250,000 protest in heart of Cairo
Source: Agencies |
February 2, 2011, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
MORE than a quarter of a million people flooded into the heart of Cairo yesterday, filling the city's main square.
It was the largest demonstration by far in a week of unceasing demands for Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak to leave after nearly 30 years in power.
Protesters streamed into Tahrir, or Liberation, Square, among them people defying a government transport shutdown to make their way from rural provinces in the Nile Delta.
The peaceful crowd was jammed in shoulder to shoulder - teachers, farmers, unemployed graduates, women in conservative headscarves and women in high heels, men in suits and workers in scuffed shoes.
They sang nationalist songs and chanted the anti-Mubarak "Leave! Leave! Leave!" as military helicopters buzzed overhead. Organizers said the aim was to intensify marches to get the president out of power by Friday, and similar demonstrations took place in at least five other cities around the country.
Soldiers at checkpoints set up at the entrances to the square did nothing to stop the crowds from entering.
The military promised on state TV on Monday night that it would not fire on protesters answering a call for a million to demonstrate.
"This is the end for him. It's time," said Musab Galal, a 23-year-old unemployed university graduate who came with his friends from the Nile Delta city of Menoufiya.
Protesters emboldened by the overthrow of Tunisia's president last month took to the streets on January 25 and mounted a relentless series of protests across the nation of 80 million people.
Yesterday's protesters were more organized than on previous days. Volunteers wearing tags reading "The People's Security" circulated through the crowds, saying they were watching for government infiltrators who might try to instigate violence.
Other volunteers joined soldiers at the checkpoints, searching bags of those entering for weapons.
Meanwhile, Cairo's international airport remained a scene of chaos yesterday as thousands of foreigners sought to flee the country.
It was the largest demonstration by far in a week of unceasing demands for Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak to leave after nearly 30 years in power.
Protesters streamed into Tahrir, or Liberation, Square, among them people defying a government transport shutdown to make their way from rural provinces in the Nile Delta.
The peaceful crowd was jammed in shoulder to shoulder - teachers, farmers, unemployed graduates, women in conservative headscarves and women in high heels, men in suits and workers in scuffed shoes.
They sang nationalist songs and chanted the anti-Mubarak "Leave! Leave! Leave!" as military helicopters buzzed overhead. Organizers said the aim was to intensify marches to get the president out of power by Friday, and similar demonstrations took place in at least five other cities around the country.
Soldiers at checkpoints set up at the entrances to the square did nothing to stop the crowds from entering.
The military promised on state TV on Monday night that it would not fire on protesters answering a call for a million to demonstrate.
"This is the end for him. It's time," said Musab Galal, a 23-year-old unemployed university graduate who came with his friends from the Nile Delta city of Menoufiya.
Protesters emboldened by the overthrow of Tunisia's president last month took to the streets on January 25 and mounted a relentless series of protests across the nation of 80 million people.
Yesterday's protesters were more organized than on previous days. Volunteers wearing tags reading "The People's Security" circulated through the crowds, saying they were watching for government infiltrators who might try to instigate violence.
Other volunteers joined soldiers at the checkpoints, searching bags of those entering for weapons.
Meanwhile, Cairo's international airport remained a scene of chaos yesterday as thousands of foreigners sought to flee the country.
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