Thread: Clashes erupt amid Cairo protests

They're still a shower...

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/mi...116509885.html

Egypt military mulls its options

Its motives remain unclear as some activists say that it could be looking to stage a 'soft coup'.

Al Jazeera Online Producer
Last Modified: 05 Feb 2011 11:31 GMT


Egyptian army soldiers on the street find their own mandate to be confusing [EPA]

Egypt’s army is likely to decide the fate of the pro-democracy protesters in Tahrir Square, and the short-term future of the country’s government – yet few Egyptians know what to expect, because the army’s objectives and orders remain unclear and sometimes contradictory.

Soldiers seem to have been tasked with crowd control near Tahrir Square, but the army has also stressed in several public statements that it will not fire on civilians. Thus, while the army deployed troops around Tahrir on Thursday – forming a protective ring around pro-democracy protesters – it was quickly forced to withdraw once heavy fighting picked up.

The next day, the defence minister – Mohammad Hussain Tantawi – paid a personal visit to Tahrir Square, meeting with soldiers stationed around it.

The army said on Friday that it would protect foreign journalists covering the rallies in Tahrir Square, even though military intelligence arrested dozens of reporters on Thursday.

Soldiers on the street say their own mandate is confusing.

“We’re supposed to protect the square, protect Tahrir Square,” said one Egyptian soldier on Friday, when the military cordoned off parts of downtown. “But the army needs to stay neutral, the army is from the people.”

Business interests

The military has been a central pillar of the Egyptian state since 1952, when the “Free Officers” movement overthrew the monarchy. All four of Egypt’s post-revolutionary presidents were former military officers, and more than half of the country’s 29 governors have military backgrounds as well.

The military runs a wide variety of businesses – hotels, construction firms, factories – a portfolio which gives it control of a double-digit percentage of Egypt’s economy. That means billions of dollars in annual revenue, an economic base that has propelled some senior members of the army into the ranks of the Egyptian elite.

It is a deeply entrenched interest, in other words, a source of wealth for some officers and employment for hundreds of thousands of Egyptians. The arrangement lasted for decades because the country’s political leadership is so closely linked to the armed forces.

“The military has been a primary beneficiary of this political order and have not had to intervene overtly in politics until now because the system worked relatively well under a brother officer,” said Steven Cook, an expert on Egypt at the US-based Council on Foreign Relations.

And so the prospect of a civilian-led government has perhaps made the army uneasy.

Power struggle

Activists inside the square have attempted to co-opt the army, chanting slogans like “the army and the people are one” and applauding military vehicles as they drive by. But in private conversations, many of them acknowledge that the army’s motives are unclear.

“They [the army] will come out of this stronger,” said Mo’timun Mohammad Mahmoud, an activist in Tahrir Square.

The “council of wise men,” an impromptu group of prominent Egyptians – including Arab League secretary-general Amr Moussa and business tycoon Naguib Sawiris – recommended that Suleiman preside over a transitional government. That would place a former army officer and intelligence chief in charge of the transition.

“There’s going to be a power struggle,” said an activist, Saeed, who has spent the last 11 days in Tahrir Square. “The military does not want to give up its power.”

Similar conversations take place on Cairo’s streets – at least the few streets still accessible to foreign journalists. In a coffeeshop in Cairo’s Agouza neighbourhood earlier this week, several men discussed whether the army was using these protests to push out the president’s son, Gamal Mubarak, and his allies in the ruling National Democratic Party – all of them businessmen with no military background.

“Omar Suleiman is going to take charge,” said Amr, sipping a cup of tea on the morning after Mubarak’s televised address earlier this week. “But he’s old, he’ll spend a few years in office, then someone else from the army will take power.”

And it’s unclear whether the protesters in Tahrir Square would actually reject that outcome. Few of them have articulated a clear vision for a post-Mubarak Egypt, and the leaders of Egypt’s fragmented opposition movement have not agreed on a way forward.

Some activists say the military could be looking to stage a “soft coup” – consolidating its power behind the scenes, maintaining a tense calm downtown, and waiting for the pro-democracy protest movement to lose steam.

“They’re just playing for time,” said Mohammed Hassan in Tahrir Square on Friday, watching the crowd of soldiers lined up outside.

the army needs to shoot down that POS of Murabak,

could send a positive signal to everyone, including Israel

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/...d_dest=Twitter

Opposition divided over Egypt's power shift plan

By Samia Nakhoul
CAIRO | Sat Feb 5, 2011 10:11am EST

CAIRO (Reuters) - Opposition groups demanding the overthrow of Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak have yet to agree on a common position ahead of negotiations with Vice President Omar Suleiman to pull Egypt out of its worst crisis in 30 years, opposition figures said on Saturday.

Suleiman was scheduled to meet prominent independent opposition figures on Saturday to go through the options, which center on how to ensure free and fair presidential elections while sticking to the constitution.

The proposal being promoted by a group of Egyptians calling itself the "The Council of Wise Men" involves Suleiman assuming presidential powers for an interim period pending elections.

But some opposition figures argue that would mean the next presidential election would be held under the same unfair conditions as in previous years. They want to first form a new parliament to change the constitution to pave the way for a presidential vote that is democratic.

A popular uprising has gripped Egypt since January 25 with protesters camping out in central Cairo demanding the departure of Mubarak, even after the president on Tuesday announced he would not seek re-election in September.

Egypt faces the danger of a power vacuum unless some sort of agreement on a transitional government is reached.

THE COUNCIL OF WISE MEN

The "Wise Men" proposal is based on article 139 of the constitution that would allow Mubarak to hand his powers to his deputy while staying on as figurehead.

"Under debate now is article 139 which transfers the president's executive powers to Omar Suleiman and Mubarak remains as a figurehead until September," Diaa Rashwan, an expert at the al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies and one of the "Wise Men," told Reuters.

Handing power to Suleiman offers a potential compromise between protesters' demands for Mubarak to leave office immediately and his stated decision to stay on until the end of his term in September.

Rashwan said all opposition factions and forces, including the influential Muslim Brotherhood, were invited to Saturday's talks. He said some groups have expressed reservations about the president staying on even in a symbolic role.

"Consultations are continuing to find an end to this crisis," he added.

The main opposition groups comprise the Brotherhood, the National Coalition for Change led by Nobel peace laureate and former IAEA head Mohamed ElBaradei, the Kefaya movement and youth represented by the April Sixth Movement, the liberal Wafd party and the leftist Tagammu party.

Even if they all agree on the proposal, article 82 of the constitution could present a legal complication. It says that while the president is able to delegate powers to a deputy, that person is not allowed to request constitutional amendments or dissolve the parliament or shura councils.

If that article holds, it would be impossible for a Suleiman-led administration to carry out the constitutional reforms promised by Mubarak in response to the protests.

Without constitutional changes, a presidential election in September would have to run under the same rules that opposition parties say stack all the cards in favor of Mubarak's ruling party and effectively rule out an effective rival bid.

MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD

The Brotherhood said discussions were still taking place a among the factions to seek a common ground.

"Until now there is no agreement among the various parties and factions on one scenario," Mohammed Morsy, a senior member of the Muslim Brotherhood, told Reuters.

He said his Islamist group was proposing that the head of the Supreme Constitutional Court takes over power as stipulated by the constitution since parliament has been effectively suspended since the unrest erupted last month.

"The head of the supreme court will then call for parliamentary elections and the elected parliament can amend the necessary clauses in the constitution in order to conduct fair and honest presidential elections," Morsy said.

"Most of the clauses in the constitution concern the president ... The president has to go. We are trying to find a constitutional way out if the president is no longer in his post."

Suleiman, 74, was appointed by Mubarak last week, the first time he had appointed a deputy in three decades in charge of the Arab world's most populous country. It is the post Mubarak held before he became president.

Mubarak, 82, said on Thursday he wanted to quit but that he feared his resignation would bring chaos to Egypt.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Saturday that Egypt's political transition should take place "as orderly but as expeditiously as possible" to give enough time for democratic elections to be prepared.

(Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)

BBCWorld BBC Global News

Reuters: President Hosni Mubarak resigns as head of Egypt's ruling party. #Egypt #jan25

Egypt Ruling Party Leadership Resigns; Obama Backs Gradual Transition


AP/The Huffington Post
Posted: 02/ 5/11 11:39 AM

CAIRO - State TV says the top leadership body of Egypt's ruling party, including the president's son Gamal Mubarak and the party secretary-general Safwat el-Sharif, resigned Saturday in a new gesture apparently aimed at convincing anti-government protesters that the regime is serious about reform.

Protesters have shrugged off other concessions by the regime in the past 12 days of unprecedented street demonstrations, saying they will settle for nothing less than the immediate ouster of President Hosni Mubarak, Egypt's ruler for nearly 30 years.

State TV said the ruling party's six-member Steering Committee of the General Secretariat stepped down and was replaced. The council was the party's highest decision-making body, and el-Sharif and other outgoing members were some of the most powerful -- and to many Egyptians, unpopular -- political figures in the regime.

El-Sharif was replaced by Hossam Badrawi, a party figure who had been sidelined within its ranks in recent years because of his sharp criticisms of some policies.

The new appointments to the body were largely young figures, one of the replacements Mohammed Kamal told The Associated Press. "It's a good change. It reflects the mood of change that is sweeping the country," he said.

Gamal Mubarak, who was a member of the Steering Committee, was widely seen as being groomed by his father Hosni Mubarak to succeed him as president. But Vice President Omar Suleiman promised earlier in the week that Gamal would not run for president in elections due in September.

The younger Mubarak was also head of the party's powerful policies committee, where for the past decade he led a campaign of economic liberalization. State TV said Gamal was also removed from that post and replaced by Badrawi.

The announcement was greeted with scorn by some of the tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Cairo's Tahrir Square. Wael Khalil, a 45-year-old activist, said it would "reinforce their (protersers') resolve and increase their confidence because it shows that they are winning, and the regime is retreating inch by inch."

http://www.economist.com/node/180701...n/tw/te/rss/pe

Egypt rises up

The West should celebrate, not fear, the upheaval in Egypt

Democracy in the Arab world

Feb 3rd 2011 | from PRINT EDITION



FROM fear of autocracy through euphoria to fear of chaos: over the past ten days, Egypt has been through an intense emotional arc. The protests that started with a few thousand people on January 25th escalated to a thrilling climax on February 1st, when hundreds of thousands assembled in Cairo’s Tahrir Square to demand the removal of Hosni Mubarak, and then deteriorated into violence as the president’s supporters attacked demonstrators.

But despite the ugly scenes mid-week, the developments in Egypt should be welcomed. A downtrodden region is getting a taste of freedom. In the space of a few miraculous weeks, one Middle Eastern autocrat has fallen, and another, who has kept the Arabs’ mightiest country under his thumb for 30 years, is tottering. The 350m-strong Arab world is abuzz with expectation; its ageing autocrats are suddenly looking shaky. These inspiring events recall the universal truth that no people can be held in bondage for ever.

For some in the West, which has tended to put stability above democracy in its dealings with the Middle East, these developments are disturbing. Now that the protests have sucked the life out of Mr Mubarak’s regime, they argue, the vacuum will be filled not by democrats but by chaos and strife or by the Muslim Brothers, the anti-Western, anti-Israeli opposition. They conclude that America should redouble its efforts to secure a lengthy “managed transition” by shoring up either Mr Mubarak or someone like him.

The Rosetta revolution

That would be wrong. The popular rejection of Mr Mubarak offers the Middle East’s best chance for reform in decades. If the West cannot back Egypt’s people in their quest to determine their own destiny, then its arguments for democracy and human rights elsewhere in the world stand for nothing. Change brings risks—how could it not after so long?—but fewer than the grim stagnation that is the alternative.

Revolutions do not have to be like those in France in 1789, Russia in 1917 or Iran in 1979. The protests sweeping the Middle East have more in common with the popular colour revolutions that changed the world map in the late 20th century: peaceful (until the government’s thugs turned up), popular (no Robespierre or Trotsky running things behind the scenes), and secular (Islam has hardly reared its head). Driven by the power of its citizens, Egypt’s upheaval could lead to a transformation as benign as those in eastern Europe.

Pessimists point out that Egypt has neither the institutions nor the political leadership to ensure a smooth transition. But if it did, the people would not have taken to the streets. No perfectly formed democracy is about to emerge from the detritus of Mr Mubarak’s regime. Disorder seems likely to reign for some time. But Egypt, though poor, has a sophisticated elite, a well-educated middle class and strong sense of national pride. These are good grounds for believing that Egyptians can pull order out of this chaos.

Fear of the Muslim Brotherhood is anyway overdone. It is true that the Brothers produced Ayman al-Zawahiri, now Osama bin Laden’s number two and chief ideologue; the writings of Sayyid Qutb, the Brothers’ leading thinker in the 1950s and 1960s, are certainly intolerant and hostile to the West. Any new Egyptian government, especially if it included the Brothers, would probably be harder on Israel and easier on Hamas, the Islamist offshoot that runs the Gaza Strip between Egypt and Israel, the very existence of which it in theory rejects.

Yet the Brothers are a varied bunch, and more flexible than they were. Though some argue for rescinding Egypt’s peace treaty of 1979 with Israel, they probably would not risk another war. Nor would they obviously win elections. They are respected for their piety, discipline and resilience, but estimates of their popularity hover around 20% and have been falling. If they did better than that, perhaps even winning power at the ballot box, some fear they might never let go. But Islamists participate in elections in countries such as Turkey, Malaysia and Indonesia where democracy has taken hold.

