Egypt protests – Day of Departure live updates
• Egypt braced for ‘Day of Departure’ rally in Cairo • Flashpoints could occur after Friday prayers • US and Egypt reportedly in talks on replacing Mubarak • Mubarak warns: ‘If I resign today there will be chaos’ 8.17am: My colleagues Jack Shenker, Peter Beaumont and Mustafa Khalili in Cairo have filed their first report of the day. They say Cairo is holding its breath for what may be the “Day of Departure” for Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president. Egyptian protesters trying to topple the 30-year reign of Mubarak have called on their supporters to fill every square in the capital on Friday. With internet once again reconnected and mobile phone services largely resumed, organisers have once again been able to mobilise the hundreds of thousands who have flooded the capital on several days during the 11-day crisis. The reporters say Mubarak’s comments to ABC TV that he was fed up and wanted to resign ( see 7.32am ), may embolden the opposition, “which feels it is close to toppling him, amid a rapid draining away of international support for the president”. In anticipation of further violence, soldiers were this morning for the first time carrying riot equipment and setting up checkpoints at key installations and bridges. Those camped out inside the square refused to bow to regime pressure as they prepared for their biggest push yet. “Things are relatively quiet now; we have basically created a liberated republic within the heart of Egypt,” said Karim Medhat Ennarah. “We have our own makeshift hospitals, our own security services who direct efforts to protect the square, our own food supply chains. People are exhausted but exhilarated.” Our reporters also noted that 24 journalists were detained in 24 hours yesterday, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, and human rights activists were also targeted. I’ll post the link to the full story as soon as we get it. In the meantime, click here for all the coverage of Egypt in today’s paper . 7.55am: @NadiaE tweets : Getting ready to go to Tahrir. I hope to make today my first in a democratic Egypt. #jan25 #egypt 7.41am: The Guardian’s Harriet Sherwood reports: The demonstration in Alexandria, Egypt’s second city, is expected to be very big today, surpassing the 100,000-plus who came out on to the streets on Tuesday. There have been signs that the Muslim Brotherhood, which has a strong presence in the city, has been organising for today’s protest. A vehicle with speakers has been exhorting people to make a stand, and anti-regime activists have been visiting the mosques calling on people to join the protest. “Tomorrow will be big,” said Ahmed Mohammed, 27, a government employee who was protesting yesterday. “We have demands. They are old demands, but nobody listened until now.” The demonstration is expected to begin after Friday prayers and converge, to begin with, on Alexandria’s seafront. The mood, which was buoyant on Tuesday, has steadily turned more aggressive and edgy as pro- and anti-regime protesters have staged furious verbal confrontations and western journalists have been accused of being Israeli spies. But, although Alexandria was the scene of bloodshed and violent clashes last Friday, it has not since seen street battles like those in and around Tahrir Square in Cairo. There is still a strong army presence guarding key buildings in Alexandria, and tanks could be heard moving through the streets in the early hours of this morning. Police made a reappearance yesterday, but restricted their role to directing traffic. Ebtisam Muhammed, a 22-year-old anthropology graduate, feared that the protests were now being manipulated by “dark forces”. “They’re doing this to bring the temple down,” she said. 7.32am: Anti-government protesters are today hoping they can force Mubarak from office, on a day they have dubbed “departure Friday” or the “Day of Departure”. Fridays after midday prayers are traditionally an explosive point in Middle Eastern countries, with masses taking to the streets after attendance at mosques. Last night the New York Times reported that the White House, the state department and the Pentagon have been involved in discussions that include an option in which Mubarak would given way to a transitional government headed by the Egyptian vice-president, Omar Suleiman. Even though Mr Mubarak has balked, so far, at leaving now, officials from both governments are continuing talks about a plan in which Mr Suleiman, backed by Lt Gen Sami Enan, chief of the Egyptian armed forces, and Field Marshal Mohamed Tantawi, the defence minister, would immediately begin a process of constitutional reform. The proposal also calls for the transitional government to invite members from a broad range of opposition groups, including the banned Muslim Brotherhood, to begin work to open up the country’s electoral system in an effort to bring about free and fair elections in September, the officials said. Senior administration officials said that the proposal was one of several options under discussion with high-level Egyptian officials around Mr Mubarak in an effort to persuade the president to step down now. They cautioned that the outcome depended on several factors, not least Egypt’s own constitutional protocols and the mood of the protesters on the streets of Cairo and other Egyptian cities. Some officials said there was not yet any indication that either Mr Suleiman or the Egyptian military was willing to abandon Mr Mubarak. Mubarak was defiant yesterday, the Guardian’s team reported , insisting he intended to remain in office until the autumn election, and even going so far as to suggest he wanted to relinquish power. He said that while he was fed up after six decades of public service and wanted to leave, he feared that an early departure would lead to chaos. In his first major interview since protests began, Mubarak told America’s ABC News: “I am fed up. After 62 years in public service, I have had enough. I want to go.” Mubarak expressed no sense of betrayal over Barack Obama’s call on Tuesday for him to begin the transition to democracy “now”. But there was a hint of resentment when he said Obama did not understand Egyptian culture and the trouble that would ensue if he left office immediately. “If I resign today, there will be chaos,” he told ABC’s Christiane Amanpour. You can follow all the latest from our team in Egypt here. Egypt Middle East Adam Gabbatt Paul Owen guardian.co.uk
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Egypt protests – Day of Departure live updates
