'Day Of Departure' In Egypt
By Sharif Abdel Kouddous
04 February, 2011
Countercurrents.org
This post is collated from tweets from @sharifkouddous, Sharif Abdel Kouddous a Democracy Now! producer who spent last night in Tahrir Square in Cairo, who is now in and around Tahrir Square. This post will be contiually updated as the days events unfold
>> Thousands continue to stream across Kasr El Nile bridge. Very festive atmosphere. What a contrast to Wednesday's govt-sponsored brutality.
>> The baltagiya wouldn't dare enter here. Way too many people. They would be completely overwhelmed
>> On a balcony now with birds-eye view. Tahrir is an ocean of people. This is simply massive
>> Reports there are massive anti-Mubarak crowds heading from Mohandeseen & other districts to Tahrir
>> Not a second after prayers end the chants against Mubarak begin
>> Mass Friday prayer in Tahrir. Powerful.
>> A helicopter continues to hover overhead as thousands and thousands mote come into Tahrir.
>> Many ppl wear construction helmets today, also some motorbike helmets, to protect against any danger of flying rocks
>> There are throngs of people outside waiting to get in. Everyone is being frisked and having ID checked.
>> Tahrir is getting packed. Ppl streaming in. They are calling today "The day of departure" for Mubarak
>> Now big crowd jogging around square chanting "leave"
>> Group of men are jogging around the square chanting military-style
>> It's 5:40am in Tahrir. Morning prayers just ended. Darkness beginning to break. A new day.
>> Ppl are sleeping curled next to each other. Heads on laps. When alarms sound they run to protect entrances. They wait patiently.
>> Reports are they were picked up by military police
>> People are being rounded up. Reports of 20+ ppl detained from rights groups like El Baradei's, Hisham Mubarak's, Amnesty, HRW...
>> A moment of tension. ppl whistle to warn thugs are coming. Everyone rushes to protect entrances. They prepare for an attack but none comes
>> People have routed power from the street lights and are charging their cell phones in Tahrir
>> Hundreds of people are sleeping next to each other in the grassy area in the middle of the square. Packed together close.
>> Tahrir is regaining it's strength. It's getting lively again after yesterday's brutal assault.
>> Met with my uncle too. Four Kouddouses together in Tahrir.
>> Nice to have family with me
>> My father and younger brother are here in Tahrir
>> I met a friend and now I am standing on a balcony overlooking Tahrir. A great view. The middle circle is a true encampment.
>> Tahrir streets are literally being swept clean
>> Big sound system on stage. Hundreds sitting listing in front. "this is the greatest revolution in history" they cheer
>> Everyone offers each other bread, water, candy bars, juice. One can't go hungry here.
>> Atmosphere is calm in Tahrir. Some are singing songs. Some chanting. Many sitting and talking.
>> One man is playing a 'oud' under street lamp. Another sits next to him with a cast on his arm listening. Tahrir at night.
>> Just bought a koshari from a street vendor and tea from another. I feel replenished.
>> Every now and then an infiltrator is caught. Police ID found. And dragged away roughy to be arrested by army.
>> Not as much chanting, festivity as there used to be in Tahrir. A helicopter keeps passing flying low overhead.
>> I am going to spend the night in Tahrir to get a sense of what it is like
>> I can't say for sure but I think there are a number of infiltrators in Tahrir. People walking around filming, not looking the part
>> There appears to be a crackdown on journalists. We almost got thrown out by army people walking past a checkpoint on outskirts of Tahrir
>> This is the front line of the battle between the popular uprising and the Mubarak regime & the pro-democracy forces are holding their ground
Egypt's 'final push' protests begin
By Al Jazeera
Chants urging President Hosni Mubarak to leave are reverberating across Cairo's Tahrir Square, the focal point of protests in Egypt, where hundreds of thousands have gathered for what they have termed the "Day of Departure".
As the country entered its eleventh day of unrest, mass demonstrations commenced after Friday prayers.
Thousands also gathered in the city of Alexandria, holding up placards and chanting "He must go!" an Al Jazeera correspondent there reported. Protesters there have said they will march to the city's main train station and stage a sit-in until Mubarak leaves office. Three thousand people also joined demonstrations in Giza.
In Cairo, about 200 Mubarak loyalists had gathered on the 6th of October Bridge, near Tahrir Square, with another 200 below the bridge. They were chanting pro-regime slogans, and holding up posters of Mubarak.
Our correspondents at the square reported that there were up to five layers of checkpoints at some entrances, with makeshift barricades being put up by pro-democracy protesters at some points, possibly in anticipation of violence if Mubarak loyalists were to approach the square.
