DEMONSTRATORS IN Egypt defied a curfew last night and fraternised with police and soldiers as hundreds of thousands joined protests against the Mubarak regime in cities across the country.
Protesters poured into the streets of Egypt’s cities following Friday’s communal prayers and demanded an end to the 30-year rule of President Hosni Mubarak, reform and freedom. Demonstrators came from all classes of society.
In a television address to the nation last night, Mr Mubarak said he had asked the cabinet to resign and said he will form a new Government today.
Mr Mubarak said he was committed to economic and political reform and was determined to secure the stability of Egypt. He added that problems should not be dealt with through violence or chaos.
He called anti-government protests part of a plot to destabilise Egypt and destroy the legitimacy of his regime.
Some reports put yesterday’s death toll as high as 20 with more than 800 injured. Shots were heard near parliament last night and the headquarters of the ruling National Democratic Party was in flames.
Mr Mubarak’s speech co-incided with an increased military presence on the streets of Cairo, with protesters driven out of Tahrir (Independence) Square, a location of great symbolism to Egyptians.
Earlier, confrontations with black uniformed police armed with truncheons were sharp and brutal. Clashes were particularly fierce in Alexandria, Suez and Cairo.
In Alexandria, the mass of protesters brushed aside ranks of armed police and engulfed them. In Suez, demonstrators burned three armoured police vans and tyres, veiling the city in a thick cloud of black smoke.
In Cairo, police tried and failed to keep protesters from taking over Tahrir Square. Police used water cannon against protesters on Qasr al-Nil bridge across the Nile while men undaunted by blasts of tear gas attempted to push an armoured police vehicle off October 6th bridge into the river.
At mid-afternoon, men on October 6th bridge formed ranks and bowed in spontaneous prayer, confounding the police. Plain-clothes policemen infiltrated the rallies and either attacked demonstrators or attempted to arrest them.
Following prayers at a mosque at Giza outside Cairo, Nobel laureate Mohamed ElBaradei, former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and members of his entourage were briefly besieged and detained. Opposition figure Ayman Nour, who stood against Mr Mubarak in the 2005 presidential election, was struck on the head by a rock and rushed to hospital where he was placed in intensive care.
The Obama administration meanwhile has launched its strongest warning yet to the Mubarak regime.
“We are deeply concerned about the use of violence by Egyptian police and security forces against protesters,” secretary of state Hillary Clinton said. “We call on the Egyptian government to do everything in its power to restrain the security forces.”
As Mrs Clinton spoke, President Obama was locked in a series of meetings with security advisers on the Egyptian crisis.
Mustafa Fiqi, a leading member of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), said that the protests were “unprecedented”.