Egyptian President Steps Down Amidst Groundbreaking Digital Revolution

by Emily Banks

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has stepped down, more than two weeks after the protests that began January 25 in the country — and launched a flood of #Jan25 and #Egypt tweets as well as media coverage that broke the mold — to remove the president from power.
From the beginning, the revolution in Egypt was propelled by the use of social media. It at least partly began on Facebook with the creation of Facebook groups that gained hundreds of thousands of members and promoted the early protests in Cairo.
Subsequently, the government blocked Facebook and Twitter and eventually shut down Internet access completely. And with the outside world following the unfolding revolution online, political leaders and others, including Twitter, spoke out against the violence and freedom of expression issues at risk.
But even a government shut down couldn’t keep the news from flowing. Twitter and Facebook users found ways to work around the blackout. Though, eventually access was completely restored.
The events in Egypt served as a flash point for journalists on the ground, too. For perhaps one of the first times in history, history itself has been recorded instantaneously, as reporters took to Twitter to share 140-character updates and personal stories from the protests. The messages provided a stark reality to readers in the outside world, especially as the protests turned violent and police turned on journalists — the very people many of us outside the country were following.
But Al Jazeera had its “CNN Moment,” and although it couldn’t reach viewers in the U.S. by cable television, it found a way to viewers — on YouTube. The network live streamed Mubarak’s public address — in which many believed he would resign — Thursday via YouTube. But Al Jazeera’s comprehensive coverage put it on the radar for U.S. viewers and it created a campaign to bring its English-language network to U.S. televisions.
Images of the turmoil spread around the world via Flickr and Youtube, too. Al Jazeera made its images available by a Creative Commons license and its work reached an even broader audience around the world.
Without a doubt, social media, mobile devices and the web have brought the stories from Egypt closer to home. And conversely, the events in Egypt have shown the strength of these tools for both organizing and informing people. The Egyptian people and reporters alike found ways to share their messages even when the government tried to stop them. Using VPN, proxy sites, third party apps and other tools, they were able to continue sharing news with those of us on the outside. And at the same time, the rest of the world found ways to use tech to curate and disseminate information.

Who are the pro-Mubarak demonstrators?

By the CNN Wire Staff

Cairo, Egypt (CNN) -- For more than a week, opponents of Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak had the upper hand in Cairo, protesting with near impunity in the face of police and an army that did little to stop them.
That all changed on Wednesday.
The morning after Mubarak dramatically announced he would not run for re-election in September, his supporters waded into Tahrir Square by the thousands and suddenly, serious, prolonged violence reigned in central Cairo.


There were immediate suspicions that the pro-Mubarak demonstrators were not simply average citizens standing up for the man who has led Egypt for three decades -- suspicions that proved at least partly founded.


As battles raged between the two sides, some pro-Mubarak protesters were captured by his opponents. Some were terrified to be caught and begged for their lives, screaming that the government had paid them to come out and protest. Others turned out to be carrying what seemed to be police identification, though they were dressed in plain clothes.


Shadi Hamid, a Brookings Institution analyst based in Qatar, told CNN that the use of hired muscle to break up demonstrations "is a longtime regime strategy."


"There are usually a line of thugs outside a protest who are waiting there," he said. "They're dressed in plain clothes, and then they'll usually go and attack the protesters. Egyptians have seen this for quite some time, and that's why they were able to recognize what was going on fairly quickly."


The global rights group Amnesty International said it has documented the use of unsavory forces by Egyptian authorities to disperse political gatherings in election years.


"It looks like much of this violence is being orchestrated by the Egyptian authorities in order to force an end to the anti-government protests, restore their control and cling onto power in the face of unprecedented public demands for them to go," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, the deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International.\


An Interior Ministry spokesman denied on state-run television that police identification cards had been confiscated from demonstrators. He said if they had been, they were were stolen or fake. But state television reporting Wednesday did not always match CNN's own observations of what was happening in Tahrir Square.


Several CNN journalists heard from pro-Mubarak demonstrators that they worked for the government. Staff from the national petrochemical company said they had been ordered to come and protest.


Amnesty International researchers said witnesses told them of "lorry loads" of pro-Mubarak supporters leaving Wednesday morning from Mahalla, north of Cairo.


