Egyptian uprising - updates and discussion

Egypt's frustrated young wait for their lives to begin, and dream of revolution

Tuesday's demonstrations will take the form of a nationwide set of anti-Mubarak protests, dubbed "revolution day" by opposition activists who hope that Tunisia's uprising will embolden the vast number of individuals like Shamad and persuade them that the time is right to make their voices heard.

"In every neighbourhood in the country there is a pressure point which the government is afraid of and which will be brought to the surface on Tuesday," said Ahmed al-Gheity, 23, a doctor and one of the regional organisers of "revolution day". On the event's Facebook page, tens of thousands of supporters have posted comments suggesting Ben Ali's departure could be the precursor for Mubarak's downfall. "If Tunisia can do it, why can't we?" read one. "We will either start living or start dying on 25 January."

Weary of the formal political arena, where even superficial opposition parties now find themselves blocked off from legitimate avenues of dissent (last November's blatantly rigged parliamentary ballot delivered a 93% majority to supporters of the ruling NDP), urban young Egyptians are instead carving out their own spaces in which alternative voices can be heard. If all 75,000 of those who have made an online promise to attend turn up on Tuesday, it will represent an organisational triumph. But such an outcome appears unlikely.

"At the informal level – blogs, social media – there's been an explosion of political activity, entirely disconnected from the official mechanisms of government," said Amr Hamzawy, research director at the Carnegie Middle East Centre in Beirut. Yet this dynamism has largely failed to spill on to the street, where Mubarak's ubiquitous security apparatus still maintains near-total control. The only sector of society that has succeeded in physically occupying areas controlled by the state is Egypt's beleaguered workforce, which has confronted the regime over a range of economic grievances and succeeded in extracting concessions.

"This is where the regime is most fearful," said Gamila Ismail, a dissident politician who unsuccessfully challenged the NDP in the recent elections. "They don't want the young, online activists with their political demands linking up and inspiring the labour force who are campaigning for a better standard of living. If youth in Cairo and Alexandria are connecting with Mahalla, then the government knows it is in trouble."

Sixty miles north of the capital, the textile town of El Mahalla el-Kubra has been the militant spearhead of an unprecedented wave of strikes and sit-ins sweeping Egypt over the last five years. In April 2008 a walkout by factory workers led to three people being shot dead by police.

The road to Mahalla passes through Cairo's urban hinterlands, which bleed messily into the Nile delta and surrounding desert – here the high walls of fast-proliferating gated communities for the rich look down on the redbrick clusters of ashwa'iyat, informal slum areas that are now home to 60% of the city's population. This is a clear window on to the hallmark of Mubarak's reign – a colossal appropriation of land and capital by the political and business elite.

Young residents of the private compounds live in a parallel universe from their slum counterparts, but both share a basic detachment from campaigns for political change of the sort planned for Tuesday. "Of course, we are all excited about Tunisia; the people there threw off their shackles and I pray we could do the same," said Mahmoud Abdel Halim, 29, a construction worker. "But I don't see how we could repeat Tunisia here. I haven't heard about any protests, and even if I had it's not like I can afford to stop work and go and get arrested."

Off Mahalla's main square, however, the picture was different. Last Friday a group of young people from across the delta was carefully preparing a series of Tunisian flags, pinning each to a short wooden pole. Others sketched out placards expressing Egypt's solidarity with Tunisia and condemning government corruption, police torture and poverty. When about 50 of them took to the streets in the late afternoon, handing out pamphlets advertising the protests on Tuesday, they were met with a bemused but generally positive response.

"I've never been on anything like this before, although my brother's friend was attacked by police back in April 2008," said one 26-year-old motorcyclist. "Circumstances have got pretty bad now, and I think changing the big sharks at the top is probably the only way we can make things better. I'll try and make it."...

liveblog

1125 GMT: Ahram Online says "at least 2000 protesters" heading from 26 July Street to Galaa Street in downtown Cairo. More than 1000 have reached Abdel Moneim Riyadh Square.

The website also confirms Web chatter of the arrest of a number of activists at a Cilantro coffeeshop in Mohandessin, before they headed out for a protest.

1122 GMT: Tim Marshall of Britain's Sky News in Cairo reports, "Several hundred outside supreme court now. Peaceful."

Another observer claims, "Protesters break cordon marching freely down street. Moving towards 26 July [Square]."

1105 GMT: More than 100 protesters have started a demonstration in front of the lawyers syndicate in Ramses Street in Cairo.

1100 GMT: An Ahram Online reporter in Alexandria denies earlier reports of protests in Moharram Bek, but says security presence is strong at Rassafa Square.

Police have broken up the Dar el-Salam protest, south of Cairo. No one was detained.

Police have moved against anti-government protesters in Assuit, according to a human rights lawyer Gamal Eid.

Police are searching passengers at the underground metro stations of Matariya, Isaaf, and Tahrir in Cairo. There is a report that Nasser station is closed.

1035 GMT: Reports of a protest in the Maadi section of Cairo, with youth chanting, “With our blood and soul, we sacrifice our country.”

Authorities have set up security cordons at entrances to the city of Mahalla, west of Cairo.

1030 GMT: From a reporter in Cairo: "Within seconds of filming, even with a stills camera, police stop us."

1020 GMT: 12:06 PM Security forces close down the headquarters of the El Ghad Party, headed by Ayman Nour, in Talaat Harb Square in Cairo.

Security forces have set up barriers in the streets adjacent to the press syndicate, lawyers syndicate, and the attorney's building.

Around 300 protesters are demonstrating south of Rafah, chanting against the Emergency Law and calling for the release of detainees.

1015 GMT: A protest has started in Moharram Bek, marching to el-Rasafa Street, in Alexandria.

1010 GMT: Tunisia's government has authorised $355 million for poor rural regions from where protests built against the Ben Ali regime.

Regional Development Minister Ahmed Nejib Chebbi, a former opposition leader, announced the grant on a talk show late on Monday. He said the money would go towards public works projects, reimburse businesses that have suffered damage, and compensate the families of dozens of "martyrs" killed in the protests.

1004 GMT: From Twitter: "A policeman is roaming the halls of the Al Jazeera building in Cairo trying to find out names of people who will cover the Jan. 25 protest."

1000 GMT: There is chatter of "interesting things" happening in Quweisna in the Delta, with workers walking out and residents launching a civil disobedience campaign.

0950 GMT: The latest on the Egyptian situation....

Confirmation that Central Security Forces trucks and police vans are deployed in key locations, including in front of the Supreme Court, and in side streets. Sheikh Rihan Street, where the Ministry of Interior is located, is closed.

There is also a large security presence in Mansoura, with police deploying armored vehicles around the stadium.Police are taking away the IDs of journalists in Mahalla.

First reports have come in of protest, however, with "hundreds" demonstrating in in Dar El Salam, south of Cairo, chanting for "bread and freedom". A protest in front of Cairo University has been cancelled, with faculty instead participating in a demonstration in front of the Supreme Court.

The US and Canadian embassies have asked their citizens in Cairo to avoid expected locations of protests.

0940 GMT: Both Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood and the National Association for Change, headed by Mohamed ElBaradei say that their members have been interrogated and threatened by security forces to prevent them from participating in today's protests.

“A large number of officials in the Brotherhood’s administrative offices in many governorates were summoned by security forces and were threatened with detainment if they participate in the Jan. 25 protests,” said Mohamed El-Beltagy, a prominent Brotherhood member. “Threatening us is completely unacceptable and a useless attempt by security forces. We will continue to advocate the people’s demands until they are implemented by the regime.”

Mustafa Al-Naggar of the National Association for Change asserted, “Security forces verbally attacked our members and interrogated them for hours to obtain any details regarding the protests scheduled for Jan. 25.”

0750 GMT: A useful article in Al Masry Al Youm explains the history of Police Day: it celebrates how Egyptian officers refused to surrender to British military forces in Ismailia on 25 January 1952, More than 40 were killed in the subsequent battle.

It is the headline that is striking, however: "Egypt's Police --- From Liberators to Oppressors".

0745 GMT: First reports from Cairo, "Shobra metro station, Masara, surrounded by CSF [security force] trucks. Police on every street entrance in Garden City, also in front of Parliament." There are also reports of restrictions on mobile phone and Internet service.

Another activist says simply, "Streets are empty. Police are everywhere." One observer counted 33 riot trucks and vans in Tahair Square.

Streets around the Ministry of Interior are closed.

0710 GMT: We will be watching developments in Egypt, where protesters --- how many? --- will turn out for "a day of revolution" over torture, poverty, and unemployment. Demands include the firing of the Minister of Interior, the cancelling of the perpetual State of Emergency that suspends civil liberties, and a term limit on the Presidency to end the 30-year rule of Hosni Mubarak.

State security officials have said the protests are illegal will be dealt with "strictly".

Updates on Egyptian Chronicles blog

• Down Town Cairo is locked by heavy presence of police forces and their vehicles
• There is a presence in security forces in the major squares. 
• The first anti-regime protest has allegedly started unexpectedly from populated Dar Salam area , people are chanting " Long live Egypt " ,"freedom and bread is all what Egyptian wants" 
• There is a news that a pro-regime protest is roaming Alexandria. 
• There is a protest led by teachers allegedly in Sharkia governorate. 
• There is a huge security presence in Down town Mansoura. 
• The Mahalla entrance and exist are being locked down by heavy security forces. 
• The location of the protest at Cairo university has been changed , the new location will be announced at 1 PM 
• The American and Canadian embassies have allegedly warned their citizens from engaging in these protests
• The security at Mahalla is taking the IDs of journalists. 
• The CSF closed all ways to the ministry of interior and to Abdeen Palace plus Korba 
• Ayman Nour is heading a protest at Bab Al-Sharia according to his twitter account. 
• To follow the updates on twitter : you can simply follow the Hash tag : #Jan25 
• You can also follow the updates at "We are all Khaled Said group" and "RNN"
• There are alleged protests in Asuit and Al Arish. 
• This is unconfirmed news that the security will allow the peaceful march from Mustafa Mahmoud which will start 2 PM
• 8 girl activists among them a journalist in Islam Online was arrested from Cilantro Gamat Al Doul. 
• There are reportedly not less than 2000 Egyptians heading to Al Tahrir square , it is big scene according to eye witnesses
• The internet connection "TE Data " is so bad so I am mostly on my iPhone 
• According to El Badil twitter account the protest in Qena has started. 
• According to Al masry Al youm the protest in North Sinai has started. 
• According to eye witnesses in Alexandria huge number of people stayed at the mosques to start protesting "supposedly now" 
• Hamdeen Sabhi is heading a protest in Kaft Al Sheikh. 
• There is a protest reportedly taking place in Ismailia 
• Al Masry Al Youm is broadcasting a live stream from down town. 
• The police has failed in attacking the protesters at Tahrir and the protest there is getting larger and larger. The protesters have managed to cross the security cordons and seemed to be heading to Kasr Al Nil bridge 
• The entrance and exists of Cairo are being locked. 
• Moments and the protest at Gamat Al Doul starts 

Unrest in the Middle East: live updates (Guardian)

1.04pm:
Some more from Jack Shenker in Cairo where the crowds seem to be growing, leaving police confused as to how to respond:

Remarkable scenes in Cairo as thousands and thousands are marching with apparent freedom on the streets after years of seeing every anti-government protest immediately shut down by police. Riot troops are following close behind but seem uncertain as to what to do - three major demonstrations are now ongoing in different parts of the Egyptian capital, all of whom have broken through police cordons, but there seems to be little coordination between protest leaders about what to do next.

I'm downtown outside the offices of the government newspapers where hundreds are chanting 'Mubarak, your plane is waiting' and appealing for passers-by to join them, many of whom are taking up the offer.

Ahmed Ashraf, a 26 year old bank analyst, told me this was his first protest, and that he had been inspired by events in Tunisia. "We are the ones controlling the streets today, not the regime," he said. "I feel so free - things can't stay the same after this."

