Egypt crisis: gunfire rings throughout Cairo

Subject: Egypt crisis: gunfire rings throughout Cairo Thu Feb 03, 2011 9:48 am

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A man brandishes a gun during the protests in Tahrir Square Photo: APAimages/Rex Features/Karam Nasser

Egypt crisis: gunfire rings throughout Cairo Cairo-night-injure_1817583c

Egypt crisis: gunfire rings throughout Cairo Cairo-night-injure_1817583c

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An injured man is carried to safety in Cairo's Tahrir Square Photo: APAimages/Rex Features/Karam Nasser

Egypt crisis: gunfire rings throughout Cairo Cairo-night-gun_1817584c

Image 1 of 2

A man brandishes a gun during the protests in Tahrir Square Photo: APAimages/Rex Features/Karam Nasser

Image 1 of 2

An injured man is carried to safety in Cairo's Tahrir Square Photo: APAimages/Rex Features/Karam Nasser

Egypt crisis: gunfire rings throughout Cairo

Gunfire rang out over central Cairo overnight as clashes between
anti-government protesters and forces loyal to President Hosni Mubarak
deteriorated

By Colin Freeman, and Richard Spencer in Cairo 8:58AM GMT 03 Feb 2011

Confrontations at the barricades set up by protesters on the edges of
Tahrir Square worsened into the evening, with firebombs and stones being
hurled from side to side.

Protesters say it was armed men in plain clothes on the pro-Mubarak side
of the barricades who opened fire in the early hours of Thursday
morning. Five people being killed, on top of three who the Ministry of
Health confirmed had died on Wednesday.

Ambulances were seen pouring on to the edges of the square before the firing started.

Once again, the military on duty did not intervene on either side, but
allowed pro-Mubarak mobs armed with staves and golf clubs to join those
already at the barricades.

Violence had been building during Wednesday. Thugs riding horses and
camels charged and whipped protesters, and others dropped concrete
blocks on to them. By nightfall, several buildings were ablaze after
being petrol bombed.

At one point two petrol bombs hit Tahrir Square’s Egyptian National
Museum, which was guarded by a line of young soldiers inside its
railings, while a car burned overnight a few yards away.

Many of those on both sides were bandaged, treated at aid stations for
wounds caused by the flying stones but returning immediately to the
barricades.

“Most of the casualties were the result of stone throwing and attacks
with metal rods and sticks,” the health minister, Ahmed Samih Farid,
said.

“At dawn today there were gunshots. The real casualties taken to
hospital were 836, of which 86 are still in hospital and there are five
dead.”

Egyptian state television called on the crowds to disperse and Egypt’s
new vice president, Omar Suleiman, said political dialogue could not
start until they did so.

Meanwhile, state television was alleging that foreigners and Israeli
spies were fomenting the violence. Pro-Mubarak crowds attacked
television crews, including some from the BBC, CNN and al-Arabiya, the
Dubai-based channel, and a number of western journalists were detained
by security officials in plain clothes.

Mr Mubarak said in an address on Tuesday that he would not stand in
elections scheduled for September, but many demonstrators have pledged
to stay on the streets until he leaves office. Anti-government
protesters accused Mr Mubarak of orchestrating the clashes in an attempt
to cling to power, claiming he was engaged in a calculated gamble to
make Egyptians fear that an abrupt end to his 30-year rule would lead to
more violence.

“I have been here for three days and the square is normally peaceful,”
said Akram Hussein, 36, an anti-government protester. “The
pro-government crowds are just criminals and poor people paid by the
government to attack us. This is the Mubarak regime’s last gasp.” The
Daily Telegraph watched as several of the men involved in the mounted
charge were dragged from saddles and given severe beatings. The crowd in
the square then began defending its turf, manning barricades and
pelting progovernment supporters with rocks. The two sides also fought
running battles in the side streets.

Last night pressure was growing on Mr Mubarak to step down immediately.

David Cameron, the Prime Minister, warned: “If it turns out that the
regime in any way has been sponsoring or tolerating this violence, that
would be completely and utterly unacceptable.” The White House said it
had made it clear to Mr Mubarak that “the time for change had come”.

» Egypt crisis: protesters killed as gunfire breaks out in Cairo
» Egypt crisis: protesters killed as gunfire breaks out in Cairo 2011
» Gunfire pounds anti-Mubarak protest camp in Cairo
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» 500 injured in Cairo street battles