Egyptian demonstrators protest in Tahrir Square on Tuesday evening to demand the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak and calling for reforms. (AFP Photo/Mohammed Abedi)
By Tamim Elyan /Daily News Egypt January 26, 2011, 12:01 am
CAIRO: Thousands took to the streets on Tuesday in Cairo and other cities throughout Egypt in Tunisia-inspired protests against worsening economic conditions and police brutality and to call for political reform.
Security didn’t engage with protestors early in the day, but used teargas, force and water cannons to disperse them after 3 pm when demonstrations reached the Parliament building in downtown Cairo.
A security official told AFP there were 15,000 protestors on Cairo’s streets on Tuesday.
By 4 pm, thousands of protestors were reportedly seen on the streets in the Delta city of Mahalla, with police unable to cordon them off, according to blogger and activist Mohamed Maree.
Supporters of former MP Hamadeen Sabahi of Al-Karama Party said that about 15,000 people joined protests in Kafr El-Sheikh.
About 70 were arrested in Cairo. Thirty-two protestors were arrested in Qasr El-Eini Street, eight in El-Tera’a El-Boulaqia, Shubra, seven in Port Said, nine in Mansoura and five in Tahrir Square, Cairo, according to the Hisham Mubarak Law Center.
One protestor, Abdel-Halim Khamis, sustained an eye injury while in Qasr El-Eini Street. Injuries were also reported among protestors cordoned by police in Mansoura. But those injured were not allowed to get out, according to the Hisham Mubarak Law Center.
The April 6 Youth Movement and the popular “We are All Khaled Saeid” page on Facebook had called on all opposition groups to participate in a "Day of Anger" through demonstrations around the country on Police Day on Jan. 25, a national holiday that marks the 1952 struggle by the Ismailia police force against the British Occupation.
Tens of protestors that gathered at different meeting points around Cairo midday grew in numbers to reach thousands, with different demonstrations joining forces.
Sinai got an early start with locals blocking Al-Goura airport road in Rafah and Bedouins blocked Al-Mahdiya road with cars and burnt tires.
