| As good a place to start for an update as any. Political news in other posts. |
The Egyptian government planned to announce an "important matter" to the nation late Friday evening.
NBC News' Richard Engel reported that a group of luxury sedans, under heavy guard, had traveled to Cairo airport's VIP lounge, and a short time later three private jets had left the country.
| Nobel Peace laureate Mohamed ElBaradei was put under house arrest after he joined a march earlier in the day. |
Flames also threatened the Egyptian National Museum, where Army units secured the building with spectacular treasures such as the death mask of the boy king Tutankhamun. Young men could be seen forming a human barricade in front of the museum to protect it.
Friday saw demonstrations across the country, which continued despite a 13-hour military curfew which began at 6 p.m. local time (11 a.m. ET). It initially covered the cities of Cairo, Suez and Alexandria, but was later extended to cover all cities.
Demonstrators stayed on the streets in defiance of security forces, some mounting armored cars, cheering and waving flags. Others around the city looted banks, smashed cars, tore down street signs and pelted armored riot police vehicles with paving stones torn from roadways.
Egyptian medical sources said 13 people had been killed in protests in the eastern city of Suez on Friday and 75 wounded, medical sources said. They did not specify whether they were protesters or police who were killed, or how they died. They said 1,030 had been wounded in the protests in Cairo, up from an earlier estimate of 870.
Nobel Peace laureate Mohamed ElBaradei was put under house arrest after he joined a march earlier in the day. He and scores of protesters were forced to seek refuge in a mosque after police used water cannons and tear gas. There were also reports that protesters had taken control of central areas of Suez and Alexandria.