In Tahrir Square of Cairo freedom party begins

Jubilant Egyptians celebrate Hosni Mubarak’s resignation Cairo, in Arabic, means “victorious”. Last night the Egyptian capital lived up to its name. The crowds that had been steadily gathering outside the presidential palace all afternoon were swaying with their normal rhythm of quietly controlled passion, pockets of singing here, flags waved there. Word spread that an important announcement was expected, but few held out much hope. They had anticipated triumph the night before and seen it snatched from their hands. This time, though, it would be different. At 6pm, beneath the Belle Époque domes of the building from which President Hosni Mubarak had ruled for so long, a cry went out that he was gone. In an instant the street was convulsed with a wild, directionless surge of energy. For a few moments it was simply a wall of sound, and Egypt’s national colours blurred through the sky from every angle. And then the world came back into focus. “Freedom,” roared a jubilant crush of humanity, as the party got under way. Families and friends were torn apart in the throng, but it didn’t matter; hugs and kisses and dances were being thrown out indiscriminately. People bounced from one circle of cheering youths to another; some put their Egyptian flags down on the floor and began to pray, others fainted – quite overcome with the emotion. “For 18 days we have withstood tear gas, rubber bullets, live ammunition, molotov cocktails, thugs on horseback, the scepticism and fear of our loved ones, and the worst sort of ambivalence from an international community that claims to care about democracy,” said Karim Medhat Ennarah, a protester with tears in his eyes. “But we held our ground. We did it. “My late father was part of a sit-in at the faculty of engineering in Cairo University in 1968 – the first protest seen in Egypt since Nasser took over in 1952,” he added. “His generation tell me that they were not as brave as us, but they started something and played their part. Today, we finished the job for them.” Soon the march back to Tahrir Square, in the centre of Cairo, was under way, serenaded by car horns, onlookers on their balconies punching the air, and a blast of amateur fireworks that shot through the crowd at just above head height and exploded to cheers. Tariq Ashri, a 42-year-old administrative assistant, had spent the morning walking the 10 miles down the road to the palace in a mood of defiance. Now he was walking back in joy. “I feel free at last,” he told the Guardian. “We’ve had 30 years of dreaming about democracy, now tomorrow the dreaming is over and the real work begins.” Around him, a chant went up in memory of the 300 people who have died at the hands of Mubarak’s forces since the protests began 18 days ago, as the 82-year-old president tried to cling on to power. “Be happy martyrs, for today we feast at your victory,” they sang. Military police in red berets were all smiles and thumbs-up to the crowd. Apprehension about what might happen next in a country now under army control was being pushed aside to allow for celebrations, but as the procession reached the high-walled ministry of defence, Egyptians could not resist reminding their new overlords of who now held the balance of power in the Arab world’s most populous nation. “Here, here, the Egyptians are here,” they shouted up at the darkened windows. From one, a senior officer responded with a V-sign peace salute. And so, at last, they reached Tahrir Square, the spiritual home of this revolution that showed the world not just how a western-backed strongman could be brought down by his own people, but how broad-based, non-sectarian and all-inclusive that population could be when doing it. With flares in one corner, an impromptu concert in another, and sheer exhilaration in between, the party was as leaderless as the uprising it celebrated. Haisam Abu-Sabra was in the thick of it. He said: “For the first time in my life tonight, I say proudly: I am Egyptian.” Egypt Middle East Hosni Mubarak Protest Jack Shenker guardian.co.uk

Posted by on February 11, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry