The standards word used by Egyptian (and Arab) media for the armed goons of Mubarak is the word "baltaji" (بلطجي)
The word is one of those structured during Ottoman times where an Arabic word is mixed with a Turkish form: as in Qahwaji (for coffee person) or `Arbaji (a cart operator or sais--the latter is from the Arabic sa'is, probably borrowed from Crusades' times), etc. Balta is a small ax, so a baltaji (or baltachi in the Turkish pronunciation) is somebody who wields a small ax.