Egypt braced for 'day of revolution' protests (Guardian)

Police Day protests in Egypt (al-bab.com)

I won't be able to do any updates until tonight so if anyone feels like following this...

Thanks to everyone for the updates.

From the Guardian:

Thousands protest against President Hosni Mubarak - video

Egypt protests are breaking new ground

Cairo protesters in violent clashes with police

Tens of thousands of Egyptians took to the streets today demanding the end of President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule in mass demonstrations inspired by the toppling of the government in Tunisia.

The capital, Cairo, was the scene of violent clashes as thousands of protesters from separate demonstrations converged on Tahrir Square, the central plaza. Demostrators waved Egyptian and Tunisian flags, hauled down a billboard for the ruling NDP party and chanted "depart Mubarak" at the 82-year-old leader, who will face elections later this year. One policeman died in the Cairo violence.

There were protests around the country, and two demonstrators were reported to have been killed in Suez, east of Cairo…

From Al Jazeera:

Egypt anti-government protests escalate

Two Egyptian civilians and a police officer have died after a wave of unusually large anti-government demonstrations swept across the country.

The two civilians died in the eastern city of Suez, according an interior ministry offical. One, who had respiratory problems, died after inhaling tear gas; the other died after being hit with a rock thrown during a protest, the official said.

Meanwhile, in Cairo, a police officer died after being hit in the head with a rock during the capital's biggest protest in Tahrir Square in the city centre, the official said.

...

Some protesters in downtown Cairo hurled rocks and climbed atop an armoured police truck.

Police responded to the demonstrators blasts from a water cannon, and set upon crowds with batons and acrid clouds of tear gas to clear them crying out "Down with Mubarak'' and demanding an end to the country's grinding poverty.

Police have also used rubber bullets against protesters, with some injuries, reported Rawya Rageh, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Cairo...

Egypt update, January 25 (al-bab.com)

Well, who would have believed it? Today's protests in Egypt far exceeded my own expectations and, no doubt, the expectations of the organisers and the Egyptian authorities. The Mubarak regime, even if it's not headed for oblivion just yet, must surely be shaken to the core.

For blow-by-blow accounts of the events as they unfolded, see AhramOnline, Enduring America and the Guardian.

I wrote this morning that today would be the first real test of the "Tunisia effect" – and we can now safely assume that it does exist. Without Tunisia, the protests in Egypt would have had nothing like the support they got. Today, someone coined the word "Tunisami" (Tunis + tsunami) and there were chants of "Ya Mubarak, Ya Mubarak, al-Saudia fi intizaarak" – Mubarak, Mubarak, Saudi Arabia (the retirement home for ex-dictators) is waiting for you.

I also suggested this morning that today would be a test of the "new" Arab politics (largely informal and organised online) against the old, institutional, opposition politics. Case proven. The new politics has shown itself to be viable.

Maybe I should add, too, that it was a test of the new media versus the old media. Again, case proven. The old media – even al-Jazeera – looked slow on their feet and too preoccupied with the less important game of musical chairs in Lebanon.

As for the new media, this morning, Wael Abbas, the most famous Egyptian blogger, was out and about in Cairo, with a live webcam mounted in a car. The independent newspaper, al-Masry al-Youm, was also streaming live video from the streets. Twitter (hashtag #jan25) went into overdrive. Citizen journalists were everywhere – someone counted seven of them recording the scene on their mobile phones at just one location during a single 21-second film clip.

Late this afternoon there were signs that some kind of internet crackdown had begun, with reports that Twitter had been blocked. At present, though, it's not entirely clear what is going in that area.

The protests themselves started off peacefully, though the tear gas, plastic bullets (and possibly live bullets too) came later. The security forces were out in strength and thought they had planned well. But in Cairo they were wrong-footed by the protesters who had announced their own plans but then changed them at the last minute. By staging multiple demonstrations in different places they also seem to have kept the security forces on the hop.

In fact, for much of the day the security forces don't seem to have behaved with quite the gusto that Mubarak might have expected of them. There were reports of demonstrators being allowed through police lines in some cases, and of demonstrators fraternising with the police. One woman was photographed giving them roses.
At present, no one can say with any certainty where all this will lead. But I suspect today's events will leave the protesters feeling emboldened rather than intimidated. 

[youtube]YtTUsqra-MU[/youtube]
Man against a water cannon

Ahram Online live updates

5:45 PM Concerted wave after wave of tear gas fired at and into protesters on Tahrir Square as Central Security in riot gear charge them away from Parliament.

6:00 PM Crowds regroup to maintain occupation of Tahrir Square as a heavy presence of Central Security Forces cordon off Qasr El-Aini Street.

7:10 PM Central Security Forces ring protesters outside the High Court on Ramses Street.

7:46 PM Police fire tear gas at protesters in Sidi Gaber, Alexandria.

8:05 PM An uneasy calm prevails in Tahrir Square as both security forces and tens of thousands of protesters hold their positions. Ahram Online reporter says that protesters are now sitting down in the square discussing whether or not to continue the protest through the night. 

9:00 PM Protesters had dispersed in front of the High Court on Ramses Street

9:30 PM  According to medical sources, two protesters are dead in Suez, and according to Police sources one Central Security Forces soldier is dead in clashes in  Cairo.

9: 35 PM Clashes between Police and protesters in Alexandria. Corniche Road opened.

Enduring America liveblog

2118 GMT: Tim Marshall of Britain's Sky TV reports, "Just back from [Tahrir] square. Saw 100 young thugs in plainclothes with truncheons behind police lines. They were with the police."

2115 GMT: A report says 4000 people are coming from Giza to join the crowd in Tahrir Square in Cairo.

2050 GMT: A claim is circulating that 7000 protesters are having a sit-in at Misr Station in Alexandria tonight.

2045 GMT: Ahram Online is reporting clashes tonight between police and protesters in Alexandria (see video in separate entry).

2025 GMT: The website of Egypt's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been knocked off-line. Earlier today the Minister of Interior website was taken down (see 1610 GMT).

The website of the ruling National Democratic Party also appears to have been limited by attack.

1959 GMT: State TV is reporting one police officer killed in central Cairo.

1955 GMT: Journalist Mohamed Abdelfattah has been detained and beaten. He reported the experience via Twitter.

1953 GMT: Protesters have dispersed from the demonstration outside the Supreme Court. This leaves the mass protest in Tahrir Square as the focus of attention tonight.

1951 GMT: News services are reporting two people killed during protests in the Suez district in northeastern Cairo.

1948 GMT: Ben Wedeman of CNN reports with concern, "Huge number of riot police deploying next to Egyptian museum, troop trucks moving in."

1935 GMT: A participant reports, "All telecommunications down in Tahrir Square. We can't call, update Twitter. I went out to update you and get updates."

There were continuing clashes, with arrests and injuries, near Parliament and in Tahrir Square as protesters threw rocks and police charged and fired tear gas.

Protesters have maintained their occupation of Tahrir Square as security forces cordon them off. Forces have also put a ring around outside the High Court on Ramses Street.

In Alexandria, police fired tear gas at protesters in Sidi Gaber, Alexandria.

1915 GMT: Returning from an academic break, I find that Al Jazeera is reporting the Egypt Minister of Interior is blaming the Muslim Brotherhood for today's protests.

1700 GMT: Reports escalating of clashes in Tahrir Square in Cairo between police and protesters.

We will be back in two hours, after an academic break, to bring you the latest developments.

1635 GMT: There is a report of a journalist being hit with a rubber bullet in Alexandria.

1630 GMT: Ben Wedeman of CNN writes, "Large groups of plainclothed cops headed to heart of Tahrir [Square]."

1625 GMT: The latest situation in Egypt....

This afternoon, there were clashes and arrests in Sayyeda Zeinab, Shubra, and Tahrir Square in Cairo, with protesters attacking a police armoured vehichle that was firing tear gas canisters. More protests broke out in Mahalla broke out, with factory workers joining in.

The area in front of the Mogamaa Tahrir was described as a "war zone" with protesters throwing rocks at the police, amidst water cannons and tear gas. Protesters toppled and rolled over a police kiosk in Qasr El Aini Street, and clashes continued around the Parliament.

1610 GMT: The Anonymous collective has knocked the website of Egypt's Ministry of Interior off-line.

1550 GMT: CNN's Ben Wedeman writes, "Thousands in tahrir singing national anthem....No police in sight."

1545 GMT: Tim Marshall of Britain's Sky TV in Cairo: "Another 1000 protestors just turned up. It's dusk." Protesters are moving towards Parliament.

One report says 32 people arrested on Qasr-Eini St, 5 in Tahrir Square, 8 in Tera’a Boulaqia in Shubra, 7 in Port Said, 9 in Mansoura.

1530 GMT: A claim from an activist in Cairo: "We are in Tahrir [Square]. At least 7 thousand. Tahrir is ours."

1520 GMT: Back from an academic break to find that Al Jazeera are estimating 20,000 protesters in Alexandria.
There are reports that demonstrators on Cairo's Tahrir (Liberation Avenue) protesters are said to plan on spending the night.

Reports are growing that Egyptian authorities are shutting down Internet services, including Twitter. There is disruption of cell phone service. In a quick test of both claims, Ben Wedeman of CNN reports --- via Twitter --- "Walking toward Parliament. Can't call out."

1350 GMT: Protests are swelling near 26 July Street in downtown Cairo. Police tried to use water cannon; at least has been destroyed by protesters.

1345 GMT: Security forces are moving to protect the Ministry of Interior, as protestors move throughout the city. At least 12 armored vehicles were moving to the area.

Marches are growing in the Shubra section of Cairo.

In Mansoura, demonstrators are marching on State Security Police headquarters. In Giza, thousands are now marching from Dokki to Tahrir Square. Thousands in Ataba are chanting against the interior minister and the president.

1340 GMT: The latest developments in Egypt....

There are now protests have broken out in Aswan. Police have sent in armored vehicles, but there are no clashes yet. In Mansoura, protesters have marched on the town's security directorate building.

Marchers in downtown Cairo have gone through Wekalet El Balah area. Clashes are taking place between protesters and the Central Security Forces near the High Court. Ramses street has been completely shut down by the police.

A protest has started in Meit Uqba, Giza. In Mahalla, a protest march is heading to the Shawn Square. Sinai protesters have shut down the road to the airport used by the Multinational Force Observers.

Egyptian Chronicles blog: 'a real new hope'

Cairo slideshow

From the Guardian live updates

10.19pm: My colleague Jack Shenker is still on the ground in Cairo, but reports that his phone access has been blocked, as has internet access in many areas. Here's his latest file from the Egyptian capital:

As midnight approaches in Cairo thousands of protesters are still occupying the Tahrir Square, vowing to remain in place until the government falls. News has reached Egyptians here of deaths in Suez and the capital, as well as unconfirmed reports that Gamal Mubarak – the president's wildly unpopular son and presumed heir apparent – has fled to London, and they appear more determined than ever to hold their ground.
"We will stay here all night, all week if necessary," said Youssef Hisham, a 25 year old filmmaker. "There are too many people on the streets for the police to charge – if they did, it would be a massacre. I came here today not as the representative of any political party, but simply in the name of Egypt. We have liberated the heart of the country, and Mubarak now knows that his people want him gone."


As fresh waves of protesters broke through police cordons to join the throng in Tahrir, a festival atmosphere took hold – groups were cheered as they arrived carrying blankets and food, and demonstrators pooled money together to buy water and other supplies. "The atmosphere is simply amazing – everyone is so friendly, there's no anger, no harassment, just solidarity and remarkable energy," added Hisham. 
Drums were banged and fires started as night moved in; having established their lines, hundreds of security forces stayed put and kept their distance, although alarmingly police snipers were seen to be taking up position on nearby buildings. "They are waiting for numbers to dwindle, and then they will switch off the street lights and charge," warned Ahmed Salah, a veteran activist.


"We must hold Tahrir through the night and tomorrow, so that every corner of Egypt can take us as an inspiration and rise up in revolt," claimed Salah. "It's a matter of life and death now – what happens over the next 24 hours will be vital to the history of this country. It's a very emotional moment for me."