If democracy is to flourish in Egypt, the Brothers must be allowed to compete for power; and the lesson of the past few weeks is that the alternative to democracy is a dead end. For several years now, unable to renew its institutions or find jobs for its youth, Egypt has been becoming more repressive. To leave 85m people to live under dictatorship—burdened by a corrupt and brutal police force, the suppression of the opposition, and the torture of political prisoners—would not just be morally wrong; it would also light the fuse for the next uprising. Some would wish to install a new strongman and wait for him to create the conditions for a secular democracy. But autocrats rarely plan for their own removal, as the sad state of the Middle East shows.

Barack and Mubarak

Despite the undoubted difficulties in the short run, even a messy democracy could eventually be a rich prize—and not just for Egyptians. A democratic Egypt could once again be a beacon to the region. It could help answer the conundrum of how to incorporate Islam in Arab democracies. And, though Israel is understandably fearful of the threats on its borders, an Egyptian government that speaks for the people might one day contribute more to a settlement with the Palestinians than an authoritarian’s “cold peace” ever could.

The West can help win this prize. Its pursuit of stability above democracy has damaged its image, but it can make amends now. America in particular still has influence with Egypt’s political, business and military elite. If it uses that, it could help speed the transition from autocracy through chaos to a new order and improve its standing in the region.

Egypt’s upheaval may make Westerners nervous, but when Egyptians demand freedom and self-determination, they are affirming values that the West lives by. There is no guarantee that Egypt’s revolution will turn out for the best. The only certainty is that autocracy leads to upheaval, and the best guarantor of stability is democracy.

What is the reason for the chaos in these countries ?
When it all comes down to it, its all about:
https://teakdoor.com/world-news/25563...larmingly.html (Food Prices Worldwide Rise Alarmingly)

And believe me....things are going to get worse.
Remember when the price of rice went sky rocketing 2-3 years ago....

Last blog update today from me...

Live blog Feb 5 - Egypt protests | Al Jazeera Blogs

8:12pm Thousands more pro-democracy protesters flock to #Tahrir Square amid reports of possible army evacuation of the square.

8:07pm Hosni Mubarak must stay in power for the time being, says Frank Wisner, Barack Obama's special envoy for Egypt.

We need to get a national consensus around the pre-conditions for the next step forward. The president must stay in office to steer those changes.

8:01pm Al Arabiya television retracts its earlier report that Hosni Mubarak resigned as head of Egypt's ruling party.

7:33pm Al Jazeera's online producer in Cairo reports, the army is no longer negotiating to remove the protesters out off Tahrir Square, the army is still present around the square. Protesters continue to rally in Tahrir Square under the cold and rainy weather.

6:00pm General Hassan El-Rawani, the head of the army's central command, speaks to the masses in Tahrir Square urging them to leave the square, they chant back at him "We are not leaving, He [Mubarak] is leaving".



5:45pm Osama Abd Elaziz, Al Jazeera editor, has been released from custody in Egypt.

5:36pm The leadership of Egypt's ruling National Democratic Party resigns, including Gamal Mubarak, the son of Hosni Mubarak. The new secretary general of the party is Hossam Badrawi, seen as a member of the liberal wing of the party.

5:27pm People inside Tahrir Square fear an apporaching attempt by the military to evacuate the square. A journalist there says that the army is currently not allowing people in or out from the square. The latest visit by the military official was only a media show, she said.

4:35pm 500 protesters have arrived in Tahrir Square from the port city of Suez. The protesters have called for another day of protests tomorrow called "the day of the martyred". Also on Sunday, the Copts in Egypt have called for Sunday mass to take place in Tahrir Square.

4:31pm Latest video from Cairo. It shows the Army removing the burned out police truck that has been sitting on that onramp since Friday; traffic flowing on 6th of October bridge more heavily than any other time in past 12 days, and the museum barricades still up. Its a rainy day in Cairo.



4:21pm A group of foreigners have joined the protesters in Tahrir Square, handing our flowers to the protesters in a sign of solidarity and holding up a banner in English.

3:56pm Hillary Clinton, US secretary of state, warns that the Middle East faces a bumpy road on the transition to democracy.

There are risks with the transition to democracy. (The) transition can backslide into just another authoritarian regime.
Revolutions have overthrown dictators in the name of democracy, only to see the political process hijacked by new autocrats who use violence, deception, and rigged elections to stay in power, or to advance an agenda of extremism.

3:33pm Hundreds are marching in the West Bank city of Ramallah in solidarity with the Egyptian people.

3:12pm A few thousand people have gathered today at the Qa'I'd Ibrahim Mosque in down town Alexandria.

2:52pm Activists in Tahrir Square say that the army has been negotiating the removal of the metal barricades since this morning.

2:10pm: The security situation for journalists in Cairo is still very poor, as the government is cracking down on the media. For their safety, we're not naming any of our reporters on air or in this blog.

For more on how journalists have become targets, watch the latest episode of our programme Listening Post - The media battle for Egypt.

Our web producer says the area immediately around Tahrir Square is mostly safe for journalists. But sporadic clashes continue to rage downtown just 500 metres from the square, and Egyptian contacts say many other residential neighbourhoods are not safe for journalists - gangs operate unofficial checkpoints, and some foreigners have been dragged out of their cars and assaulted.

1:45pm Egyptian security forces arrest an Al Jazeera journalist at Cairo airport.

1:34pm The latest from our web producer in Tahrir Square: "Two tanks now at museum barricade with barrels facing inward. No chance they'll fire, but it's the intimidation factor. No Mubarak people."

1:21pm Watch our report by Mohamed Shokeir on the Egyptian unrest and US media bias

Butters you're sickening with your constant calls for assassination .

grow some balls and a spine, tardette

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011...ak?CMP=twt_atn

Egyptian opposition says no deal until Hosni Mubarak steps down

Pro-democracy campaigners call for further mass protests as government concessions fail to win over Muslim Brotherhood

• Chris McGreal in Cairo and Ewen MacAskill in Washington
• guardian.co.uk, Monday 7 February 2011 20.18 GMT

Egyptian protesters pray in Tahrir Square in Cairo on Monday. Photograph: Lefteris Pitarakis/AP

Leading opposition groups in Egypt, including the Muslim Brotherhood, are standing by a demand that President Hosni Mubarak resign before there can be a political agreement to end two weeks of mass protests against his regime.

Pro-democracy campaigners called another mass demonstration for Tuesday to keep up the pressure on Mubarak to quit in the face of the government's attempts to marginalise the street protests as no longer relevant because political talks are under way.

In Washington, Barack Obama expressed optimism about developments in Egypt. "Obviously Egypt has to negotiate a path, and I think they're making progress," he said.

But there remains considerable suspicion within the opposition about the intentions of Mubarak's vice-president, Omar Suleiman, who is overseeing the political transition and leading the negotiations, particularly after the continued arrest of opposition activists and fresh harassment of the press.

