New dawn for Egypt as Mubarak toppled

GEO
CAIRO: Thousands of Egyptians were still singing and waving flags as dawn broke over a nation reborn on Saturday, after a popular uprising forced president Hosni Mubarak from power.

The streets and squares of downtown Cairo were still in the hands of the mostly young demonstrators whose determined 18-day revolt overturned 30 years of autocratic rule and triggered an outpouring of national solidarity.

But political power now rests with the military commanders who stepped into the vacuum left by Mubarak's departure, and many people were anxiously waiting to see whether they will make good their promise to respect the popular will.

In Tahrir Square, the epicentre of the revolt, many of the anti-regime protesters who had occupied the city's vast central plaza since January 28 were still sleeping in makeshift shelters, now joined by exhausted wellwishers.

"It's party time! We are born again," declared 40-year-old agricultural engineer Osama Saadallah. "We were behind other countries, now we are worth something in the eyes of others, of the Arab world."

The army began moving tanks to the sides of roads leading into the central square and dragging away the metal barriers, barbed wire and burned wrecks of cars that had served as a cordon during the revolt.

The Cairo press, including state-run titles that had initially dismissed the uprising or charged that it was being fomented by foreigners, hailed the "Revolution of the Youth."

But if Egypt's revolution is indeed to serve as an example to the region, as Tunisia's revolt inspired Egypt, much will depend on the stance of the junta that stepped into the breach when Mubarak's nerve broke.

Headed by a longtime Mubarak loyalist, 75-year-old Field Marshal Mohammed Hussein Tantawi, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces was expected to make a statement about its plans to form a transitional government.

So far, it has given little clue as to the direction it will take. In its "Statement Number Three" since announcing that it was taking charge, it said simply that it would respect the mood of the newly energised street.

The council "will issue further statements that will announce forthcoming steps, measures and arrangements, and it affirms at the same time that it is not a replacement for the legitimacy that is acceptable to the people."

If the generals go back on their word, the protests could start again.

"We're waiting for a new statement from the army," said Mohammed Rida, a 26-year-old activist. "We don't want to be ruled by the military. We want a coalition government with experienced figures."

In the euphoric atmosphere -- all night Egyptians had drummed, sang and danced, firing jets of flame from aerosol bottles -- it was hard to believe the news had broken just hours earlier.

A grim-faced Vice President Omar Suleiman announced the handover on state television late Friday after more than a million furious marchers took to the streets of Cairo, Alexandria, Suez, Port Said and beyond.

Million march against Mubarak in Alexandria

ALEXANDRIA: Hundreds of thousands of protesters marched in Egypt's second city Alexandria on Tuesday calling for President Hosni Mubarak to quit, hoping to swell their numbers to a million on an eighth day of anger.

A vast crowd of smiling protesters massed in a light-hearted atmosphere in front of Qaed Ibrahim mosque near El-Raml station in the Mediterranean port before marching off down the corniche.

However, many protesters were staying away from the corniche, marching through side streets and making it impossible to accurately assess the crowd's size.

Organisers of the protests against Mubarak's three-decade rule called for a "march of a million" in Alexandria after the authorities cancelled all train services in a bid to stymie a similar march in Cairo on Tuesday.

The Alexandria demo took place at the same time as several hundred thousand people massed in Cairo's Tahrir Square, all demanding that Mubarak stand down.

Many demonstrators waved Egyptian flags, including one scrawled with "Get out you scum, go be with Zine El Abidine', in reference to Tunisian strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, forced into exile by popular protests last month.

Members of popular committees set up after police evaporated from the street were checking identity papers, fearing that police troublemakers would infiltrate the crowd.

Nearby a group of angry protesters carried a symbolic Mubarak coffin, shouting "Mubarak is dead without God's mercy."

A sea of thousands cheered as one when a rumour spread quickly through the crowd the Mubarak had left the country, with many protesters prostrating to God.

The United Nations estimates that at least 300 people have been killed in clashes with police since protests began on January 25, demanding that Mubarak quit and calling for democracy, jobs and an end to corruption and human rights abuses.

Just released from hospital after losing his hand when he was caught up in protests on Friday, Osama Maghazi is now demonstrating. Police shotgun pellets blew off the fingers of one hand, which has now been amputated.

The port worker said that on Friday he happened to be passing by the protests when he became embroiled in the violence.

"It's the people's right to define their fate," Maghazi, in his 30s, said. "I never expected the people's will to be stronger than the regime but now it's the people's will that rules."

He said he was happy that the police mangling of his hand had spurred on protesters on Friday.

"The people demand the toppling of the president," the crowd shouted, along with "One people, one demand."

Protesters also sought to stress the popular nature of their demand for Mubarak to go, crying "No parties, no groups; it's a revolution by the youth."

A huge banner flapped under the Mediterranean winter sunshine, proclaiming: "We die and Egypt lives."

As part of the protest headed off down the corniche, they passed a just-married couple driving in the other direction and greeted them with celebratory whistling.

When asked what she thought of the protest, bride Nagla said: "I'm very happy people are happy for me, but I want Mubarak out."

At around dusk, many people began leaving the protest, having ignored the curfew that came into effect at 3:00 pm but with streets haunted by insecurity over looters.