"These (pro-Mubarak) protests were organized by the government and the ruling National Democratic Party," analyst Kamal Zakher told CNN. The government mustered government workers and lawmakers whose seats are threatened, he said.


"They were ordered to go out today. They are well organized and that is suspicious -- especially the use of camels and horses. These are abnormal techniques to demonstrate," he said, referring to the shocking charge of about 50 or 60 mounted men through Tahrir in the middle of the afternoon.


And Emad Shahin, a Mideast analyst at the University of Notre Dame, said "reliable contacts in Egypt" told him the counter-protesters were organized "by Mubarak himself," with the aid of businessmen who support him.


"The whole objective is actually to give the impression that there is still support for Mubarak and to force the demonstrators out of Tahrir Square," Shahin said. He said the embattled president "is presenting a very difficult choice before the Egyptian people -- either liberty or security -- and he is hoping that they will choose security at the expense of liberty."


In Washington, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs expressed concerns about the outbreak of violence."The president and this administration strongly condemn the outrageous and deplorable violence that's taking place on the streets of Cairo," Gibbs said."Obviously, if any of the violence is instigated by the government, it should stop immediately," Gibbs added.


State television called the pro-Mubarak demonstrators tourism workers. At least some Egyptians working in the tourism industry are known to be genuinely upset at the anti-Mubarak demonstrators, accusing them of hurting their business by bringing instability.


Zakher also said it was suspicious that security forces did not intervene to break up the violence."There were no police or military to separate the two crowds at the beginning and that's also suspicious enough to implicate the security agencies," Zakher said.


Journalist and protestor Reham Saeed told CNN she saw men with police uniforms go into hotels on the way to Tahrir Square and then come out wearing civilian clothes, joining the pro-Mubarak protesters. She called that an act of "betrayal."


State TV interviewed several people at the demonstration who said they backed the president because he had provided stability and independence.


"For 30 years, we lived in peace. President Mubarak kept us safe and secure for 30 years instead of being a country that takes orders from external forces just like (U.S. President Barack) Obama now wants," Iman Abu Futuh, a pro-Mubarak demonstrator, said on Nile TV. "They want us to be another Iraq and this will not happen."


Another man said, "I didn't cry when my father died. I cried when Mubarak spoke yesterday. I grew up watching him, seeing him, having him as my leader and the great president of this nation."


And a female demonstrator said: "Mubarak is our father. No one can insult and ridicule their elders. If we do that, we belittle ourselves. This is how we destroy our country."

Huge protests fan Egypt unrest

The BBC's John Simpson describes the scene in Cairo's Tahrir Square

Continue reading the main story

Egyptian protesters are holding huge rallies in Cairo and other cities as they step up their efforts to force President Hosni Mubarak from power.

Organisers have been hoping to bring one million people on to the streets of the capital. The demonstration is the biggest since the protests began.

The atmosphere has been festive, with protesters singing and chanting.

Protest leaders, including Mohamed ElBaradei, have called on Mr Mubarak to step down by Friday at the latest.

"They hope that this will end today or Friday at the latest, and they called the coming Friday 'the Friday of departure', but I hope that President Mubarak will take heed before then and leave the country after 30 years of rule and give the people a chance, and I don't expect that he wants to see more blood," Mr ElBaradei told al-Arabiya TV.

Senior figures in the ruling National Democratic Party say there may be a statement from Mr Mubarak in the next few hours.

There are reports that Mr Mubarak has met special US envoy Frank Wisner, a former ambassador to Egypt who was sent back to Cairo on Monday.

Festive atmosphere

BBC correspondents in Cairo's Tahrir Square say the crowds there are much bigger than on the previous seven days of protests.

Continue reading the main story

The BBC's Jim Muir says that hours after dusk and despite a theoretical 1500 (1300 GMT) curfew and bitter cold the square is still full of people.

Egypt's powerful army has vowed it will not use force against the protesters.

Many carried placards and banners daubed with anti-Mubarak slogans. Earlier, crowds cheered as an effigy of the president was hung from a set of traffic lights in the square.

