CAIRO - Clashes broke out between opponents and supporters of President Hosni Mubarak in central Cairo yesterday after the armed forces told protesters clamouring for an end to his rule that they must clear the streets, witnesses said.
The fighting broke out as international pressure grew on Mubarak to quit and his closest ally, the United States, told him bluntly that a political transition must begin immediately.
After Mubarak went on national television on Tuesday night to say he would not stand in elections scheduled for September, the armed forces said the protesters' demands had been heard and it was time for them to clear the streets. Soon after several hundred pro-Mubarak supporters entered Tahrir (Liberation) Square, where a few thousand protesters had gathered, and clashes broke out, witnesses said.
People fought each other with sticks and stones while troops surrounding the square made no attempt to intervene, witnesses said. It was the ninth day of protests that erupted last week as public frustration with corruption, oppression and economic hardship under 30 years of rule by Mubarak boiled over.
A military spokesman said on TV yesterday: "The army forces are calling on you. You began by going out to express your demands and you are the ones capable of restoring normal life."
Although the army had previously said the people had "legitimate demands" and soldiers would not open fire on them, it was a clear call for protesters to leave the streets. An opposition coalition, which includes Islamist organisation the Muslim Brotherhood and Nobel peace laureate Mohammed ElBaradei, responded by calling for more protests.
It said it would only negotiate with Vice President Omar Suleiman, a former intelligence chief appointed by Mubarak at the weekend, once Mubarak stepped down. Mubarak's offer to leave in September was his latest gambit in the crisis. At the weekend he reshuffled his cabinet and promised reform but it was not enough for protesters.
One million people took to the streets of Egyptian cities on Tuesday calling for him to quit.
International backing for Mubarak, for three decades a stalwart of the West's Middle East policy and styled as a bulwark against the spread of militant Islam, has crumbled as he tried to brazen out the crisis.
US President Barack Obama spoke to Mubarak for half an hour by telephone on Tuesday night after the 82-year-old strongman announced his plan to step down in September. "An orderly transition must be meaningful, it must be peaceful and it must begin now," Obama said.
Turkey's prime minister Tayyip Erdogan said Mubarak's plan to step down in seven months did not meet the people's expectations.
Fighting in the streets
CAIRO - Clashes broke out between opponents and supporters of President Hosni Mubarak in central Cairo yesterday after the armed forces told protesters clamouring for an end to his rule that they must clear the streets, witnesses said.
The fighting broke out as international pressure grew on Mubarak to quit and his closest ally, the United States, told him bluntly that a political transition must begin immediately.
After Mubarak went on national television on Tuesday night to say he would not stand in elections scheduled for September, the armed forces said the protesters' demands had been heard and it was time for them to clear the streets. Soon after several hundred pro-Mubarak supporters entered Tahrir (Liberation) Square, where a few thousand protesters had gathered, and clashes broke out, witnesses said.
People fought each other with sticks and stones while troops surrounding the square made no attempt to intervene, witnesses said. It was the ninth day of protests that erupted last week as public frustration with corruption, oppression and economic hardship under 30 years of rule by Mubarak boiled over.
A military spokesman said on TV yesterday: "The army forces are calling on you. You began by going out to express your demands and you are the ones capable of restoring normal life."
Although the army had previously said the people had "legitimate demands" and soldiers would not open fire on them, it was a clear call for protesters to leave the streets. An opposition coalition, which includes Islamist organisation the Muslim Brotherhood and Nobel peace laureate Mohammed ElBaradei, responded by calling for more protests.
It said it would only negotiate with Vice President Omar Suleiman, a former intelligence chief appointed by Mubarak at the weekend, once Mubarak stepped down. Mubarak's offer to leave in September was his latest gambit in the crisis. At the weekend he reshuffled his cabinet and promised reform but it was not enough for protesters.
One million people took to the streets of Egyptian cities on Tuesday calling for him to quit.
International backing for Mubarak, for three decades a stalwart of the West's Middle East policy and styled as a bulwark against the spread of militant Islam, has crumbled as he tried to brazen out the crisis.
US President Barack Obama spoke to Mubarak for half an hour by telephone on Tuesday night after the 82-year-old strongman announced his plan to step down in September. "An orderly transition must be meaningful, it must be peaceful and it must begin now," Obama said.
Turkey's prime minister Tayyip Erdogan said Mubarak's plan to step down in seven months did not meet the people's expectations.
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