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A notable thing about the media coverage, a trap that this blog is falling into too, is the lack of comment on the disappearance of Hosni Mubarak from public view. Has he been seen/heard from since that interview with ABC News?
It is a bit of an elephant in the room ... or shall I say the elephant which was in the room and has now been disappeared by a slight of hand ...
• Protesters have continued their demonstration outside the parliament after thousands set up a new front there in the demonstrations last night. They appear not to have been cowed by vice-president Omar Suleiman's warning that the protests are "very dangerous". He said the alternative to dialogue was a coup (see 11.37am).
• In an interview with the Guardian, a Muslim Brotherhood leader gave Mubarak a week to stand down. "They need some time. We give them this chance. A week," said Essam el-Erian.
• The Egyptian government has agreed to amend six articles of the constitution immediately, according to Al Jazeera. These included provisions on who can run for president and on how long a president can serve (see 2.08pm).
• More workers have begun strikes, including factory workers in Mahalla, Suez and Helwan, journalists and sanitation workers in Cairo. Reports of other strikes elsewhere have also been coming in (see 1.34pm).
• Two people are reported to have died in violence last night in Al-Wadi al-Jadid, an isolated town in south-west Egypt (see 2.25pm). There are unconfirmed reports a soldier has been shot by a pro-Mubarak supporter in Mahalla (see 2pm).
• Human rights organisations have accused the minister of information, Anas al-Fiqqi, of being responsible for the deaths of protesters by spreading false propaganda about them (see 11.48am). Human Rights Watch estimates that 302 people have died in the protests so far.
I made a full interview with CNN today responding to General Omar Soliman interview with Amanpour #Jan25
He had previously said he was not giving interviews to foreign media.
Jamal al-Hajji, who has dual Libyan and Danish nationality, was arrested on February 1 shortly after he issued a call on the Internet for demonstrations in support of greater freedoms in the North African country, it said.
Hajji was arrested in a car park in Tripoli by a group of about 10 security officials in plain clothes who told him a man claimed to have been hit by Jamal al-Hajji's car, which he had just parked, reported.
Amnesty International Middle East and North Africa Director Malcolm Smart said:
Two particular aspects of the case lead us to believe that the alleged car incident was not the real reason for Jamal al-Hajji's arrest, but merely a pretext to conceal what was really a politically motivated arrest.
First, eyewitnesses have reported that the man who is said to have complained of being struck by Jamal al-Hajji's car showed no visible signs of injury.
Secondly, the officers who conducted the arrest were in plain clothes, indicating that they were not the ordinary police who generally would be expected to handle car accidents, but members of the Internal Security Agency (ISA). It is the ISA that usually carries out arrests of political suspects and they wear plain clothes.
A thousand or so outside #egypt parliament #Cairo. Blankets being brought in so people can camp out overnight @channel4news
Soldiers outside #egypt parliament #Cairo very friendly. A General there this morning was hugging protestors. @channel4news
Anti-government protesters attach a sign to the gate of the Egyptian Parliament building in Cairo Photograph: Chris Hondros/Getty Images _
So far, the clashes between police and demonstrators have resulted in two deaths and 35 injuries with some of the casualties taken by ambulance to the Assiut University hospital. Those killed have been named as Mustafa Said Bilal and Kitan Abdel Rahman Khadr.
The confrontations continue with intensity, fuelled by the police's use of live ammunition against the demonstrators.
The demonstrations are the first large ones against the regime in the normally quiet governorate, 500 km south of Cairo.
There are unconfirmed reports that three died in the clashes and that one of the protesters was shot in the eye.
The State Department said the new service would provide"situation updates" on Egypt.
Check out @USAbilAraby: New #Arabic language information source providing #Egypt situation updates. #Jan25 #Gov20
Automatically translated versions of the feed's first three tweets are available here:
#Egypt #Jan25 recognized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of America's historic role played by social media in the Arab world and we want to be part of your conversations
#Egypt #Jan25 Obama said that ultimately the future of Egypt in the hands of the Egyptian people
#Egypt #Jan25 "Vice President Biden to Vice President Solomon:" We must stop the harassment of civil society and the abolition of emergency law
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@mar3e
I'm informed now from a private sources that one of the Army solider in mahalla have been injured by a live bullet from one of the NDP thug
April 6 Youth's Statement for The Egyptian Uprising...
The Egyptian youth Stood & fought against the Tyrants, and we faced their bullets with bare Chests, with all bravery and patience, so hail for the great Egyptian people who made this revolution, and so we confirm that victory is in the fall of Mubarak and his Regime .
From the 25th of January "The Egyptian Uprising" we brought down the dictator's legitimacy...Who rule Egypt now is the Valiant Egyptian people... to maintain our peaceful uprising and to continue protecting ourselves and our country against the Sabotage of the terror regime's thugs.
We will continue what we started on the 25th of January, we the Egyptian youth of who were not deceived by Mubarak's speech which aimed to absurd the Egyptian people's feelings, and underestimated their mentality as it has been used for the past 30 years, with the same fake speeches and promises, and delusional election programs which none of it came to reality.
Mubarak came to this kind of false talk, as a thought from him that the Egyptian people still can be deceived and believe his false words as he just replaced some of his thugs by others and still killing and arresting people, Mubarak lost credibility and will never gain it again from his the Egyptian people as they know now how to fight for their rights and ready to die for it.