But the BBC's John Simpson in the square says the demonstration has not been the critical moment people thought it would be, and it has not reached a tipping point.

There is a danger that the demonstrators could lose the initiative if a march to the presidential palace planned for Friday fails to budge Mr Mubarak, but it is hard to see how he can continue in power, he adds.

Meanwhile, new Vice-President Omar Suleiman said he would hold cross-party talks on constitutional reform.

Mr Mubarak reshuffled his cabinet on Monday to try to head off the protests, replacing the widely despised Interior Minister Habib al-Adly.

Prime Minister Ahmad Shafiq told state TV the new government would ensure bread supplies, tackle security problems and "review our entire political, constitutional and legislative situation, into something more satisfactory and appropriate for us as Egyptian citizens".

"Everything is subject to amendments, without limits," he said.

Continue reading the main storyBut analysts say the army's statement has been a major blow for President Mubarak, and appears to have encouraged protesters, who are flocking to central Cairo in their thousands.

The UN human rights chief, Navi Pillay, says 300 people may been killed across the country since the protests began a week ago. They followed an internet campaign and were partly inspired by the ousting of President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali in Tunisia last month.

Egypt has since cut off the internet in the country and text messaging services have been disrupted.

In Egypt's second biggest city, Alexandria, thousands of people have gathered to call for the president to step down.

Continue reading the main story

Thousands more were out in the streets in Suez, and the Associated Press news agency reported protests in Mansoura, north of Cairo, and the southern cities of Assiut and Luxor.

With limited bus, train and internal flight services, access to the capital has been restricted.

Unnamed security officials were reported as saying all roads and public transportation to Cairo had been shut down.

Some protesters camped out in Tahrir Square on Monday night, saying they would stay there until Mr Mubarak's 30-year rule ended.

One demonstrator, Tarek Shalabi, told the BBC that groups were camped out in tents or sleeping out in the square, and described the atmosphere as "overwhelming".

"We're here because we want to make a statement. We're not going until Mubarak steps down," he said.

He said a stage had been set up where people could go up and make speeches, read out poetry or sing or chant political slogans.Meanwhile, crowds of pro-Mubarak demonstrators held counter-protests elsewhere in the capital, raising fears of possible confrontations between the different groups.

'Legitimate'

On Monday, the Egyptian army said it respected the "legitimate rights of the people".

In its statement, carried on Egyptian media, the military said: "To the great people of Egypt, your armed forces, acknowledging the legitimate rights of the people... have not and will not use force against the Egyptian people."

Correspondents say the announcement is absolutely critical because it takes away a huge measure of uncertainty from the mind of any potential demonstrator.

A coalition of political opposition groups - incorporating the Muslim Brotherhood, political parties such as that led by Mr ElBaradei, and other prominent figures - has reportedly met, and told the Egyptian government that it will begin talks on its demands only after Mr Mubarak has stood down.

Concerns have also grown about the economy, as global oil prices on Monday topped $100 (£62) a barrel amid fears over the ongoing unrest.

Egypt protests: ElBaradei tells crowd 'change coming'

The BBC's Wyre Davies on another extraordinary day in Cairo

Leading Egyptian opposition figure Mohamed ElBaradei has joined thousands of protesters in Cairo defying a curfew to demand President Mubarak stand down.

Addressing the crowd in Tahrir (Liberation) Square, the Nobel peace prize winner urged patience, saying "change is coming".

In a tense sixth day of protests, the army sent tanks into the square only to see them blocked by demonstrators.

Air force jets and a helicopter repeatedly flew low over the square.

"You have taken back your rights and what we have begun cannot go back," Mr ElBaradei told the crowd.

Embattled President Hosni Mubarak earlier met top commanders during a visit to a military headquarters.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has called for an "orderly transition" of power in Egypt.

She told ABC News that Washington wanted to see change that would bring about a democratic government.

The BBC's Jeremy Bowen, in Tahrir Square, said the arrival of a column of tanks and the sound of jets roaring overhead significantly raised the tension among the crowds.

In the northern port city of Alexandria, the BBC's John Simpson said more protests are being held there and the army is out in force.

However, widespread looting is making many people reluctant to leave their homes, he adds.

