EGYPT: TAHRIR WE GO AGAIN

UPDATE [Saturday, 12th February] - SchNEWS being ever at the forefront of the news, we realise that since this article was written on Thursday 10th things have changed just a little. Mubarak has left, leaving the military in charge with the speaker of the Senate in the largely figure-head presidential role, while Tahrir square and the rest of Egypt broke our in celebrations. No-one know what will happen next so tune in next week...

As the 17th day of the Egyptian uprising drew to a close Mubarak’s position remained ambivalent.

With the promise of serious change in the air, protesters gravitated back to Tahrir Square en masse in anticipation of Mubarak’s flight. But they were to be disappointed - Mubarak is hoping to cling onto power with a cabinet reshuffle and a vow of not ‘giving in to foreign pressure’.

The Egyptian uprising has developed in the past week with a series of strikes and protests by professional groups and workers across the country, broadening the participation in the rebellion. Thousands of black clad lawyers and white robed physicians descended on Tahrir square on Thursday(10th) hours before Mubarak was expected to address the nation and resign. Protests at Al Ahram, the state-controlled newspaper, immobilised one of the most powerful propaganda tools at the government’s disposal.

In an effort to stop unsupervised news seeping out pro-Mubarak thugs have been kidnapping and torturing journalists.

The military, which receives almost its entire budget from Uncle Sam, has decided to sit on the fence, declaring its wish to “to maintain the homeland and the achievements and the aspirations of the great people of Egypt.” On the other hand General Hassan al-Roueini, military commander for Cairo told demonstrators, “All your demands will be met today.”

* A global day of action has been called for Saturday(12th) at 12pm in Trafalgar Square, London.

* Two Brighton activists have been in the thick of the action in Cairo for the last week - to read an anarchist perspective on the upheaval, go to http://reportsfromtheegyptianuprising.wordpress.com/