Thousands of Egyptians demanded an end to President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule and clashed with police in unprecedented countrywide protests on Tuesday inspired by the revolt that brought down Tunisia's president. "Down, down, Hosni Mubarak," chanted protesters in Cairo, where police fired teargas and used water cannon, and protesters hurled bottles and rocks at them.
Some protesters were beaten hard by police with sticks. Others, in a rare show of nerve against a huge national security operation, chased police down side streets. Reuters TV footage showed one policeman joining the demonstrators. In Alexandria protesters tore down a picture of Mubarak, 82, and one of his son, Gamal, who many Egyptians believe is being groomed for office when his father stands down. Both deny this.
Protesters in Cairo who responded to calls by web activists for action cried: "Gamal, tell your father Egyptians hate you." Egyptians have the same complaints that drove Tunisians onto the streets: surging food prices, poverty, unemployment and authoritarian rule that smothers public protests quickly and often brutally. "Tunisia, Tunisia," protesters shouted.
The United States, a close ally of Egypt and major aid donor, called for restraint from all sides to avoid violence. "Our assessment is that the Egyptian government is stable and is looking for ways to respond to the legitimate needs and interests of the Egyptian people," US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told reporters in Washington.
The protests in Cairo and other cities may have drawn 20,000 people or more, based on witnesses. An Interior Ministry statement said more than 10,000 gathered in one central square in Cairo alone, but did not give an overall number. But it is hard to estimate because protests were so spread out and state media gave only cursory mention of the events.
Egyptian protests usually draw only a few hundred people. The large numbers and the fact that protests across several cities were co-ordinated in a way not seen before gave Tuesday's events a force unprecedented since Mubarak took office in 1981. The protest could gather momentum unless the state swiftly addressed the demand for reform, he said.
With most formal opposition groups fractured and toothless, web activists led the calls for Tuesday's demonstrations, billed as a "Day of Wrath" against poverty and repression.
By drawing demonstrators in such numbers, online activists have shown their calls for political change can reach a broad audience. Until now most of the rage has stayed on the Internet. As night fell, police and protesters in Cairo's central Tahrir square mingled and some shared food. Some protesters showed no sign of quitting for the night.
Messages on Twitter and Facebook read: "Tahrir protesters are not going home. They need food and blankets. Roads are closed, so if you live nearby, please help." Others called for more protests in the days ahead. Demonstrations took place in Ismailia and Suez, both cities east of Cairo, and in other Nile Delta cities like Mansoura and Tanta. Protesters also gathered in north Sinai.
In Ismailia, protesters chanted: "Where are you, freedom?" In Alexandria they shouted: "Revolution, revolution, like a volcano against Mubarak the coward." Medical and security sources said 46 people were injured. A security source said 15 people were detained in Cairo. A group of lawyers said some 50 were detained across Egypt. Another source said two police officers were injured in Suez when rocks were hurled. Witnesses saw protesters dragged off by police. The Interior Ministry said in a statement that despite the provocative approach of some demonstrators "they were allowed to organise peaceful protests". It blamed the banned opposition Muslim Brotherhood for provoking some rioting.
The Brotherhood, seen as having Egypt's biggest grassroots network, had not made an explicit call to join the protest in the days leading up to it. But some members joined in.
The Interior Ministry earlier said it would deal firmly with anyone breaking the law and said demonstrators could face arrest. But Interior Minister Habib al-Adli had told a state newspaper he welcomed stationary protests for short periods. "We have orders not to clash with them (protesters)," one security officer was heard to say, speaking on a mobile phone earlier in the demonstration in Cairo before scuffles began.
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