In Cairo on Sunday, there was no sign of the riot police with whom protesters have clashed violently in recent days, although state television said they were being ordered back on to the streets.

Late Sunday night, state television also reported that the 1600 (1400 GMT) curfew - which has been widely ignored - would be extended in Cairo, Alexandria and Suez to run from 1500 to 0800.

Clashes are reported to have left at least 100 people dead since rallies began on Tuesday in cities including Cairo, Suez and Alexandria. Thousands more have been injured.

Across Cairo, citizens have formed armed groups to protect their property from looters.

Meanwhile, al-Jazeera's broadcasts via an Egyptian satellite have been halted. The Egyptian government earlier ordered the Arabic TV channel, which has been showing blanket coverage of the protests, to shut down its operations in the country.

Although Sunday is the start of the working week in the Middle East, many businesses in Cairo are closed and internet access remains intermittent.

Across the country, thousands of prisoners are reported to have escaped from jails after overpowering their guards.

They are said to include senior members of the Muslim Brotherhood - the largest opposition group in Egypt.

On Sunday, a number of Egyptian political movements issued a joint statement calling on Mr ElBaradei to form a transitional government. The Muslim Brotherhood is also reported to have asked him to negotiate with Mr Mubarak's regime.

Mr ElBaradei, a former head of the UN's nuclear watchdog, is a leading advocate for political reform and a likely challenger for Egypt's presidency.

Correspondents say that although he has become a leading figurehead of the opposition, protesters have not yet called for him to be their leader.

President Mubarak, in an attempt to regain control, has appointed a vice-president - intelligence chief Omar Suleiman. Aviation Minister Ahmed Shafiq has been appointed prime minister.

The US government, which previously advised US citizens against non-essential travel to Egypt, is now advising Americans in Egypt to consider leaving as soon as possible.

The UK also advised its nationals in Cairo, Alexandria and Suez to leave if it is safe for them to do so.

A number of other European countries have also advised against visiting the country.

The unrest in Egypt follows the uprising in Tunisia which ousted President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali two weeks ago after 23 years in power.

The Tunisian turmoil began with anger over rising food prices, high unemployment and anger at official corruption - problems which have also angered many people in Egypt.

"I bow to the people of Egypt in respect. I ask of you patience, change is coming in the next few days."

Mr ElBaradei has been asked by opposition groups to negotiate with the authorities on forming a national unity government.

However, the BBC's Jim Muir in Cairo said the former UN official did not attract the attention of the whole crowd, which contained other political factions.

Egypt's Internet disconnect reaches 24 hours

cnet - by Declan McCullagh

Egypt's unprecedented Internet disconnection has now lasted 24 hours without signs of ending.
At this time yesterday, one by one, the country's electronic links to the outside world fell silent. It started at 2:12 p.m. PT with the mostly state-owned Telecom Egypt disabling its networks, with four smaller network providers following suit between 2:13 p.m. PT and 2:25 p.m. PT.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak appeared on state television at approximately 2:15 p.m. PT today to announce that he would sack his cabinet but would not resign--an indication that no end to the disconnect was near. "I will not be lax or tolerant," he said, according to an Al Jazeera English translation. There's a fine line, he said, between permitting free speech and allowing chaos to spread.
Yesterday's network disconnection was followed soon after by mobile networks pulling the plug as well. Vodafone confirmed in a statement that "all mobile operators in Egypt have been instructed to suspend services in selected areas." So did Mobinil, the country's largest mobile provider. (See CNET's previous coverage.)
Those outages come as four days of clashes between security forces and tens of thousands of protesters continued on the streets of Cairo and other major cities, despite an official curfew in effect Friday evening. Tanks have taken up positions around some TV stations and foreign embassies, and Al Jazeera English is reporting that the end of three decades of autocratic rule by Mubarak may be nearing.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a speech earlier today that "we urge the Egyptian authorities to allow peaceful protests and to reverse the unprecedented steps it has taken to cut off communications."
"We think the government, as many of us have said throughout the day, need to turn the Internet and social-networking sites back on," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said. He added: "Individual freedoms includes the freedom to access the Internet and the freedom to--to use social-networking sites."
Egypt's Internet connections aren't completely down: the Noor Group appears to be the only Internet provider in Egypt that's fully functioning. Cairo-based bloggers have speculated that its unique status grows out of its client list, which includes western firms including ExxonMobil, Toyota, Hyatt, Nestle, Fedex, Coca-Cola, and Pfizer, plus the Egyptian stock exchange.
An analysis posted by network analyst Andree Toonk, who runs a Web site devoted to monitoring networks, shows that before the outage, there were 2,903 Egyptian networks publicly accessible via the Internet. Today, there are only 327 networks.

