Pro, Anti-Mubarak Protesters Clash in Cairo as Govt Snubs Early Transition Calls
Supporters of President Hosni Mubarak stormed a crowded anti-regime rally in central Cairo on Wednesday, sparking pandemonium in which at least 500 people were hurt and one killed, witnesses said.
Partisans from both sides threw stones and set on each other with sticks and fists in battles that raged for hours in Tahrir Square, the epicenter of anti-regime demonstrations, a day after Mubarak vowed to see out the rest of his term.
Clashes came on the ninth day of protests that have seen at least 300 killed and more than 3,000 hurt.
Soldiers deployed in the square took cover from the projectiles just hours after the army urged people to go home and allow a return to normality.
Some stood on tanks and appealed in vain for calm but did not otherwise intervene.
Amid the chaos, Mubarak partisans charged in on camel and horseback, an Agence France Presse correspondent said.
At least six riders were dragged from their beasts, beaten with sticks and taken away with blood streaming down their faces.
The worst of the fighting was just outside the world famous Egyptian Museum, which was targeted by vandals last week.
The fighting was still going on as dusk approached, three hours after breaking out, as U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon condemned the attacks on protesters as "unacceptable."
The renewed violence comes despite calls by close ally the United States and other nations for Egyptian authorities to allow anti-government protests to proceed peacefully, with both sides exercising restraint.
The army issued its call after Mubarak addressed the nation late Tuesday, pledging not to run for re-election in September after 29 years in power, and saying he would seek to ease the conditions for presidential candidacy.
But Mubarak did not offer to step down immediately, the key demand of protesters who have flooded the streets of Egypt's cities since January 25.
Despite years of ambiguity over whether he would seek a sixth term and his refusal until this week to even name a vice president, the 82-year-old Mubarak insisted he had never intended to stay in office beyond this year.
"I say in all honesty, and without taking into consideration the current situation, I was not planning to present myself for a new presidential term," he said.
Egypt is "the nation I have defended and in which I will die," he said, rejecting the possibility he might flee as veteran Tunisian strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali did in January after a popular revolt ended his rule.
Mubarak said the country had a choice "between chaos and stability" after the clashes between protesters and security personnel that have left an estimated 300 people dead and more than 3,000 injured.
"My first responsibility is now to bring security and stability to the nation to ensure a peaceful transition of power."
Those remarks were seized upon by U.S. President Barack Obama, who spoke to Mubarak after the speech, and announced on television that had told the Egyptian president an orderly transition needed to begin immediately.
"What is clear, and what I indicated tonight to President Mubarak is my belief that an orderly transition must be meaningful, it must be peaceful and it must begin now," Obama said.
The European Union echoed that on Wednesday, with foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton urging Mubarak to act "as quickly as possible."
"Mr. Mubarak has to respond to the will of the people, and the demonstrations are a manifestation of that will, and he needs to consider extremely carefully how to show that he really is moving forward," she added.
But Egypt roundly rejected those demands in a statement from the foreign ministry.
"What foreign parties are saying about 'a period of transition beginning immediately' in Egypt is rejected," as such calls seek to "inflame the internal situation in Egypt," spokesman Hossam Zaki said in the statement.
So far, the only changes offered by Mubarak, now serving his fifth six-year term, have been to seek to amend the constitution to impose terms limits and to make it easier for people to run for the presidency.
And earlier on Wednesday, state news agency MENA said parliament had been suspended so allegations of fraud in last year's legislative elections could be investigated, a move promised last week.
But demonstrators have said they would proceed with plans for a massive protest on Friday, their designated "departure day" for Mubarak.
"We will demonstrate on Friday, the 'Friday of Departure', and we expect more than one million people to take to the streets across all of Egypt to demand the fall of the regime," opposition activist Iman Hassan told AFP.
And the opposition Muslim Brotherhood said there was "no alternative" but ending Mubarak's regime, rejecting his plans to leave after his mandate ends.
A military spokesman said, "the army calls on protesters to go home to restore security and stability in the street."
That call set the stage for confrontation with protesters, who had been buoyed by a promise from the military that it regarded the protesters grievances as "legitimate" and would not open fire.
Ahead of Wednesday's clashes, supporters of the president staged a number of rallies around Cairo, saying Mubarak represented stability amid growing insecurity, and calling those who want his departure "traitors."
"Yes to Mubarak, to protect stability," read one banner in a crowd of 500 gathered near state television headquarters, about one kilometer from Tahrir Square.
A witness said organizers were paying people 100 Egyptian pounds (12 euros, $17) to take part in the pro-Mubarak rally.
Other pro-Mubarak demonstrations occurred in the upmarket Mohandesin district, as well as near Ramses Square where they harassed people heading for Tahrir Square.
"What more do you want? In any case Mubarak won't stay. You must leave or blood will flow," the small but vociferous crowd shouted.
The government also announced it would shorten a widely ignored curfew, and Internet access was at least partially restored for the first time in five days.
The revolt has sent jitters throughout the Middle East, coming after the uprising in Tunisia and with analysts warning of a domino effect through the Arab world.
Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, also facing demands that he quit, said on Wednesday he will freeze constitutional changes that would have allowed him to be president for life and delayed a controversial April poll.
In Jordan, King Abdullah II sacked his government after weeks of demands for change, while a Facebook group of Syrian youth called for a peaceful revolution to start on Friday.
Source: Agence France Presse
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