Tim Marshall January 27, 2011 10:24 AM
Never mind the tear gas and the water cannon, by far the most frightening thing I’ve seen in Cairo this week was a gang of about 100 young men wearing casual clothes and an air of utter malevolence.
I was behind the police lines in Tahrir Sq on Tuesday night taking the evening air, as you do in these situations, when I saw three coaches pull up and the men, aged from 18 to 25 being brusquely ordered out and lined up.
"Ah," I thought, "the arrests have begun in earnest". But no. As they were formed into lines, noticed most of them were carrying short black truncheons.
On closer examination, it was clear these people were not taken from the demonstration, they were taken by the police and brought to the demonstration.
Each had the look of an uneducated, poor and violent young man from the roughest parts of town.
The uniformed officers barked orders at them and they began to march towards the 6,000 or so demonstrators in the square, but quickly fell out of step and became the rag tag army of young thugs they looked.
They stopped behind a line of riot trucks on one of the side streets from where they could not be seen by those in the square.
I took a quick photo of several holding their truncheons, but the flash attracted their attention, so I beat a hasty retreat and made my way into the heart of the protests.
I talked with several people about the gang behind the lines. One man smiled, smashed his fist into his hand and said: "They are here to hurt us."
In the event the youths were not required. Shortly after midnight the gas grenades were fired in - I counted more than 40 - the square was enveloped in the thickest cloud of tear gas I have ever seen, and the protesters fled, scattering in panic as the riot squads advanced.
Many people were beaten, including several journalists who also had their camera equipment taken.
During the past three days, we have seen a lot of the feared professional plain clothes police , sometimes snatching people from the crowds, sometimes trying to halt filming, but I have not seen the young thugs again. Nor do I want to.
They will be unleashed if the authorities feel enough pressure. If they are, it will be very bloody.
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