This chart, provided by Akamai, shows the precipitous drop in traffic to and from Egypt yesterday.

(Credit: Akamai)

 

A chart prepared by European networking organization RIPE provides a detailed glimpse at how Egypt's network went dark. Until yesterday afternoon, there was the normal noise of networks being added and deleted, followed by a sharp spike yesterday between 2 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. ET. There's been virtually no activity since.
Before yesterday's outage, Egyptian use of the Tor anonymizing network had experienced a dramatic spike that coincided with the beginning of widespread protests. Normal usage was hovering around 400 users a day, but leaped to more than 1,200 as of January 24. (Here's a different view.)
Contrary to some reports, however, there's no evidence that Syria's Internet connection is down. Compare this chart from an Egyptian provider showing the network going completely dark with this one from the government-owned Syrian Telecommunications Establishment that depicts normal activity.
The rumors about Syria originated a few hours ago when Al Arabiya news service said that "Syria suspends all Internet services," and followed up with a denial from the authorities. Reuters reported earlier this week that Syrian authorities have banned programs that allow access to Facebook Chat from cell phones.
There are some parallels. The now-defunct HotWired site, succeeded by Wired.com, reported in 1996 that "the U.S. government has quietly pulled the plug on Iran's Internet connection." During a state of emergency in Bangladesh in 2007, satellite providers were ordered to cease airing any news shows. And in Burma later that year, the country's ruling military junta pulled the plug on the nation's limited Internet access.
But Burma is not Egypt, a country of more than 80 million people equipped with tens of millions of computers and cell phones--who have now found themselves almost entirely disconnected from the rest of the world.
Egypt receives more than $1.3 billion annually from U.S. taxpayers in the form of military aid, according to the U.S. State Department.
"Thanks to the blanket communications shutdown, the protests today took place in an information vacuum," according to a dispatch from Index on Censorship's Egypt regional editor Ashraf Khalil in Cairo. "On Tuesday, even during the demonstration, everybody was checking Twitter both to coordinate and for news on what was happening across the country. This time nobody knew what was happening anywhere else--not even on the other side of the river in Tahrir Square."

Mubarak makes moves as protests convulse Egypt

Cairo, Egypt (CNN) -- President Hosni Mubarak's efforts to redeem his 30-year-rule did little to quell Egyptian discontent Saturday as tens of thousands of demonstrators again defied a curfew to demand change and a new fear of anarchy percolated.


The world's attention fell on central Cairo where the Army was deployed to replace police forces that clashed brutally with demonstrators. But with many Cairo neighborhoods left without any security, Egyptians began to feel the sting of politics cutting into personal safety.


Shops and businesses were looted and abandoned police stations stripped clean of their arsenals.In one area, residents set up barricades and handed out sticks and kitchen knives as defense measures. Another group of men armed themselves and planned to sit outside all night to guard their houses."There have been no police officers on the streets since this morning," Cairo resident Sherief Abdelbaki said. "All the men are trying to protect the ladies, their wives and children."
At least one person was killed, Dr. Ragab Ali said at the Ebad Al-Rahman Clinic, a medical center near the Interior Ministry, though another doctor treating the wounded said at least five people had been shot to death.