Mubarak's new cabinet, installed after he sacked the previous one in an attempt to placate protesters, held its first meeting today and promptly announced a 15% pay rise for government employees in an apparent attempt to buy support among workers hit by sharply rising food prices.

The government also promised investigations into official corruption and widespread fraud that delivered the ruling party its large victory in last year's parliamentary election. The curfew was relaxed by an hour.

But the government's attempts to return Egypt to normality with a call for a return to work and an end to the demonstrations met with only partial success. Banks opened for a second day but the stock exchange, which the government hoped would be trading, remained closed, as did schools and many businesses. The value of the Egyptian pound fell sharply.

Suleiman met major opposition groups, including the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, yesterday and made a series of concessions in the hope of defusing the protests. But Muslim Brotherhood members who attended the meeting said today that they "will continue in dialogue only if people's demands are respected".

The Islamist group said this required "the immediate resignation of President Mubarak" as well as the dissolving of parliament, the release of political prisoners and the lifting of oppressive emergency laws.

Other opposition leaders, including Mohamed ElBaradei, were sensitive to not being used to undermine the street protests and also said that Mubarak must quit for political change to take place. The leftwing Nasserist party has pulled out of talks until the president resigns. Mubarak has said he intends to remain in office until elections in September.

Groups representing demonstrators across Egypt have said they will not end the protests until Mubarak has gone. They also want to see parliament dissolved and the lifting of the oppressive state of emergency among other measures.

In Tahrir square, Cairo, tens of thousands of demonstrators turned out again today despite the government's attempts to marginalise the protesters by suggesting that with political negotiations underway, they are no longer relevant. The military has said it is under orders to reopen the road through the square, a move that would greatly weaken the demonstrations. Protesters sought to prevent any surprise assault by sleeping inside the tracks of the army's tanks and armoured vehicles.

Unable to remove the demonstrators, the government is apparently trying to diminish their profile. The military was ordered not to permit foreign journalists to enter Tahrir square until they had press cards issued by the Egyptian government, which the information ministry said would not be available for at least two days.

More activists have been arrested, it was reported, including an independent film-maker, Samir Eshra, and Abdel-Karim Nabil Suleiman, who blogs under the name Karim Amer. Amer was the first blogger to be prosecuted in the country when he was jailed for four years in 2007 for insulting Islam and the president. He was released last November.

Washington has had to repeatedly shift policy on Egypt over the last fortnight. Obama called last week for Mubarak to begin the transition to democracy now, but has been forced to accept that he may stay in office until September. In the meantime, it has thrown its support behind Suleiman, to the distress of some of the government's opponents.

The White House spokesman, Robert Gibbs, elaborating on Obama's comment about "progress", backed Suleiman. He said that since the protests began Mubarak had said he would stand down and his son would not seek to succeed him.

Steven Cook, a Middle East specialist at the Council on Foreign Relations, acknowledged the concerns about Suleiman. "He is not known to be a progressive thinker. Nobody would consider him to be a democrat."

Asked about criticism of the Obama administration for its seemingly constant policy switches, Cook said the administration had been dealt this hand when Mubarak nominated Suleiman as his vice-president. "The administration is being hammered but it has no leverage to influence events," Cook said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/...ontent=Twitter

Egyptians stage big protest, dismiss power plan






Protesters wave flags as they chant anti-government slogans during mass demonstrations inside Tahrir Square in Cairo, February 8, 2011.
Credit: Reuters/Dylan Martinez

By Marwa Awad and Andrew Hammond
CAIRO | Tue Feb 8, 2011 8:12pm EST

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptians staged one of their biggest protests yet on Tuesday demanding President Hosni Mubarak step down now, their wrath undiminished by the vice president's announcement of a plan to transfer power.

Protesters, many moved by a Google executive's tearful account of his detention by security forces, poured into Cairo's Tahrir Square to pack a space that can hold a quarter of a million people.

While the government refuses to budge on the demonstrators' main demands, Vice President Omar Suleiman promised there would be no reprisals against the protesters for their three-week-old campaign to eject Mubarak, 82, after 30 years in office.

But they dismissed his promises, accusing the government of playing for time, and swore they would not give up until the current "half revolution" was complete.

By bringing at least as many people onto the streets as the last big demonstration last Friday, the protesters showed their movement has not lost momentum. The next big test will be whether as many people can be mobilized on Friday.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden also added pressure, pressing Suleiman for an orderly transition of power that is "prompt, meaningful, peaceful and legitimate," the White House said, and calling for the immediate lifting of Egypt's emergency law.

Freed Google executive Wael Ghonim addressed the cheering crowd.

"You are the heroes. I am not a hero, you are the heroes," said Ghonim, who broke down as he described being blindfolded during 12 days of detention.

Ghonim has for now at least been thrust to the forefront of a protest movement that has yet to produce a leader. Activists say Ghonim was behind a Facebook group that helped to inspire the wave of protests. His interview also appears to have persuaded many Egyptians to side with the demonstrations.

"Ghonim's tears have moved millions and turned around the views of those who supported (Mubarak) staying," website Masrawy.com wrote two hours after the interview. In that short span, 70,000 people signed up to Facebook pages supporting him.

Later Ghonim expressed his sorrow for the victims of the violence that has claimed an estimated 300 lives.

"I saw young people dying and now the president has a responsibility to see what the people demand," he told Reuters.

Google had launched a service to help Egyptians circumvent government restrictions on using the social network Twitter, enabling them to dial a telephone number and leave a voice mail that would then be sent on the online service.

The state news agency said 34 political prisoners had been released, the first to be set free since Mubarak promised reforms to quell the popular uprising.

The White House called on Egypt to release all arrested protesters and journalists immediately.

"The government has got to stop arresting protesters and journalists, harassment, beatings, detentions of reporters, of activists, of those involved in civil society," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said at a daily news briefing.

Meanwhile, comments by Suleiman who said Egypt was not ready for democracy were "unhelpful," Gibbs said.

FIRST TIMERS

Protesters completely filled Tahrir Square for the third time since the demonstrations began on January 25.

"I came here for the first time today because this cabinet is a failure, Mubarak is still meeting the same ugly faces," said Afaf Naged, 71, a former member of the board of directors of the state-owned National Bank of Egypt. "He can't believe it is over. He is a very stubborn man," she said.

Suleiman, a long-time intelligence chief, led talks this week with opposition groups including the Muslim Brotherhood -- Mubarak's sworn enemies.

In comments broadcast on state television, he said: "A clear road map has been put in place with a set timetable to realize the peaceful and organized transfer of power."

So far the government has conceded little ground in talks and Mubarak has promised only to stand down when his term expires in September.

Many in a country where about 40 percent of people live on less than $2 a day are desperate to return to work and normal life, even some of those wanting to oust Mubarak.

But some telecoms and steel workers were emboldened by the demonstrations and went on strike to demand better wages.

