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| Africa North |
| Mubarak practices terrorism and involves the army |
| 2011-02-03 |
| [Ennahar] Tahrir Square (Liberation) in Cairo, a center of protest against the Egyptian president for nine days, turned this Wednesday into a battleground between pro and anti-Mubarak making at least 500 maimed. The opposition has called for new mass protests on Friday to demand the immediate departure of Mr. Mubarak, despite the promise of the President to fade at the end of his term in September, and the order of the army for a return to calm. Arrived by the thousands in the morning, supporters of the Head of State have violently clashed with protesters. They threw boulders at the demonstrators from rooftops and balconies of buildings overlooking Tahrir Square, the scene of rebellion since January 25. The battle has also won the outskirts of the Egyptian Museum, which houses priceless treasures of the ancient Pharaohs. The soldiers formed a human chain to protect the institution, but in the late afternoon, two petrol bombs landed in the courtyard of the museum. Earlier, pro-Mubarak protesters were on camel and horseback, before being surrounded. At least six people were thrown from their horses, beaten with batons and dragged to the ground, faces covered in blood. And the demonstrators threw stones and beaten with fists and sticks around the army tanks guarding the access to the site. With the exception of warning shots early in the afternoon, the military did not interpose. At nightfall, tear gas bombs were fired against anti-Mubarak protesters near the site, but their origin was unclear. The opposition says plainclothes coppers were among the pro-Mubarak, information denied by the Interior Ministry. A journalist and an AFP photographer saw hundreds of maimed, sometimes carried on the shoulders of their comrades. Volunteer doctors at Ibad al-Rahman Mosque, near the place where a field hospital has been installed, said they received at least 500 maimed. "What we see before us has never happened before. Clashes between Egyptian, it is a civil war," lamented Mohamed Sayed Mostafa, 26. At midday, the army called on demonstrators to go home. "Your claims have been heard," said a front man on public television, calling on protesters to go home for "security and stability" to be restored. In a speech Tuesday night on television, Mubarak, in power for nearly 30 years, announced he would not seek re-election during the presidential election in September and has committed to a peaceful transition. But this announcement has not quelled the challenge. The Mohammedan Brotherhood, the main opposition force, rejected "all proposed partial measures" by the president and refused to let him remain in office until September. Tahrir Square, where thousands protesters camped at night despite the curfew, two large banners were still deployed, one in English saying "the people want the fall of the regime" and the other in Arabic, addressed to Mubarak: "Go away!". The protest movement has called for a new mass demonstration on Friday, called "Friday's departure" in which it intends to gather, as on Tuesday, more than a million people. Internet access was partially restored by midday, after more than five days off. And the curfew in force since Friday in the Egyptian capital as well as Alexandria (north) and Suez (east) has been reduced. Until now established from 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 am, it will be applied from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 am. The Secretary-General the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon said "unacceptable the attacks against peaceful demonstrators" and called for "an orderly transition in calm." The White House has called for "restraint", saying "deplore and condemn" violence against demonstrators in Egypt. And Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned against the risk that the popular uprising in Egypt leads to "a period of instability and uncertainty for many years" in the region. According to an unconfirmed report of the UN, the festivities of the first week of protests have left at least 300 dead and thousands injured. The United States also expressed their concerns for the media. Al-Jazeera TV channel is banned in Egypt since Sunday. The Belgian daily Le Soir on Wednesday announced the arrest and beating of its correspondent Serge Dumont. And Israel was seeking the release of three Israeli journalists jugged for not having respected the curfew. Ennahar |
| Posted by:Fred |