Police fought with thousands of Egyptians who defied a government ban on Wednesday to protest against President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year-old rule, firing rubber bullets and tear gas and dragging away demonstrators. Skip related content
Protesters burnt tyres and hurled stones at police as groups gathered at different parts of the capital Cairo. Demonstrators also clashed in other cities around Egypt. In Suez, east of Cairo, protesters torched a government building.
The scenes were unprecedented in the country, one of the United States' closest Middle East allies, and follow the overthrow two weeks ago of another long-serving Arab strongman, Tunisian leader Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, in a popular revolt.Activists had called on people to rally again after a "Day of Wrath" on Tuesday of anti-government rallies across Egypt in which three protesters and one policeman were killed.
Demonstrators complain of poverty, unemployment, corruption and repression and, inspired by the Tunisian revolt, demand that Mubarak step down.
"The people want the regime to fall," protesters chanted.
Security forces have arrested about 500 demonstrators over the two days, an Interior Ministry source said. Witnesses said officers, some in civilian clothes, hauled away people and bundled them into unmarked vans. Some were beaten with batons.Read More
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