Clashes broke out Wednesday, February 2 afternoon between supporters of President Hosni Mubarak and protesters demanding his departure, on Tahrir Square in Cairo. Tens of thousands of people favorable to the Head of State walked into the square where thousands of anti-Mubarak protesters had spent another night to demand his departure.
According to protesters, who managed to take their identity papers, police lead supporters of President Mubarak on Tahrir Square. Channel Al-Jazeera showed groups of protesters throwing projectiles, without visible intervention of the army. Supporters of the president, camel or horse, stormed the place, charging the demonstrators.
Some were shocked and controlled. At least six people were thrown from their horses, beaten with batons and dragged to the ground, his face covered in blood. According to the protesters have asked the army to intervene, to no avail. The soldiers threatened the pro-Mubarak to retaliate strongly if they were attacking the supporters of change.
The corresponding chain indicate that there was at least a dozen injured among the demonstrators against the government. Clashes have also occurred in the streets overlooking the square. On Twitter, messages asking to evacuate women and children instead. The Egyptian interior ministry has denied the allegations of anti-Mubarak protesters that plainclothes police were involved in the violence.
The former director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Mohamed ElBaradei accused the government of resorting to "scare tactics" in response to the violence that erupted Tahrir Square. "I am extremely concerned. I mean there is a new symptom, a new sign showing that a criminal regime resorts to criminal acts," he told the BBC radio about the clashes.
"I'm afraid it turns into a bloodbath," he added, calling it "band of thugs" pro-Mubarak protesters. In the morning, about 1,500 people were on the vast Tahrir Square, which became the rallying point of the protest movement since January 25. "The people demand the regime fell," read one banner on a 20 meters long.
Meanwhile, thousands of supporters of Egyptian President gathered in central Cairo to proclaim their allegiance to Hosni Mubarak. "Yes to Mubarak, to protect stability," reads one of the banners displayed by the group in the vicinity of the building on national television, about a kilometer from Tahrir Square.
On other banners reading "Yes to the president of peace and stability" or "Those who like Egypt does not make it sink." In Alexandria, according to witnesses, a group of supporters of Mr. Mubarak, armed with knives and sticks, attacked the demonstrators chanting "We love Hosni. But the army intervened and dispersed the attackers.
The protest movement has for its part maintained its call for massive demonstrations Friday despite the president's announcement the day before that he would not run for president in September and a call from the army protesters to go home. - Keep track of events live on the BBC website. 
According to protesters, who managed to take their identity papers, police lead supporters of President Mubarak on Tahrir Square. Channel Al-Jazeera showed groups of protesters throwing projectiles, without visible intervention of the army. Supporters of the president, camel or horse, stormed the place, charging the demonstrators.
Some were shocked and controlled. At least six people were thrown from their horses, beaten with batons and dragged to the ground, his face covered in blood. According to the protesters have asked the army to intervene, to no avail. The soldiers threatened the pro-Mubarak to retaliate strongly if they were attacking the supporters of change.
The corresponding chain indicate that there was at least a dozen injured among the demonstrators against the government. Clashes have also occurred in the streets overlooking the square. On Twitter, messages asking to evacuate women and children instead. The Egyptian interior ministry has denied the allegations of anti-Mubarak protesters that plainclothes police were involved in the violence.
The former director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Mohamed ElBaradei accused the government of resorting to "scare tactics" in response to the violence that erupted Tahrir Square. "I am extremely concerned. I mean there is a new symptom, a new sign showing that a criminal regime resorts to criminal acts," he told the BBC radio about the clashes.
"I'm afraid it turns into a bloodbath," he added, calling it "band of thugs" pro-Mubarak protesters. In the morning, about 1,500 people were on the vast Tahrir Square, which became the rallying point of the protest movement since January 25. "The people demand the regime fell," read one banner on a 20 meters long.
Meanwhile, thousands of supporters of Egyptian President gathered in central Cairo to proclaim their allegiance to Hosni Mubarak. "Yes to Mubarak, to protect stability," reads one of the banners displayed by the group in the vicinity of the building on national television, about a kilometer from Tahrir Square.
On other banners reading "Yes to the president of peace and stability" or "Those who like Egypt does not make it sink." In Alexandria, according to witnesses, a group of supporters of Mr. Mubarak, armed with knives and sticks, attacked the demonstrators chanting "We love Hosni. But the army intervened and dispersed the attackers.
The protest movement has for its part maintained its call for massive demonstrations Friday despite the president's announcement the day before that he would not run for president in September and a call from the army protesters to go home. - Keep track of events live on the BBC website.
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