Pro-government demonstrators, bottom, watch as cars burn during clashes with anti-government demonstrators in Cairo, Egypt (AP/Lefteris Pitarakis)
Blood in Cairo square: Mubarak backers, foes clash
By HADEEL AL-SHALCHI, Associated Press Hadeel Al-shalchi, Associated Press –
By HADEEL AL-SHALCHI, Associated Press Hadeel Al-shalchi, Associated Press –
CAIRO – Supporters of President Hosni Mubarak charged into Cairo's central square on horses and camels brandishing whips while others rained firebombs from rooftops in what appeared to be an orchestrated assault against protesters trying to topple Egypt's leader of 30 years. Three people died and 600 were injured.
A man, [working as a medic] left, tries to calm down an Egyptian army captain atop an armored personnel carrier, who fired live rounds into the air to disperse anti-government demonstrators, who charged to clash with pro-government protesters in Tahrir square, in Cairo, Egypt, Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2011. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
The clashes marked a dangerous new phase in Egypt's upheaval: the first significant violence between government supporters and opponents. The crisis took a sharp turn for the worse almost immediately after Mubarak rejected the calls for him to give up power or leave the country, stubbornly proclaiming he would die on Egyptian soil.
His words were a blow to the protesters. They also suggest that authorities want to turn back the clock to the tight state control enforced before the protests began.
Mubarak's supporters turned up on the streets Wednesday in significant numbers for the first time. Some were hostile to journalists and foreigners. Two Associated Press correspondents and several other journalists were roughed up in Cairo. State TV had reported that foreigners were caught distributing anti-Mubarak leaflets, apparently trying to depict the movement as foreign-fueled.
An Egyptian Muslim cleric cries in front of on army tank in Tahrir, or Liberation square, in Cairo, Egypt, Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2011. (AP/Tara Todras-Whitehill)
After midnight, 10 hours after the clashes began, the two sides were locked in a standoff at a street corner, with the anti-Mubarak protesters hunkered behind a line of metal sheets hurling firebombs back and forth with government backers on the rooftop above. The rain of bottles of flaming gasoline set nearby cars and wreckage on the sidewalk ablaze.
Pro-government protesters (L) clash with anti-government protesters outside the National Museum near Tahrir square in Cairo early February 3, 2011. (REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis)
Some of the worst street battles raged near the Egyptian Museum at the edge of the square. Pro-government rioters blanketed the rooftops of nearby buildings and hurled bricks and firebombs onto the crowd below — in the process setting a tree ablaze inside the museum grounds. Plainclothes police at the building entrances prevented anti-Mubarak protesters from storming up to stop them.
A man, [working as a medic] left, tries to calm down an Egyptian army captain atop an armored personnel carrier, who fired live rounds into the air to disperse anti-government demonstrators, who charged to clash with pro-government protesters in Tahrir square, in Cairo, Egypt, Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2011. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
The clashes marked a dangerous new phase in Egypt's upheaval: the first significant violence between government supporters and opponents. The crisis took a sharp turn for the worse almost immediately after Mubarak rejected the calls for him to give up power or leave the country, stubbornly proclaiming he would die on Egyptian soil.
His words were a blow to the protesters. They also suggest that authorities want to turn back the clock to the tight state control enforced before the protests began.
Mubarak's supporters turned up on the streets Wednesday in significant numbers for the first time. Some were hostile to journalists and foreigners. Two Associated Press correspondents and several other journalists were roughed up in Cairo. State TV had reported that foreigners were caught distributing anti-Mubarak leaflets, apparently trying to depict the movement as foreign-fueled.
An Egyptian Muslim cleric cries in front of on army tank in Tahrir, or Liberation square, in Cairo, Egypt, Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2011. (AP/Tara Todras-Whitehill)
After midnight, 10 hours after the clashes began, the two sides were locked in a standoff at a street corner, with the anti-Mubarak protesters hunkered behind a line of metal sheets hurling firebombs back and forth with government backers on the rooftop above. The rain of bottles of flaming gasoline set nearby cars and wreckage on the sidewalk ablaze.
Pro-government protesters (L) clash with anti-government protesters outside the National Museum near Tahrir square in Cairo early February 3, 2011. (REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis)
Some of the worst street battles raged near the Egyptian Museum at the edge of the square. Pro-government rioters blanketed the rooftops of nearby buildings and hurled bricks and firebombs onto the crowd below — in the process setting a tree ablaze inside the museum grounds. Plainclothes police at the building entrances prevented anti-Mubarak protesters from storming up to stop them.
A pro-government and supporter of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak throws a molotov cocktail during clashes with anti-government demonstrators in Tahrir Square, in Cairo February 2, 2011. (REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh)
The two sides pummeled each other with chunks of concrete and bottles at each of the six entrances to the sprawling plaza, where 10,000 anti-Mubarak protesters tried to fend off more than 3,000 attackers who besieged them. Some on the pro-government side waved machetes, while the square's defenders filled the air with a ringing battlefield din by banging metal fences with sticks.
In one almost medieval scene, a small contingent of pro-Mubarak forces on horseback and camels rushed into the anti-government crowds, trampling several people and swinging whips and sticks. Protesters dragged some riders from their mounts, throwing them to the ground and beating their faces bloody. The horses and camels appeared to be ones used to give tourists rides around Cairo.
A pro-Mubarak demonstrator tries to control his camel during rioting between pro- and anti-Mubarak supporters in Tahrir Square in Cairo February 2 , 2011. Supporters of President Hosni Mubarak, throwing petrol bombs, wielding sticks and charging on horses and camels, fiercely attacked demonstrators in Cairo on Wednesday after the army told protesters to clear the streets. (REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic)
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The two sides pummeled each other with chunks of concrete and bottles at each of the six entrances to the sprawling plaza, where 10,000 anti-Mubarak protesters tried to fend off more than 3,000 attackers who besieged them. Some on the pro-government side waved machetes, while the square's defenders filled the air with a ringing battlefield din by banging metal fences with sticks.
In one almost medieval scene, a small contingent of pro-Mubarak forces on horseback and camels rushed into the anti-government crowds, trampling several people and swinging whips and sticks. Protesters dragged some riders from their mounts, throwing them to the ground and beating their faces bloody. The horses and camels appeared to be ones used to give tourists rides around Cairo.
A pro-Mubarak demonstrator tries to control his camel during rioting between pro- and anti-Mubarak supporters in Tahrir Square in Cairo February 2 , 2011. Supporters of President Hosni Mubarak, throwing petrol bombs, wielding sticks and charging on horses and camels, fiercely attacked demonstrators in Cairo on Wednesday after the army told protesters to clear the streets. (REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic)
Please click on the article title to read the full piece.
An anti-government protester displays pictures of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and members of his cabinet on the bottom of a shoe during mass demonstrationsin Alexandria , February 2, 2011. (REUTERS/Asmaa Waguih)