"HALF A REVOLUTION"

People on Tahrir Square were skeptical about the talks and suspicious of Mubarak's motives. Youssef Hussein, a 52-year-old tourist driver from Aswan, held up a sign saying: "Dialogue prolongs the life of the regime and gives it the kiss of life. No dialogue until Mubarak leaves."

"This dialogue is just on paper, it is just political maneuvering to gain time," said Sayed Hagaz from the Nile Delta.

Ayman Farag, a Cairo lawyer, said the protesters' work was far from complete. "What has happened so far is only half a revolution and I hope it will continue to the end," he said.

Suleiman promised the harassment of protesters would end.

"The president emphasized that Egypt's youth deserve the appreciation of the nation and issued a directive to prevent them being pursued, harassed or having their right to freedom of expression taken away," he said.

Tuesday's rally and another called for Friday are tests of the protesters' ability to maintain pressure on Mubarak.

Opposition figures have reported little progress in the talks with the government. The official news agency said Mubarak issued a decree ordering the establishment of a committee to study and propose legal and constitutional amendments.

The Muslim Brotherhood, by far the best-organized opposition group, said on Monday it could quit negotiations if protesters' demands were not met, including the immediate exit of Mubarak.

(Additional reporting by Samia Nakhoul, Dina Zayed, Marwa Awad, Andrew Hammond, Alexander Dziadosz, Yasmine Saleh, Sherine El Madany, and Alison Williams in Cairo; Phil Stewart and David Alexander in Washington; Writing by David Stamp and Jon Hemming; Editing by Ralph Boulton)

Mubarak has no intention to leave, even after September

the crowd is not buying his act anymore,

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/10/wo...nted=2&_r=1&hp

Protest in Egypt Takes a Turn as Workers Go on Strike


Ben Curtis/Associated Press
Striking museum workers outside the Supreme Council of Antiquities in Cairo on Wednesday. More Photos »

By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK

Published: February 9, 2011

CAIRO — Protesters demanding the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak appeared on Wednesday to have recaptured the initiative in their battle with his government, demonstrating a new ability to mobilize thousands to take over Cairo’s streets beyond Tahrir Square and to spark labor unrest.

As reports filtered in of strikes and unrest spreading to other parts of the city and the country, the government seemed to dig in deeper. Mr. Mubarak’s handpicked successor, Vice President Omar Suleiman, warned Tuesday that the only alternative to constitutional talks was a “coup” and added: “We don’t want to deal with Egyptian society with police tools.”

But the pressure on Mr. Mubarak’s government was intensifying, a day after the largest crowd of protesters in two weeks flooded Cairo’s streets and the United States delivered its most specific demands yet, urging swift steps toward democracy. Some of the protesters drew new inspiration from the emotional interview on Egypt’s most popular talk show with Wael Ghonim, the online political organizer who was detained for two weeks.

At dawn on Wednesday, the 16th day of the uprising, hundreds of pro-democracy demonstrators remained camped out at Parliament, where they had marched for the first time on Tuesday. There were reports of thousands demonstrating in several other cities around the country while protesters began to gather again in Tahrir Square, a few blocks from Parliament.

By midday, hundreds of workers from the Health Ministry, adjacent to Parliament and a few hundred yards from Tahrir Square, also took to the streets in a protest whose exact focus was not immediately clear, Interior Ministry officials said.

Violent clashes between opponents and supporters of Mr. Mubarak led to more than 70 injuries in recent days, according to a report by Al Ahram — the flagship government newspaper and a cornerstone of the Egyptian establishment — while government officials said the protests had spread to the previously quiet southern region of Upper Egypt.

In Port Said, a city of 600,000 at the mouth of the Suez Canal, protesters set fire to a government building and occupied the city’s central square. There were unconfirmed reports that police fired live rounds on protesters on Tuesday in El Kharga, 375 miles south of Cairo, resulting in several deaths. Protesters responded by burning police stations and other government buildings on Wednesday, according to wire reports.

On Tuesday, the officials said, thousands protested in the province of Wadi El Jedid. One person died and 61 were injured, including seven from gunfire by the authorities, the officials said. Television images also showed crowds gathering in Alexandria, Egypt’s second-largest city.

Before the reports of those clashes, Human Rights Watch reported that more than 300 people have been killed since Jan. 25.

Increasingly, the political clamor for Mr. Mubarak’s ouster seemed to be complemented by strikes in Cairo and elsewhere.

In the most potentially significant action, about 6,000 workers at five service companies owned by the Suez Canal Authority — a major component of the Egyptian economy — began a sit-in on Tuesday night. There was no immediate suggestion of disruptions to shipping in the canal, a vital international waterway leading from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea. But Egyptian officials said that total traffic declined by 1.6 percent in January, though it was up significantly from last year.

More than 2,000 textile workers and others in Suez demonstrated as well, Al Ahram reported, while in Luxor thousands hurt by the collapse of the tourist industry marched to demand government benefits. There was no immediate independent corroboration of the reports.

At one factory in the textile town of Mahalla, more than striking 1,500 workers blocked roads, continuing a long-running dispute with the owner. And more than 2,000 workers from the Sigma pharmaceutical company in the city of Quesna went on strike while some 5,000 unemployed youth stormed a government building in Aswan, demanding the dismissal of the governor.

For many foreign visitors to Egypt, Aswan is known as a starting point or destination for luxury cruises to and from Luxor on the Nile River. The government’s Ministry of Civil Aviation reported on Wednesday that flights to Egypt had dropped by 70 percent since the protests began.

In Cairo, sanitation workers demonstrated around their headquarters in Dokki.

While state television has focused its coverage on episodes of violence that could spread fear among the wider Egyptian public and prompt calls for the restoration, Al Ahram’s coverage was a departure from its usual practice of avoiding reporting that might embarrass the government.

In the lobby of the newspaper, journalists on Wednesday were in open revolt against the newspaper’s management and editorial policies.
Some called their protest a microcosm of the Egyptian uprising, with young journalists leading demands for better working conditions and less biased coverage. “We want a voice,” said Sara Ramadan, 23, a sports reporter.

The turmoil at the newspaper has already changed editorial content, with the English-language online edition openly criticizing what it called “the warped and falsified coverage by state media” of the protests in Tahrir Square and elsewhere.

The paper described how “more than 500 media figures” issued a statement declaring “their rejection of official media coverage of the January 25 uprising and demanded that Minister of Information Anas El-Fikki step down.”

Members of the Journalists Syndicate moved toward a no-confidence vote against their leader, Makram Mohamed Ahmed, a former Mubarak speech writer, the daily Al Masry Al Youm reported on its English-language Web site.

Several of the dozens of protesters occupying the lobby on Wednesday said the editor of the English-language division heads to the square to join the protests every night, joined by many of the staff.

The scattered protests and labor unrest seemed symptomatic of an emerging trend for some Egyptians to air an array of grievances, some related to the protests and some of an older origin.