Pamphlets widely distributed amongst protesters declared that 'the spark of intifada' had been launched in Egypt. "We have started an uprising with the will of the people, the people who have suffered for thirty years under oppression, injustice and poverty," read the Arabic-language texts. "Egyptians have proven today that they are capable of taking freedom by force and destroying despotism."


They went on to call for the immediate removal of President Mubarak and his government, and urged Egyptians nationwide to begin a wave of strikes, sit-ins and demonstrations across the country until these demands were met. "Long live the struggle of the Egyptian people," the pamphlets ended.

[youtube]2RUo3XzQ4P4[/youtube]

More videos on CEMB thread

The opinion of an Egyptian on that thread: "If it gets nasty, it will get nasty for Mubarak - the police and army will side with the people."

On twitter

Egyptian pound falls to 6-year low #Reuters #Egypt http://bit.ly/gF0MHv

Al-Masry al-Youm: Egyptian govt planned online blockade in advance http://t.co/9a9ro8A

Fourth Egyptian dies as a result of protests

A third Egyptian protester, wounded during clashes with security forces on Tuesday in a nationwide 'day of anger', died in hospital on Wednesday as a result of his wounds, medical sources said.

Gharib Abdelaziz Abdellatif, 45, died of internal bleeding after police shot him in the stomach in the port city of Suez, easy of Cairo, they said. Police were using rubber bullets on the protesters, hospital officials said...

124 injuries in Cairo area during Tuesday protests

Cairo Health Director Nibal Abdel Kader stated that 90 people were injured in Cairo proper during Tuesday's protest, adding to a combined total of 124 injured in both Cairo and neighbouring Giza governorate.

Abdel Kader added that the number is expected to rise as anti-government protests will continue for a second day...

Uneasy calm prevails in Egypt (Al Jazeera)

Egypt's interior ministry has warned that it will crack down on anti-government protesters if they take to the streets a day after massive and deadly demonstrations across the country called for an end to Hosni Mubarak's three-decade rule.

Thousands of armoured police deployed at key locations around Cairo, the capital, on Wednesday in anticipation of renewed demonstrations, which some have called the most significant in Egypt since massive riots over the price of bread in the 1970s.

Three protesters died in the port city of Suez, east of Cairo, during Tuesday's unrest, and a policeman was also killed when he was hit in the head with a rock in Cairo, an interior ministry official said.

Al Jazeera's Rawya Rageh, reporting from the Egyptian capital on Wednesday, said that the interior ministry had issued a statement banning further protests and threatening anyone encouraging them with investigation.
More protests were still apparently being planned, though the streets of Cairo remained "absolutely quiet" as of midday Wednesday, Rageh reported.

Violent clashes between police and protesters that began on Tuesday evening lasted into early Wednesday morning, as security services sought to disperse a crowd of thousands that had planned to sleep in Tahrir (Liberation) Square in central Cairo.

(…)

Though activists said the number of protesters across the country may have reached into the hundreds of thousands, the ministry said the largest gathering in central Cairo consisted of around 10,000 people and shrunk to around 5,000 by night…

liveblog

1255 GMT: Reports of small protests at the lawyers' and press syndicates in central Cairo, with up to 400 demonstrators.

1230 GMT: Ben Wedeman of CNN reports, "Plainclothed police snooping around outside Cairo University bothering students talking to press. Plainclothed policemen tells me its forbidden to sit in front of Cairo university."

1225 GMT: Scattered protests now being reported but they are failing --- so far to take hold. Measures include, "Dokki and Ramsees protest fizzled, I hear of plans for a protest at the lawyer's syndicate" and "Young man injured in Hosary Square with reports of protestors passing out".

Other activists report confusion over which protests are "real" and which are diversions. Movement is restricted by checkpoints.

1215 GMT: An Associated Press photographer is among the 400 people detained since yesterday. His whereabouts are unknown.

1155 GMT: In Mansoura, security forces have cracked down on a protest as it started, arresting 10 people.

Protests in Egypt - live updates (Guardian)

This week in the Middle East

From the BBC:

Video: Fresh protests in Egyptian Cities

In pictures: Egypt protests

Who are the opposition movements and what are their demands?

Egypt protests: Your stories

Mohammed Abdul Fatah, Alexandria

I've just got home now after being detained for seven hours in an underground cell.

I was detained along with 63 others. Only a handful of protesters have been released.

We were detained following the protests earlier in the day. A big crowd was heading to a street where the Alexandria governor was situated and where people wanted to stage a sit-in. There were 10,000 to 15,000 people there.

But then the security forces fired tear gas at the protesters, dispersing us. Sixty protesters, including me, managed to get inside the entrance of one of the buildings. We were suffocated by the tear gas and one asthma sufferer collapsed. The police arrested all of us in the building.

The police started beating us randomly. Cursing us. Slapping our faces. I kept telling them that I was a journalist but they didn't care about this at all.

I was severely beaten and my glasses were broken. The police took my bag, my laptop and my camera. However, I got my possessions back when I was released.

During the march the protesters were chanting against President Mubarak - calling for him to leave power. Many of the chants were inspired by the Tunisia uprising. People started chanting: "Tunisia, Tunisia, Tunisia." But then they were overwhelmed by the chant: "Egypt, Egypt, Egypt."

No-one told us what we were accused of while we were in prison. The police took our national ID cards, they took our names and our work permits. They took everything.

Of course, under those circumstances we were fearful and under psychological pressure.

The protests will continue. There are invitations on Facebook to stage other sit-ins and the momentum will be very hard to stop.

Zakaria Mohyeldin, Cairo

I joined the protest in Tahrir Square on Tuesday, staying until 1930. I felt thrilled, exhilarated and extremely enthused the whole time. I met people I know there who have never protested before.

Masses of people kept arriving every 30 minutes or so. Just as things were quietening down a group of about 1,000 to 2,000 would arrive lifting everyone's spirits.

Random unprovoked attacks by the police were very common throughout the day. When we first arrived at the square we were quiet, some prayed and others rested after the long march. The police immediately started spraying us with water cannon from an armoured vehicle.

The way the crowd reacted to police violence was extremely effective. When the police rushed the crowd, the crowd outran them - only to regroup and return.

There was such a sense of determination - a friend of mine picked up a tear gas canister and threw it back at the police.

I saw an agile young man lithely climb on top to take control of the cannon and guide it away from the protesters on to the vehicle.

A young police officer dressed in civilian clothing immediately climbed out the back of the vehicle on top to remove the man. In the ensuing struggle they both fell off the vehicle to their sides. I don't know if they were hurt but they looked like they could very well have been brothers.

I plan to join protests again today after work and I know many others who want to as well. Tuesday was not just a day of anger but hopefully the beginning of the end.

We need to make a change. My country is suffering - our literacy rate is one of the lowest in the world. Our president has been in power for over 30 years and is over 80 years old.

Some worry what will happen if he goes. They worry about anarchy or the rise of the Muslim brotherhood. I am not worried about that. I am protesting for hope.

From Egyptian Chronicles (follow the link for videos from Suez):

Suez is a war zone again

Zeinobia

The Suez city is like a war zone currently, the updates coming from the city currently describing very violent clashes between the locals and the police forces. The people of Suez are extremely angry for the murder of three locals “Mustafa Reda, Soliman Saber and Gharib Abdel Aziz Abdel Latif” yesterday during the #Jan25 Anger Day protest…

According to the latest numbers from yesterday there were 130 injured in the general hospitals. There was a curfew imposed yesterday yet clashes exploded especially at Al Arbin square earlier today when the police refused to let the people organize a funeral for one of the victims that were killed yesterday.

The Al Arbin is witnessing some sort of war, the police reportedly is using live ammunition and the citizens are using rocks and Molotov bottles. Just today another citizen of Suez is reportedly killed by the live ammunition of the security forces according to Masrawy.com and 90 are injured according to Al Shorouk News.

The citizens have reportedly set the Arbin police station and NDP HQ on fire, attacked physically the head of Suez Security directorate along other 3 police generals and are currently encircling the city’s morgue. The police as I hinted is using live ammunition and started to target houses and shops using tear gas grenades.

Again the people of Suez are suffering from terrible economic conditions as the factories owners there started to use cheap Asian labor instead of them creating a huge unemployment problem in the city. We are speaking about thousands without a job in a city. Suez has very strong history when it comes to fight, the IDF tried to invade the city several times and failed. Also many of the families in the Arbin quarter have roots in Upper Egypt, they do not give their rights easily.

Another thing, an important fact we all should know the army was not and has not been deployed there, the third army of Egypt is already stationed there and yes up till it is neutral and another important fact you all must know the police and CSF wear uniforms close to the army’s uniforms outside Cairo.

Updates

• The clashes are going from bad to worse. 

• There are thugs in the city who seized the opportunity and started looting in the city. 

• The clashes and violence are spreading throughout the city from place to another. 

• Protesters are reportedly encircling Al Anasri police station…

Also from Egyptian Chronicles:

January 25: reactions

Zeinobia

We did not expect that January 25 anger day would be like that in any possible way, neither did the Egyptians nor the world that was not only amazed but is on its nerves currently anticipating what is going to happen in the land of the pharaohs.

The first expected reaction was economically the Egyptian pound has fallen to its lowest levels since 6 years against the U.S dollar after the protest. The Egyptian stock exchange has hit rock bottom. Now I expect the Economy and investment ministers will go and tell us that these protests are nasty foreign plot to destroy the Egyptian economy which is fine and solid … blah blah blah. The stock exchange experts are demanding the government to close the stock exchange to avoid any losses. Already last week when the Suicide wave took the Egyptian street, many foreign investors have pulled their money from the market. “We are speaking about billions of dollars”

The second expected reaction was these rumors that do not want to stop any sooner or even later. As I hinted yesterday there was that rumor that Suzanne Mubarak, her sons and their families have reached London and were seen by Egyptians working at Heathrow airport. Later that night we had this rumor that Egyptian businessmen tycoon Ahmed Ezz has fled the country. Today the Cairo international airport officials have denied these rumors insisting that those high ranking officials have not left the country. They did not name those high ranking official though. It is possible that Gamal Mubarak and Ahmed Ezz have traveled to Switzerland to attend the current world economic forum there.

(…)

Since yesterday the Tunisians were retweeting our tweets to deliver the world the Egyptian day of anger.

The people of the world, the real free people of the world also support us, I can’t count how many tweets, comments and emails I received from around the globe that support our struggle to democracy and better. Famous Anonymous  Hacking group has launched operation Egypt to attack the regime’s websites. “I hope they start hacking the NDP tycoons and NDP newspapers as well, also I love the Egyptian Jack Fawkes face”

The public reaction in Egypt, the people’s reaction is what matters actually in our case. As far as I could tell most people support and admire what happened yesterday but they are still scared, yes that wall of fear began to collapse. Most of my non politicalized friends have followed and shared videos and news of the protest on FB before its block with lots of admiration. Women cheered for protesters in their windows and balconies, the drivers honked their cars in their supports.

liveblog

2235 GMT: Mona Eltahawy claims that at least two people have been killed in tensions between protesters and police in Suez. No independent confirmation exists so far.

In the meantime, the Egyptian Association for Change (EACUSA) claims that all cell phone networks in the city are not working.

2230 GMT: Reports from Facebook by the Egyptian Association for Change suggest that police are using live ammunition in the coastal town of Suez. The short tweet-report does not confirm whether police are shooting directly at protesters or merely trying to scare them by firing in the air.

2210 GMT: There are reports that, after the news hours ago that Twitter could be accessed, both Twitter and Facebook are being interrupted again.

2140 GMT: Mahmoud Saad, the host of the popular TV show Masr El-Naharda (Egypt Today) has announced that he will no longer appear starting tonight after he came under pressure from top government officials to report “untruths” about the protests, describing demonstrators as rioters “destroying the country".

