Egypt shuts down internet and blocks mobile phones as security forces gear up for biggest anti-government protests yet

By Wil Longbottom
Last updated at 11:50 AM on 28th January 2011

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• Total blackout on internet access and text messaging services disrupted
• Six protesters so far killed in violent clashes with police
• Biggest protests yet expected to take place after morning prayers
• Opposition group leaders arrested in series of raids overnight

Demonstrators continued to clash with security forces in Egypt in the early hours of this morning ahead of the biggest protests yet against President Mubarak's 30-year rule.
Galvanised by the mass demonstrations which toppled the authoritarian leader of Tunisia, Egyptians have planned to stage further protests after weekly prayers.
It comes after the Egyptian government shut down access to the internet in the country in a bid to stamp out unrest and text messaging services were also partially disabled.

Braced: Riot police gather at a critical junction on a bridge in Cairo after fresh clashes this morning

On guard: Armed police stand guard outside the Egyptian embassy in Ankara, Turkey, after protests broke out in solidarity

Anger: Smoke rises over Suez after protesters torched the fire station during clashes with police

Blackout: Demonstrators fire flares towards riot police as they call for President Hosni Mubarak to be ousted

Activists have been relying on social networking services including Twitter and Facebook to organise the protests.
Police clashed with mobs of protesters in Suez - the centre of some of the most violent demonstrations - this morning, firing tear gas at crowds who hurled stones and petrol bombs.
Waves of protesters attacked a police station in the city and the fire station was set alight.
Six protesters have been killed so far in the clashes, including one who was shot dead by security forces in the north of the Sinai region yesterday.
Members of the Muslim Brotherhood, including at least eight senior officials of the opposition group, were arrested overnight.
A security source said authorities had ordered a crackdown on the group.

Taking cover: Riot police shelter behind a barricade. The Egyptian government has blocked off access to the internet to clamp down on protests

Violent: A protester hurls rocks at a police riot van in the port city of Suez and, right, people attempt to tear down a poster of President Hosni Mubarak

Nobel Peace Prize winner Mohamed ElBaradei, who returned to Egypt from Vienna yesterday, has called for Hosni Mubarak to resign and said he would join the protests.
U.S.-based internet monitoring firm Renesys said the total shut-down earlier today was 'unprecedented in internet history'.
It said: 'Renesys observed the virtually simultaneous withdrawal of all routes to Egyptian networks in the internet's global routing table.
'The Egyptian government's actions tonight have essentially wiped their country frmo the global map.'
An elite special operations counterterrorism force has been deployed by the government in strategic locations in Cairo, including central Tahrir Square, to deter protesters.

Unrest: Egyptians are angry about high unemployment and surging prices

Detained: Plainclothes police officers arrest a protester during violent clashes in Suez

Organised: The biggest protests yet are expected to take place after morning prayers today

The U.S., a major donor in Egypt, has responded cautiously to the protests.
President Barack Obama avoided signs he was abandoning support of Mubarak, but made it clear he sympathised with demonstrators.
'I've always said to him that making sure that they are moving forward on reform - political reform, economic reform - is absolutely critical to the long-term well-being of Egypt,' he said.
'You can see these pent-up frustrations that are being displayed on the streets.'
ElBaradei and other opposition figures said the government exploits the Islamist opposition to justify authoritarianism.

Backlash: Special forces troops have been deployed in Cairo this morning at key strategic points to quell the protests

Casualties: Six people have been killed so far in violent clashes with police

Opposition: Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak talks with President Barack Obama. The protesters are also angry about the government's intolerance of dissent

The Muslim Brotherhood has kept a low profile during the protests, although supporters were expected to join today's demonstrations.
The government has accused it of planning to exploit the youth protests for its 'hidden agendas'.
Egyptians are frustrated over surging prices, unemployment and a government that tolerates little dissent.
ElBaradei, 68, a former head of the UN nuclear watchdog who has campaigned for change in Egypt since last year, said: 'I wish we did not have to go out on the streets to press the regime to act.'

 

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