Thursday, February 03, 2011

Supporters of President Hosni Mubarak, throwing Molotov cocktails, wielding sticks and charging on horses and camels, assaulted demonstrators in Cairo Wednesday after the army told the protesters to go home. Three people were killed in the clashes.

Anti-Mubarak protesters hurled stones back and said the attackers were police in plainclothes. The Interior Ministry denied the accusation.

As night fell, Egyptian Vice President Omar Suleiman urged the 2,000 demonstrators bedding down in Cairo’s central Tahrir (Liberation) Square to leave and observe a curfew to restore calm. Suleiman said the start of dialogue with the opposition depended on an end to street protests.

“The participants in these demonstrations had conveyed their message, both those demanding reform and those who came out in support of President Hosni Mubarak,” the MENA state news agency said.

He urged “all citizens to return to their homes and abide by the curfew to boost the authorities’ efforts in restoring calm and stability.

Opposition figurehead Mohamed ElBaradei, a Nobel Peace laureate, called on the army to intervene to stop the violence in Tahrir Square, the worst in the nine-day uprising against Mubarak since protesters waged street battles last Friday.

He warned of the risk of a bloodbath and accused the government of using “scare tactics” to try to cling on to power. He repeated his call for Mubarak to step down immediately

“I’m extremely concerned, I mean this is yet another symptom, or another indication, of a criminal regime using criminal acts,” ElBaradei told BBC radio from Cairo, when asked about the clashes.
“My fear is that it will turn into a bloodbath,” he added.

ElBaradei said he hoped President Hosni Mubarak would leave office before Friday, when anti-government protesters are planning what they call the “Friday of Departure.”

The emergence of Mubarak loyalists, whether ordinary citizens or police, injected a new dynamic into the momentous events in this most populous Arab nation of 80 million people.

The uprising broke out last week as public frustration with corruption, oppression and economic hardship under Mubarak boiled over. At least 140 people are estimated to have been killed so far and there have been protests across the country. A U.N. estimate puts the death toll at 300.

Officials said three people had been killed and more than 600 injured in Wednesday’s disturbances in Cairo. Gunfire and Molotov incidents continued into the night in central Cairo. Urging protesters to clear the streets, the armed forces told them their demands had been heard. But some were determined to occupy the square until Mubarak quits.

An opposition coalition, which includes the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood group, responded to the army warning to leave Tahrir Square by calling for more protests. It said it would only negotiate with Suleiman once the president stepped down.

Khalil, a man in his 60s holding a stick, blamed Mubarak supporters and undercover security men for the clashes. “We will not leave,” he told Reuters.
Protesters displayed police badges they said were wrested off their attackers.

Troops made no attempt to intervene as opposing factions clashed in the vast Tahrir Square, the focus of the protests. Attackers brandished baseball bats and iron bars and broke up pieces of paving stones to throw. Earlier, pro-Mubarak youths were bussed into various districts of the capital. Thousands were involved in what escalated into pitch battles.

Amnesty International’s Hassiba Hadj-Sahraoui rebuked the army, saying it had “failed in its commitment to protect peaceful protestwrs. The fact that such violence is allowed to continue as they stand there begs the question whether they have orders not to interfere.”

Reuters correspondents saw dozens injured and people fleeing in panic. One of the riders who wielded whips and sticks as they galloped into the crowd was dragged from his horse and beaten. Some protesters wept and prayed in the square.
Molotovs landed in the gardens of the Egyptian Museum.

At the heart of the square, young men with microphones sought to keep up morale. “Young people, head to the entrances,” said one. “Stand fast, reinforcements are on the way. Youth of Egypt, be brave.”

Women and men stood back with water, medical cotton and bandages ready as each wave returned, some with bloodied faces or shirts. Scores of wounded were carried to a makeshift clinic at a mosque near the square and on other side streets.

The movement against Mubarak, meanwhile, was working to prevent any slipping in its ranks after the Tuesday’s speech and resist any sentiment that the concession may have been enough. “Starting with the emotional speech of Mubarak, to the closure of banks, the shortage of food and commodities and deployment of thugs to intimidate people, these are all means to put pressure on the people,” said Ahmad Abdel-Hamid, a representative of the Revolutionary Committee, one of several youth groups that organized the protests.

Meanwhile, thousands of pro-Mubarak protesters peacefully gathered on the central boulevard in the middle-class, heavily commercial neighborhood of Mohandiseen. Many said Mubarak was Egypt’s best chance for maintaining stability. Others said they felt personally humiliated by anti-Mubarak demonstrators jeering a man they saw as a symbol of the nation. – Agencies