2125 GMT: Clashes are now reported in front of the Foreign Ministry.

2120 GMT: An Egyptian official says one protester and one policeman were killed in Cairo tonight.

2118 GMT: Egyptian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hossam Zaki on CNN tonight: "Some people want to introduce chaos on the streets....Many countries around the world use tear gas when the situation cannot be controlled....We do not accept dictates from any other nation in the world."

2114 GMT: Al Masry Al Youm says more than 8000 protesters were involved in a "massive protest" this afternoon in Suez.

Even before tonight's escalation of violence, there were clashes: the website says one of its photographers is in hospital after being shot with a rubber bullet.

2110 GMT: Reports are circulating that Twitter has been unblocked in Egypt.

2015 GMT: Al Masry Al Youm reports that security forces thwarted protests in Damietta and in the Nile Delta cities of Tanta and Mahalla. Prematurely, in light of tonight's developments, the website also says protesters were dispersed in Suez.

1955 GMT: Egyptian security sources are circulating that protesters in Suez have set fire to a Government building. There are also claims that the demonstrators tried to set alight the local headquarters of the ruling National Democratic Party.

Another report claims protesters stormed and looted a food co-operative saying, "This is our money, these are our goods."

1915 GMT: Al Jazeera is reporting "hundreds" of protesters camping outside the Press Syndicate in Cairo. It also says Molotov cocktails have been thrown at police vans.

1910 GMT: An Associated Press Television News cameraman and his assistant are still in detention after they were seized early Wednesday while they were filming clashes between security forces and protesters in Cairo.

Another AP photographer had his right cheekbone broken and will need surgery after a policeman charged him and hurled a stone at him while he was taking pictures of protests late Tuesday.

(…)

1600 GMT: Report that 2000 Bedouins protested in front of a police station in the Sinai, demanding the impeachment of the Minister of Interior and release of detainees.

1555 GMT: From Adam Makary of Al Jazeera: "Hit with tear gas again on Galaa St. Almost 1000 protesting. Guess Jan. 25 won't be ending anytime soon, police up against determined protesters."

1525 GMT: Eight people, including two foreign journalists, were arrested at Cairo University today. The journalists were released, but five people are still held.

A demonstration at the university was cancelled because of the heavy security presence.

1525 GMT: Reports come in of protesters trying to storm a police station in Sheikh Zwayed in the Sanai and police responding with tear gas.

1519 GMT: Al Masry Al Youm, from medical sources, is reporting 350 injuries in Suez alone. Twenty of the wounded are security forces…

From the Guardian:

Egyptian anti-government protests – in pictures

Cairo protests were 'beyond what I imagined'

Egypt protests continue into second day despite ban and police presence

Egypt blocks social media websites in attempted clampdown on unrest

Video from Al Jazeera earlier this afternoon

The video seems to play down today's protests, possibly because the report was made before they really got going. Al Jazeera has come under criticism for its coverage though.

Video: 'Egyptian Revolution Jan 25th 2011 - take what is yours!'

Videos from today's protests

From the liveblog:

2327 GMT: Al Arbeen Police Headquarters in Suez has been set on fire. The video below shows the scene of the protest and the burning building: 

[youtube]ATY3Q81QW6A[/youtube]

January 25 slideshow

Updates on Suez

Zeinobia

The clashes are moving to the suburbs of the city, there is reportedly a huge cloud of tear gas grenades.

The mobile phone networks are reportedly not working , the internet is reportedly cut from down town.

Landlines are reportedly down in the city according to Al Jazeera reporter.

The last thing we have heard from Suez that not less than 5000 citizens are having a sit in at the Geish street.

Those who are destroying and stealing are unsurprisingly the thugs of the police !!

liveblog

0005 GMT: The situation in Suez has become further tense. Reports coming in from Egypt suggest that the city has effectively been cut-off from the rest of the country. Landlines, cell phones and internet are down. People continue to protest in the city and there have been sporadic reports of clashes, injuries and at least 2 deaths which cannot be confirmed yet.

We await further news for now.

0002 GMT: RNN reports that 5,000 protesters are holding a sit-in in El-Geish Street in Suez.

Guardian live updates

12.36am: A confusing picture coming out of Suez. Reports that the police headquarters and a chemical factory having been set on fire, with some suggesting the army has moved into the city to quell protesters, however some tweets disputing this:

@theydontneedme_ The army is not any where near the action in #suez like some say. #jan25

@mShady Vodafone mobile network is back in #Suez #Jan25 #25Jan

However @theydontneedme has tweeted saying she has been at home for an hour, so things could have changed. @mShady's tweet – alerted to me by @Oxenstierna_IRL, monitoring events from Scotland – is backed up by others from Egypt saying Vodafone was the only network to remain working throughout the telephone block.

12.09am: The We are all Khaled Said opposition protest group is updating its Facebook page constantly. Here's its latest post on Suez.

Urgent News: Suez is completely cut off. Police has been evacuated. Protesters there are very angry. The army is being brought in according to reports. Some sad speculations say that a massive crackdown will take place in Suez on protesters which could end up with a REAL Massacre. Suez now is Egypt's Sidi Bouzid.

12.01am: Alarming reports are coming in from Suez, where protests continued today. Three protesters were killed in the city yesterday.

Reports say all landlines, mobile phone networks and web access has been cut off

RedEd

I hate to put a downer on things, but I've yet to see any significant class aspects to any of the Middle Eastern movements so far. I hope I'm wrong about this, but these seem like liberal political movements that may well aid the smooth functioning of capital in the countries concerned. I doubt that the national bourgeoisies are going to cry too much if less corrupt, less nepotistic, more parliamentarian governments replace the dictatorships. Anyone heard of any work place seizures, mass strikes, land expropriations, etc.?

Here are some extracts from an article I've posted on the Tunisia thread. I'm not sure how much faith I'd put in the article as a whole but I think the bits below are uncontroversial.

The IMT

The regional structures of the UGTT had called for general strikes in Sfax, El Kef, Sidi Bouzid, Jendouba, Kairouan, Siliana, Gabés, Nabeul and others…

On Tuesday we saw the first attempts of the counter-revolution to regroup. Gangs of thugs and militias from the RCD attacked union offices in Gafsa, Kasserine (West) Béjà (North), Monastir et Mehdia (Centre). In the mining region of Gafsa a gang of men armed with sticks, knives and chains, attacked the offices of the regional union and injured a number of trade unionists present…

It is in this context that the regional strikes are taking place today, Wednesday 26, and they could be crucial to force the downfall of the government. In the statement calling for the strike, the regional UGTT in Sfax made clear what were the aims of the movement:

After examining the general situation in the country and the latest political and social developments on light of our people’s revolution, and what is being plotted against it by internal and external conspiracies aimed to circumvent its objectives and gains, we decided to start a general strike on Wednesday, January 26, 2011 in defense of the demands of our people to overthrow the government of the former regime and to dissolve the Constitutional Democratic Rally.

…

Also very significant is the fact that the regional trade union structures and the revolutionary committees are increasingly taking over tasks of the administration of public and economic life…

The demonstration in Sfax, the country’s second largest city and the most important industrial centre was huge, of historic proportions. Some reports talked of 100,000 demonstrators, and even the bourgeois media put the figure at “over 50,000”…

This is how a business magazine described the situation:

The Tunisian revolution has entered like a storm in the companies and public institutions. Directors are being chased away in parking lots and workers collectives are moving into self-management mode.

The article continues:

Tunisian workers, in companies and public institutions have brought the revolution to their workplaces ... directors and managers of public companies have had to run seeking refuge, followed by a crowd of vindictive workers ... the hope of the government and the businessmen is that the movement will limit itself to those corrupt functionaries linked to the Ben Ali – Trabelsi clan. But it is not certain that this will be the case.

It's probably true that the demands being made are much less radical than the means being used.

Police post in city of Suez burnt down as angry protests continue to erupt (Al Jazeera)

Angry demonstrators in Egypt have torched a police post in the eastern city of Suez as unrest continues to spill over onto the streets of several cities despite a security crackdown. 

Witnesses told the Reuters news agency that police fled the post before the protesters burned it using petrol bombs on Thursday morning.

Dozens more gathered in front of a second police post later in the morning demanding the release of their relatives who were detained in unprecedented protests that authorities have failed to quell since Tuesday.
Meanwhile, activists trying to oust Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president, clashed with police in the capital, Cairo, in the early hours of Thursday.

While the situation was a bit calmer by late Thursday morning, the protests are likely to gather momentum with the arrival of Mohamed ElBaradei, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning former head of the UN nuclear watchdog and a potential presidential rival to Mubarak…

Egypt: exaggeration or denial? (al-bab.com)

Mubarak's radio silence

Arabist

To date, apart from Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki's phoned-in appearances on CNN and al-Jazeera to explain that a) the protests are being exaggerated by the media and b) they prove that Egypt is democratic, I have not seen any reaction by the Egyptian government to the biggest protests in decades.

The explanation is simple: Mubarak does not want to stoop to responding to these protests.

If you only knew Hosni as I do, you'd know he's terribly stubborn. He likes to dig in his heels. He won't be forced into a decision. He is a like a gamoosa (water buffalo, as common as cows in Egypt) that just won't be moved off a railroad track. This is his strength and weakness: this stubbornness can be determination (in the 1980s and 1990s, against radical Islamists), but it can also be his Achilles' heel, his inability move quickly to grab opportunities.

Hosni Mubarak could have defused this situation a long time ago — made sure it never happened. He could have ensured that parliamentary elections were fairer and freer and allowed some political plurality that did not threaten him. He could have dismissed Interior Minister Habib al-Adly a long time ago and given orders that police had to stop torturing everyone it dealt with. He could have shown flexibility and political deftness, engaging and cajoling those in the legal opposition who could have been relays to channel popular sentiments rather than pathetic has-beens. But Hosni Mubarak has grown used to being the alpha and omega, he is sui generis, his hand cannot be forced.

Well, immovable object, meet unstoppable force.

He will not address the youth that are taking to the streets and risking their lives to make the point that they are sick and tired of his reign. Even if he speaks, it will be to a different audience, and his speeches will not convince. "Je vous ai compris" said Ben Ali in his last speech — mais il n'avait rien compris! Likewise the government, represented by Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, may announce grand new measures like new social spending and maybe some political concessions. Nazif could even lose his job (perversely more likely than al-Adly). At most, this will only buy a little time.

The complete inability of anyone in the Egyptian government to address these issues is telling of the dysfunction of the state in the late Mubarak era. Ministers cannot take initiative and do anything, because the president is the one who decides. The president cannot decide, his advisors can only cook up something for the ministers to say. Paralysis reigns, because there cannot be a coordinated response in a regime that is fundamentally fragmented, engaged in turf wars, and whose head has been drained of vitality. This is the crisis of governance in today's Egypt: the various parts of the body act independently according to pre-ordained patterns and individual interests, but cannot coordinate.

liveblog

0900 GMT: Trading has been halted on the Egyptian Stock Exchange after the index fell more than 6% in the first 15 minutes this morning.
…

0825 GMT: Al Jazeera is reporting that protests are continuing outside the Press Syndicate in Cairo.
…

0705 GMT: Prominent activist Ayman Nour, the head of the al-Ghad Party, has posted on Twitter: "Following prayers on Friday, an uprising for change will launch from all mosques & churches."

yesterday's liveblog

2331 GMT: Egyptian protesters have set up a new Facebook page to coordinate protests after Friday prayers. 
The page's main message reads: 

We will go out to rallies in all mosques and churches of Egypt's to the public squares and sit until we receive our rights that have been usurped. Egypt's Muslims and Christians alike will emerge to fight corruption and unemployment, injustice and lack of freedom. 

It adds that a list of mosques and churches will be released on Thursday. 

…

0610 GMT: For those trying to follow events in Egypt, Wednesday was a chaotic experience. Unlike the close of Tuesday, when there was a single, dramatic episode to concentrate the signs of Government and opposition --- the gathering in Tahrir (Liberation) Square in Cairo --- yesterday forced the observer to try and gather information on a series of running battles.