• Egypt braced for ‘Day of Departure’ rally in Cairo • Flashpoints could occur after Friday prayers • US and Egypt reportedly in talks on replacing Mubarak • Mubarak warns: ‘If I resign today there will be chaos’ 8.17am: My colleagues Jack Shenker, Peter Beaumont and Mustafa Khalili in Cairo have filed their first report of the day. They say Cairo is holding its breath for what may be the “Day of Departure” for Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president. Egyptian protesters trying to topple the 30-year reign of Mubarak have called on their supporters to fill every square in the capital on Friday. With internet once again reconnected and mobile phone services largely resumed, organisers have once again been able to mobilise the hundreds of thousands who have flooded the capital on several days during the 11-day crisis. The reporters say Mubarak’s comments to ABC TV that he was fed up and wanted to resign ( see 7.32am ), may embolden the opposition, “which feels it is close to toppling him, amid a rapid draining away of international support for the president”. In anticipation of further violence, soldiers were this morning for the first time carrying riot equipment and setting up checkpoints at key installations and bridges. Those camped out inside the square refused to bow to regime pressure as they prepared for their biggest push yet. “Things are relatively quiet now; we have basically created a liberated republic within the heart of Egypt,” said Karim Medhat Ennarah. “We have our own makeshift hospitals, our own security services who direct efforts to protect the square, our own food supply chains. People are exhausted but exhilarated.” Our reporters also noted that 24 journalists were detained in 24 hours yesterday, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, and human rights activists were also targeted. I’ll post the link to the full story as soon as we get it. In the meantime, click here for all the coverage of Egypt in today’s paper . 7.55am: @NadiaE tweets : Getting ready to go to Tahrir. I hope to make today my first in a democratic Egypt. #jan25 #egypt 7.41am: The Guardian’s Harriet Sherwood reports: The demonstration in Alexandria, Egypt’s second city, is expected to be very big today, surpassing the 100,000-plus who came out on to the streets on Tuesday. There have been signs that the Muslim Brotherhood, which has a strong presence in the city, has been organising for today’s protest. A vehicle with speakers has been exhorting people to make a stand, and anti-regime activists have been visiting the mosques calling on people to join the protest. “Tomorrow will be big,” said Ahmed Mohammed, 27, a government employee who was protesting yesterday. “We have demands. They are old demands, but nobody listened until now.” The demonstration is expected to begin after Friday prayers and converge, to begin with, on Alexandria’s seafront. The mood, which was buoyant on Tuesday, has steadily turned more aggressive and edgy as pro- and anti-regime protesters have staged furious verbal confrontations and western journalists have been accused of being Israeli spies. But, although Alexandria was the scene of bloodshed and violent clashes last Friday, it has not since seen street battles like those in and around Tahrir Square in Cairo. There is still a strong army presence guarding key buildings in Alexandria, and tanks could be heard moving through the streets in the early hours of this morning. Police made a reappearance yesterday, but restricted their role to directing traffic. Ebtisam Muhammed, a 22-year-old anthropology graduate, feared that the protests were now being manipulated by “dark forces”. “They’re doing this to bring the temple down,” she said. 7.32am: Anti-government protesters are today hoping they can force Mubarak from office, on a day they have dubbed “departure Friday” or the “Day of Departure”. Fridays after midday prayers are traditionally an explosive point in Middle Eastern countries, with masses taking to the streets after attendance at mosques. Last night the New York Times reported that the White House, the state department and the Pentagon have been involved in discussions that include an option in which Mubarak would given way to a transitional government headed by the Egyptian vice-president, Omar Suleiman. Even though Mr Mubarak has balked, so far, at leaving now, officials from both governments are continuing talks about a plan in which Mr Suleiman, backed by Lt Gen Sami Enan, chief of the Egyptian armed forces, and Field Marshal Mohamed Tantawi, the defence minister, would immediately begin a process of constitutional reform. The proposal also calls for the transitional government to invite members from a broad range of opposition groups, including the banned Muslim Brotherhood, to begin work to open up the country’s electoral system in an effort to bring about free and fair elections in September, the officials said. Senior administration officials said that the proposal was one of several options under discussion with high-level Egyptian officials around Mr Mubarak in an effort to persuade the president to step down now. They cautioned that the outcome depended on several factors, not least Egypt’s own constitutional protocols and the mood of the protesters on the streets of Cairo and other Egyptian cities. Some officials said there was not yet any indication that either Mr Suleiman or the Egyptian military was willing to abandon Mr Mubarak. Mubarak was defiant yesterday, the Guardian’s team reported , insisting he intended to remain in office until the autumn election, and even going so far as to suggest he wanted to relinquish power. He said that while he was fed up after six decades of public service and wanted to leave, he feared that an early departure would lead to chaos. In his first major interview since protests began, Mubarak told America’s ABC News: “I am fed up. After 62 years in public service, I have had enough. I want to go.” Mubarak expressed no sense of betrayal over Barack Obama’s call on Tuesday for him to begin the transition to democracy “now”. But there was a hint of resentment when he said Obama did not understand Egyptian culture and the trouble that would ensue if he left office immediately. “If I resign today, there will be chaos,” he told ABC’s Christiane Amanpour. You can follow all the latest from our team in Egypt here. Egypt Middle East Adam Gabbatt Paul Owen guardian.co.uk
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on February 4, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News.
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