Defiant but joyous protests up pressure on Mubarak

 Massive tides of peaceful protesters flooded Cairo and Egypt's second city Alexandria on Tuesday in the biggest outpouring of defiance yet in their eight-day drive to oust President Hosni Mubarak.

Several hundred thousand demonstrators massed in Cairo's Tahrir Square, protest epicentre for a "march of a million" set for the capital, and similar numbers turned out in Alexandria, AFP reporters said.

There were no reported incidents of violence there or elsewhere in the country.
As foreign governments scrambled to evacuate their citizens, the opposition said it would not negotiate with Mubarak. And Mohamed ElBaradei, who some consider a leader of the protests, said Friday had been set as "departure day" for Mubarak.
The angry eight-day revolt -- in which an estimated 300 people have died and more than 3,000 been injured -- has sent jitters throughout the Middle East.
Jordan's king sacked his government after weeks of demands for change, Yemen's president summoned parliament ahead of a "day of rage" on Thursday, and a Facebook group of Syrian youth is calling for a peaceful revolution to start on Friday.
A committee of Egyptian opposition groups, which includes ElBaradei and the powerful Muslim Brotherhood, pledged that there would be no negotiations with the regime until Mubarak "leaves," a statement said.
Men, women and children swarmed Cairo's streets from early morning, joining hundreds who had spent the night in Tahrir Square in tents or sleeping on the grass.
Around the protesters were soldiers and tanks from the army, which has said their demands are legitimate and has promised not to fire on them.
The widely-hated police, who mysteriously disappeared for two days, were nowhere to be seen around Tahrir Square, a day after some of them returned to duty.
US Ambassador Margaret Scobey spoke by telephone with ElBaradei, and an official said she repeated a similar message to that US officials have delivered publicly: that Washington wants a political transition but will not dictate Egypt's political future.
Protester Madiha Shalaby, 38, held aloft a sign in the square calling on the "US to support Egyptians."
Basma Mahmud, 30, said: "We are waiting for them to say he has left, that he is on a plane. This is our dream.
Chants of "Revolution! Revolution until victory!" rang out in the square amid a festive atmosphere.
The army checked IDs and searched people before allowing them into the square. Civilians then checked IDs again, fearing plain-clothes police might seek to act as agents provocateurs.
"I will stay here till I die," said a defiant Osama Allam.
"If I die now my whole family will be proud of me. This is what the Egyptian people need," said the 43-year-old lawyer, an effigy of veteran Mubarak hanging from nearby traffic lights, "Off with your head" daubed on his face.
An AFP correspondent said some protesters were starting to leave the square as dusk descended, two hours after a widely ignored 3:00 pm curfew came into effect.
Many people have been demonstrating by day and standing armed outside their homes and shops at night to deter looters.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said that, according to unconfirmed reports, a total of 300 people had died in the unrest so far, with casualties "mounting on a daily basis."
The US government ordered the departure of all non-emergency staff from Egypt as foreigners continued to throng Cairo airport for flights out.
In Alexandria, a huge crowd of smiling protesters massed in front of a central mosque before marching off down the Mediterranean port city's corniche, an AFP correspondent said.
Many 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.
At one point, a sea of thousands cheered as one when a rumour spread through the crowd that Mubarak had left the country.
In a bid to stem the burgeoning crisis, Mubarak has named a new cabinet that saw the demise of widely feared interior minister Habib al-Adly, whose notorious security forces have been accused of systematic human rights violations.
For the first time, he also appointed a vice president who offered talks with the opposition.
Veteran intelligence chief Omar Suleiman said Mubarak had tasked him "with opening immediate talks with the political forces to begin a dialogue around all the issues concerning constitutional and legislative reforms."
But protest organisers denounced the moves as too little, too late.
The army has stated clearly that it will not confront the demonstrators.
"To the great people of Egypt, your armed forces, acknowledging the legitimate rights of the people," stress that "they have not and will not use force against the Egyptian people," a statement said on Monday.
ElBaradei told Al-Arabiya satellite channel that Mubarak should leave by Friday.
"What I have heard (from protesters) is that they want this to end, if not today (Tuesday), then by Friday maximum," he said, adding that the Egyptians have marked Friday as "departure day."
"I hope President Mubarak goes before this and leaves the country after 30 years of rule... I don't think he wants to see more blood."
But he called for Mubarak to be spared prosecution. "I'm for a safe exit for President Mubarak," the Nobel peace laureate told Al-Hurra television.
"We're going to turn the page; we can pardon the past," he said.
The New York Times reported that Frank Wisner, a former US ambassador to Egypt, had been sent to meet Mubarak directly, but that officials would not say whether Wisner would urge him to leave office.
Writing in the same paper, senior US Senator John Kerry said it was time for Mubarak to say clearly he will step down.
"It is not enough for President Mubarak to pledge 'fair' elections, as he did on Saturday," said Kerry, who is chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
"The most important step that he can take is to address his nation and declare that neither he nor the son he has been positioning as his successor will run in the presidential election this year."
International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn said in Singapore that the IMF was ready to help Egypt, where rising food prices could have "potentially devastating consequences."
Meanwhile Standard & Poor's lowered its debt ratings for Egypt a day after a similar move by Moody's, saying ongoing instability "will hamper Egypt's economic growth and adversely affect its public finances."
And world oil prices drifted lower, but held above $100 a barrel on fears that worsening turmoil in Egypt could disrupt supply flows through the country's strategic Suez Canal.



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