LIVEBLOG: Protests reach breaking point in Egypt, Army attempts to restore order

Real-time updates from Egyptian protests as the army attempts to control the escalating situation in Cairo and Suez

BY ADAM CLARK ESTES

Al Jazeera

Protesters gather around a burning police vehicle just after the beginning of the curfew.

UPDATE (12:40)
The whereabouts of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak are unknown, says MSNBC's live broadcast. Mubarak is expected to give an address at any moment.

Al Jazeera also reports that police have not enforced the curfew, and more protesters are emerging. The curfew ordered by the president has now been applied to the entire country. It originally applied only to Cairo.

UPDATE (12:25)
The AP reports that protesters have stormed the Egyptian Foreign Ministry building.

Over the past few minutes, the Egyptian army appears to be taking over the country as it seizes control of police stations in Cairo. The army has also now stormed into Suez and Alexandria. According to Al Jazeera, 50,000 people are protesting in Suez. The situation seems more calm in Alexandria. According to one tweet:

@evanchill: Military has just arrived in Alexandria and has flashes thumbs up to the protesters. #jan25

Read more curated Twitter reports here.

Fawaz Gerges, Professor of Middle Eastern Politics and International Relations at the London School of Economics, explains the implications of this on Al Jazeera:

The introduction of the military is another concession by the Mubarek regime that the situation is escalating beyond its control, and I would argue that the final decision will be in the military's hands, not the Mubarek regime's.

UPDATE (12:13 EST)
Secretary of State Hilary Clinton issued a statement urging the Egyptian government to allow for peaceful protests:

As we have repeatedly said, we support the human rights of the Egyptian people… including freedom of speech.

These protests underscore that they are deep grievance within the Egyptian society and the Egyptian government needs to understand that violence will not make these grievances go away.

Egypt has long been an important partner of the united states on a range of important issues. as a partner we strongly believe that the Egyptian government needs to engage immediately with the Egyptian people [for reform].

UPDATE (11:51 EST)
Sounds of gunfire echoed in the distance as protesters paused and kneeled for the final evening prayer. During the prayers, police fired tear gas canisters into the kneeling crowd. One proster threw a canister back at police.

Said one Al Jazeera commentator:

The barrier of fear has fallen. Egyptians are on the streets, taking change into their own hands… The army is key. In Tunisia it was the army that made the difference.

Another commentator pointed out that the regime's attempt to quell dissent by shutting down communications -- including the internet in the wake of attempts to stop Twitter and Facebook updates -- only angered protesters more.

Here are some screenshots from Al Jazeera's live broadcast (alsostreaming online here):

UPDATE (11:31 EST)
Al Jazeera reports loud explosions, possible gunfire in Cairo's streets as army vehicles storm into Cairo's main square. Buildings surrounding that square are important government buildings.

Press Secretarty Robert Gibbs also tweeted concern for the situation:

@presssec: Very concerned about violence in Egypt - government must respect the rights of the Egyptian people & turn on social networking and internet

UPDATE (11:20 EST)
CNN reports in a live broadcast that Joe Biden expressed support for Egyptian president Hosni Mubark, claiming he's been responsible on issues like Israel.

A building in the compound of the ruling National Democratic Party is on fire, reports Al Jazeera. The complex holds symbollic signicance for the Egyptian people as the center of power for the oppressive regime.

UPDATE (11:05 EST)
The Egyptian government announces a curfew from 6:00 P.M. 7:00 A.M. In order to help impose the curfew, the Egyptian president ordered the Army into the streets. Meanwhile, police enter Al Jazeera's broadcasting facility in Cairo reportedly to interrupt their live broadcast of protestors setting police vehicles on fire and attempting to push it into the Nile River.

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It's all fun and games until you hit a Nobel Peace Prize winner with a water cannon.

That's perhaps too-lighted hearted a way to open a post about the increasingly violent situation in Egypt. Since the initial anti-government protests on Tuesday, January 25 -- not coincidentally, also a national holiday to commemorate the police -- each day of action is bigger and more violent than the day before. As recently as a few minutes ago, riot police fired rubber bullets, water cannons, real bullets and tear gas into crowds of protestors. Tens of thousdands of protestors.

The story is developing as the largest protests are currently underway. But here are a few developments (in reverse chronological order) from the past few hours:

Nobel Laureate Mohamed ElBarabei hit with water cannon, arrested
Police blasted water cannons into a crowd of thousands after noon prayers on Friday. Among those hit was pro-democracy leader Mohamed ElBarabei, a vocal opponent to the oppressive tactics of the current regime under President Hosni Mubarek. ElBarabei kicked off the protests with an interview and a bold statement: "I'm sending a message to the Guardian and to the world that Egypt is being isolated by a regime on its last legs." Just a few minutes ago, authorities detained ElBarabei, the 2005 recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Wikileaks release Egypt cables revealing tense U.S./Egypt relations
With a characteristically high profile cast of leaders implicated, the latest Wikileaks cable realease provides the confidential backstory of the United States' stake in Egyptian politics. From the U.S. Ambassador explicitly instructing Secretary of State Hilary Clinton from mentioning the name of opposition leader Ayman Nour to hints at America's tacit support for the President Mubarek's controversial regime, the flood of behind-closed-doors details further fueled dissent.

Video of protestor being shot released, internet access restricted minutes later
In what may be referred to as Egypt's "Neda moment" the Associated Press releasted a graphic and disturbing video of a protestor being shot -- likely by police. In the immediate aftermath, government deployed special forces in Cairo and, many suspect, shut down internet access. Though intermittent Facebook and Twitter outages limited protestors ability to organize, the Guardian is calling the country-wide ISP interruption a "shotgun approach" to limiting activists' organizing tools.

Check back in throughout the day as we summarize the situation and provide resources to dive deeper into this developing story.