Thousands of Egyptians demanded an end to President Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year rule and clashed with police on Tuesday, in unprecedented protests inspired by the revolt that brought down Tunisia’s president.
“Down, down, Hosni Mubarak,” chanted protesters in Cairo, where police fired teargas and used water cannon, and protesters hurled bottles and rocks at them.
Some protesters chased police down side streets and Reuters TV footage showed one policeman joining the demonstrators.
In Alexandria, protesters tore down a picture of Mubarak (82) and one of his son, Gamal, who many Egyptians believe is being groomed for office when his father stands down.
Protesters in Cairo who joined the Web activists’ call for action said: “Gamal, tell your father Egyptians hate you.”
Egyptians have the same complaints that drove Tunisians onto the streets: surging food prices, poverty, unemployment and authoritarian rule that smothers public protests quickly and often brutally.
“Tunisia, Tunisia,” protesters shouted in demonstrations across the country that may have drawn 20 000 or more people in Cairo and several other cities. It was hard to estimate numbers because demonstrations sprang up in different places.
Egyptian protests usually draw only a few hundred people. The large numbers and the fact that protests in several cities were coordinated in a way not seen before gave Tuesday’s events a force unprecedented since Mubarak took office in 1981.
“What is happening today is a major warning to the system. It is both an extension of pent-up frustrations and continued protests. What is also new is that there are new generations who are using new tools,” said analyst Nabil Abdel-Fattah.
The protest could gather momentum unless the state swiftly addressed the demand for reform, he said.
With most formal opposition groups fractured and toothless, Web activists led the calls for Tuesday’s demonstrations, billed as a “Day of Wrath” against poverty and repression.
By drawing demonstrators in such numbers, online activists have shown their calls for political change can reach a broad audience. Until now most of the rage has stayed on the Internet.
Demanding rights
“We are gathered here to demand our rights. We can’t live. Everything is expensive and there is unemployment. We want prices to go down. This government is the reason for our suffering,” said Ibrahim (33) in Mahalla el Kubra, the site of 2008 riots over subsidised bread shortages and price rises.
Other demonstrations took place in Ismailia and Suez, both cities east of Cairo, and in other Nile Delta cities like Mansoura and Tanta. Protesters also gathered in north Sinai.
“Where are you, freedom?” protesters chanted in Ismailia, while in Alexandria they shouted: “Revolution, revolution, like a volcano, against Mubarak the coward.”
As scuffles broke out in Cairo, some protesters shouted: “Keep it peaceful. No one throws anything.”
A security source said 15 people were detained in Cairo. Another source said two police officers were injured in Suez when rocks were hurled. Witnesses saw some protesters being dragged off to vehicles by police.
In north Sinai, witnesses and a security source said dozens of protesters lit tyres and blocked a coastal road to Rafah on the border with Gaza, calling for prisoners to be released. The area has seen tension between Bedouin and police.
The Interior Ministry earlier said it would deal firmly with anyone breaking the law and said demonstrators could face arrest. But Interior Minister Habib al-Adli told a state newspaper he welcomed stationary protests for short periods.
“We have orders not to clash with them [protesters],” one security officer was heard to say, speaking on a mobile phone earlier in the demonstration in Cairo before scuffles began.
Analysts had expected the authorities to show a more tolerant attitude for fear of provoking the kind of anger that drove Tunisians into weeks of unrest before the overthrow of President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali after 23 years in office.
Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia, and some of the Cairo protesters chanted: “Oh Mubarak, Saudi Arabia awaits you.”
Egypt’s registered opposition parties are weak and fragmented. The banned Muslim Brotherhood, seen as having Egypt’s biggest grassroots network, has not called on members to take part but said some would join in a personal capacity.
“I will go to the streets on the 25th of January because this country is my country and I vow an oath that I am ready and willing to die for its sake,” wrote Mohamed M on a Facebook group that called for protests and has 87 000 supporters.
One Twitter entry urged police to join the “people’s side”. Some Web users complained of Internet network problems during the protest, with patchy access to some sites like Twitter.
“In my book, if you get a tenth of the 80 000 people or so who support the initiative online, it will be a success,” wrote Issandr El Amrani on his blog arabist.net before the protests. — Reuters