EGYPT: Egyptians rise to a historic day for their country as the 30 year reign of Hosni Mubarak ends following 18 days of mass protests

Record ID: 731221

  • Title: EGYPT: Egyptians rise to a historic day for their country as the 30 year reign of Hosni Mubarak ends following 18 days of mass protests
  • Date: 13th February 2011
  • Summary: CAIRO, EGYPT (FEBRUARY 12, 2011) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PEOPLE AT TAHRIR SQUARE GATHERING FOR MORNING PRAYERS MEN AND WOMEN PRAYING PEOPLE WALKING AROUND TAHRIR SQUARE PEOPLE MILLING ABOUT TENTS CROWDS CHANTING TOGETHER
  • Embargoed: 28th February 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Egypt, Egypt
  • Country: Egypt
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA1NNEDA9GO45I54N4UP11FM2AB
  • Story Text: Egyptians woke to a new dawn on Saturday (February 12) after 30 years of autocratic rule under Hosni Mubarak.
    As the muezzin's call to prayer reverberated across Cairo, the sound of horns honking in jubilation grew louder after a night when millions celebrated the fall of the former president.
    A wave of people power has roared across the biggest Arab nation, just four weeks after Tunisians toppled their own ageing strongman. Now, across the Middle East and beyond, autocratic rulers are calculating their own chances of survival.
    Protesters have rallied on Cairo's Tahrir, or Liberation, Square, for eighteen days, resisting police assaults and a last-ditch charge by hard-liners on camels.
    Hours after Mubarak stepped down and handed over to the army Tahrir Square remained packed with people lighting fireworks, singing, praying and waving the Egyptian flag.
    People gathered around a shrine erected for those killed during the protests and pictures of victims were set up in one corner.
    Parents held their children near as swathes of red, white and black of the Egyptian flag flew across the square.
    It was just eight weeks to the day since a young Tunisian vegetable seller, Mohamed Bouazizi, set himself alight outside a local government building in the provincial city of Sidi Bouzid, in protest against ill-treatment by police, who had taken away his livelihood, and at venal, oppressive government. This fuelled a wave of widespread violent protests first in Tunisia and later in Egypt leading to both the Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and Egyptian Hosni Mubarak ceding power.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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