Protests Have Egiptian Government on The Brink of Collapse

The massive protests and concentrations in Cairo and other Egyptian cities have given way to looting and vandalism. As night fell, people armed with sticks and knives have been organized to defend their homes, especially in the areas of middle and upper class, after the unleashed of a wave of looting; the situation somehow is consequence of the lack of police. The officers have been removed from the streets, replacing them with the military forces and their tanks.

Thousands of demonstrators in Cairo and Alexandria continue to defy the curfew. Hundreds of them are peacefully gathered in Tahrir Square in a clear demonstration that the message given last Friday by the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, announcing the dismissal of the government but his hold on power, is not enough. The Egyptian Defense Ministry yesterday called on the population in a desperate attempt to enforce the curfew.

However, the crowd gathered in Tahrir was still demanding the resignation of Mubarak and the end of the dictatorship. But Mubarak is not going. On the contrary, he fights for political survival. Mubarak appointed vice-president, Omar Suleiman, until now head of the secret services, and alleged man of transition and a new government.

It is impossible to know the number of dead and wounded. State television yesterday talked about 40 dead and more than a thousand injured. Medical sources put the figure up to hundreds of deaths.

The only sign of normalcy was the return of mobile telephony; the overloaded lines, only worked sometimes, but they worked. Internet, however, remained closed.

Source: El País