Egypt quashes Facbook-driven revolt

CAIRO, May 18 (UPI) -- A group of mostly young Egyptians was trying to organize an uprising using the Internet until the government cracked-down on the dissidents, the dissidents say.

Ahmed Maher, 27, was hopeful that technology would be the avenue to a freer Egypt, he told The Washington Post. He and others were calling for an end to President Hosni Mubarak's 27-year rule, the newspaper reported Sunday.

Maher was using the Internet networking site Facebook to organize against the government. He was among 500 Egyptians arrested recently during two months of widespread political activism in Egypt.

Since late March, 74,000 people had registered on the group's Facebook page, which was created and run by Maher and a few other young Egyptians, most of them neophyte activists, the newspaper said.

"Ninety-five percent of the members of the Facebook group have no previous political party -- we are not a political group," Maher said. "Our main job is that the people have awareness of their rights and know how to break their handcuffs and remove their shackles."

The group faced challengers including infiltration by the government, illiteracy in about one-fourth of the Egyptian population and the fact that only 8 percent of the country has access to the Web, the Post said.