The government’s bid to project its willingness to make concessions has had limited success. On Tuesday, Vice President Suleiman announced the creation of a committee of judges and legal scholars to propose constitutional amendments.

But all the members are considered Mubarak loyalists.

The Obama administration was continuing its efforts to influence a transition. Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. called Mr. Suleiman on Tuesday to ask him to lift the 30-year emergency law that the government has used to suppress and imprison opposition leaders, to stop imprisoning protesters and journalists, and to invite demonstrators to help develop a specific timetable for opening up the political process. He also asked Mr. Suleiman to open talks on Egypt’s political future to a wider range of opposition members.

Mr. Suleiman has said only that Egypt will remove the emergency law when the situation justifies its repeal, and the harassment and arrest of journalists and human rights activists has continued even in the last few days.

And while he raised the prospect of a coup, he also said, “we want to avoid that — meaning uncalculated and hasty steps that produce more irrationality.”

“There will be no ending of the regime, nor a coup, because that means chaos,” Mr. Suleiman said. And he warned the protesters not to attempt more civil disobedience, calling it “extremely dangerous.” He added, “We absolutely do not tolerate it.”

On Tuesday , young organizers guiding the movement from a tent city inside Tahrir Square, or Liberation Square, showed the discipline and stamina that they say will help them outlast Mr. Mubarak and Mr. Suleiman, even if their revolt devolves into a war of attrition.

Many in the crowd, for example, said they had turned out because organizers had spread the word over loudspeakers and online media for demonstrators to concentrate their efforts on just Tuesdays and Fridays, enabling their supporters to rest in between. And while Mr. Mubarak remains in office, they say, there is no turning back.

Many in the crowd said discussed the inspiration they drew from the interview with the freed organizer, Mr. Ghonim. A Google executive, he had been the anonymous administrator of a Facebook group that enlisted tens of thousands to oppose the Mubarak government by publicizing a young Egyptian’s beating death at the hands of its reviled police force.

In the tearful conversation on Egypt’s Dream TV, Mr. Ghonim told the story of his “kidnapping,” secret imprisonment in blindfolded isolation for 12 days and determination to overturn Egypt’s authoritarian government. Both Mr. Ghonim and his interviewer, Mona el-Shazly, appeared in Tahrir Square Tuesday to cheer on the revolt.

Some protesters said they saw the broadcast as a potential turning point in a propaganda war that has so far gone badly against them, with the state-run television network and newspapers portraying the crowds in Tahrir Square as a dwindling band of obstructionists doing the bidding of foreign interests.

Organizers had hinted in recent days that they intended to expand out of the square to keep the pressure on the government. Then, around 3 p.m., a bearded man with a bullhorn led a procession around the tanks guarding the square and down several blocks to the Parliament. Many of the protesters still wore bandages on their heads from a 12-hour war of rocks and stones against Mubarak loyalists a few days before.

“Parliament is a great pressure point,” said Ahmed el-Droubi, a biologist. “What we need to do is unite this protest and Tahrir, and that is just the first step. Then we will expand further until Mr. Mubarak gets the point.”

Back in Tahrir Square, more members of the Egyptian elite continued to turn up in support of the protestors, including the pop star Shireen Abdel Wahab and the soccer goalkeeper Nader al-Sayed. Brigades of university employees and telephone company employees joined the protests, as did a column of legal scholars in formal black robes.

Many at the protests buttonholed Americans to express deep disappointment with President Obama, shaking their heads at his ambiguous messages about an orderly transition. They warned that the country risked incurring a resentment from the Egyptian people that could last long after Mr. Mubarak is gone.

Reporting was contributed by Kareem Fahim, Anthony Shadid, Mona El-Naggar, Thanassis Cambanis and Liam Stack.

Live blog Feb 9 - Egypt protests

By Al Jazeera Staff in

• Middle East

on February 8th, 2011.


From our headquarters in Doha, we keep you updated on all things Egypt, with reporting from Al Jazeera staff in Cairo and Alexandria.

(All times are local in Egypt, GMT+2)

8:07pm Protesters continue to surround the parliament building in Cairo, while soldiers guard the building, which, at the moment, holds no cabinet members. A protester told Al Jazeera's Jackie Rowland that occupying the area around parliament was another phase of the uprising. Tahrir Square, he said, was already occupied, and protesters would only leave by one of two means: If the government listened to what their demands and dissolved or by "bloodbath".


(Reuters)

7:18pm The situation seems to have heated up in Ismailiya, where protesters stormed a government building and set fire to the governor's car. AFP reports that the protesters, angry that their requests for better housing had been ignored, came from a "nearby slum" where they'd lived in "makeshift huts for 15 years." Police, notes the agency, have "largely disappeared" from the town since the protests started more than two weeks ago.

6:47pm There are reports of continuing crackdowns in Wadi al-Jadid.

Attributing the information to Egyptian security officials, Reuters reports that several protesters suffered gunshot wounds and one was killed when 3,000 protesters took to the streets.

AFP news agency reportes three dead and 100 are wounded in the clashes that have been going on for two days. The protesters, said the report, retaliated:

The furious mob responded by burning seven official buildings, including two police stations and a police barracks, a court house and the local headquarters of President Hosni Mubarak's ruling National Democratic Party.

Iran's PressTV, meanwhile, reoirts that three protesters have been killed and hundreds have been wounded.

6:07pm Al Jazeera's Shirine Tadros, reporting from Cairo, said that the members of the labour unions - some of them from independent, non-state unions - have joined the protesters, calling for Mubrak to step down.
Here's a wrap of the day, by Al Jazeera's Alan Fisher, also in Cairo:





5:31pm A doctor who treated some of those wounded in last night's clashes in Wadi al-Jadid said he treated four people, all of whom had been shot in the chest. All four, he said, survived.

5:10pm Reuters reports that the Egytian army is "beefing up security" on the road leading up to the presidential palace in Cairo.

4:14pm The AP news agency reports that protesters are responding angrily to Suleiman's statement on Tuesday, in which the vice presidnet said that continued protests would not be tolerated and would trigger a "coup" :

'He is threatening to impose martial law, which means everybody in the square will be smashed,' said Abdul-Rahman Samir, a spokesman for a coalition of the five main youth groups behind protests in Cairo's Tahrir Square. 'But what would he do with the rest of the 70 million Egyptians who will follow us afterward.'
Suleiman is creating 'a disastrous scenario,' Samir said. 'We are striking and we will protest and we will not negotiate until Mubarak steps down. Whoever wants to threaten us, then let them do so.'

4:00pm Al Jazeera's Stephanie Dekker reports that the the labour strikes are growing, with at least 6,000 in Cairo alone. She said that while the unions aren't calling for Mubarak to step down, they're using the opportunity to show their displeasure with the government and their wages.

Meanwhile Jamal Elshayyal reports that thousands have gathered in Alexandria (below), bringing the city to a standstill. He says a memo, said to be issued by the ministery of interior, is being circulated in the crowd. The memo encourages the police force to "hire thugs" to attack anti-government protesters. Elshayyal says he has not been able to confirm the authenticity of the memo, but that it's causing a stir among protesters.


