Egypt LiveBlog: Déjà Vu All Over Again

Live video stream via AlMasry AlYoum TV shows chaos in Mohamed Mahmoud Street in Cairo

See also Egypt Analysis: So What Happens Now?
Bahrain (and Beyond) LiveBlog: The Report of the Commission of Inquiry
Tuesday's Egypt (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Turmoil and Confusion

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2108 GMT: We still have an overhead feed from Tahrir Square at the top of this entry, but this live video feed appears to be from Mohamed Mahmoud street in Cairo:

2030 GMT: The live images from Alexandria are dramatic. So much tear gas was fired at a car that it lit on fire. At times, the gunfire is almost constant, though it is hard to tell whether the gunshots are tear gas cannisters, rubber-coated steel bullets, or live ammunition.

Protesters are now walking directly into the line of fire of the police.

2024 GMT: An activist has posted a dramatic picture gallery showing the protests and crackdown in Alexandria. A different activist has collected iconic photos from Cairo, while an Egyptian blogger has tried to document human rights abuses by police and soldiers near Tahrir Square and in Mohamed Mahmoud Street.

2015 GMT: Al Jazeera English has just broadcast a scene from Alexandria, where soldiers had been deployed to restore order after violent clashes waged on for several hours. The minute the soldiers retreated, a riot van appeared to drive through the crowd, and soldiers are now filling the protest area with teargas.

2006 GMT: Sherine Tadros reports from Tahrir Square, where a ceasefire has broken down, despite efforts of a leading sheik to restore order:

1935 GMT: Blogger Bob Hooker, using a technology called Clima.Me, has mapped tweets coming out of Cairo. He observers that over the last few days the protest zones appear to be expanding, not contracting. We're unable to confirm whether the data conforms to actual protests, or support for protests, there are some interesting maps on the blog worth looking at.

1907 GMT: The latest from Mohamed Mahmoud Street --- the military has begun to erect barbed wire in front of the protests, blocking any possible movement towards the Ministry of Interior. Protesters, on the other hand, have begun to light small bonfires, the smoke from which is reportedly helping mask the effects of tear gas.

1901 GMT: According to an Egyptian news agency, a doctor who was treating injured protesters in Cairo has died after his makeshift hospital was directly tear gassed:

Eyewitnesses say the police shot teargas directly at the field hospital on Mohamed Mahmoud Street, causing the doctor, Rania Fouad, to faint and enter a coma. They also say the police forbade her colleagues from moving her away from the scene.

1719 GMT: CNN's Ben Wedeman reports:

Photo: The scene on Mohamed Mahmoud street off #Tahrir during the truce. Somewhere underneath is the road.

1713 GMT: The live video from Egypt clearly shows clashes between protesters and police, and the efforts of the soldiers who have been deployed to halt the violence seem to have failed. Reuters reports that 38 people have died in Egypt, and tensions continue to escalate:

As dusk fell, thousands of people, many of them onlookers, had crowded into Tahrir, which was also the arena of protests which toppled President Hosni Mubarak on February 11.

Vendors were selling everything from snacks to face masks for protection against wafting tear gas.

Fatihia Abdul Ezz, a 60-year-old woman, said she had come to the square for the first time after seeing images of violence.

"They (the army rulers) were with Mubarak from the start," she said. "I came when I saw our sons being killed."

1612 GMT: The Associated Press provides an excellent video roundup of the news from Egypt, including video of clashes between protesters and police, and video from elsehwre in Egypt, specifically in Suez. Live video from Cairo is at the top of this entry:

1605 GMT: We've added a new video to the top of the liveblog, a live video feed by AlMasry AlYoum TV showing chaos on Mohamed Mahmoud street.

1531 GMT: Al Jazeera confirms the tear gas in Mohamed Mahmoud Street... but our favorite update comes from The Guardian, that SCAF is denying that its forces have used tear gas against any protesters:

Egypt's ruling military council denies "rumours of army forces using tear-gas cannisters against protesters," in communiqué no.83 issued on the SCAF's official Facebook page.

The communiqué stated that army forces have not fired tear-gas at protesters "in Cairo or Alexandria or anywhere else [in Egypt]."

1528 GMT: More tear gas and violence on Mohamed Mahmoud Street, between Tahrir Square and the Interior Ministry Headquarters, ending a fragile ceasefire. One activist tweets:

Currently being teargas bombed during truce at Mohammed Mahmoud, one Azhar sheikh hurt, and others.

1452 GMT: According to Al Jazeera, the army has already placed soldiers between the protesters and the police in Mohamed Mahmoud Street.:

There does in fact seem to be a truce now on Mohamed Mahmoud Street, near the Interior Ministry. CNN and BBC reporters have said the violence has ceased, and the local Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper quotes a religious scholar from al-Azhar University as saying he and others helped broker the ceasefire.

CNN reporter Ben Wedemann posted this picture within the past 10 minutes showing how the army now separates the people from the riot police:

Al Jazeera also shares this photo, taken Democracy Now reporter Sharif Kouddous:

1446 GMT: James Miller takes the liveblog, and a big hat-tip to Josh Shahryar and Scott Lucas for taking us through the morning.

The reports are that the police have withdrawn from Mohamed Mahmoud street, but there are problems. So many protesters are now pouring into the street that there are concerns that the police will once again respond. There is also a rumor that the police will be replaced by soldiers.