Difficulties were compounded by the restrictions on communications by Egyptian authorities, who blocked Twitter and may have interfered with Facebook as well as disrupting cell phones in an effort to snap links between protesters. And of course the Government put security forces --- thousands of them --- on the streets of the cities.

Yet, for all the uncertainty and confusion of the day, what emerged last night was that the Government had not broken the back of the January 25 movement. While demonstrators in Cairo could not offer the image of a mass rally, as they had 24 hours earlier, the smaller gatherings --- from the Press and Lawyers' Syndicates to the Corniche to Ramses Street --- demonstrated that the Ministry of Interior's threat to arrest anyone who assembled publicly had not been entirely effective.

The authorities were able to stamp out demonstrations in other cities before they could take hold. But in Suez, the situation appears to have been all-out conflict. By afternoon, the report was that 350 had been injured since the start of protests. While only three people had been killed --- a remarkably low figure, given the reports of the intensity of the battle --- by last night there were armoured vehicles on the streets.

This morning has started quietly in comparison. An observer reports "not a single policeman" is in Tahrir Square in Cairo. News from Suez is sparse.

Yet this is probably an expected lull. For demonstrators are already pointing to Friday, the day of prayer, as the time for a mass display of resistance. The call for a Million Person March may be optimistic, but --- despite the Government's efforts --- it is making its way around those who do not see the situation as resolved by concession or by force.

Guardian live updates

12.19pm: A Reuters report on the clashes in Ismailia:

Around 600 protesters clashed with police in demonstrations across the Egyptian eastern city of Ismailia on today, witnesses said. They said the police dispersed the crowds using tear gas. Demonstrations demanding the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak, in power since 1981, have raged since Tuesday in several Egyptian cities, with the biggest clashes in Cairo and Suez.

12.12pm: Clashes reported in Ismailia, via Twitter

@emosweet

Rubber bullets & extreme bruitality against us in lsmailia #egypt #jan25

And a new demonstration in Alexandria

@Farrah3m

Surprising new protest in Mansheyya square in alexandria #alex #jan25 #egypt

(…)

10.44am: The Egyptian stock exchange has fallen further, down 9.93% to 5,728.49 points. Ahmed Hanafi, a broker with Guthour Trading, told the Associated Press:

It's clear today that the inability to control the situation in the streets yesterday is panicking investors. The drop we saw yesterday is being repeated. At this rate, it's going to continue to fall hard.

(…)

10.01am: People appear to be under curfew in Suez.

From Twitter:

@theydontneedme_

i'm stuck at home and can't go anywhere.. i need live confirmed and trusted updates from the city. #suez #jan25

On Egypt's second day of protests, Cairo in a state of chaos

Downtown Cairo looked like a war zone Wednesday.

‪‪Police in both plain clothes and formal security uniforms were present by the thousands. Riot police were seen sleeping on, and manning,  the 6 October and 15 May bridges  - the main ones connecting main streets of the city -- since last night. Hundreds of people gathered in several streets downtown chanting "People want the regime down",‬ "Copts and Muslims don't want this regime", and, "Bread, freedom, human integrity."  They were chased and beaten fiercely, many of them also dragged off by force - by thugs and state security agents.‬

‪"They beat people and shoot them as if we are in Gaza," cried one protester, Soha, a woman in her twenties. "They even beat women."‬

Opposite the lawyers' and journalists' syndicates, gun shots bellowed through the air and both fire and smoke were seen. Reporters witnessed two lawyers nabbed from in front of their syndicate. They were brutally beaten and forcefully pushed into a micro pick-up truck. Colleagues ran to the truck, and pulled them by force through the vans large windows, yelling that what the police were doing was against the law. Crowds of protesters in the streets cheered in delight. 

"We want the police to let us demonstrate peacefully, but they are beating, arresting, kidnapping people and firing at them as if this has worked for them in the past 30 years," Mamdouh Ismail, a member of the board of the lawyers' syndicate told Ahram Online.

In same downtown area, police fired bullets - allegedly rubber, although some have said live ammunition - at people, and they were beating protesters with sticks. They also beat down anyone on the street who crossed their paths, trying to ferociously prevent anyone with intention from joining the protests. In many cases, the violence struck even those who were coincidentally passing by Ahram Online reporters witnessed similar events throughout the city Wednesday afternoon and late into the evening.

Ahram Online reporter also saw  police men in plain clothes, burning car tires and garbage., and preventing protesters from putting it off. Police men prevented young people from extinguishing the fire.

"This is our country, we won't burn it down, the government is hiring thugs to burn cars and throw stones," Sana Abdallah, a protester in her 20s told Ahram Online. "We love our country, that's why we want to change this unjust system."

Back at the lawyers' and journalists' syndicates protesters were cordoned off, not allowed in or out of the protests from noon until posting time. The slogans remained the same "People want the regime down." Lawyer Sameh Sami, who said he hasdn't slept for the past two days, refuses to move from in front of the syndicate saying, "I have been quiet for the past seven years, nothing has happened. Th government has to know we want them out. If there was a proper parliament they would have taken this government down. But this parliament is forged."

State security had also blocked off 26thof July Street in downtown to stop demonstrators marching from the area of Attaba into Tahrir, where all rioters had convened yesterday afternoon and late into the night.

The barricades brought traffic to a halt. 

At the time this article was posted, hundreds of people were demonstrating in Boulac. The cracking sounds of tear gas grenades and gun shots continued to shake the city, echoing through the air. In Talaat Harb Square, also downtown, thugs had run amok. There too, reports of ferocious beatings, arrests, and an air thick with tear gas were coming in.

Despite the Interior Ministry's statement following yesterday's protests that any demonstrators venturing out on Wednesday would be detained, the protests ensued. As this article was posted, the streets of downtown were filled with smoke, and Tahrir Square had been blackened. Protesters seem determined, unwiling to yield, calling for activists and civilians alike to keep coming out onto the streets - in the coming days, but in particular on Friday, just after the midday prayers.

"Egypt is not a big country, with a stable regime that can not be shaken ever by thousands of protesters," said Habib El-Adly, interior minister. 

 In the meantime, the country's people remain at ill ease, wondering what the government has planned. Rumours of curfews circulated, but to-date it has been denied by official sources. "

Updates on the Egyptian Chronicles blog

Zeinobia

There is a news that there is some kind of labor protest in Helwan governorate, Helwan district has got many factories and labor population that has been suffering from long time.

From the Guardian

Egypt braces itself for biggest day of protests yet

Egypt protest leaflets distributed in Cairo give blueprint for mass action

Egyptians have been urged to come out after Friday prayers tomorrow and demand the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak's government, along with freedom, justice and a democratic regime.

Anonymous leaflets circulating in Cairo also provide practical and tactical advice for mass demonstrations, confronting riot police, and besieging and taking control of government offices.

Signed "long live Egypt", the slickly produced 26-page document calls on demonstrators to begin with peaceful protests, carrying roses but no banners, and march on official buildings while persuading policemen and soldiers to join their ranks.

The leaflet ask recipients to redistribute it by email and photocopy, but not to use social media such as Facebook and Twitter, which are being monitored by the security forces.

Protesters in Cairo are advised to gather in large numbers in their own neighbourhoods away from police and troops and then move towards key installations such the state broadcasting HQ on the Nile-side Corniche and try to take control "in the name of the people". Other priority targets are the presidential palace and police stations in several parts of central Cairo.

The leaflet includes aerial photographs with approach routes marked and diagrams on crowd formations. Suggested "positive" slogans include "long live Egypt" and "down with the corrupt regime". There are no signs of slogans reflecting the agenda of the powerful Muslim Brotherhood. It advises demonstrators to wear clothing such as hooded jackets, running shoes, goggles and scarves to protect against teargas, and to carry dustbin lids – to ward off baton blows and rubber bullets – first aid kits, and roses to symbolise their peaceful intentions.

Diagrams show how to defend against riot police and push in waves to break through their ranks. "The most important thing is to protect each other," the leaflet says.

It is important to prevent policemen penetrating the ranks of demonstrators, it adds. If they do, they should be persuaded to change sides and reminded that their own families could be among the people...

liveblog

0017 GMT: Multiple sources on social networks are reporting that police in Cairo are pouring gasoline on cars. Reportedly, this is so that tomorrow, they could be easily set on fire and then be blamed on protesters. The police - according to these sources - will then have an easier time arresting protesters on charges of vandalism and rioting. 

We cannot independently confirm this. 

0010 GMT: There are reports that three rocket-propelled grenades were fired on police stations in Sheikh Zuwayid in the Sinai, but one missed the target and hit a medical center. One managed to hit a police station 2 miles from the town, setting it on fire while the third landed in an empty lot. Not casualties have been reported. 

The RPGs were likely fired in retaliation of the death of a protester in the city earlier in the day. 

…

2325 GMT: Several sources confirm that internet has been shut down in major parts of Egypts. People on twitter and other social media are reporting that many people directly connected from Egypt have fallen off messengers and other devices. Those inside Egypt are telling sources that internet is completely down in Cairo and Alexandria and possibly other places.

…

2240 GMT: Al Masry Al Youm reports that so far at least 70,000 Egyptians have confirmed through social media sites that they will participate in the nationwide protests planned after Friday prayers tomorrow. 

This number is sure to grow as more people sign in after getting home from today's protests. 

…

2130 GMT: Meanwhile in Suez, the government has managed to disperse another protest. 

Eyewitnesses confirm that the neighborhood of Al-Arbe'en - which saw intense clashes last night - has saw its public lighting cut off. Protesters have also torched a fire station, a police station and several other buildings in the past two days. Police have so far arrested between 15-50 protesters, eyewitnesses claim. 

…

1852 GMT: Masrawy is reporting that Bedouin in the Sinai fired three rocket-propelled grenades at security forces.

…

1600 GMT: Another protester has been killed today. Mohamed Atef was shot in the head during demonstrations in the town of Sheikh Zowayed in the Sinai peninsula.

Atef is the fifth protester to die since Tuesday. Officials say two policemen have also been killed.

1535 GMT: The Egyptian stock market fell another 10.5% on Thursday.

The index decreased 6% on Wednesday. Since yesterday afternoon, it has recorded a a loss of 54 billion Egyptian Pounds ($9.2 billion) in trading.

The market was suspended for 45 minutes after it fell 6.2% in the first quarter-hour of trading on Thursday.

The Egyptian Pound, already at a six-year low, is still sliding against the US dollar.

…

1525 GMT: This weekend's domestic football league games have been cancelled.

1519 GMT: Report from Al Jazeera correspondent in Suez, "Protestors kettled in Al Arbaeen, tear gas & smoke so heavy we can hardly see. Police using Batons, rubber bullets."

And another observer in Suez, this update: "Protesters looting fire station. The surge seems unaffected by tear gas, rubber bullets."

…

1445 GMT: Protests in Rafah in South Sinai are continuing after pro-government tribesmen failed to convince protesters to halt, as authorities consider whether to charge their detained relatives.

The total number of detainees is estimated at 420.
 
In Mahalla, north of Cairo, police have arrested seven activists, including five members of the Democratic Front Party building, but there have large rallies elsewhere in the city. Seucrity forces, including some in armoured vehicles, quashed a demonstration in Tanta.

1425 GMT: 1st-hand from Suez, "Fire department building on fire. Billows of black smoker rising. Firemen jumping out windows."

…

1415 GMT: Recap from Suez. One police station was burned this morning, and relatives of detainees gathered around a second station. Trouble then escalated, with the reports of clashes involving tear gas, rubber bullets, and water cannon. There are unconfirmed claims of Molotov cocktails and live fire.

Al Jazeera says 300 people have been detained. Al Arabiya's correspondent Ahmad Othman was prevented from entering the city.

[youtube]_ng43rGZgvg[/youtube]

More on the internet shutdown. Follow the link for updates and comments.

