Unrest in Egypt
Follow Reuters' coverage as a wave of unrest grips Egypt
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Egypt's Mubarak sends in army, resists demands to quit www.reuters.com -
Obama says told Egypt's Mubarak to keep promises www.reuters.com
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Protesters return to Cairo square after speech www.reuters.com
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Text: Obama urges Egypt's Mubarak to enact reforms www.reuters.com
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Interactive graphic: Egypt protests www.reuters.com
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Factbox: Most U.S. aid to Egypt goes to military www.reuters.com
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What now after Egypt's protests? www.reuters.com
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Highlights of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's speech www.reuters.com
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Egyptians on street again despite Mubarak pledge www.reuters.com -
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Instant view: Widespread protests in Egypt www.reuters.com
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Good morning. As Egypt braces for another day of protests, let's take a look at the current situation:
- President Hosni Mubarak is clinging to power after days of popular protests against his 30-year-old rule.
- Mubarak refused to bow to protesters' demands that he quit and ordered troops and tanks into cities overnight in an attempt to quell demonstrations that left a trail wreckage across Cairo.
- The ruling party's headquarters were still burning on Saturday morning and demonstrators were still out in the streets in the early hours in defiance of a curfew. Daybreak revealed ransacked shops and burnt-out buildings.
- Mubarak revealed he asked his cabinet ministers to quit and promised to appoint a new cabinet on Saturday and called for dialogue to avert chaos.
- Medical sources said at least 24 people had been killed and more than 1,000 wounded in Friday's clashes in Cairo, Suez and Alexandria.
- U.S. President Barack Obama said he spoke to Mubarak and urged "concrete steps that advance the rights of the Egyptian people."
- Protesters have mocked Mubarak's decision to sack his cabinet as an empty gesture.
- Further protests are expected across Egypt today. -
Is there any indication from people in Cairo that larger, more organized demonstrations have been/are being planned for the morning? If so, how are they being organized and by whom? More importantly, what is the general opinion of how the army will respond to further protests? -
Some reaction to the unrest in Egypt:
U.S. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA
"When President Mubarak addressed the Egyptian people tonight, he pledged a better democracy and greater economic opportunity. I just spoke to him after his speech and I told him he has a responsibility to give meaning to those words, to take concrete steps and actions that deliver on that promise. Violence will not address the grievances of the Egyptian people and suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away.
"What's needed now are concrete steps that advance the rights of the Egyptian people, a meaningful dialogue between the government and its citizens and a path of political change that leads to a future of greater freedom and greater opportunity and justice for the Egyptian people."
ANTHONEY SKINNER, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF POLITICAL CONSULTANCY MAPLECROFT
"Mubarak is showing he is still there for now and he is trying to deflect some of the force of the process away from himself by sacking the Cabinet. In some ways, it is reminiscent of what Ben Ali did in Tunisia before he was forced out
"We will have to see how people react but I don't think it will be enough at all. I wouldn't want to put a number on his chances of survival -- we really are in uncharted territory."
PROTESTERS IN CENTRAL SQUARE AFTER MUBARAK SPEECH
"People want to change the regime."
LAILA ALI ON FACEBOOK
"I think Mubarak has a hearing or seeing problem."
SALAH ABDEL MAQSOUD, JOURNALISTS' UNION OFFICIAL
"We don't want this regime to leave this country in a state of destruction. We want it to go away. We need to give them a safe haven to leave this nation. Leave us, enough." -
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"As protests escalate in Egypt and elsewhere, Western governments are awkwardly trapped between strategic alliances, their own rhetoric on democracy and rights and domestic political sympathy for those demonstrating," writes Reuters Peter Apps. He says the protests leave the West in awkward position. uk.reuters.com
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An editorial in The Guardian says the protests mark the moment "Egyptians lost their fear". www.guardian.co.uk
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Here in Davos, where we've been reporting on the World Economic Forum's annual meeting, there is obviously much talk of the events in Egypt, with some delegates asking why, if the WEF exists to tackle global risk, are there not additional sessions in the Congress Centre which could look at possible solutions to the unrest.
Reuters News Editor-in-Chief David Schlesinger touched on this subject while appearing on Davos Today this morning, and guests on Davos Today with Chrystia Freeland yesterday also questioned whether this was a limitation the WEF ought to address.
Reuters correspondents Amena Bakr and Natsuko Waki wrote that Egypt is the "absent ghost at the Davos feast."
"The global elite of bankers, CEOs and politicians attending the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum have generally sidestepped any mention of the protests sweeping the Arab world's most populous nation.
"The Egyptian official delegation pulled out of the Forum just before it started. Trade and Industry Minister Rachid Mohamed Rachid, a Davos regular, gave no reason for his cancellation, but it coincided with the violent protests against the 30-year rule of President Hosni Mubarak.
"U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appealed at the WEF on Friday for Egypt's leaders not to let violence escalate further, calling for respect for freedom of association and speech.
"I have been calling on the authorities to see this situation as an opportunity to address the legitimate concerns of their people," Ban told a news conference." uk.reuters.com -
Here is an update on the current situation, as of 9:30 a.m. British time, from Reuters witnesses or witnesses who spoke to Reuters, unless otherwise stated.
* CAIRO - Several thousand protesters are in capital's main Tahrir square, some carrying Egyptian flags, saying they will not leave until President Hosni Mubarak steps down. Several army armoured vehicles stationed there. Police fire shots near demonstrators, not clear if the rounds were live.
* ALEXANDRIA - Several hundred demonstrators gather in centre of the city chanting "Down, Down, Hosni Mubarak" as well as shouting slogans in support of the army. Some shake hands with soldiers deployed in the city.
* ALEXANDRIA - Al Jazeera television says its correspondent had seen more than 20 bodies in the city, following massive demonstrations and clashes with security forces on Friday.
* ISMAILIA - Thousands of protesters gather in the city, east of Cairo. Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets.
* SUEZ - Dozens also gathered in the central areas of the port city chanting "Down, Down, Hosni Mubarak." The demonstrators were smaller than recent days.
* SUEZ - About 100 people gather outside the morgue in the city saying it was holding the bodies of 12 protesters killed in anti-government demonstrations.
* DAMANHOUR - Thousands protest in this Nile Delta city chanting anti-government slogans, telling President Hosni Mubarak to quit. -
Having just written a post about Egypt dominating conversation at the WEF meeting in Davos, along comes a Reuters image that sums it all up perfectly. Who needs words, huh? Here it is. It shows a woman reading a newspaper reporting on the situation in Egypt at the WEF. (REUTERS/Christian Hartmann).
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Another tweet: @uncultured says, "Just talked to Riz Khan of Al Jazeera. He mentioned most of their coverage of @davos has stopped and reshifted to Egypt." There is no doubt that this is now the big news story. It's so big that at the other big story (Davos), all they're talking about is this one.
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Robin Niblett, director of the Chatham House think tank, was on Davos Today this morning discussing the troubles in Egypt. He said he thinks that Hosni Mubarak's days as President of Egypt are numbered, and he discusses the problems that escalating Egyptian protests create for the Obama administration.
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