Egypt protests mount despite regime threats

Egyptian security opens fire on demonstrators in remote south region, killing three, wounding 100.

Middle East Online, Feb 9, 2011

By Sara Hussein – CAIRO

‘I will keep on coming until he goes away’ Egyptian protesters defied warnings from Hosni Mubarak’s regime that their campaign could plunge Egypt into chaos and marched on parliament Wednesday, amid reports of deadly violence in the remote south. Around a thousand marched on parliament to demand its members’ resignation. The protest was peaceful, and government troops secured the building, but the marchers swore they would not leave until the legislature was dissolved. The night before they had been joined by several hundred thousand supporters for the biggest night of rallies yet in the two-week-old drive to topple their autocratic president and replace his 30-year-old regime. “I will keep on coming until he goes away,” said May Abdelwareth, who was spending her third day in Cairo’s Tahrir Square. “I am doing this for myself and for my children, so they don’t have to live like this.” Elsewhere, volunteers were at work building portable toilets, indicating the protesters have no intention of leaving the “liberated” square, now a sprawling tent city with sound stages, flag vendors and a mobile phone-charging station. Continues >>