This video was taken earlier, clearly before the ceasefire as tear gas and wounded protesters can clearly be seen:

1425 GMT: Now that Mohamed Mahmoud Street has been cleared of police, activists are trying to clear up some of the rubbish that has been piling there in the past few days' clashes. However, they are keeping some of the barricades in place in case the police decide to show up again. Meanwhile, there's a push to change the name of the street. 

iyad_elbaghdadi Iyad El-Baghdadi 

 

So some activists are already calling for Mohammad Mahmoud street to be renamed after the martyrs who fell there in these events.#Egypt

1405 GMT: Women aren't just participating in protests in Tahrir, but also form a large part of the medical personnel who are helping injured protesters that kept streaming in constantly from clashes on Mohamed Mahmoud and other areas. Here's a picture [h/t Sally Zohney]: 

1310 GMT: Reports from around Tahrir Square suggest that protesters may have won the battle in Mohamed Mahmoud Street, finally. 

ianinegypt Ian Lee 

 

Mohamed Mahmoud street is empty of police. There are only protesters left on the street. #egypt #tahrir

hollypickett Holly Pickett 

 

Police seem to have completely pulled out? Protesters marching all the way down Moh Mahmoud. #tahrir #egypt

MohAbdElHamid Mohamed Abd El-Hamid 

 

No clashes now, we have taken almost ALL Mohamed Mahmoud. #Tahrir

1300 GMT: Clearly, SCAF hasn't learned from Mubarak's example and continues to employ his tactics. New reports that thugs are targetting protesters around Tahrir and are trying to intimidate people. Erin Cunningham tweets: 

The anti-protestor thugs are here. Thug came into mosque clinic & poured boiling water on patient. Ppl went mad, beat him in street 

And guess what, there was never any tear gas used in Tahrir. Why? Because SCAF says so! Oh and it wasn't used anywhere else either. Just read what they have to say and maybe we can believe it. 

1205 GMT: As the number of casualties from police fire and tear gas continues to mount, there are reports that a young girl has died near Tahrir. Several tweeps are reporting that she was shot in the face. It has also been now confirmed that AUC's old library building near Tahrir Square is on fire. 

1200 GMT: The firing of tear gas around streets near Tahrir Square in Cairo continues. Several tweeps are reporting that tear gas is being fired at such a rate that it is even landing on the roofs of houses. There are also reports of at least one building being on fire in Mohamed Mahmoud. 

This is separate from the report of the old AUC library building which is reportedly also on fire. 

1155 GMT: Here's a new picture from Cairo near Tahrir Square today, showing protesters ducking from police fire:

 

1130 GMT: : @IanInEgypt tweets:

AUC's old library is on fire. Black smoke is pouring out of it. 

To clarify, the old AUC building on fire is at the corner of Mohamed Mahmoud and Falaky. 

AUC is the American University in Cairo, but it must be mentioned that the library has been relocated. We cannot verify the incident independently. 

Adam Makary of Al Jazeera reports on Twitter that clashes between protesters and police continued in Alexandira until 6 in the morning, but media were not allowed to film. 

1100 GMT: A new video from Egypt shows just how devastating the effects of the new tear gas are. A protester is shown in this video, spasming after inhaling tear gas smoke. Notice his fingers making the V sign even as he's half passed out [h/t @SarahCarr]: 

1045 GMT: Partly because of police brutality last night and partly because the cold, many protesters went home from Tahrir Square last night. Today, there's a renewed call for more blankets to be brought to Tahrir so protesters can spend the night there. 

But while the crowd was smaller in the early morning hours, the numbers are slowly growing as the sun starts to heat up the area. There are renewed clashes on the streets leading to Tahrir and there have been some reports of tear gas use and injuries. We'll update more on this soon. 

A doctor in Tahrir Square in Cairo cries after he fails to save a victim of the violence:

Watching the speech of Mohamed Hussein Tantawi yesterday, EA's James Miller wrote, "I'm having an incredible sense of Déjà vu. The people in Tahrir Square gathered in protest, a rambling speech by the head of the regime that pledges reform down the road while condemning accusations that say otherwise, and then the chanting and anger from the crowds."

Other reports via social media claimed that the reception of Tantawi's statement, which set a July 2012 for a Presidential election, was more positive outside the cauldron of Tahrir, but tens of thousands remained in the square last night, chanting for Tantawi's immediate departure. They remained in and around Tahrir despite the use of tear gas by security forces, claimed to be far stronger than that employed in the attempt to suppress the uprising against the Mubarak regime in January/February.

Egypt's outgoing Cabinet said on Facebook that security forces would be withdrawn from the vicinity of Tahrir, but the street fighting continued with riot police also firing rubber bullets to disperse groups of young men throwing rocks and petrol bombs as they tried to reach the Ministry of Interior.

Clashes also continued  in Alexandria, Egypt's second city, as protesters repeatedly tried to reach the local police headquarters.

Nor was there any move towards a new Government, after the resignation of the Cabinet --- although it continues to work --- on Monday. Sources said the ruling Supreme Council of Armed Forces asked Mohamed ElBaradei, Nobel Prize laureate and former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, to become Prime Minister, but El Baradei reportedly refused to attend the crisis meeting between the SCAF and political groups, hesitating over assurances about his authority to choose Ministers.