Tens of thousands of protesters gathered on April 8 in downtown Cairo demanding prompt trials for ousted president Hosni Mubarak and his top officials. Several hundred remained in Tahrir Square overnight, defying a curfew. The protesters were dispersed by security forces and troops after clashing.

Cairo’s central Tahrir Square was closed to traffic as dozens of protesters barricaded several entrances a day after it was forcibly evacuated by security forces and soldiers.

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Hundreds of thousands danced, wept and prayed in joyful pandemonium Friday after 18 days of peaceful pro-democracy protests forced President Hosni Mubarak to surrender power to the military, ending three decades of authoritarian rule.

On January 25th 2011, widespread protests began against Mubarak’s regime. These took the form of an intensive campaign of civil resistance supported by very large numbers of people and mainly consisting of continuous mass demonstrations. By January 29th it was becoming clear that Mubarak’s regime had lost control when a curfew order was ignored, and the army took a semi-neutral stance on enforcing the curfew decree. Some protesters, a very small minority in Cairo, expressed nationalistic views against what they deemed was foreign interference. Those critics held the view that the U.S. administration had failed to take sides. The critics also considered the Mubarak regime as friendly with with Israel.

On February 11th 2011, Mubarak resigned and fled Cairo. Vice President Omar Suleiman announced that Mubarak had stepped down and that the Egyptian military would assume control of the nation’s affairs in the short term. Jubilant celebrations broke out in Tahrir Square at the news with large crowds chanting ‘Allah Akbar’. Mubarak may have left Cairo for Sharm el-Sheikh the previous night, before or shortly after the airing of a taped speech in which Mubarak vowed he would not step down or leave.

As of the fifth day of rage … Saturday January 29, 2011

Hundreds of anti-government protesters returned to the streets of central Cairo on Saturday, chanting slogans against Hosni Mubarak, just hours after the Egyptian president fired his Cabinet and promised reforms but refused to step down.

Thirty-eight protesters killed. 2,000 injured. Three Egyptian police killed.

Tens of thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators in central Cairo protesting the leadership of President Hosni Mubarak. Cairo in anarchy.

Police and military are not necessarily cooperative. Police shoot into crowd. Police opened fire on 1,000 Egyptian protesters trying to storm the Interior Ministry in Cairo Saturday, Plainclothes police officers beating demonstrators with batons.

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Violence escalated in two cites outside the Egyptian capital Cairo on Thursday as anti-government protests continued to grip the country and challenge President Hosni Mubarak’s regime.

An Egyptian protest with demonstrators hoping to emulate the Tunisian uprising that led to the recent ouster of Tunisia’s Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali after nearly 23 years in power, resulted in two protesters shot dead by police.

Police opened fire on protesters Tuesday evening in the eastern Egyptian port city of Suez.

Dozens of protesters were arrested throughout Egypt, and hundreds more were injured when riot police clashed with protesters who were trying to cause President Hosny Mubarak to step down.

Tens of thousands of protesters participated in a “Day of Anger” in at least 16 cities nationwide. The protests were organized by over a dozen non-governmental organizations and rights groups,

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Saudi News Today Two protesters shot dead in Egypt

Christians clashed with Egyptian police in the northern city of Alexandria on Saturday, furious over an apparent suicide bombing against worshippers leaving a New Year’s Mass at a church that killed at least 21 people.

A car bomb exploded in front of a Coptic Christian church as worshippers emerged from a New Year’s Mass in Alexandria, Egypt early Saturday, killing at least seven people, officials said.

Following the blast, Christians emerged from the church and clashed with police then stormed a nearby mosque.

About 1,000 Christians attended the Mass at the Saints Church. The service had just ended, and worshippers were leaving the church when the car bomb exploded about 12:30 a.m. local time.

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Supporters of a Muslim Brotherhood parliamentary candidate marching in Alexandria on Friday night, November 19, 2010, encountered Egyptian state security forces as hundreds were arrested during the week.

At least 100 members of the Muslim Brotherhood were arrested in Alexandria, Egypt on Friday, just days before the country’s legislative elections.

Earlier in the week, approximately 600 members of the Brotherhood were arrested.

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A Russian-designed Grad that was fired from beyond Jordan’s borders damaged a refrigerated warehouse a northern outskirt region of Aqaba, Jordan. Israeli news media reported that two rockets hit Aqaba and Israel’s nearby port of Eilat. No deaths or injuries were reported.

The incident occurred after Israel issued an “urgent” warning for its citizens to leave Egypt’s nearby Sinai Peninsula immediately, citing “concrete evidence of an expected terrorist attempt to kidnap Israelis in Sinai.”

Egyptian military sources report that the Israeli Navy and the US Fifth Fleet have been charting Persian Gulf waters and Iranian shorelines in preparation for attacks by Israeli naval and special operations forces.

The Egyptian report also claims IDF intelligence and special forces officers have been marking out routes for their air and ground forces to push into Iran and strike its nuclear installations.

Information was leaked to Shorouk, a publication which Egyptian intelligence often uses as an outlet for information believed to be credible.

Wikipedia: Shorouk | Shorouk Ibrahim El Moallem | Egypt | United States Fifth Fleet | Israel | IDF

SOURCE: DEBKAfile Egyptian sources: Israel prepares to strike Iran from Gulf and N. Iraq