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Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Egypt Revolution, Tahrir Square, ميدان التحرير, يوم الغضب ثورة مصر
Demonstrators are standing their ground in Cairo a day after hundreds of thousands of people gathered to call for Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president, to quit.
The protests entered their twelfth day on Saturday, after the city’s Tahrir Square, the focal point of protests in Egypt, saw demonstrators observe a “Day of Departure” on Friday.
About 10,000 pro-democracy protesters also gathered outside the main train station in Egypt’s second city, Alexandria, Al Jazeera’s correspondent there reported.
The leadership of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) resigned en masse on Saturday, according to state television.
Hossam Badrawi has been appointed the new secretary-general of the party, replacing Safwat El-Sherif, a Mubarak loyalist, in that post. Badrawi, seen by many as a liberal voice in the NDP, will also replace Gamal Mubarak, Hosni Mubarak’s son, as head of the party’s policies bureau.
Frank Wisner, who has acted as a special envoy for Barack Obama, the US president, has said Hosni Mubarak “must stay in office to steer” a process of gathering “national consensus around the preconditions” for the way forward.
PJ Crowley, the US state department’s spokesman, has said, however, that Wisner was speaking as a private citizen, and that his views did not represent those of the US government.
“The views he expressed today are his own. He did not coordinate his comments with the US government,” Crowley said.
Obama administration officials welcomed the resignation of Gamal Mubarak, terming it a “positive” move.
Despite the continuing demonstrations and the resignations, Ahmed Shafiq, the prime minister, said stability was returning to the country and that he was confident a deal could be reached on constitutional reforms. At a news conference aired on state television, Shafiq suggested that the government was seeking to enter into talks with enough opposition representatives to isolate street protesters.
Click here for more on Al Jazeera’s special coverage
Saturday’s protests in Cairo were calm, and protesters were seen lighting campfires across the square as night drew in.
With the exception of a standoff between two groups who were chanting slogans, there was no violence reported on Saturday.
One of Al Jazeera’s correspondents in Cairo said there were about 10,000 people in Tahrir Square and queues of people trying to get in. About 500 people joined the protesters from the port city of Suez.
Our correspondent reported that the army was “behaving as if it’s back to business as usual tomorrow [Sunday]“. He said that the military had removed checkpoints on the 6th of October bridge, allowing traffic to resume normally.
“The army is still securing the square, but their agenda appears to be isolating the protesters – keeping them safe, yes, but also minimising their impact on the surrounding areas,” our correspondent said.
Source: Al Jazeera and agencies
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