Protesters flood Cairo, calls for mass Tuesday march

Mon, 31 Jan 2011

Cairo - Tens of thousands of anti-government protesters rejected overtures from the Egyptian presidency late Monday and stayed for a seventh day in central Cairo's Tahrir Square, pledging to hold a "march of a million" the following morning.

The protesters said they would not relent until President Hosny Mubarak stepped down and the country was put on the path towards serious economic and democratic reforms.

Mubarak appointed a new cabinet and Vice President Omar Suleiman told state television a dialogue would be opened with the opposition.

Suleiman said that there would even be a review of some disputed seats in parliament, from last November's parliamentary election. The ruling national Democratic Party (NDP) swept the election, amid accusation of widespread fraud.

In Tahrir Square, the statement was seen as a concession to the opposition, after they earlier derided the new cabinet as one mostly filled with loyalists and former ministers.

"We will spend as many nights here as it takes to get the snake out," chanted the demonstrators in Tahrir Square, referring to Mubarak.

The European Union issued a statement, supporting "free and fair elections" in Egypt, following a similar message the day before from Cairo's main ally, the United States - upping the international pressure on the embattled Mubarak.

Egypt's military also said it saw the protesters' demand as "legitimate." The armed forces urged citizens not to loot, but assured them soldiers would not open fire.

Many more thousands of protesters were gathered in other parts of Cairo, in the coastal city of Alexandria and the port town Suez.

Unrest was also widespread in other remote regions across the vast and mostly poor country of 80 million people, almost half below the age of 35. The protests are the largest in a generation.

Many of the signs people held up were hand-made and crudely drawn, but called for the president to step down. Some urged a repeal of the draconian Emergency Laws, which grant police extended powers.

The government moved to freeze rail services connecting cities on Monday, in what appeared to be an effort to contain unrest, especially in light of Tuesday's planned "march of a million."

Internet services and text messaging were still off for the fourth straight day, under government orders.

Observers were watching to see how much determination the opposition and general population would have for keeping up the protests, which started on January 25.

Egypt's economy was suffering with its bonds being downgraded. The country's stock market and banks were also to remain closed.

The port in Egypt's second largest city, Alexandria, was also closed, according to traders. But the Suez Canal, vital for international trade, remained functional.

Residents in certain areas of Cairo, mostly in poor neighborhoods, reported rapidly rising food and petrol prices and many shops were closed. Many cash machines had been looted or had not been restocked.

With the economy very much government-led, and subsidies a mainstay, concern was mounting that food shortages were a possibility, with staple items like bread already becoming hard to obtain for the poorest.

For most in Egypt, where the average daily income barely covers basic costs, the disruptions were threatening their ability to earn a meager living. People were forced to stay at home and many businesses were shut.

The daily curfew, which started in the afternoon and was to be in effect until Tuesday morning, was being enforced by the military, which so far has refrained from clashing with the protesters.

The opposition has attempted to band together. The largest bloc, the banned Muslim Brotherhood, was working with other groups. Mohammed ElBaradei, the Nobel Peace Prize winner, has been appointed to lead talks for the opposition.

The anti-government groups said they were also aiming to talk with the army, a much respected body in Egypt, and were trying to form a national unity government without the ruling NDP or Mubarak.

Police, pushed off the streets by anti-government protests last week, were also returning to some neighborhoods, though witnesses said many were not wearing their uniforms.

Some officers have been accused of taking part in rampant looting that caused chaos in Cairo and other cities in recent days.

The turmoil has caused foreign governments to fly many of their nationals out of Egypt and arrange special flights for those who still wanted to leave.

Unconfirmed reports by medics in several cities say at least 150 people have died in the unrest, and human rights groups are concerned by possible "excessive use of force" by the police against protesters.

The impact of the unrest was being felt globally, as stock markets were nervous and currency investors fled to the dollar and Swiss franc, considered safe havens. The European benchmark Stoxx 600 index made up early losses, however, edging up by 0.03 per cent to 280.53 points as the trading day came to an end.

The price of crude oil on global markets was rising, owing to concerns about stability in Cairo and possible contagion of political unrest to other exporters in the region.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/365230,calls-mass-tuesday-march.html.