Egyptians brace for Friday protests
Cairo, Egypt (CNN) -- The politically embattled nation of Egypt -- rocked and stunned by an eruption of surprisingly bold street protests this week -- is bracing for a major demonstration on Friday.
There was still a smattering of street protesters in Egypt on Thursday after massive public protests on Tuesday and Wednesday calling for the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak convulsed the nation and prompted a tough security crackdown.
There's been talk of a huge outpouring after Friday prayers, and now two major symbols of opposition plan to make their presence known in the nation.
The Muslim Brotherhood has called for its followers to demonstrate after the weekly Muslim prayers -- the first time in the current round of unrest that the largest opposition bloc has told supporters to take to the streets.
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Mohamed ElBaradei, the Egyptian Nobel laureate and opposition leader, is returning home from Europe on Thursday and plans to participate in the big protests.
"I am there to make sure that things will be managed in a peaceful way," ElBaradei said as he was waiting to leave Vienna, Austria.
"I have to give them as much support, political support, spiritual, moral, whatever I can do, you know," he said. "I will be with them. They are my people, and I have to be there, and I'd like to see Egypt, a new Egypt."
Cairo was quiet Thursday compared to previous days, but there appear to have been smaller skirmishes, and more are anticipated as night comes.
In Suez, the port city east of Cairo on the Gulf of Suez, people congregated to demand the release of those detained, and clashes broke out between demonstrators and security forces, a witness told CNN.
in Ismaeliya, Hani Abdel Latif, an Interior Ministry official, said 50 people demonstrated peacefully. But there were news reports of clashes there.
Egypt briefly closed its stock market Thursday after it fell sharply. It reopened about an hour later.
The protest movement in Egypt has been fueled by blogs, Twitter and Facebook, and ElBaradei, who is also the former head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency, has been posting messages of support for the demonstrators on Twitter.
In an interview Tuesday on CNN's Connect the World, ElBaradei disputed a recent comment from U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that the Egyptian government is stable.
"Stability is when you have a government that is elected on a free and fair basis. And we have seen, you know, how the election has been rigged in Egypt. We have seen how people have been tortured," he said.
ElBaradei was asked whether he would run for the presidency of Egypt.
"The priority for me," he said, "is to shift Egypt into a democracy, is to catch up with the 21st century, to get Egypt to be a modern and ... moderate society and respecting human rights, respecting the basic freedoms of the people.
"Whether I run or not, that is totally irrelevant. And I made it very clear, I will not run under the present conditions, when the deck is stacked completely."
The outpouring of protests has led to unprecedented violence this week.
Police turned water cannons and tear gas on protesters Wednesday to try to break up anti-government demonstrations as the Interior Ministry warned it "will not allow any provocative movement or a protest or rallies or demonstrations."
In the heart of Cairo, people were being beaten with sticks and fists and demonstrators were being dragged away amid tear gas. Witnesses saw security forces harassing journalists and photographers. Demonstrations continued into the nighttime hours.
In Suez, the state-run Nile News TV reported violent clashes Wednesday night between security forces and protesters.
At least 27 people were wounded, Nile News said, most of them police officers. Quoting provincial officials, the station said most of the clashes took place in the Alarbeen neighborhood and that looters attacked some shops.
The Muslim Brotherhood said 35 people were injured in Suez and that security forces in the city had implemented a curfew there Wednesday night.
Families and friends of people slain in Suez said angry demonstrations occurred because police didn't hand over the bodies of those killed.
There were at least three demonstrators who died in Suez, and a police officer was killed in Cairo.
Egypt's official MENA news agency reported that at least 90 people were detained Wednesday while trying to demonstrate in downtown Cairo's Tahrir Square, and there were reports of many more detentions across the country.
Some 95% of protesters detained over the last few days will be released on Thursday, the Interior Ministry said. It did not say why the remaining 5% would remain in custody.
Most of the demonstrators were not arrested or charged, the ministry said.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry has posted a travel warning on its Hebrew website, warning Israelis in Egypt "to pay attention to the rioting in the streets, to adhere to official warnings and to stay away from rioting centers."
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Good for Egypt to finally light some fire under Mubarak's ass. The Tunisian revolt which ended Ben Ali's rule for over 20 years seems to have inspired the Egyptians to their feet. I think this is a good thing for the region. Let the people finally voice themselves. The only thing I fear is, if that scum Mubarak is indeed headed towards being ousted (I doubt it still) like Ben Ali, the U.S. will step in to support the dictator. If only this trend can continue throughout the entire Middle East.
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Originally Posted by JJ78
