Protesters return to Cairo’s Tahrir Square return to Cairo’s Tahrir Squar
CAIRO – Hundreds of anti-government protesters returned Saturday to the streets of central Cairo, chanting slogans against Hosni Mubarak just hours after the Egyptian president fired his Cabinet and promised reforms but refused to step down.
The sight of protesters pouring into Cairo’s downtown Tahrir Square for a fifth day indicated Mubarak’s words in a televised speech shortly after midnight had done little to cool the anger over Egypt’s crushing poverty, unemployment and corruption.
Over five days of protests — the largest Egypt has experienced in decades — protesters have overwhelmed police forces in Cairo and other cities around the nation with their numbers and in attacks with rocks and firebombs.
Overnight, the government called in military forces and by morning the army had replaced police in guarding government buildings and other key areas.
Several tanks were parked in the vast Tahrir Square, but soldiers did not intervene in Saturday’s protest there. Not far from the square, the army sealed off the road leading to the parliament and Cabinet buildings.
Along the Nile, smoke was still billowing from the ruling party’s headquarters, which protesters set ablaze during Friday’s unrest, the most dramatic day of protests since the unrest began on Tuesday.
Also Saturday, mobile phone services were restored after a government-ordered communications blackout aimed at stopping Friday’s protests. Protesters have used text messaging and social networking websites to coordinate demonstrations.
Vodafone and Mobinil cell phone services were working Saturday morning, about 24 hours after they were cut. Internet service appeared to remain down.
Vodafone said Friday that the Egyptian government had ordered all mobile telephone operators to suspend services “in selected areas” of the country. Britain-based Vodafone Group PLC is one of the largest mobile phone operators in Egypt, with more than 25 million subscribers.
AP
CAIRO, EGYPT – JANUARY 29: Demonstators gather in Tarhir Square on January 29, 2011 in Cairo, Egypt. Tens of thousands of demonstrators have taken to the streets across Egypt in Cairo, Suez, and Alexandria to call for the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak. Riot police and the Army have been sent into the streets to quell the protests, which so far have claimed 32 lives and left more than a thousand injured.
CAIRO, EGYPT – JANUARY 29: Protestors flee a volley tear gas in Tarhir Square on January 29, 2011 in Cairo, Egypt. Tens of thousands of demonstrators have taken to the streets across Egypt in Cairo, Suez, and Alexandria to call for the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak. Riot police and the Army have been sent into the streets to quell the protests, which so far have claimed 32 lives and left more than a thousand injured.
An anti-government protester, standing atop an Egyptian army armoured personnel carrier throws a stone towards Egyptian police, background, in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, Jan. 29, 2011. The army was using its vehicles to protect the police forces from the protesters, but their line is breached by protesters.
An Egyptian man stands in front of a burning armored vehicle in central Cairo on January 29, 2011. Egypt’s embattled President Hosni Mubarak addressed the nation for the first time since deadly protests erupted against his regime, vowing reform but showing no sign of relaxing his decades-old grip on power.
Smoke rises from the burnt headquarters of the ruling National Democratic party (NDP) in central Cairo on January 29, 2011. Egypt’s embattled President Hosni Mubarak addressed the nation for the first time since deadly protests erupted against his regime, vowing reform but showing no sign of relaxing his decades-old grip on power.
A billboard featuring an image of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, is defaced and torn by anti-government protesters in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, Jan. 29, 2011. The billboard reads in Arabic part of the following sentence: ‘ National Democratic Party Headquarters in Giza Governorate’ , referring to Mubarak’s ruling party.
Egyptian anti-government protesters who spent the night in Tahrir square in Cairo, Egypt, are seen backdropped by smoke billowing from a burning building Saturday, Jan. 29, 2011.
An Egyptian anti-government activist, wounded during clashes with police, poses for the photographer along with other protesters in Tahrir square in Cairo, Egypt, early Saturday, Jan. 29, 2011. Mobile phone service have been partially restored in Egypt, Saturday, after the recent communications blackout.
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