The clashes injured at least 60 people, Ali said.There was confusion about the human toll in the demonstrations thus far.At least 31 people were killed in Alexandria, Egypt, hospital authorities told CNN. Earlier, the state-run Nile TV earlier reported 38 people died. It was unclear whether the Alexandria deaths were part of that toll.Chaos reigned at Alexandria's short-staffed hospitals, where injured protesters hurled anger at doctors for not treating them quickly enough.At the Interior Ministry in Cairo, police surged forward, shooting live ammunition and burning tear gas as protesters rumbled towards the building, an Alamo of sorts for the police and an outpost that stood as a highly visible and potent symbol of state authority.
Nearby, tension simmered in Tahrir Square, now littered with rocks, glass, garbage and other debris after five days of tumult. People picked up spent shotgun cartridges and tear gas canisters that said "Made in the U.S.A." They called Mubarak a puppet of America.
The powerful Egyptian army, deployed to the streets for the first time since the mid-1980s, is much more respected than the police, and many protesters embraced their presence. But whether the 450,000-strong armed forces will remain loyal to Mubarak is key for the nation's future.
The military issued a stern warning to the people on Saturday: "Stop the looting, chaos and the things that hurt Egypt. Protect the nation, protect Egypt, protect yourselves," the military said, according to Nile TV.
Suleiman's appointment as vice president was seen widely as an another attempt to restore order. "His loyalty to Mubarak seems rock solid," a former U.S. ambassador said in a classified U.S. diplomatic cable leaked to the website WikiLeaks.


Marco Vicenzino, director of the Washington-based research organization Global Strategy Project, said Mubarak's focus now is on preserving order. "And the person who can do that, obviously, is Omar Suleiman," Vicenzino said.Suleiman has also long been seen as a possible successor to Mubarak, and tapping him as a deputy at this critical juncture might allow Mubarak to make a graceful exit, Vicenzino said.Meanwhile, Egyptian Army Chief of Staff Sami Annan huddled with five deputies after returning home early from high-level talks at the Pentagon to address the crisis at hand, a senior Egyptian military official told CNN.U.S. President Barack Obama convened an hourlong meeting on the Egypt crisis on Saturday that included Vice President Joe Biden, National Security Advisor Tom Donilon and other top officials, the White House said.Mubarak imposed another nighttime curfew from 4 p.m. to 8 a.m. Sunday in Cairo, Alexandria and Suez, the cities where the largest protests have unfolded. A previous curfew had been in place nationwide Friday night into Saturday morning but it, too, failed to keep people off the streets.The consequences of the unrest started surfacing Saturday as Egypt's Central Bank announced the closure of all banks as well as the stock market on Sunday, state-run television reported. And mid-year university examinations were postponed.


That followed a brutal crackdown throughout Friday when thousands of riot and plainclothes police clashed violently with the protesters, firing water cannons, rubber bullets and tear gas with force and impunity.
Undeterred, people ran, screamed, hurled rocks and accosted walls of security as they tried to make their way to central Cairo.In coastal Alexandria on Saturday, at least 2,000 protesters gathered in Raml Square. There was no sign of police, and protests appeared peaceful. But in that city, too, anxiety over looting and a lack of security ran high and by nightfall, sounds of gunfire pierced the air.Earlier in the day, people smiled and shook hands with troops patrolling the area. One soldier cradled a baby and posed for a picture.Cellular service appeared to have been restored in Egypt Saturday morning. Text messaging is one of the most common modes of communication for Egyptians and was cut off amid calls for intensified dissent.Mubarak, 82, who has not been seen in public for some time, addressed the nation in a televised speech early Saturday. He said he asked his government to step down but he intended to stay in power.
"I asked the government to resign today and I will commission a new government to take over tomorrow," Mubarak said shortly after midnight.The aging president has ruled Egypt with an iron fist for three decades and it was widely believed he was grooming his son, Gamal, as his successor, a plan now complicated by demands for democracy.Mubarak said "these protests arose to express a legitimate demand for more democracy, need for a greater social safety net, and the improvement of living standards, fighting poverty and rampant corruption."I understand these legitimate demands of the people and I truly understand the depth of their worries and burdens, and I will not part from them ever and I will work for them everyday," he said. "But regardless of what problems we face, this does not justify violence or lawlessness."