Egypt leaves the Internet

Confirming what a few have reported this evening: in an action unprecedented in Internet history, the Egyptian government appears to have ordered service providers to shut down all international connections to the Internet. Critical European-Asian fiber-optic routes through Egypt appear to be unaffected for now. But every Egyptian provider, every business, bank, Internet cafe, website, school, embassy, and government office that relied on the big four Egyptian ISPs for their Internet connectivity is now cut off from the rest of the world. Link Egypt, Vodafone/Raya, Telecom Egypt, Etisalat Misr, and all their customers and partners are, for the moment, off the air.

At 22:34 UTC (00:34am local time), Renesys observed the virtually simultaneous withdrawal of all routes to Egyptian networks in the Internet's global routing table. Approximately 3,500 individual BGP routes were withdrawn, leaving no valid paths by which the rest of the world could continue to exchange Internet traffic with Egypt's service providers. Virtually all of Egypt's Internet addresses are now unreachable, worldwide.

This is a completely different situation from the modest Internet manipulation that took place in Tunisia, where specific routes were blocked, or Iran, where the Internet stayed up in a rate-limited form designed to make Internet connectivity painfully slow. The Egyptian government's actions tonight have essentially wiped their country from the global map.

What happens when you disconnect a modern economy and 80,000,000 people from the Internet? What will happen tomorrow, on the streets and in the credit markets? This has never happened before, and the unknowns are piling up. We will continue to dig into the event, and will update this story as we learn more. As Friday dawns in Cairo under this unprecedented communications blackout, keep the Egyptian people in your thoughts...

.

From the comments thread...

Thank you , thank you very much for posting this, we, Egyptians living in Canada, has been trying to contact media lately to spread the news about internet cut (and also SMS service) in Egypt, we cannot reach anyone unless we call and not always get through to, they are isolated and trapped in black-hole .. This has two meanings, government wants to prevent activists from communicating like they used to on twitter to agree on locations and help each other when needed, and also prove they are planning the worse for tomorrow and wants it away from media since activists have been posting instantly pics videos and tweets live from the action.
Please keep posting!

liveblog

1138 GMT: Reports of protests in Shobra area of Cairo and in Arish area of Sinai. Also a claim by Al Jazeera that Egyptian protesters have gathered near a Cairo residential palace of President Hosni Mubarak.

Protests are reported for the first time in the Nasr City area of Cairo. Al Arabiya says downtown Cairo --- where security forces have locked down Tahrir Square --- is now "surrounded by protests".

1135 GMT: Reports of clashes between thousands of protesters in Mansoura and police.

1131 GMT: Jack Shenker of The Guardian has posted an audio report of police in Cairo using tear gas, sound bombs, and water cannon on thousands of protesters with Mohammed ElBaradei.

Shenker says the streets are now a "war zone" and residents are helping protesters by giving them water. He said he believes ElBaradei got out of the area but is not sure.

1129 GMT: Al Jazeera from Suez, "Protests in Martyrs Street, Army Street, & Hamza mosque. All trying to get to al Arbaeen area."

Also a report of thousands in Dumyat in northern Egypt chanting, " Mubarak must leave!"

1125 GMT: First-hand from Cairo, "The street is filled, we cannot see the pavement. Chanting "Mubarak has to leave."

1120 GMT: Egyptian police are now reportedly firing rubber bullets as well as tear gas.

Thousands are protesting in Sharqiya and clashing with security forces.

Demonstrations also reported in Suez, Ismailia, and other cities.

1119 GMT: Al Jazeera claims 20,000 protesters are at the Al Azhar Mosque protest in Cairo.

An Al Jazeera English reporter, Rawya Rageh, is amongst those tear-gassed in Alexandria outside the Qaed Ibrahim Mosque. She is choking through her report but describes "incredible scenes".

1115 GMT: Police are tear-gassing protesters in Alexandria.

Al Jazeera reports thousands are protesting in front of main mosque at Minya Governorate in Upper Egypt.

1110 GMT: Nic Robertson of CNN, Several hundred riot police w/ sticks [and] rubber bullet guns surround central mosque. Crowd 500-1000 in street outside. Both sides tense [and] nervous."

1105 GMT: Protests have erupted at Al-Azhar Mosque against the regime. Police are using water cannons against the protestors, who are throwing rocks and raising banners "Down with Dictatorship" and "End Corruption".

A fairly random selection of twitter feeds covering the protests

http://twitter.com/eacusa

http://twitter.com/jan25live

http://twitter.com/Jan25Voices

http://twitter.com/SherineT

http://twitter.com/NicRobertsonCNN

http://twitter.com/Farrah3m

From the Guardian

Live updates

Map of the protests

Live Q&A: Middle East protests

Want to understand the political unrest spreading from Tunisia to Egypt, Yemen and beyond? Post your questions for one of the Guardian's Middle East experts, Brian Whitaker

Protests in Suez – in pictures

Information lockdown in Egypt (al-bab.com)

There is a general expectation that today will be decisive, one way or the other. If the protesters win the day, it will set the course for a new Middle East: Egypt is not Tunisia – it is the most populous Arab country and a real heavyweight. The outcome will have even greater influence than it did in Tunisia.

My hunch, though, is that today will signal the start – in earnest – of the Egyptian revolution rather than its culmination. In Tunisia it took a month; Egypt is a much bigger fish and this has only been going for three days. The regime won't give up easily and will try to  fight on, even if mortally wounded.

But evaluating all the signs as honestly as I can, think Mohamed ElBaradei was right when he said yesterday that the situation has passed a point of no return. For all practical purposes, the Mubarak – father and son – era is finished and the only question left is whether or not its death throes will drag on until the presidential election scheduled for October.

Even so, I keep wondering if I might be wrong. I have read the article on Ynet assuring Israelis that it's going to be fine: that the friendly dictator will remain in place, that "nothing will be changing" in Egypt and that "when the situation calms down and the streets empty, those who provoked the 'day of fury' will be taken care of".

It's a point of view, and it's what always happened in the past. But I really can't see the situation calming down now until Mubarak goes…

Brian Whitaker, 28 January 2011

From the liveblog

1310 GMT: From Suez, the Al Jazeera correspondent reports protesters have taken over the police station and freed detainees.

Three armoured vehicles were set alight, with other protesters trying to put out the fires.

Al Jazeera images show police being overwhelmed by demonstrators.

1300 GMT: From Cairo, "20,000 protesters take over Qasr al-Nil Bridge".

And now this: "Tahrir [Square] is mysteriously emptied of police is now filling with protesters. Police taking to the rooftops" to fire tear gas. Two police cars are reportedly burnt, and casualties are claimed.

1255 GMT: Al Arabiya reports that protesters have stormed the headquarters of the ruling party NDP in Damietta. Unconfirmed reports that NDP headquarters have been taken over in Mansoura.

Earlier today, protesters reportedly stormed the NDP headquarters in Ismailia (see 1213 GMT).

1250 GMT: Al Jazeera reports 40,000 marching in a suburb north of Cairo.

A police vehicle has been torched in Abdul Menem Riyad square in central Cairo.

1247 GMT: Latest news is that "many people", including Mohamed ElBaradei, are still "holed up" in a mosque in Giza, "under siege" by security forces.

1245 GMT: Al Jazeera is reporting that police units have refused orders to fire tear gas bombs at protesters in Alexandria.

1235 GMT: Al Jazeera's corrspondent in Suez says that, as protesters began a peaceful march, security forces tried "to run them over" with a fire engine. However, the fire engine was forced to veer off the stree because of garbage cans put across the road, and it was "almost destroyed" in minutes by demonstrators throwing stones.

Al Jazeera images show many thousands on the streets, with police struggling to hold their line.

The correspondent continues that two "security officials" have been suspended for refusing to authorise live fire against protesters in Suez last night.

1229 GMT: Al Masry Al Youm journalist Ahmad Ali on BBC Arabic estimates that the number of protesters in Alexandria has reached 100,000.

Al Jazeera English - live stream

Just now this was reporting demonstrations in Istanbul and Ankara in support of the Egyptians

Al Jazeera liveblog

2:55 pm - Our Arabic channel is reporting that 40,000 protesters in Mansoura - a mid-sized, working-class town in the Nile Delta - are attacking the offices of the ruling National Democratic Party. That would be an enormous crowd, and we haven't confirmed the number.

The CEMB thread is also worth following

ocelot

It must be Friday. The president is due to address the nation. It's deja vue all over again...

...and I've got back in and I'm struggling to make sense of the days events all over again.

Re the effect of the internet shutdown - I caught part of a phone interview this afternoon on BBC news with a random office worker in Cairo. He said he turned up at the office this morning and was sent home as without the internet there was no work to do. So he went to Friday prayers and then joined the protests.

From the Guardian live updates:

7.56pm GMT: CNN's Ben Wedeman – who has been doing an excellent job all day – is asked why things have calmed down in Cairo. "Jim, things have calmed down because there is no government, there's no authority," saying that police and army had disappeared, "there's no one to protest against."

From the liveblog:

2155 GMT; Egyptian state TV has denied that private jets have departed from Cairo airport.

Al Jazeera has claimed that Egyptian businessmen and "prominent figures" had left in jets earlier tonight. And the BBC said within the last half-hour that three private jets left Cairo airport under heavy security.

More from the liveblog

2125 GMT: Dima Khatib of Al Jazeera sends a message that the Egyptian Embassy in Venezuela has been taken over by a group of Egyptian and Arab protesters.

2110 GMT: It appears the Army is moving to protect the key points in Cairo, such as the Prime Minister's offices, the Parliament building, State Radio and TV, and the US and British Embassies.

2105 GMT: Ben Wedeman of CNN reports, "Saw boys with massive Seal of the Republic looted from State TV. If this isn't the end, it certainly looks and smells like it."

2055 GMT: Meanwhile, journalists in Tunis contact us with this information....

We witnessed this afternoon how police and plainclothes stormed the demonstrators' camp at Place de Kasbah with tear gas and dogs. Very ugly scenes.

Place de Kasbah since 1700 (1600 GMT) controlled by military, all tents and installations vandalised. Also clashes between demontsrators and police in Av. Bourguiba and centre of city. Lot of tear gas. Plainclothes with sticks all around as well as groups of enraged young demonstrators armed with stones and sticks. Atmosphere tense and unclear what is going to happen next.

Reuters has a brief reference to "police fir[ing] tear gas at anti-government protesters" but is far more concerned that "Islamists marched through central Tunis"

2050 GMT: More live shots from Al Jazeera English of protesters greeting Army units in streets of Cairo.

2045 GMT: Al Jazeera is reporting that protesters stormed Vodafone HQ in Cairo & other cities around Egypt.

Earlier today, complying with a Government order, Vodafone disconnected mobile and Internet services.

2039 GMT: Al Jazeera is updating that 11 people have been killed in Suez today. Among 150 injured, 20 are in critical condition.

2012 GMT: Al Jazeera is reporting that Mubarak's presidential guard unit is heading towards the State TV builiding in Cairo.

All flights into and out of Cairo are now suspended.

2004 GMT: The Egyptian Day of Chaos continues. Now there are reports by AJE that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is on fire as well. The Egyptian Army Chief of Staff is returning from a trip to the US back to Egypt in light of the unrest. The protesters remain on the streets and have refused to budge. 

2000 GMT: A very touching story is developing in Cairo. As the NDP's headquarters burn, there were fears that the Egyptian National Museum, which houses some of the world's most ancient artifacts from the old Egyptian civilization and a beautiful collection of ancient whales fossils, would catch on fire too. There were earlier reports - albeit unconfirmed - that some people were looting the museum.

Now Al Jazeera is reporting that young protesters have formed a human chain around the museum to protect it against looting. It seems for now that this treasure trove of human ingenuity and the natural world's wonders is in no immediate danger.   

From the Guardian live updates

10.29pm GMT: Mubarak finally appears on Nile TV. The translation is very halting and difficult to follow, so these notes may not be accurate, and it's much as I could catch:

I assure you I am working for the people and giving freedom of opinion as long as you are respecting the law. There's a very small line between freedom and chaos....

