• 05:36
  • Wednesday ,01 June 2011
العربية

Youth groups meet SCAF Wed

By-EG

Home News

00:06

Wednesday ,01 June 2011

Youth groups meet SCAF Wed

CAIRO �" Most youth groups, formed after the January 25 revolution in which they played a major role, are expected on Wednesday to attend a question-and-answer meeting with the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces upon the latter's invitation.

However, some other groups, comprising the Revolution's Youth Coalition, have boycotted the meeting until "certain basic demands are met". 
   The SCAF late Monday invited the youth coalitions for dialogue at the Galaa Theatre in Heliopolis in eastern Cairo (on Wednesday) today. The statement sassed each coalition to send 10 representatives saying that the theatre can only hold 1,000 people.
   "We have decided to take part in the dialogue for there are hundreds of questions awaiting answers from the Military Council. We believe all problems facing Egypt cannot be solved through street protests," the Revolution's Youth Union, a group of revolutionaries, said in a statement on its Facebook account.
  The group hopes the meeting session with the SCAF be different from other "waves of futile dialogue" that proved a failure.
   "We Are All Khaled Said", a Facebook page established by revolutionary Google executive Wael Ghoneim, asked its subscribers to post proposed questions to be forwarded to the military rulers.
   The group received around 850 questions, which centred on the delay in holding trials for figures of the former regime, the delay in dissolving the municipal councils, reasons insecurity in the country as well as scrapping the military trials for civilians. 
   "The delay in taking decisions on trials, media change and insecurity is the main issue to be tackled," read one post on the page, which urged all youth coalitions to take part in today's dialogue. 
   Ziad el-Oleimi of the Revolution's Youth Coalition said his group was on the extreme side against this dialogue. "This dialogue should respect youth's demands. It is not enough the SCAF listens to us. It should also take real steps," said el-Oleimi. 
   The spectacular fall of Hosni Mubarak's reggime after 18 days of nationwide protests triggered the creation of dozens of youth coalitions and groups, which succeeded in joining thousands of the 'silent majority'.
   Abdel Aziz Hegazi, the head of the so-called National Dialogue Committee, urged youth coalition to merge and have a board in order to have a pressing power in the future.