As plumes of smoke continued to rise from the headquarters of the ruling National Democratic Party, tens of thousands of demonstrators continued their protest in Tahrir Square, insisting that President Hosni Mubarak step down. “Yesterday, Mubarak, the dictator, announced that he sacked the cabinet, but now we demand that he himself leaves,” said a statement circulated by young protesters in downtown Cairo. The statement added that protestors will stage a sit-in in Tahrir Square, Cairo's largest square, until President Hosni Mubarak is ousted. Protesters refined the slogan commonly over the last four days--“The people want the regime to fall”--to a more specific demand: “The people want the president to go.” Since Tuesday, Egypt has been swept by unprecedented large protests that called for the ouster of the 82-year-old president. The regime's response to the protests that erupted in at least seven provinces has been particularly violent. Tear gas, rubber bullets and water canons were heavily deployed to disperse hundreds of thousands of Egyptians who took to the streets nationwide. Yet demonstrators defeated the police apparatus yesterday, forcing Mubarak to ask the military to take charge for the preservation of public order. This morning, protesters roamed the square in peace while military guarded the area. Protesters have been giving a warm welcome to military personnel, jumping up onto tanks to kiss soldiers and take pictures with them. More demonstrators are expected to join in the protest later in the afternoon and participate in the sit-in. “I have taken part in the protests for the last three days because Hosni Mubarak is incapable of doing anything. He made us starve,” said Shawki Fouad Ahmed, a 40-year-old worker at a glass factory in Cairo. “We are just asking for God's justice. We want God to save us from this situation. We do not want a cabinet change. We want to change Mubarak himself.” Ahmed is a father of four children with a monthly income of LE400. While collecting cans, rubber bullets and stones to clear the square that has witnessed fierce battles between riot police and protesters last night , Mohamed Sheeba, a 26-year-old computer engineer, told Al-Masry Al-Youm: “Since we were born, we have not seen any president except Mubarak. We, as young people, have been communicating via the internet. We decided to clear our country of the trash we see on the floor and the trash we see in power.” Earlier in the morning, newcomers joined protesters carrying water and food coming to the rescue of wounded demonstrators who spent the night in Tahrir Square. Several food stores were damaged in Tahrir, including MacDonald's and KFC. According to protesters, the damage was inflicted by thugs deployed by the police. Additional reporting by Ahmed Ramadan
