Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak arrived in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh as hundreds of thousands of protesters packed squares and marched on presidential palaces and the State TV building in Cairo on Friday. Mubarak spends a good deal of time in Sharm, about 400 kilometres from Cario, where he has a palace. Tensions have intensified in Egypt following Mubarak's announcement Thursday night that he would remain in office until September elections.
Mubarak passed most of his powers to Vice-President Omar Suleiman on Thursday night, rebuffing the demands of demonstrators that he step down immediately. Egypt's military said Friday that it endorses Mubarak's decision not to resign, which he announced Thursday after widespread speculation that he would announce he was stepping down during a special address to the country.
The military said in a statement that it supports his plan for a peaceful transfer of power, and for free and fair presidential elections later in the year. It also promised to end the country's 30-year state of emergency once "the current situation has ended." Protesters had demanded a repeal of the law, which allows for the arbitrary arrest and detention of those the military perceives as agitators.
Despite the army's concession, protesters remained furious Friday, swarming outside the presidential palace and streaming by the thousands into Cairo's Tahrir Square. At least 2,500 protesters chanting slogans like "Go out! Go out! and "Down, down Hosni Mubarak!" were separated from the al-Ouruba palace gate by four army tanks and coils of barbed wire.
Army troops at the scene Friday did not prevent more protesters from joining the crowd. In Tahrir Square, which has been the centre of mass rallies that began on Jan. 25, the crowds were "very, very loud" and "angry," the CBC's David Common said.
Those who would normally have attended Friday prayers at mosques throughout Cairo instead prayed in Tahrir Square, also known as Liberation Square, said Common.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2011/02/11/egypt-cairo-protests-mubarak.htm
