed not to reveal their identities but with Ghoneim‘s arrest on Thursday, 27 January it became necessary for them to do so.

 

Mustafa al-Najjar, one of ElBaradei’s signature campaign leaders and a close friend of Wael Ghoneim, was part of a delegation of 6 young people who met with former Vice President, Omar Suleiman, at the negotiating table on February 6 to offer youth demands, stressing that they are not authorized for each of the anti-government protesters in Tahrir Square, but as "representatives of movements". 

 

New Facebook groups have since been created under the names “We are all Abdel Rahman Mansour” and “Abdel Rahman Mansour” in appreciation of his vital role in the Egyptian revolution and requesting his safety.

 

Mansour was due for his two-day leave yesterday and while he has so far not been censored by the Army, his friends and family doubt he will be given a holiday.