'Police open fire as protesters re-gather in Cairo'
By ASSOCIATED PRESS, JPOST.COM STAFF
LAST UPDATED: 01/29/2011 10:32
Eyewitnesses claim that security forces shot at protesters in Egyptian capital angry at President Mubarak's refusal to step down; Mubarak sacks gov't, defends police crackdown on protesters.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak Photo: AP / Egypt TV
Hundreds of Egyptians gathered in central Cairo on Saturday morning, renewing protests calling on Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to resign.
Police opened fire on a number of the protesters according to eyewitness reports, al-Jazeera reported.
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Protesters also gathered in Alexandria in the area surrounding the al-Qaed mosque, al-Jazeera reported.
Earlier on Saturday, Mubarak fired his
Cabinet and promised reforms in his first response to
protesters who have mounted the biggest challenge ever to his 30-year
rule.
But many protesters were outraged by Mubarak's nationally televised
address, in which he also defended the crackdown by police on tens of
thousands of demonstrators that drew harsh criticism from the Obama
administration, and even a threat to reduce a $1.5 billion
program of foreign aid if Egypt escalated the use of force.
Al-Jazeera reported that the dynamic between
protesters and government security forces changed Friday when the
military entered the streets in Cairo to replace the police; it said
that protesters embraced the military's presence.
The
number of people killed in the latest day of anti-government protests
in Egypt rose to 30 on Friday, with 13 people killed in the port city of
Suez, al-Jazeera reported.
Nearly 20 people were also reportedly injured in the protests in Suez, with over 900 people injured throughout the country.
Mubarak's
decision to dismiss Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif and the rest of
the Cabinet would be interpreted as a serious attempt at bringing
change under normal circumstances. But on a day when tens of thousands
of people took to the streets to demand Mubarak's ouster, it fell far
short of expectations.