We have to be careful of anything that would allow chaos. No democracy would be there if we allow chaos. These demonstrators wanted to speak about their opinion, to give have more job opportunities and lower prices and fight poverty. I know all of these issues that people are asking ... I will always be on the side of the poor....

CNN is running Mubarak in a split screen, with the president on one side and the fires and wreakage in the streets around Cairo and Alexandra on the other.

Dear citizens, I don't talk to you today as a president but as an Egyptian. I [have] spent war and peace in this counrty, we overcame very hard times, we were united as people.... [We need] new steps for more democracy, for more freedoms for citizens, new steps to raise the economy and to stand by the poor and those with limited salaries. This is what is going to make our future and we can't do that unless we are open and we are hard working. We need to build...

What happened in the last few days put fear in everybody's hearts and the fear for the future and additional chaos. I take responsibility for the security of this country and our citizens, I will not let this happen. I will not let fear live in the hearts of the citizens.

Then Mubarak announced that he will force the government to resign and appoint a new one tomorrow. But Mubarak gave no sign whatsoever that he would be going with them, quite the opposite in fact.

Now let's see how that goes down on the streets of Cairo.

From the liveblog

2315 GMT: While we report on news from Egypt, what are the people inside the country saying about what's happening? True, internet has been mostly cut-off. But a few people have managed to keep themselves connected to the rest of the world. Twitter steps in to fill the void: 

@DannyRamadan: 

More protesters are back in the streets shouting: Down with Mubarak. They are on the Corniche. 

20 protesters on Qasr al-Nil screaming: Ya Gamal 2ol la abook kol el-Sha3b bekrahook (Gamal, tell your father, people here hate you)

Cairo is taking couple of hours to sleep. I'm looking forward to tomorrow.

I'm greatful for all the support I get from people and the tweets I'm getting from all across the globe. Keep the word out, people.

@JRug 

I have been trying for hours to get a phone line out of Cairo. Hotel lobby filled with tear gas.

Tanks are rolling around central Cairo to no apparent purpose. Hundreds on freeways and underpasses watching.Museum still safe.

@JonJensen

Most Egyptians I talked to in past 2 hours want to know - where are the police? Who is in control of Cairo tonight?

Downtown Cairo still reeks of tear gas. Shots ringing every few seconds near Parliament. Protesters set up roadblocks on Kasr el-Nil Bridge.

Police seem to have vanished. Troop carriers in Agouza, 15th May Bridge, mostly empty by look of it. Looting in Mohandesin.

@Ssirgany

Again only demand in protests since Tuesday were for Mubarak to leave. Economic & political reforms were merely demands made before.
 
2306 GMT: The speech by President Hosni Mubarak moments ago has had no effect on the protests. Protesters remain in Cairo, Alexandria, Suez and other cities and still have not be dispersed. Many are continuing their anti-government chants and now directly asking Mubarak to step down...

On twitter - a tip for the next domino to fall?

#jAN25 Ripple effect of #Jan25 felt in Mauritania. Massive protest out on the streets of capital right now!
about 3 hours ago

Also on twitter

Cairo: Army spreading in streets making gathering for protesters, who are exhausted by now, very difficult #Jan25 #Jan28 #Egypt
less than 5 seconds ago via web

RNN: Trusted Source: From one army leader: so far, army is out and Presidential Guards are those in the streets #jan25 #egypt
5 minutes ago via jan25live

Live Phonecall: Police trucks seen in Dokki, major streets quieter near Charles de Gaulle. #Jan25 #Jan28 #Egypt
10 minutes ago via web

RNN: one bedwin and one borders guards soldier killed in conflicts between both sides in Sinai #jan25 #egypt
3 minutes ago via jan25live

Dostor: State Security location in Rafah under siege by armed people and firing from Sinai Bedwins #jan25 #egypt
26 minutes ago via jan25live

Rafah is on the border with Gaza. This point was made on the angryarab blog earlier in the day:

Can anyone doubt that a new regime in Egypt (whether secular or Islamist) in no way can continue the official embrace of Israeli war crimes and that the siege of Gaza would be first to go?

Photos

From the liveblog

0138 GMT: Sarah El Sirgany from Cairo tweets incidents of looting of shops in the city.

Another Egyptian twitterer tweets:

Curfew > Ignored. #Mubarak Speech > Ignored. Obama Speech > No one cares. Revolution is on.

0132 GMT: Al Jazeera now claims that over 20 protesters were killed today and over 1,000 were injured. I suppose this is what happens when you use the freedoms that President Hosni Mubarak has provided Egyptians.

0115: Even at almost 4 in the morning, Cairo is still being rocked by the sounds of explosions. Multiple people in Cairo claim that they have heard several small explosions coming mostly from the center of the city. No confirmation existed as to what exactly is causing the explosions. 

0100: As chaotic as scenes have been in Cairo, Alexandria seems to have suffered an equal amount of damage. The Army just arrived in the city and were faced with the left-overs of what was the 28th of January - the carcasses of burnt out government buildings, police stations and the mess created by clashes between hundreds of thousands of protesters and riot police.

On twitter in the last hour or so

Doors are being quietly knocked on and people asked to join protests tomorrow.

On streets of Alexandria, seems every police truck deployed for riots was destroyed, burnt, litter roads near clashes.

Alexandria Governorate building heavily burnt and looted, a war against the Egyptian government people here say.

Tour of downtown Alexandria reveals destruction of police stations and only a few dozen Egyptian soldiers 37 minutes ago.

Egyptian Army arrive in Alexandria after damage is done, stand guard at useless, burnt out police stations

at alex police station where people say police allegedly murdered innocent man in cold blood last year — now total destruction.

Army looks on, does nothing as one of Alexandria's largest police station burns and looters carry away anything of value.

Streets of Alexandria very quiet now, soldiers with bayonets fixed on rifles guard road to torched police station.

Man shot dead in Maadi by police. Victim's family steal firearms from nearby store and violence erupts.

Man shot dead in Maadi by police forces trying to enforce curfew. Street fight ensues between police and victim's family.

Egypt's security and armed forces: The deciding factor (BBC)

The fate of Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak, his entire state apparatus, and that of the popular uprising confronting them now depends largely on the actions of his army and security forces.

The two are not the same.

Broadly speaking, Egyptians respect their army, which is still seen as a patriotic bulwark against their neighbour Israel, with whom they went to war in 1967 and 1973.

But the black-clad riot police, the Central Security Force (Amn al-Markazi), belongs to the interior ministry, and has been in the forefront of much of the violent confrontations with protesters.

Poorly paid and mostly illiterate, they number around 330,000 when combined with the Border Force. They themselves rioted over low pay in the early years of President Mubarak's rule and had to be brought under control by the army.

The army has a similar strength - around 340,000 - and is under the command of Gen Mohammad Tantawi, who has close ties with the US (he has just been visiting the Pentagon).

When Mr Mubarak ordered the army onto the streets of Cairo and other cities late on Friday, his aim was to back up the riot police who have been heavily outnumbered by the protesters.

But many of them are hoping the army will take their side or, at the very least, act as a restraining force on the police who have been acting with excessive brutality throughout this protest.

Hence the cheers that greeted the columns of army vehicles as they drove through Cairo on Friday night.
Up until now, President Mubarak has enjoyed the support of the armed forces.

He was, after all, a career air force officer suddenly catapulted to the presidency when Anwar Sadat was assassinated in 1981.

But if these protests continue and intensify there are bound to be senior voices within the military tempted to urge him to stand down...

From the liveblog

0153 GMT: So did the protesters go home now that it's around 4 AM in Egypt? Well, not quite. Tharwacolamus tweets: 

Thousands of protesters still in Tahrir Square, signing, dancing, chanting "down with Mubarak," plan to stay all night. What curfew?

[youtube]IYmtsTANYQI[/youtube]

As night falls in Egypt families begin looking for missing loved ones

More from the Al Jazeera liveblog

3:17pm The Saudi stock market, the Arab world's largest, dropped 6.43 per cent on Saturday amid rising Egypt tensions. Traders fear that other Gulf markets, due to open on Sunday, could experience similar drops.

3:06pm At least 8 people killed by live fire at prison near Cairo, and Egyptian authorities call for all banks to close.

3:03pm Al Jazeera correspondent reports that 36 deaths are confirmed in Alexandria, a coastal city where several police stations have been torched. Protesters continue to gather along the Corniche there - but not as many as yesterday.

2:47pm Up to 50,000 people gather in Cairo's Tahrir Square, saying that resignation of the cabinet is not enough. Egyptian state TV says that the curfew will begin at 4pm local time.

From the EA liveblog

1220 GMT: Al Jazeera is now reporting that at least 95 people have died in protests.

1035 GMT: Hospital sources say 30 bodies were taken to El Damardash hospital in central Cairo overnight, including two children.

Suez steel workers are going on strike until President Mubarak resigns.

1020 GMT: From Al Jazeera reporter, "Driving across Cairo not seen a single cop! Civilians directing traffic at some intersections as even traffic police have gone."

[youtube]Gb1ErDLSiKk[/youtube]

Guardian live updates

On twitter

Al Jazeera reporter: "I received calls from hospitals in Egypt by doctors telling me they have been told not to record deaths by bullets"

Eye Witness: Massacre at Abo Zaa'bal prison targeting MB leaders

Intense firing at Central Bank Press in #Cairo

Urgent from Tahrir Square: police members come into protesters and shoot

Shops reopen in Alexandria Egypt, men sip coffee in cafes on Corniche as protesters march by.

Protesters in Alexandria Egypt find leaders, organisers marshall protesters, direct chanting and keep the peace

"We are finally out we are never going back" they chant,"Mubarak, Saudi Arabia is waiting for you." Army vastly outnumbered just watches.

London: thousands protest before Egyptian Embassy now

From Al Jazeera liveblog

4:00pm Curfew has commenced in major cities across Egypt - Cairo, Suez, and Alexandria - but thousands of protesters remain in the streets.

I'm not sure how much the curfew will mean in practice. [Edit: I've just been watching the live feed from Tahrir Square in Cairo and no one's going anywhere. Army and tanks on the streets but relations between protesters and soldiers seem friendly]

http://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now/

From the anti-cuts thread

Just heard the entire London demo is heading for the Egyptian embassy

From the Al Jazeera liveblog

7:38pm Ayman Mohyeldin reports that eyewitnesses have said "party thugs" associated with the Egyptian regime's Central Security Services - in plainclothes but bearing government-issued weapons - have been looting in Cairo. Ayman says the reports started off as isolated accounts but are now growing in number.

7:31pm The Egyptian military is now reportedly driving through suburbs trying to protect affluent homes from looters.

6:59pm Al Jazeera's Sherine Tadros, reporting from Suez, says that the army has made a push to enforce the curfew there by clearing the center of the city. Protesters got angry with the soldiers, who scuffled with demonstrators while trying to keep the area secure without frustrating the people. Sherine observes people amicably drinking coffee with soldiers.

6:50pm As protesters continue to defy curfew, a bystander in Cairo tells Al Jazeera that there are no police left in the capital. Formerly omnipresent traffic police are nowhere to be found. Reports suggest that private property is being seized in locations throughout Egypt.

6:43pm Some of the rarest antiquities in the world are found damaged by looters at famed Cairo musuem.

6:14pm Reports emerge of gun fire in the affluent Cairo neighborhood of Mahdi. Local men are going into the street with clubs and chains to prevent looting. Residents are trying to protect the entrance to the neighborhood with blockades.

This is starting to sound like the situation in Tunis two weeks ago.

From the EA liveblog

1756 GMT: As the night drags on and the military keeps telling people to go home - and in one case to defend their own property -, the mood in Cairo seems to be one of defiance. Nobody seems to want to leave the city center and give Mubarak and his government the chance to come to grips with situation. 

1735 GMT: EA correspondent reports that the Children's Cancer Hospital near Old Cairo has been looted.

1729 GMT: EA correspondent brings news from Shubra in Cairo, of sexual threats to women and stealing from shops and houses: "Women have started to cook spices to throw in looters eyes and faces as protection. They've got knives with them and are all gathering together in the rooms, switched the lights off. Anything to protect themselves."

