Friday, February 4, 2011

Cairo, scene of deadly new fighting, the Americans on the move

New clashes early Thursday on Tahrir Square in Cairo, the heart of the protest against the Egyptian president for ten days, three people were killed and several wounded after a day of violence between pro and anti Hosni Mubarak, who had done least three dead and hundreds injured. "Three people were killed by gunfire over the last three hours," said the Dr.

Amr Bahaa, from a makeshift hospital in a mosque near the site. "Most of the victims have arrived in the last three hours, many with gunshot wounds," he added, estimating the total number of wounded since Wednesday in more than a thousand. A previous report, obtained from witnesses reported two people killed early Thursday morning.

Washington immediately responded to these new confrontations and the State Department urged Americans to leave Egypt to go "immediately" to Cairo airport, warning that "additional U.S. flights after Thursday are unlikely." Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in a telephone call to the vice-president of Egypt, Omar Suleiman, condemned the "shocking" bloody clashes the previous day in Cairo.

Tahrir Square, sporadic gunfire began to be heard around 4 am local time (3:00 French time) on Thursday and were still audible two hours later, said a correspondent of the site. Witnesses said two people were killed by shots fired against demonstrators against the regime. Shots from the deck of October, which are positioned supporters of President Hosni Mubarak, have also left many injured, witnesses said.

Military vehicles were deployed Thursday among the demonstrators, reports the TV station Al-Arabiya. The Alliance of Egyptian lawyers said his side in a statement that the anti-Mubarak demonstrators on the square were under fire from their opponents and many of them were killed or wounded.

The army had deployed en masse in the evening around the square, a huge plaza in downtown Cairo, now 25 January the rallying point for anti-Mubarak protesters, who camped by the thousands every night despite the curfew. Wednesday night, vice-president Omar Suleiman has called on demonstrators to go home, as did the army in the middle of the day, warning that the proposed dialogue with the opposition could not begin before the cessation of events.

Violent clashes had opposed all day on Wednesday, supporters and opponents of President Hosni Mubarak on Tahrir Square, despite the call from the army to end protests. The announcement Tuesday by the rais he would not seek sixth term as president, but plans to stay in power until the transition in September, had not been enough to disarm the demonstrators, who gathered the morning in the center of the capital.

In the evening, France 24 has announced that three of its journalists were arrested in Cairo. According to the television channel Al-Jazeera, soldiers fired into the air trying to disperse rival groups, but the army denied the report. A reporter saw men in civilian shooting in the air. The battle has also won the outskirts of the Egyptian Museum, which houses priceless treasures from antiquity.

The soldiers formed a human chain to protect the institution, but in the late afternoon, two petrol bombs landed in the courtyard of the museum. At nightfall, tear gas were fired against anti-Mubarak protesters near the site, but their origin was uncertain. Under pressure from their opponents, many opponents fled Tahrir Square.

Approximately 1 500 opposition supporters, less than previous days, had gathered in the morning on the square to demand the immediate departure of Hosni Mubarak, 82 years in power for nearly thirty years. Hundreds of their friends from the north of the city have tried to come as reinforcements but were repelled by pro-Mubarak, some of which are mounted on army vehicles for throwing stones.

The curfew was eased and now runs 17 hours to 7 hours. So far, it was in effect from 3:00 p.m. to 8:00. Moreover, Internet connections were partially restored in Cairo and other cities like Alexandria. The White House condemned the violence that erupted in Cairo and said it was "obvious" that the Egyptian people needed immediate assistance to progress and change.

"The message the President [Barack Obama] has clearly delivered to President Mubarak is that the time for change has happened," said the spokesman of the American presidency. Nicolas Sarkozy, like other European leaders, Hosni Mubarak urged to enter "without delay" a process of transition "concrete" and without violence.

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry has rejected those calls that can not, he says, that "inflame the situation." The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he was "deeply concerned" about violence in Egypt and found unacceptable attacks against peaceful demonstrators. He called on all parties to exercise restraint.

No comments:

Post a Comment