2:00pm Wael Ghonim, the activist who was recently released from custody in Egypt, says on Twitter that a policeman informed him that General Habib Ibrahim El Adly, the former Interior Minister of Egypt, ordered the police to fire live bullets at protesters.

An officer just called me to tell me: I escaped from the service after ElAdly asked us to fire live bullets randomly on protesters. #Jan25

1:45pm Human Rights Watch says that 302 people have been killed since the start of Egypt's pro-democracy uprising last month. Based on visits to a number of hospitals in Egypt, the organisation said that records show the death toll has reached 232 in Cairo, 52 in Alexandria and 18 in Suez.

Egypt’s health minister said the organisation’s statement is wrong and that his ministry will issue official statistics within days.

1:32pm Update: two confirmed dead and dozens injured in Al-Wadi al-Jadid - this area includes five widely scattered clusters of oases and the entire southwestern quadrant of the country.

12:48pm Thirty-four political prisoners, including members of the Muslim Brotherhood, were released on Tuesday, according to Egyptian state television.

The government seems to be scrambling under pressure from international governments and pro-democracy supporters, Al Jazeera's reporter in Cairo said. She added however, that there are still an unknown number of people missing, including activists who took part in the recent protests.

12:08pm In footage posted on YouTube, Egyptian pop star and actor Tamer Hosni breaks down in tears and apologises for not throwing his full support behind the pro-democracy protesters from the start.




11:51am Who's afraid of the Muslim Brothers - Mohammed Khan, a political analyst based in the UAE, says that Western fears of 'Islamism' have been aided by Arab autocrats seeking to prolong their iron-fisted rule.

11:33am More strikes now taking place in Mahalla and Suez. About 10,000 workers at various factories in different cities over the past 24 hours have gone on strike. Most are demanding better wages and conditions but they are also adding momentum to pro-democracy protestors.

11:19am The Daily Maverick, a South African website, launches Free African Media - what it says "will be the platform for the exchange of ideas and a place to plan new efforts" for media on the continent.

11:10am Protesters still camped out in Tahrir Square, while others gather outside the Egyptian parliament and the headquarters of the People's Assembly and Shura Council.

11:00pm Suleiman: The CIA's man in Cairo - Lisa Hajjar, co-editor of Jadaliyya, says "Suleiman, a friend to the US and reported torturer, has long been touted as a presidential successor".

10:34pm Pew Research Center reports that the turmoil in the Middle East has registered as the biggest international story for the US in the past four years - surpassing any coverage of the Iraq war, the Haiti earthquake and the conflict in Afghanistan.

"driven by televised images, the protests and power struggle in Egypt filled 56% of the newshole studied ... it was easily the biggest overseas story in a single week since 2007"

10:11am Egypt's Berlin Wall moment - Richard Falk, professor at Princeton University, says that the recent uprisings do not exist merely in a historical vacuum, but must be considered within a geopolitical context.

10:07am Egypt protests remain strong - demonstrations enter sixteenth day, following the largest gathering so far in Cairo's Tahrir Square. Crowds also out in huge numbers in Alexandria, Egypt's second largest city.

10:00am Egypt's three independent unions are due to demonstrate at 11am in front of the state-backed General Federation of State Unions. This move by the unions is a major boost for the pro-democracy activists.

9:05am Egyptian newspaper, Youm7, reports that violence in Al-Wadi al-Jadid continued until early hours of this morning. Protesters burned at least one police car and police are reported to have opened fire on them. At least 8 people are reported to be seriously injured, and unconfirmed reports of several dead. (Pic: Youm7)



7:29am Al Jazeera reporter says that Tamer Hosni, a popular Egyptian singer and actor, was in Tahrir Square early this morning. He tried to address the crowd, but people shouted him down and the army had to intervene, firing warning shots in the air.

Hosni was whisked out of the square swiftly - this came after he spoke on national television, urging protesters to go home. It is not clear whether he came to the square to say the same thing, or if he had changed his views.

6:58pm Latest from Kharga Oasis in Al-Wadi al-Jadid is that police have cut off electricity and water since around 4:00am. Protesters say that police set a gas station on fire after retreating from violent clashes with the protesters. The protesters set fire to the NDP headquarters. Al Jazeera cannot verify any of this information at this stage. Stay tuned for more details.

6:40am Twitter user Omar Ghannam says that witnesses in the Al-Wadi al-Jadid governorate are reporting that there are clashes between the police and pro-democracy protesters:

Also the police set a lot of convicts from the Wadi Prison free to scare the people, keeping only detainees of political nature. The latest news was that the convicts are set to attack the museum, and the protesters are preparing molotovs for defense.

6:00am A warm account of a night in Tahrir Square. Video from the New York Times.

5:50am Spectacular photography of life in Tahrir continue to roll in. Though taken a few days back, this set by Andrew Burton is definitely worth a peek.

5:00am The United States has urged Egypt to immediately lift an emergency law and launch democratic reforms. However, Suleiman warned that hasty reforms could spell "chaos" in Egypt, the Arab world's most populous nation.4:00am Al Jazeera speaks to Mona Seif, one of the protesters gathered infront of the parliament building in Cairo, calling for a dissolution of the assembly:



2:30am The latest image of Cairo's Tahrir Square - the epicentre of the demonstrations:



2:15am Al Jazeera's online producer captures the moment at the Egypt parliament sit-in when protesters scaled the main gate to erect their "Closed" sign:

Going to resume with blog posting, as today is seeing a huge increase in protests after Mubarak's failure to resign yesterday...

Egypt unrest: Protesters surround government buildings in Suez


Protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square erupt in anger after President Hosni Mubarak indicates he will not resign.

February 11th, 2011
06:17 AM ET

The latest developments, as confirmed by CNN, on the uprising in Egypt. Demonstrators have taken to the streets of Egypt's major cities for two weeks to demand an end to President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule. Check out our full coverage and the latest tweets from CNN correspondents on the ground.

[Update 2:24 p.m. in Cairo, 7:24 a.m. ET] Thousands of demonstrators protesting against President Hosni Mubarak were surrounding the headquarters of the Suez government compound after Friday prayers, witnesses said.

[Update 1:17 p.m. in Cairo, 6:17 a.m. ET] So many demonstrators had swarmed around the state broadcasting corporation's headquarters in Cairo that Nile TV said employees were prevented from entering the building.

[Update 12:40 p.m. Friday in Cairo, 5:40 a.m. Friday ET] Egypt's top military leaders released a statement Friday saying the nation's emergency rule will end when the current crisis passes, state television reported. The leaders said they will ensure that elections planned for September are free and fair.

Finance Minister Samir Radwan said Friday that Mubarak's "perception is that he is trying to help the process of a smooth transition." Radwan denied that the military is interfering in government affairs. Radwan said the nation risks higher budget deficits if the protests continue.