As Mubarak spoke overnight, protesters burned police stations in Cairo and Alexandria, and overturned and torched police vehicles. People gathered, expecting an announcement of Mubarak's resignation. When that did not happen, a celebratory mood quickly turned back into anger.
Earlier, protesters ransacked the headquarters of the ruling National Democratic Party and set it afire. Saturday afternoon, thousands of chanting demonstrators filed past the smoldering building.As they approached the state-run television building, soldiers linked arms, forming a human chain to hold back the protesters. The crowd stopped respectfully in front of the troops, and continued chanting "Down, down, Hosni Mubarak" and "the people want to bring down the regime."The Egyptian crisis reverberated across the world, with stocks plunging on news of unrest and airlines cancelling flights.The unprecedented protests in Egypt come weeks after similar disturbances sparked a revolution in Tunisia, forcing then-president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to flee the country. Similar Tunisia-inspired demonstrations have taken place in Algeria, Yemen and Jordan.

Egypt protests: Mubarak names Omar Suleiman as VP - BBC

from BBC

Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak has named intelligence chief Omar Suleiman as his first ever vice-president as he struggles to regain control of the country.

Aviation minister Ahmed Shafiq has also been appointed as prime minister.

Tens of thousands of protesters remain on the streets in Egypt, defying a curfew and army warnings.

There have been clashes in Alexandria, Cairo and Ismailiya. At least 74 people have been killed in the last two days.

In Cairo, police fired rubber bullets and tear gas in clashes with protesters at the interior ministry, but the army did not intervene. Injuries have been reported.

Cairo, Alexandria and Suez are under an extended curfew from 1600 to 0800 (1400-0600 GMT).

'Live bullets'

Cairo's central Tahrir (Liberation) Square remains filled with protesters. Troops and armoured vehicles have been deployed but have not yet taken any action.

A BBC Arabic correspondent at the scene reported a friendly atmosphere between the army and the demonstrators.

But clashes between the protesters and the riot police have left at least 74 people dead since rallies began on Tuesday. About 2,000 people have been injured.

"Live bullets have been fired at protesters, aimed at their heads," Dr Yaser Sayyed at the Sayyed Galal Hospital in Cairo told BBC Arabic.

"We have seen more than 20 cases of headshots with the bullet wounds on the front of the head and exit wounds on the other side, skulls fractured... in addition to chest wounds."

The army advised people to obey the curfew and avoid gathering in groups.

Looters rampaged through a number of upper-class neighbourhoods in Cairo, while in Alexandria there were reports of widespread looting of supermarket chains.

Some residents have formed committees to protect their homes and buildings.

Egyptian-born cleric Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi has said Mr Mubarak must stand down.

"I advise President Mubarak to leave his position and to leave Egypt," the influential cleric said. "There is no other solution to this problem but for [Mr] Mubarak to go."

'Reluctant to fire'

Hundreds of foreign tourists and Egyptian nationals are at Cairo's main airport seeking flights out of the country.

The UK has advised against all but essential travel to Cairo, Alexandria, Luxor and Suez.

The US has issued warnings to its nationals to cancel non-essential travel to Egypt. A number of European countries have also advised against visiting the country.

In Abu Za'abal prison in Cairo, a political prisoner told the BBC that 120 inmates took control of one sector of the jail.

Speaking by mobile phone, Mohamed Mahmud Sami - who has been in prison for 17 years - said: "Security forces are trying to storm in, but we can see that the soldiers are reluctant to fire at us, as if they want to side with the rebelling people of Egypt."

Cairo stock exchange will be closed on Sunday - a full trading day in the Middle East - because of the turmoil in the city.

After a day of violent protests on Friday, President Mubarak appeared on state TV to announce he was sacking his government. The cabinet has now formally resigned.

Mobile phone services have been restored in Cairo, but the internet remains down.

In Suez, soldiers were on the streets after the city's police fled following Friday's violence in which the main police station was burned down.

And a BBC Arabic producer reported that prison inmates rioted in the city of Manufiya, north-west of Cairo.

US President Barack Obama spoke to Mr Mubarak on Friday and urged him to uphold promises of reform. The US will review its aid of $1.5bn (£1.1bn) to Egypt based on events in the coming days.

The unrest in Egypt follows an uprising in Tunisia two weeks ago which toppled President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali after 23 years in power.

The Tunisian upheaval began with anger over rising food prices, high unemployment and anger at official corruption - problems which have also left many people in Egypt feeling frustrated and resentful of their leadership.