Battle Lines Form In Cairo's Liberation Square

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MICHELE NORRIS, host:

In Egypt, clashes between pro- and anti-government supporters continue tonight. That's despite a government order for all protesters to leave Tahrir Square, the focal point of the uprising against President Hosni Mubarak.

According to the Egyptian health ministry, hundreds of people have been wounded, and at least three people are dead. The anti-Mubarak camp is vowing to keep the square, but the pro-Mubarak camp has tried repeatedly to break their lines.

NPR's Lourdes Garcia-Navarro has the story.

(Soundbite of demonstration)

LOURDES GARCIA-NAVARRO: The battle lines formed today in Tahrir Square. Faced with a throng of pro-government demonstrators, the anti-Mubarak camp dug in, barricading all the entrances to the square with human shields and metal sheeting. They say they are fighting to keep hold of what has become the epicenter of this popular uprising. Both sides using whatever weapons they could get their hands on to crush their rivals: Molotov cocktails, daggers, iron bars and other projectiles.

(Soundbite of hammering pavement)

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Thirty-two-year-old Shema al-Alemi(ph) smashed pavement stones so that she could provide the men on the frontline with rocks to throw. She says people here feel they are fighting for their lives.

Ms. SHEMA AL-ALEMI: This is - the square is the symbol of everything. This is our square. This is our square. This is - Tahrir means liberty. It also comes from the word (foreign language spoken), which means freedom. We just want our freedom back.

(Soundbite of screaming)

GARCIA-NAVARRO: There are hundreds of wounded - some being treated in a makeshift hospital housed in a mosque, others on the street amidst the clashes. One protester, who only gave his name as Mohammad(ph), held a white bandage to his forehead as blood dripped down his face.

MOHAMMAD: I got a break in my head, and we're here until Mubarak is out of this country. They are here to kill us, and we're here stay forever. The army has now retreated. There is no army here in this area. The army is in Mubarak's (unintelligible).

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Throughout this uprising, anti-Mubarak demonstrators felt the military was behind them. No more. The army, which today called on the protesters to leave the square, has not intervened in the clashes as the worst of the battles raged. Near the famed Egyptian museum, the army suddenly withdrew completely from the area. Faces smeared with blood and bruises, the anti-government protesters expressed their fury at the regime.

Unidentified Man #1: How come a (unintelligible) president to kill his people?

Unidentified Man #2: Hosni Mubarak is a liar. Hosni Mubarak is a liar. Hosni Mubarak is a liar.

Unidentified Man #3: (unintelligible) Mubarak.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: On the government side, demonstrators chanted long live the president. They say they are tired of the instability and the paralysis. There's been no work and therefore no money coming in. Anti-government protesters claim the pro-government groups, though, are thugs sent in by the regime to sow discord and chaos, and they acted on that belief.

Ms. AL-ALEMI: The atmosphere in Liberation Square has gotten extremely ugly. There is a deep suspicion among the anti-Mubarak demonstrators that this confrontation has been orchestrated by the government, and we've seen anti-Mubarak demonstrators grab people who they think are plainclothes policemen and beat them and club them and drag them off.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: The scene couldn't have been more different yesterday. Hundreds of thousands came to protest peacefully. The mood then, especially among the young people who started this movement, was jubilant. They felt that theirs was the new face of the Middle East revolution: young, engaged and tech-savvy. Among them was Sarah Hawat(ph).

Ms. SARAH HAWAT: Not in my wildest dreams did I think this would happen in my lifetime. It's an enormous achievement so far that we've been able to mobilize at a grassroots level, and there's just no going back at this stage.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Also yesterday, Shariz Nuradin(ph) could barely contain his enthusiasm in his belief that the anti-Mubarak camp was winning.

Mr. SHARIZ NURADIN: The first victory for this revolution is that we broke the fear. We broke it. I'm not afraid anymore. I have a wife and a daughter, but I'm not afraid anymore.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: But there is fear tonight in Cairo. There are still pitched street battles between the two groups on the fringes of Liberation Square. When the clashes began, government supporters charged into the square on horses and camels. Aida al-Kushaf(ph) is a 22-year-old filmmaker who has slept in Tahrir Square for five days.

Ms. AIDA AL-KUSHAF (Filmmaker): It's like it has turned into medieval war. If you interviewed any single person here, he would tell you I'm -it's either me or that regime and the president and everyone is willing to die.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Lourdes Garcia-Navarro, NPR News, Cairo.

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