Egyptian Protests

ahramonline

Downtown Cairo looked like a war zone Wednesday.

Police in both plain clothes and formal security uniforms were present by the thousands. Riot police were seen sleeping on, and manning, the 6 October and 15 May bridges - the main ones connecting main streets of the city -- since last night. Hundreds of people gathered in several streets downtown chanting "People want the government down", "Copts and Muslims don't want this system", and, "Bread, freedom, human integrity." They were chased and beaten fiercely, many of them also dragged off by force - by thugs and state security agents.

"They beat people and shoot them as if we are in Gaza," cried one protester, Soha, a woman in her twenties. "They even beat women."

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Jack Shenker, the Guardian's reporter in Cairo, was beaten and arrested alongside protesters in the capital last night. He made this remarkable recording while locked in the back of a security forces truck next to dozens of protesters. Listen to the audio

At one o'clock in the morning, after a day covering the protests across the Egyptian capital, I found myself in Abdel Munim Riyad square, a downtown traffic junction close to Tahrir, Cairo's central plaza, which had been occupied by demonstrators for several hours. Egyptian security forces had just launched an attack on Tahrir and thousands of people were now pouring in my direction, teargas heavy in the air. A few hundred rallied in front of me on Al Galaa Street; spying an empty police truck in the road, several people began to smash it up, eventually tipping it over and setting it on fire.

From the Guardian

1.53am: It's approaching 4am in Suez and becoming increasingly difficult to ascertain exactly what is going on in the city. Some reports are suggesting the military has a presence in the city, but others deny it.

Fires have reportedly been started at the Police Headquarters in the city – earlier I posted a video purporting to show the blaze being put out – and at a chemical factory, and there are reports of restrictions to telephone and internet services, although some networks, including Vodafone, appear to now be working.

We're unable to confirm some of the reports coming from Suez, and it looks as if it will take daylight to reveal what is actually happening in the city. This blog is closing now, but we'll have more on tonight's events tomorrow morning – check back for updates.

Hope all in Egypt are safe and well.

A confusing picture coming out of Suez. Reports that the police headquarters and a chemical factory having been set on fire, with some suggesting the army has moved into the city to quell protesters, however some tweets disputing this:

@theydontneedme_ The army is not any where near the action in #suez like some say. #jan25

@mShady Vodafone mobile network is back in #Suez #Jan25 #25Jan

However @theydontneedme has tweeted saying she has been at home for an hour, so things could have changed. @mShady's tweet – alerted to me by @Oxenstierna_IRL, monitoring events from Scotland – is backed up by others from Egypt saying Vodafone was the only network to remain working throughout the telephone block.

The We are all Khaled Said opposition protest group is updating its Facebook page constantly. Here's its latest post on Suez.

Urgent News: Suez is completely cut off. Police has been evacuated. Protesters there are very angry. The army is being brought in according to reports. Some sad speculations say that a massive crackdown will take place in Suez on protesters which could end up with a REAL Massacre. Suez now is Egypt's Sidi Bouzid.

Alarming reports are coming in from Suez, where protests continued today. Three protesters were killed in the city yesterday.

Reports say all landlines, mobile phone networks and web access has been cut off.

This picture purportedly shows Al Arbeen Police Headquarters on fire in the city, while hundreds of people are tweeting concerns on Twitter.

This video apparently shows efforts to put out the blaze:

From Reuters

Police fought with thousands of Egyptians who defied a government ban on Wednesday to protest against President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year-old rule, firing rubber bullets and tear gas and dragging away demonstrators.

In central Cairo, demonstrators burned tires and hurled stones at police. In Suez, protesters torched a government building as protests intensified in other parts of the country.

Two people died in Cairo as protests unfolded but security officials contradicted each other on the circumstances. One told reporters a protester and a policeman were killed in clashes. But another official later said they died in a traffic accident.

From Twitter real time updates

anjakovacs RT @EthanZ: Friday looks likely to be a key day for the Egypt protests, as activists are trying to mobilize huge demonstrations. #jan25
less than 20 seconds ago via TweetDeck
jspencerbr RT @bencnn: To watch Thursday: 1. More protests 2. Security fatigue 3. Cairo stock exchange (crashing) 4. Suez 5. Will Mubarak speak? #Jan25 #Egypt
half a minute ago via web
conscious4now Protests in Egypt and unrest in Middle East – as it happens http://bit.ly/ihObtX #globalprotest
half a minute ago via web
EstelleDarlings RT @weirdblkgirl: @EstelleDarlings Protests in Egypt, Tunisia, smh *