Middle East

Massive tides of peaceful protesters flooded Cairo and Egypt’s second city Alexandria on Tuesday in the biggest outpouring yet of defiance in a relentless drive to oust President Hosni Mubarak.
Several hundred thousand demonstrators massed in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, the epicenter for a “march of a million” in the capital, and similar numbers turned out in Alexandria.

Protesters in Egypt have called for a general strike today and a “million man march” on Tuesday in an attempt to force Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak from power. Over the past seven days, hundreds of thousands of Egyptians have protested in the streets of Cairo, Alexandria, Suez and other cities in the largest protests Egypt has seen in decades.

Top dissident Mohamed ElBaradei told a sea of angry protesters in Cairo on Sunday that they were beginning a new era after six days of a deadly revolt against embattled President Hosni Mubarak.
But despite the anticipation of change, Mubarak ordered police back on the streets after they had largely disappeared over the past two days following street battles with protesters.

People’s expectation raised for change will dash against the reality that it will take decades to create systems of governance, accountability, economic justice, etc to allow for unleashing the great potential in the Arab world – natural resources, water, educated hard-working middle class etc. It is critical that people begin to chart this future honestly and pragmatically.

The end of the government of President Mubarak is the main demand of demonstrators in Cairo and other Egyptian cities, currently under curfew and suffering a partial cut in communications.
Thousands of people, mainly youngsters, have taken to the streets, chanting “Mubarak, Go” and using stones and sticks in clashes with riot police.

KLM Royal Dutch airlines is adapting its timetable to the expanded evening curfew imposed by the Egyptian authorities in response to the protests against President Hosni Mubarak. Radio Netherlands Worldwide is increasing also its broadcasts to Egypt after the authorities shut down all internet servers and mobile services.

Tens of thousands of people are gathering in Egypt today in what is expected to be the biggest display of opposition to President Mubarak so far. The protests come amid a vast security clampdown. Police are firing tear gas into the crowds and have begun to round people up on the streets. A number of journalists have also been arrested including some who have been badly beaten.

The wave of protests sweeping the Middle East in the aftermath of the Tunisian uprising continues today in the two key U.S. allies of Egypt and Yemen. Thousands of Egyptians have taken to the streets in defiance of the government’s efforts to clamp down on the biggest demonstrations against President Hosni Mubarak in three decades.

Iran continued on Saturday nuclear talks with six world powers in Turkey and said it hoped to have an acceptable result, but it refused to discuss uranium enrichment and called for cooperation from the West. Iranian sources said the talks show a positive development, while on the first day the agenda agreed in December to discuss only global issues was respected.

The protests that led to Ben Ali’s overthrow gained momentum after unemployed university graduate Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire. He died earlier this month. Copycat self-immolations have followed in at least 4 other North African states. In Egypt, 52-year-old lawyer Mohamed Farouk Hassan became the latest Egyptian protester to set himself on fire following two others.