Thousands of demonstrators in Cairo's Tahrir Square discuss implications of controversial Mubarak verdicts and the difficult choice posed by upcoming Mursi-Shafiq presidential showdown Between fifteen and twenty thousand protesters were in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Sunday evening, with hundreds more slowly trickling in. Dozens of political groups have set up camp across the iconic square, holding heated discussions about the implications of the recent acquittal of six police chiefs charged with murdering protesters in last year's uprising. Many argued that the officers' acquittal will pave the way for an acquittal of ousted president Hosni Mubarak following appeal. Others expressed dismay that the court found Mubarak not guilty of corruption and illicit profiteering charges. "This wasn't a small operation," said one demonstrator. "The former regime plundered the country's wealth and the current government is letting them get away with it." On a side alley off Mohamed Mahmoud Street, a couple hundred people strolled along, admiring the revolutionary graffiti depicting those slain in last November's infamous clashes and other 'martyrs' of the revolution. At the end of the street, right on Tahrir Square, five hundred Ultras – politicised football fans – led passionate chants against Egypt's ruling military council and Mubarak-era minister and presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq. "This time it's for real," they shouted. "We won't let anyone steal the revolution again." On the square's central island, some two dozen women led chants denouncing the military council and urging the crowd not to forget "the blood of the revolution's martyrs." Dozens of street merchants, meanwhile, hawked their wares: cold water bottles, cans of soda and sandwiches. There were no stages set up in the square this time around, but several protesters used megaphones to lead their chants. Others climbed atop lampposts and trees – many waving Egyptian, Syrian and Libyan flags – to give impromptu speeches. Mary Daniel, sister of slain Maspero activist Mina Daniel, told Ahram Online that those in the square were determined to keep up their open-ended sit-in until Egypt's Political Disenfranchisement Law was applied to Shafiq, barring him from the presidential contest. She expressed satisfaction that the ruling establishment had taken such an enormous misstep by acquitting the police chiefs on Saturday - since the move, she said, had served to unite revolutionary factions. Mina Williams, a communications engineer, told Ahram Online that most of those in the square wanted a 'presidential council' consisting of pro-revolution presidential candidates leftist Hamdeen Sabbahi, moderate-Islamist Abdel-Moneim Abul-Fotouh and socialist Khaled Ali. Mary chimed in at this point, saying, "We want all pro-revolution candidates, including [the Muslim Brotherhood's] Mohamed Mursi, to unite in order to stop the former regime." Mohamed Abdel-Azim, a 44-year-old cafe owner, told Ahram Online that he believed that "God had made the authorities commit the mistake of acquitting protesters' killers to reveal to the public that, when we left the square after Mubarak's ouster last year, we failed to bring down the regime in its entirety." Abdel-Azim went on to say that he had conflicted feelings about who to vote for in this month's runoff election. "Part of me wants the Tahrir sit-in to stop the election, because the choice between Mursi and Shafiq is untenable," he said. "We can start all over again with Sabbahi or Abul-Fotouh." "My first impulse was to void my ballot, but part of me feels I should vote for Mursi simply to thwart Shafiq, a symbol of the Mubarak regime," Abdel-Azim added. "Mursi is like jumping from the second floor, in which case you might break your leg. But Shafiq is like jumping from the tenth, which would be fatal under any circumstance."
