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Egyptian Government Steps Down, But Protests Continue Unabated

Last updated (GMT/UTC): 29.01.2011 14:50

By RFE/RL

Egypt's government has formally resigned, hours after President Hosni Mubarak sacked it in a bid to quell violent protests over unemployment, repression, and state corruption.

The country's military asked people not to gather in groups and to observe a 4 p.m. curfew on January 29, adding that violators would be subjected to "legal procedures."

But the warning, just like Mubarak's concessions, has not deterred angry Egyptians, who are disobeying en masse and continuing their call for an end to Mubarak's 30-year rule.

In Cairo alone, thousands rallied in Tahrir Square, attacking government buildings and shouting, "The people want the president to go!"

Similar protests are being held across Egypt. The ruling party's headquarters in the city of Luxor was torched and huge antigovernment riots were held in Suez, Alexandria, and several other cities.

Health and security officials say 45 people have been killed over the past five days, including 38 people since January 28, although the real death toll is likely to be much higher. According to Al-Jazeera, at least 90 people have died so far in the violence.

Tarek el-Shamby, a correspondent for Alhurra, the U.S.-sponsored Arabic-language television network, says the fresh riots show that Mubarak's decision to sack the government is too little, too late.

"We have [seen] today a number of demonstrations in different places in Cairo and Alexandria and Ismailia and Suez. [The protesters] are all asking the president, Hosni Mubarak, to leave," Shamby told RFE/RL today from Cairo. "They are not convinced [by] his speech yesterday night that he will change the government. Actually, they are saying that the government is not the point. The point is the whole political regime of Egypt."

The 82-year-old Mubarak announced the move in a midnight speech, his first since protesters took to the streets five days ago. He made clear, however, that he intends to stay in power and accused protesters of destabilizing the country.

He also pledged to introduce reforms and ordered troops and tanks into the capital, Cairo, and several other Egyptian cities.

His televised address came after a day of massive protests across the nation that killed dozens of people and left Cairo strewn with wreckage. The demonstrations quickly swelled as Islamic leaders called on their followers to join the protests.

Natasa Kubikova, a Slovak student in Arabic studies based in Cairo, was caught up in the January 28 protests. She said the demonstration she witnessed proceeded peacefully until police fired tear gas at protesters to prevent them from reaching Tahrir Square.

"The streets were blocked by riot police. The demonstrators came in big numbers," she says. "Some tires and a car were set on fire but otherwise protesters were peaceful. They were just chanting and waving flags. When they started approaching the police blockade, however, police started shooting tear gas."

Mubarak has since ordered troops and tanks into Cairo and several other Egyptian cities.

The protest movement has been bolstered by leading Egyptian dissident and Nobel laureate Muhammad El-Baradei, who returned to Egypt from Vienna to join what many already describe as a revolution.

El-Baradei has indicated he would be prepared to lead a transitional authority if he were asked. He was reported to be under house arrest but told France 24 television on January 29 that he intends to continue demonstrating.

"I will continue to participate in whatever it takes to make sure that the Mubarak regime should leave," he said. "I think that there is a consensus here in Egypt -- in every part of society -- that this is a regime that is dictatorial, that has failed to deliver on economic, social, or political fronts, and that we need a new beginning -- an Egypt that is free and that is democratic. And we need to go through a transitional period."

Egypt's opposition movements, including the banned Muslim Brotherhood, have also called for a peaceful transfer of power.

The unrest, which follows street protests that toppled Tunisian strongman Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali two weeks ago, is unprecedented for the tightly controlled country.

Shamby says many in Egypt feel the government is no longer in a position to ensure safety after the January 28 violence.

"Yesterday night, there were a lot of looters. They burned a lot of shops and banks and other places -- different places -- in Egypt. And actually the people are feeling now that they are not safe," he says.

Despite the ongoing protests, two Cairo mobile-phone networks restored their services today, a day after all operators were told to cut services. Internet service appeared to remain down, however.

In Washington, U.S. President Barack Obama appealed for calm. He acknowledged the close partnership between Cairo and Washington but said Mubarak must now embrace political, social, and economic reforms.

"When President Mubarak addressed the Egyptian people tonight, he pledged a better democracy and greater economic opportunity," Obama said. "I just spoke to him, after his speech. And I told him he has a responsibility to give meaning to those words, to take concrete steps and actions that deliver on that promise."

European Union head Herman Van Rompuy said he was "deeply troubled by the spiral of violence" and called for an end to bloodshed in Egypt.

Britain, France, and the United States have advised their citizens against nonessential travel to Egypt.

Fearing more violence, some 1,500 foreign tourists have already flocked to Cairo's main airport in hope of finding flights out of the country. Egyptian police, meanwhile, have closed tourist access to the pyramids.

But other foreigners, like Kubikova, say they feel privileged to be in Egypt at such a historic time.

"I want to stay because if this succeeds, then I will have been part of the revolution, because this turns out to be a revolution," she says. "It has come to the level when the number of people is enormous. Every day more and more people take to the streets. None of the Egyptians I've spoken to had ever seen anything like this in Egypt -- even people in their 50s and 60s."

written by Claire Bigg, with agency reports

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/egypt_mubarak_protests_government_resigns_cairo/2291233.html

Copyright (c) 2011. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.