The clash on Feb. 2 came 48 hours ahead of an opposition deadline for
Mubarak to leave office, Middle East Newsline reported. Hours earlier, Mubarak vowed that he would not
resign before his term ends in September.
The opposition said the pro-Mubarak force appeared to have been
organized by the Interior Ministry, which on Feb. 1 returned thousands of
police to the streets of
Cairo. The attackers, who rushed opposition protesters in waves, hurled
firebombs and stones as well as slashed their way through the crowd in
Tahrir Square with knives and machetes.
At first, witnesses said, opposition organizers sought protection from
the military stationed outside Tahrir Square. After several minutes, the
young protesters responded with stones and concrete blocks.
"There have been arrests of criminals and trouble-makers," an opposition
organizer said.
Later, the military, which has deployed U.S.-origin main battle tanks in
central Cairo, warned the anti-Mubarak demonstrators to leave. They said
unnamed violent groups would burn down Tahrir Square.
"You have started coming out to express your demands and you are the
ones capable of returning normal life to Egypt," Egyptian military
spokesman Ismail Etman said in a televised address. "Your message has
arrived. Your demands have become known."
At the same time, plainclothes police began attacking alleged protest
organizers in Tahrir Square. The fighting also engulfed the nearby Egyptian
Museum and at one point targeted Western journalists.
"Hosni has opened the door for these thugs to attack us," another
opposition organizer said.
The opposition has been bolstered by calls from the United States and
Europe for Mubarak to resign immediately. President Barack Obama has
appealed to Mubarak to launch an immediate transition of his regime.