We will not accept any kind of negotiations before Mubarak departs.
We will not give up until we achieve our demands.
April 6 Youth Movement
Egyptian Resistance Movement
Back at the parliament in Cairo, writer/producer Jon Jensen has posted a picture of a new sign put up by protesters outside the building. It says "Down with the regime."
@Cer
Public transportation #workers in 3 garages in Cairo went on strike now #Jan25 #Egypt #Tahrir
@norashalaby
Thousands of workers are now protesting in front of the petroleum ministry #Jan25
@3arabawy
the railway technicians in Bani Suweif r on strike. #jan25
• Protesters have continued their demonstration outside the parliament after thousands set up a new front there in the demonstrations last night. They appear not to have been cowed by vice-president Omar Suleiman's warning that the protests are "very dangerous". He said the alternative to dialogue was a coup.
• More workers have begun strikes including factory workers in Mahalla, Suez and Helwan, journalists and sanitation workers in Cairo. Yesterday, steel workers and canal workers in Suez went on strike and Telecom Egypt staff in Cairo among others.
• Two people are reported to have died in violence last night in Al-Wadi al-Jadid, an isolated town in south-west Egypt. The Egyptian paper Youm7 reported 100 people were injured including 8 seriously amid an unconfirmed report of a massacre.
• Human rights organisations have accused the minister of information, Anas al-Fiqqi, of being responsible for the deaths of protesters by spreading false propaganda about them. Human Rights Watch estimates that 302 people have died in the protests so far.
SMS frm #Egypt Interior Ministry: "From today our dealings with you will be with honesty, trust and lawfulness." Unbelievable. #Tahrir
Another Interior Ministry SMS: "Police have returned to streets to protect citizens and their security. Please cooperate with them" #Egypt
More than 2,000 textile workers and others in Suez demonstrated as well, Al Ahram reported, while in Luxor thousands hurt by the collapse of the tourist industry marched to demand government benefits. There was no immediate independent corroboration of the reports. Al Ahram's coverage was a departure from its usual practice of avoiding reporting that might embarrass the government.
At one factory in the textile town of Mahalla, more than 1,500 workers walked out and blocked roads, continuing a long-running dispute with the owner. And more than 2,000 workers from the Sigma pharmaceutical company in the city of Quesna went on strike while some 5,000 unemployed youth stormed a government building in Aswan, demanding the dismissal of the governor.
In Cairo, sanitation workers demonstrated around their headquarters in Dokki. And more than a hundred journalists gathered in the lobby of Al Ahram itself, denouncing corruption, calling for more press freedom and demanding benefits for two colleagues killed in the Tahrir Square protests.
The subject is trending on Twitter under #NewValley.
The organizations held al-Fiqqi responsible for the "crimes committed in Egypt on Wednesday 2 February which led to the death of 11 people and the injury of 820 others."
In their report, the organizations said that the media campaign launched by the Egyptian Information Ministry incited hatred against peaceful protesters calling for reform, by accusing them of treason.
In a statement, the organizations said al-Fiqqi used Egyptian Television to perpetrate rumours about the peaceful protesters on Egyptian streets, particularly those in Tahrir Square.
The report included some of the news reported by state television, which it described as "false," saying it was misused to turn public opinion against the protesters.
AP has this:
Osama Saraya, the editor-in-chief of the pro-government newspaper Al-Ahram who was there, said Suleiman didn't only mean a military coup but a takeover by another powerful state apparatus or Islamist groups.
Abdul-Rahman Samir, a spokesman for a coalition of the five main youth groups behind the protests in Tahrir Square, said Suleiman was creating "a disastrous scenario."
Blake Hounshell managing editor of Foreign Police magazine tweets:
I think Suleiman's point is that the only way to oust Mubarak right now would be a coup, and he doesn't want to do that.
Beyond Tahrir Square, beyond the boundaries of the sprawling capital, beyond even the provincial cities where protesters joined the call to topple President Hosni Mubarak, rural Egypt is restless for change.
Scraping a meagre living from the land, farmers and rural workers in Egypt's agricultural heartland have watched the largely urban uprising that has shaken the ruling system and many back the web-savvy youths who galvanised the nation. A few have turned up in Cairo in their galabiyas, the robes worn in the fields, although most are too busy trying to feed their families. But many believe it is time for a new era, even if some think Mubarak should stay on a few months more.
"The revolution is good ... It will give us stability but the protest should stop and the president should be allowed to stay until the end of his term," said farmer Fawzi Abdel Wahab, working a field near the Nile Delta city of Tanta.
"If the president doesn't do as he promised, Tahrir Square is still there and the youth will not die, they can go back," he said, his wife and daughter nodding in agreement.
The protesters want Mubarak to quit now. Mubarak has said he will step down at the end of his term in September.
The protests may have begun with an educated youth and liberal, urban elite, but a tour of the Nile Delta suggests discontent is more widespread. Mubarak's government needs to do more than meet the aspirations of the middle class.
"The ideas the youths called for in their revolution express those of all Egyptian people, including farmers and residents of rural areas who, like the rest of Egyptians in big cities, face the same needs and suffering," said analyst Nabil Abdel Fattah.
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