1715 GMT: An EA correspondent brings more information from calls to Egypt:

Ex-prisoners, thugs and gangs have hit the streets [in sections of Cairo]! Outside my friend's flat, thugs and gangs shot live rounds in the air...shouted a bit. Thank God they've dispersed to other places.
 
Just now in Heliopolis (Masr Gedida): Thugs have hit the streets just round the corner from the presidential palace). The men from the flats have gone downstairs with sticks to protect it. All the lights have been switched off. People are TERRIFIED!

 
1710 GMT: Al Jazeera English has been showing pictures of the aftermath of the looting of the National Museum on Friday, despite a human shield was set up to protect the building.

1645 GMT: Al Jazeera English is now conducting a panicked interview with an observer in Cairo, which affirms what we just reported about looting. Gangs "are taking everything they can. The main thing is, 'Where are the police who were shooting the protesters?'"

1640 GMT: However, even with appointment of a Vice President, the mass rallies in Egypt defying curfews, and the apparent reconcilation between Army and demonstrators, the big emerging story appears to be looting. An EA correspondent has been collecting reports this afternoon. Here is her unedited report:

I just called my best friend in Nasr City. Gangs have just gathered downstairs under their flat. They can't move and they are trapped! People are terrified. WHERE ARE THE ARMY? IT IS GETTING DARK!! Not sure I'm excited about this anymore.

Calls from Maadi, Mohendiseen, Nasr City, and Moqattam: people are terrified. They cannot leave their flats because gangs are standing outside threatening them with machetes and sticks. Oh wait: the army are too busy high 5'ing protestors outside the State TV station. Oh...THAT'S where they are!

Remember Scott I said earlier my friend said her family in Shubra [in Cairo] saw looters raid the police station and even took their uniforms. Now the problem is no-one knows who anyone is anymore.

I've switched from Al Jazeera arabic to Al Arabiya to mehwar and all those calling into the stations are BEGGING the army to establish order because organised thugs and gangs have taken over. There is certainly an air of urgency that the army do something.

1625 GMT: Back from a break to find Al Jazeera reporting that protesters in Alexandria are arresting police officers caught looting and handing them over to soldiers.

Again that sounds like what happened in Tunis.

Egypt in 140 characters or less (al-bab.com)

t is so important to remember that the vast MAJORITY of those on the streets around the country do not have the time, the ability, the resources (including smartphones) and certainly no access to working mobile phone service. This revolution is JUST NOT BEING TWITTERED by the people who are actually protesting.

The only people tweeting are either reporters with huge bureaus and live cameras to back them or people like me reporting from the cyber-frontlines talking to the few friends in Cairo we can reach on their landlines.

To tweet this revolution and Egypt’s complex back-story in 140 characters or less is impossible.

(…)

Not many correspondents are able to get to neighborhoods like Rihab, Mohandasin, Zamalek, Maadi—which cyber-reporters/tweeters like me are able to do by talking only on landlines (mobiles are not working) to our friends—ordinary citizens. Hopefully this below, is an example of that. 

(…)

My friend Fouad was able to get on the landline again. His body and soul are still bruised and yet he has never been more hopeful. His severe anger at Hosni Mubarak’s speech full of lies and his ambivalence about the appointment of Omar Soliman, the head of intelligence as the new vice president. 

It a fragmented conversation on a still functioning landline. And as bullets do rain all around him, here are his bullet points. The thoughts and experiences of an ordinary citizen, not a reporter.

• Mohandaseen is burning—we are surrounded by looters, and the army is just watching

• They are looting houses and we have no idea who these looters are

• My parents asked army tank guys and they said we cannot intervene!

• Everyone here is saying that Mubarak is being spiteful-he wants looters so that he can say: "Look, I gave you calm for 30 years. OK now you want to get rid of me? Well see the chaos my going can bring. Enjoy the unrest and the looting. Only I could have protected all of you!"

• I was driving and 3 men with knives attacked me near Sudan street—I had to sort of run them over

• Big rumor that Mubarak is releasing prisoners and arming them so that they can infiltrate neighbourhoods and loot them

• Maadi, Street number nine-huge vandalism happening—There is looting everywhere in Rihab city, in Mohandasin, in Shubra. In Heliopolis there are plainsclothes police

• My parents are organizing all the baobabs in our street and making blockades to stop the looters

• There are Balkageyah (thugs) everywhere—all rich neighborhoods are being attacked 

• I think he is fucked up yaani--He didnt resign---his speech instigated the violence---now looters and the poor think that when you know there is no hope you might as well get as much as you can as long as the chaos lasts--people were hopeful that he would go

• Maybe in other governates -- people are more organized and closer to each other as community members ... so they will organize better, perhaps — In Cairo it is difficult to control the chaos and disorder—there are 19 million people in this city who often don’t talk to each other and are so separated by class and money — I am wondering how they can organize together?

• The people in Cairo are fighting two things--they are fighting police forces but also now fighting looters

• People prayed the Salat ul Genaza, the funeral prayer after the evening prayers in Tahrir—we carried a body through the crush of thousands—I was crying, so many of us were crying

Parvez Sharma

The looting at the Cairo museum was fairly minor and seems to have happened despite attempts by protesters to protect it. I doubt that you'd find many people in Egypt who didn't think it worth protecting. It's the most impressive museum collection I've seen anywhere. You don't have to be a nationalist to appreciate it.

Given Egyptian society I'd say that if women were anything approaching 10% of the people on the streets that would actually be something quite positive.

From the EA liveblog

1940 GMT: Al Jazeera reports the torching of the State Security and Police Bureau buildings in Damanhour, 160 kilometres/99 miles northwest of Cairo.

1903 GMT: Al Arabiya reports 8 killed and 17 injured in an attempt to storm the Police Bureau in Beni Suef, 115 kilometres/72 miles south of Cairo.

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From the Al Jazeera liveblog

11:06pm Cairo neighborhoods are being policed by local residents wielding kitchen knives and hunting rifles, after the military called for civilians to protect their own property.

10:42pm Gunfire has been heard coming from the direction of the interior ministry in Cairo during a confrontation between guards and protesters, and the National Press Building next to the NDP headquarters is on fire.

9:46pm Ayman Mohyeldin reports desolate Cairo streets and roaming bands of thuggish-looking men who cannot be identified as plainclothes police or civilians. He also says many fewer people are in the streets than earlier in the evening.

From the EA liveblog

2100 GMT: Al Jazeera reports that fire has engulfed the Supreme Council of Journalism and surrounding buildings in central Cairo with no firefighters to be seen.

2053 GMT: A first-hand report from the Bulaq section of Cairo, "Police Station a ball of flames. Heavy gunfire."

2045 GMT: Reports come in from various sources of mosques urging area youth to help secure neighbourhoods. One mosque has announced the emergency phone number 0104888848 for assistance.

2018 GMT: Al Arabiya reports from witnesses that Bedouin protesters have stormed a Police Bureau and confiscated weapons in Arish in the Sinai.

2015 GMT: A resident in Nasr City in Cairo reports no police, local armed youth armed the neighborhood, roads barricaded, and passers-by welcoming the Army.

From the Arabist

Aftermath

The army and the people

According to a comment posted on the Arabist blog

-There are no more police anywhere, and the few security officers I saw, seemed to have deserted and joined local watch groups.

-Looting seems to have slowed as people throughout Cairo have organized and there are bands of neighborhood watch everywhere

-The prison break is also what has made many scared

-And there is still fighting and gunfire at the interior ministry

And on the EA liveblog

2130 GMT: Reports of clashes in 6 October suburb of Cairo between resident and "30 thugs in police cars trying to break into the area".

On the EA liveblog

2247 GMT: A German news agency is claiming 19 private planes have departed Cairo Airport carrying Egyptian and Arab businessmen and families.

2245 GMT: Tens of thousands of protesters are still in central Cairo, with food being organised for them.

2240 GMT: A senior police officer has been kidnapped in Damietta, 200kilometres/120miles north of Cairo. Tarek Hammad is Head of Damietta Security.

2230 GMT: Escalating story tonight of at least one sniper in the Ministry of Interior picking off protesters outside the building. Witnesses are saying 10 to 15 people have been shot dead and dozens have been wounded. Dr Muhammad Hassan tells Al Jazeera that dead protestors from the area are flooding the makeshift field hospital.

2225 GMT: Al Jazeera reports the death of Major General Mohammed El-Batran, head of the Investigative Unit at Fayoum Central Jail in middle Egypt, 130 kilometres (80 miles) southwest of Cairo. About 700 prisoners have fled.

Photos from Saturday

Some extracts from the EA liveblog

1305 GMT: Al Jazeera now estimates more than 150,000 people are in Tahrir Square in Cairo.

1255 GMT: Apparently Reuters has banned Al Jazeera from using its footage from Egypt.

1145 GMT: And it happened. Dan Nolan just reported that Al Jazeera's Cairo Bureau was just shut down by government plain clothesmen. The TV uplink has been closed. 

1122 GMT: Al Jazeera released a new casualty count for the protests so far in the past few days: 150 killed, 4,000 injured. 

1105 GMT: Al Jazeera reports that hundreds of protestors have clashed with security forces outside the headquarters of the ruling party NDP in Assiut Province in upper Egypt south of Cairo.

1100 GMT: Al Jazeera Arabic is now off-air in Egypt.

1055 GMT: Al Arabiya says officers in Qatta Prison near Cairo have fired at prisoners and their families, killing 170 and injuring 200.

1050 GMT: A Muslim Brotherhood official says 34 members were arrested on Friday but were released by protesters from a detention facility in the 6 October section of Cairo. Leaders Mohamed Morsi and Issam El Eryan were among those freed.

1039 GMT: Confirmation that thousands of prisoners have fled from Wadi El Natrun jail north of Cairo. Eight inmates died in the breakout.

1030 GMT: Thousands have now gathered in front of Qaid Ibrahim mosque in Alexandria for the funeral procession of three protesters who have been killed.

0815 GMT: Al Jazeera is reporting that military vehicles are now on the streets of Sharm el Sheikh in the Sinai Peninsula. The terms of the 1979 Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt prohibited any military presence in the Sinai. So the move is likely to have had Israeli acceptance; West Jerusalem has refused on previous occasions to allow the entry of Egypt's military.

A German press agency has been reporting that fires erupted in Sharm el Sheikh market amidst looting & ransacking.

Al Hewar is reporting that the house belonging to the in-laws of Hosni Mubarak has been looted in Minya, 245 kilometres/152 miles south of Cairo.

Guardian live updates

Al Jazeera liveblog

Al Jazeera live stream

Mubarak clings on as his power ebbs (al-bab.com)

On the streets, something strange happened yesterday: the police melted away and looters moved in. There were repeated allegations that the looters were in fact plainclothes police and other members of the security apparatus whose aim was to cause mayhem and provide the excuse for a harsh crackdown. However, Egyptians responded by setting up their own neighbourhood protection committees – a move that seems to have been relatively effective. (There were similar stories of government-instigated looting during the latter stages of the Tunisian uprising.)

This morning there were reports of a stronger army presence on the streets of Cairo, especially around Tahrir Square, but it seems this may be limited to certain areas only and there are questions about whether the army is really capable of carrying out policing operations across the country.

Rumours have been circulating that the army will take a much tougher line with protesters today – what some are calling the Tiananmen Square option. However, I am sceptical about that. For one, thing, the US has warned strongly against it, and though Mubarak may not listen to Washington I think his commanders are more likely to. A couple of reports on Twitter say women are likely to be at the fore of today's protests "to give the men a rest". If so, that may also deter the military. Others point out that Suleiman and Shafik are old-style authoritarians who may stop at nothing in their efforts to salvage the situation...

squaler - thanks - from that twitter feed:

The Popular Committees hold the seeds for what direct democracy could look like in the future. We need to focus on them instead of BARADIE!