Chicagoans With Egyptian Ties Watch The Unrest In Cairo
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Egyptian government may have engineered a blackout on Internet and cell phones to keep protestors from communicating, but one call from a Chicagoan in Cairo got through.
CBS 2's Mike Parker spoke with Ahmed Rehab, of the local Council on Islamic American Relations. As an Egyptian American with dual citizenship, he said he wanted to see the turmoil for himself.
Rehab said he and 100,000 others in the streets of Cairo "wrote history, storming the streets and taking over the public squares to declare our intent for freedom, democracy and dignity for all Egyptians."
Another Chicago man, local businessman Muhummad Khalil, watched the protests and the government response from Chicago. Khalil is an Egyptian-American.
"Thirty years of anger is what you're seeing on the TV," he said. "It's very genuine. People are just fed up and they finally get their chance, you know, to take down the bully."
Khalil said Egypt is a police state. "The police can arrest you at anytime, they can detain you without any reason."
Local supporters of the uprising plan to demonstrate from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. outside the Egyptian Consulate in Chicago at 500 N. Michigan Ave.
