Anderson Cooper & Egyptian Actor Khalid Abdalla Discuss The Lies & Brutality Of Mubarak's Regime

Run time: 06:13 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ebjh_R3C3Ww   Posted on YouTube: February 08, 2011 By YouTube Member: Naskeleng Views on YouTube: 43   Posted on DU: February 09, 2011 By DU Member: Turborama Views on DU: 459

 

COOPER: I want to introduce you to one of the protestors who have been set up in Liberation Square for several days. His name is Khalid Abdalla. He's an actor of Egyptian heritage. He starred in the critically acclaimed movie, "The Kite Runner" in 2007. Take a look.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: We should go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: I have to look at one more thing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: Better to forget.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GRAPHIC: I don't want to forget any more.

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COOPER: Abdalla has been making a movie in Cairo for the last few years. He's been in the middle of the protests since the end of January. He says he's seen it all in Liberation Square, including a battle -- the battle on Wednesday. But that it's important for him to continue to be there. I spoke to him a short time ago via Skype.

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COOPER: Also, the vice president now of the country, first vice president that Mubarak has had, has not lifted the state of emergency that has been in effect for the entire time that Mubarak has been in office. And the vice president himself was head of the secret -- of the intelligence division. So...

ABDALLA: Yes, I mean -- there's no doubt about it. He's personally responsible. Him and the prime minister are personally responsible for what happened last Wednesday.

I mean, it's a complete joke really, that while they were saying that they're interested in, you know, changing the country and doing all of those things, they were preparing -- I mean, almost as the speeches were being spoken, they were preparing to round people up, to attack them and kill them. And indeed I saw some of those people killed myself. I mean, I saw a guy who took a bullet to his head, had his brain seeping through his forehead.

The people in the square will not forget what has happened, because it will be a disaster for this country if Hosni Mubarak was removed and someone just came in his place but the police state and all of the tools of the state remained as they were.

COOPER: Besides the fact that they have tortured and continued to -- and arrested people without any justification, I think what's important to call this what it is. These people are lying. These people in power in Egypt are lying.

On the one hand they're saying the journalists are welcome. On the other hand they're rounding them up. They're beating them. They're -- they're holding them.

On the one hand, they're saying, "We're not controlling these mobs that are attacking peaceful demonstrators." On the other hand, as soon as they want it to stop, it stops. They're saying, "Well, we didn't -- what can we do to stop these attacks?" As soon as they wanted to, they sent in military who put up some barbed wire. And lo and behold, it all stopped. So the idea that they weren't in control of this and calling the shots, to me just seems blatantly a lie.

ABDALLA: It's a complete lie. I mean, and one of the advances, one of the good things that's coming out of the length of time people that are being -- that people are staying in Medina Tahrir, is that those lies are having time to be revealed while we're still there, which means our popular movement can grow.

I mean, some of the lies reached the level of grotesquerie. I mean, one of the -- I mean, this one's almost a joke. You know, in one of the papers for the republic, they even got the -- where they had a picture of Medina Tahrir in their paper, and underneath it, wrote that the people in the square were protesters supporting Mubarak. I mean, it's to the point of -- it's to the point of absolute ridiculousness.

COOPER: Khalid, you're a famous actor in Egypt. You've been in movies that have been seen around the world. You have a vested interest in, frankly, maintaining the order. You have a good career; you have a good life. You're able to travel.

Do you worry about talking like you have been about being in with the protesters? Do you worry that, as the world attention moves on somewhere else and these people stay in power, whether or not Mubarak's in front of the cameras or not, that you could be targeted?

ABDALLA: Well, I -- I don't care. I mean, I know why I'm here, and I know why I want to be here. And I mean, I come from -- I come from three generations that have been fighting for social reform and fiscal freedoms in this country. So I mean, I feel to a certain extent, there's a responsibility to my family to be here.

I also know that I'm here in a just cause. And here we have the discourse of democracy, of freedom, of social justice, of political reform being changed in the Middle East for all of us, and I'm extremely proud to be here for those reasons.

COOPER: Khalid Abdalla, I appreciate you being with us. Stay safe, and we'll check back in with you.

ABDALLA: Thank you very much.

Full Transcript: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1102/07/acd.01.html