[Update 11:02 a.m. Friday in Cairo, 4:48 a.m. Friday ET] Egyptian Vice President Omar Suleiman has asked Prime Minster Ahmed Shafiq to appoint a deputy prime minister to "lead the national dialogue," Egyptian state television reported Friday.

The presidential palace in Cairo is surrounded by soldiers, police cars and military tanks. The roads leading up to the palace were shut down Friday and the army is setting up a barbed-wire barricade.

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces is meeting and will issue a statement Friday, Egypt's state news agency MENA reported.

The Egyptian army will issue a new statement Friday, state-run Nile TV reported. Nile TV said hundreds of protesters gathered around its offices on Friday and prevented employees from entering.

[Update 8:02 a.m. Friday in Cairo, 1:02 a.m. Friday ET] Anti-government chants rang out in Cairo's Tahrir Square as protesters streamed in Friday morning for an 18th day of demonstrations demanding Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's resignation. Troops and tanks stood guard as protesters continued calls for an end to the leader's nearly 30-year rule.

[Update 6:22 a.m. Friday in Cairo, 11:22 p.m. Thursday ET] More large anti-government protests are expected Friday in Cairo, Alexandria and elsewhere in Egypt, despite Mubarak's announcement late Thursday that he'd delegate his powers to Vice President Omar Suleiman.

[Update 6:20 a.m. Friday in Cairo, 11:20 p.m. Thursday ET] U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement late Thursday that the United Nations "stands ready to assist" in the process of ensuring "genuine and inclusive dialogue with all stakeholders" in order to expedite a "transparent, orderly and peaceful transition that meets the legitimate aspirations of the Egyptian people."

[Update 4:29 a.m. in Cairo, 9:29 p.m. ET] - Following Mubarak's Thursday night speech, thousands of demonstrators in Cairo's Tahrir Square have been showing their defiance to his rule by lying down on the streets and sidewalks under blankets for a massive "sleep in." On one wide sidewalk, about a hundred protesters lay next to each other under blankets.

Meanwhile, a group of volunteers were working early Friday to construct makeshift homes and buildings in the square, using plywood and wooden boards. They included shower stalls and bathrooms, activist Sharif Makawi said.

[Update 3:30 a.m. in Cairo, 8:30 p.m. ET] Long a pillar of Hosni Mubarak's three-decade rule over Egypt, Omar Suleiman now sits at the top of the pyramid as its de facto president. Read more about Suleiman and his gradual rise to the top.

Brush up on Mubarak's speech here and find Suleiman's speech here.

Update 3 a.m. in Cairo, 8 p.m. ET] U.S. President Barack Obama urged the Egyptian government "to move swiftly to explain the changes that have been made, and to spell out in clear and unambiguous language" the process that will lead to democracy.

"The Egyptian people have been told that there was a transition of authority, but it is not yet clear that this transition is immediate, meaningful or sufficient. Too many Egyptians remain unconvinced that the government is serious about a genuine transition to democracy, and it is the responsibility of the government to speak clearly to the Egyptian people and the world," he said in a statement. "The Egyptian government must put forward a credible, concrete and unequivocal path toward genuine democracy, and they have not yet seized that opportunity."

Obama did not call on Mubarak to step down, but he did call for emergency law to be lifted while negotiations continue among the government, opposition parties and civil society on the country's future.

bencnn benwedeman

Crowd swelling dramatically in front of State TV. Estimate 15,000...and growing. coming from #Tahrir, 6 Oct bridge. #Jan25 #Egypt

Live blog Feb 11 - Egypt protests

By Al Jazeera Staff in

• Middle East

on February 10th, 2011.


From our headquarters in Doha, we keep you updated on all things Egypt, with reporting from Al Jazeera staff in Cairo and Alexandria.

(All times are local in Egypt, GMT+2)

13:30pm Thousands of pro-democracy protesters in Mahala, Tanta, Alexandria, Ismailia, and Suez took to the streets chanting "Mubarak must go".



13:00pm Photo sent in by Al Jazeera English reporter during Friday prayers in Egypt's second largest city Alexandria.After the sermon was over, Al Jazeera English reporter, tweets:

"Another friday, another massive sea of hundreds of thousands, all calling for freedom on the streets of Alexandria!"


12:20pm Pro-democracy protesters continue to pour into Tahrir [Liberation] Square in Cairo. They call for president Mubarak to step down. The Imam during the Friday prayer in the square urged the people to stay strong and stick to their demands.



12:15am Reuters news agency has reported Egypt's army said it would lift emergency law "as soon as current circumstances end," conceding a key demand to anti-government protesters but indicating it wanted them off the streets.

It also guaranteed a free and fair presidential election, constitutional changes and protection of the nation.

11:27am Vice-President Omar Suleiman has told Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq to appoint a deputy premier from a council of "wise men" who have been in talks with the government. The state news agency says the deputy prime minister would take responsibility for "a national dialogue".

11:22am A few thousand protesters have gathered in Alexandria. Our correspondent says the crowd is expected to "increase massively" after midday prayers.

11:09am Massive crowds in Tahrir are chanting "the people and the army are hand in hand".

10:43am Photo sent in by journalism student [at]ghazalairshad from Tahrir Square with caption "broken bones but not broken spirit".



10:28am The Associated Press news agency has reported that a former Israeli Cabinet minister who has long known Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president, says Mubarak is looking for an honourable way out.

Binyamin Ben-Eliezer of Israel's Labor Party says he spoke with Mubarak just hours before the president's speech yesterday in which he transferred authorities to his deputy but refused to step down.

Ben-Eliezer told Army Radio that Mubarak knew "this was the end of the road" and wanted only to "leave in an honorable fashion."

10:07am Egypt state TV reported that they have not been able to enter or leave the building since last night.

9:51am An army officer joining protests in Cairo's Tahrir Square says 15 other middle-ranking officers have also gone over to the demonstrators.

"The armed forces' solidarity movement with the people has begun," Major Ahmed Ali Shouman tells Reuters.

9:24am The state news agency MENA says Egyptian military leaders have held an "important"' meeting and will issue a statement to the people. MENA says the chief commander and defence minister Hussein Tantawi chaired the meeting of the Armed Forces Supreme Council.

8:50am Mona Seif, an activist, posted this image of pro-democracy protesters this morning outside the national TV building. She wrote on her Twitter feed: A new morning, a new liberated area, national tv building #Jan25

that pic is an incredible sea of humanity .

one wonders what planet Mubarak lives on?

BBCBreaking BBC Breaking News

Persistent reports President Mubarak off to his Sharm El Sheikh palace. Far from Cairo, but still in #Egypt - via [at]FrankRGardner

So Mubarak gets out of Cairo....why and for what? Interesting move. Certainly there's a lot of anger towards him today. I wouldn't want to be him!

What are the military going to do next...?