Thousands Protest in Egypt in Largest Popular Challenge to Mubarak in 30 Years
HOSSAM EL-HAMALAWY: Well, it’s an honor to be on your show. And I think I need to make it clear in the beginning that I was not in Tahrir Square yesterday, but I was monitoring the situation and following it with my fellow journalists and activists on the ground.
Egypt yesterday witnessed its strongest protests in probably four decades, since 1977, where tens of thousands have taken to the streets in virtually all the cities of our country, chanting against Mubarak, chanting against the U.S., which is backing Mubarak, calling for internal reforms and for democracy. Others were chanting for a revolution and saluting the Tunisian people.
The police have responded with iron-fist tactics we’re used to, although they showed some self-restraint in the first few hours, by using rubber bullets and tear gas and mass arrests against the protesters both in Cairo and in other provinces. As I am talking to you now, there are at least 200 political detainees locked up in the notorious state security facility in Nasr City. The government has blocked Twitter and has blocked, just in less than an hour ago, Facebook and has blocked yesterday also Bambuser, which is an online live-streaming video platform on the internet.
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