SATURDAY, JAN 29, 2011 09:18 ET
Massive demonstration swells in downtown Cairo, 38 reportedly dead
Protests continue as the curfew was lifted Saturday morning. Demonstrators continue to demand Mubarak's resignation
AP/Lefteris Pitarakis
An Egyptian anti-government activist, wounded during clashes with police in Tahrir square in Cairo, early Saturday
A massive crowd of tens of thousands calling for the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak was gathering in the streets and squares of downtown Cairo Saturday afternoon, with protesters making clear they reject promises of reform and a new government offered by the embattled leader trying to hang on to power.
Dozens of tanks and armored personnel carriers fanned out across the city of 18 million, guarding key government building a day after large, violent confrontations emboldened the movement demanding a change of leadership. There was rampant looting across the sprawling city of 18 million and a growing feeling of fear and insecurity.
In the city's main Tahrir Square, at the center of Saturday's massive demonstration, there was only a light military presence -- a few tanks -- and soldiers are not intervening. Few police were seen in the crowds and the protest began peacefully but then police opened fire on some people in the crowd near the Interior Ministry and a number of them were wounded by gunshots. It was not clear whether they used rubber bullets or live ammunition.
One army captain joined the demonstrators, who hoisted him on their shoulders while chanting slogans against Mubarak. The officer ripped a picture of the president.
"We don't want him! We will go after him!" demonstrators shouted. They decried looting and sabotage, saying: "Those who love Egypt should not sabotage Egypt!"
The death toll since the largest anti-government protests in decades began Tuesday rose to 45, according to medical and security officials, 38 of them killed since Friday. Some 2,000 injuries have been reported.
Dozens of military armored personnel carriers and tanks as well as soldiers on foot deployed around a number of key government buildings in the capital, including state television and the Foreign Ministry after thousands of protesters besieged the two offices in Friday's riots.
How did the U.S. get in bed with Mubarak?
Wikipedia
Anwar Sadat, Jimmy Carter and Menachem Begin at Camp David in 1978.
Much of the media coverage of the protests in Egypt has noted that President Obama is in a tough position because the regime of Hosni Mubarak is an important ally of the United States.
So it's natural to ask: How and why did the United States become allies with Egypt in the first place? And how has the alliance, which includes an annual military aid package worth $1.3 billion, been sustained over the years?
FRIDAY, JAN 28, 2011 20:26 ET
Egypt's military secures famed antiquities museum
To prevent looters from getting inside, citizens form a human chain around the home of King Tut's gold mask
AP
A fire at the ruling party headquarters next door threatened to engulf the Egyptian Museum, which houses over 120,000 artifacts.
The Egyptian army secured Cairo's famed antiquities museum early Saturday, protecting treasures including the famed gold mask of King Tutankhamun from looters.
The greatest threat to the Egyptian Museum first appeared to come from the fire enguling the ruling party headquarters next door on Friday night as anti-government protests roiled the country.
Then dozens of would-be thieves started entering the grounds surrounding the museum.
FRIDAY, JAN 28, 2011 16: ET
Pro-Israel groups cool to Egyptian protests
AP
Protests in Iran in 2009, left. Right: Protesters in Cairo, Egypt, Friday, Jan. 28, 2011.
It's hardly a secret that Israel is worried about the events in Egypt, which signed a peace treaty with the Jewish state in 1979 under the leadership of Hosni Mubarak's predecessor, Anwar Sadat. More recently, Egypt has cooperated with Israel on the blockade of Gaza.
FRIDAY, JAN 28, 2011 16:29 ET
The blogger who still loves Mubarak
AP/Simon & Schuster
Pamela Geller, left. Right: Egyptian army armored vehicles patrol a street in Cairo following protests in Cairo, Egypt, Friday, Jan. 28, 2011.
While some conservatives fancifully imagine that George W. Bush's foreign policy misadventures led to these demonstrations in the Arab world, and while others acknowledge that Mubarak is awful but the rest of those Muslims are even worse, one prominent conservative blogger is openly rooting for the repressive Mubarak regime to survive: Pamela "Atlas Shrugs" Geller.
FRIDAY, JAN 28, 2011 16:02 ET
Will Egypt ignite the next big oil shock?
The global economy could take a big hit if Mideast unrest spreads. But so what? Bring it on!
AP
Oil tanker stocks surged Friday, on fears that Eygptian unrest could lead to a possible closure of the Suez Canal, forcing ships to go the long way around Africa to deliver their cargo. The worry may be overblown, but the government's response to the protests is making it hard for shipping companies to find out what's going on. One of the region's biggest shipping logistics companies, GAC, reported that "Due to Internet and mobile telephone connection problems in Egypt, GAC Egypt's Suez Canal Coordinating Office is unable to receive messages by e-mail."
FRIDAY, JAN 28, 2011 15:17 ET
EgyptAir suspends flights out of Cairo
U.S. warns citizens against any nonessential travel to Egypt; other foreign airlines cancel or reroute flights
AP/HuffingtonPost
Egypt's national airline cancels flights out of the capital as violence escalates.
Egypt's national carrier on Friday temporarily suspended its flights from the capital, while international airlines scrambled to readjust their schedules to accommodate a government-imposed curfew as mounting street protests presented President Hosni Mubarak's government with its most serious challenge ever.
Separately, the United States warned its citizens against any nonessential travel to Egypt and cautioned Americans already in the country to stay put. The warning came hours after Friday's anti-government protests spiraled out of control, forcing the deployment of the military which Egyptian state television said would work alongside the police to enforce the 6 p.m. to 7 a.m. curfew and restore order.
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