"The feel here is that today is the final day for Mubarak, it's time for him to go," Gigi Ibrahim, a political activist told Al Jazeera from Tahrir [Liberation] Square in Cairo.
"This whole process has been about who is more determined and who is not willing to give up. And everyday [the protesters] get more and more determined," Ibrahim said.
Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, Egypt's defence minister, also visited the square earlier on Friday. He talked with the protesters and other military commanders.
Amr Moussa, Egypt's former foreign minister and current secretary-general of the Arab League, also visited the square.
Earlier, Ahmed Shafiq, Egypt's new prime minister, said the interior minister should not obstruct Friday's peaceful marches. And Mubarak, on his part said he wanted to leave office, but feared there will be chaos if he did.
Speaking to America's ABC television he said, "I am fed up. After 62 years in public service, I have had enough. I want to go."
But he added: "If I resign today, there will be chaos."
Mubarak's government has struggled to regain control of a nation angry about poverty, recession and political repression, inviting the Muslim Brotherhood - Egypt's most organised opposition movement - to talks and apologising for Wednesday's bloodshed in Cairo.
Transition government
In a bid to calm the situation, Omar Suleiman, the vice-president, said on Thursday that the banned Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest opposition political movement, and others had been invited to meet the new government as part of a national dialogue.
An offer to talk to the banned but tolerated group would have been unthinkable before protests erupted on January 25, indicating the gains made by the pro-democracy movement since then.
But sensing victory, they have refused talks until Mubarak goes.
Opposition actors including Mohamed ElBaradei, the former UN nuclear watchdog head, and the Muslim Brotherhood said again that Mubarak, who wants to stay on until elections scheduled for September, must go before they would negotiate with the government.
"We demand that this regime is overthrown, and we demand the formation of a national unity government for all the factions," the Muslim Brotherhood said in a statement broadcast by Al Jazeera.
The government's overture came after Shafiq, the prime minister, apologised for Wednesday's violence and the breakdown in law and order.
Shafiq also said he did not know who was responsible for the bloodshed, blamed by protesters on undercover police.
In an important move, Mohammed Al-Beltagi, a leading member of Muslim Brotherhood, told Al Jazeera on Friday that his organisation has no ambitions to run for the presidency.
The developments come as the New York Times reports, quoting US officials and Arab diplomats, that the US administration is discussing with Egyptian officials a proposal for Mubarak to resign immediately and hand over power to a transitional government headed by Omar Suleiman, the newly appointed vice-president.
This report, though unconfirmed by the White House, comes after Mubarak's statements on Tuesday this week, where he agreed to give up power in September at the end of his current term.
Mohamed Talaat El-Sadat, brother of the late Egyptian president Anwar El-Sadaat has backed Suleiman for the top post. He told Al Jazeera on Friday that he supported the youth revolution but did not want Egypt to go to civil war.
"We don’t want chaos and call for meeting [the] demands of demonstrators who should stay at Tahrir Square," he said, adding "I expect Mubarak will voluntarily and openhandedly step down and transfer power to Omar Suleiman."
Bloody clashes
At least 13 people have died and scores were injured, most over the last two days when Mubarak loyalists launched a counter-revolution on pro-democracy protesters.
The army took little action while the fighting raged in Tahrir Square over the past two days. However, there was a more visible military presence on Thursday; but this did not prevent new clashes.
The interior ministry has denied it ordered its agents or officers to attack prior pro-democracy demonstrations.
Vice president Suleiman told ABC Television that the government would not forcefully remove protesters. "We will ask them to go home, but we will not push them to go home," he said.
Ahead of Friday's mass protests, eyewitnesses told Al Jazeera that thugs, with the assistance of security vehicles, were readying to attack Tahrir Square. They said protesters were preparing to confront them.
Protesters also reported finding petrol bombs on security personnel dressed in civilian clothes.
An Al Jazeera correspondent, who spent Thursday night in Tahrir Square, said "the numbers did not die down one bit" through the night. He added that there was an atmosphere of defiance among all the protesters he had spoken to.
The army's role in shaping events is crucial. Only on Thursday did soldiers set up a clear buffer zone around the square to separate factions after having stood by. That did not prevent new clashes as opposing groups pelted each other with rocks.
Though less numerous than earlier in the week, there were demonstrations on Thursday in Suez and Ismailia, industrial cities where inflation and unemployment have kindled the sort of dissent that hit Tunisia and which some believe could ripple in a domino effect across other Arab police states.
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