Egyptians staged one of their biggest protests yet on Tuesday demanding President Hosni Mubarak step down now, their wrath undiminished by the vice president's announcement of a plan to transfer power. Protesters, many moved by a Google executive's tearful account of detention by Mubarak's state security, poured into Cairo's Tahrir Square to pack a space that can take a quarter of a million people.
-- Egyptians moved by Google executive's tearful testimony
While the government refuses to budge on the demonstrators' main demands, Vice President Omar Suleiman promised there would be no reprisals against the protesters for their campaign now entering a third week to eject Mubarak after 30 years in office.
But they dismissed his promises, accusing the government of playing for time, and swore they would not give up until the current "half revolution" was complete.
Wael Ghonim, the Google executive whose tears in a television interview appear to have boosted Tuesday's turnout significantly, addressed the cheering crowd in a protest movement that has yet to produce a leader. "You are the heroes. I am not a hero, you are the heroes," said Ghonim, who had described on Monday night being blindfolded by state security during his 12 days in detention.
Activists say Ghonim was behind a Facebook group that helped to inspire the wave of protests. His interview also appears to have persuaded many Egyptians to side with the protests. "Ghonim's tears have moved millions and turned around the views of those who supported (Mubarak) staying," website Masrawy.com wrote two hours after the interview. In that short span, 70,000 people signed up to Facebook pages supporting him.
Later Ghonim expressed his sorrow for the victims of the violence that has claimed an estimated 300 lives during the current wave of protests. "My condolences to the fathers and mothers who lost sons and daughters who died for their dream," he told Reuters. "I saw young people dying and now the president has a responsibility to see what the people demand," he said, adding that these demands include Mubarak, 82, stepping down.
Google had launched a service to help Egyptians circumvent government restrictions on using the social network Twitter, enabling them to dial a telephone number and leave a voice mail that would then be sent on the online service. The state news agency said 34 political prisoners had been released, the first to be set free since Mubarak promised reforms to quell the popular uprising.
Protesters completely filled Tahrir Square for the third time since the demonstrations began on January 25. Tuesday's rally and another called for Friday are tests of the protesters' ability to maintain pressure on Mubarak. Opposition figures have reported little progress in the talks with the government.
The official news agency said Mubarak issued a decree ordering the establishment of a committee to study and propose legal and constitutional amendments. The Muslim Brotherhood, by far the best-organised opposition group, said on Monday it could quit negotiations if protesters' demands were not met, including the immediate exit of Mubarak.
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