Chaos as pro, anti-Mubarak protesters clash in Cairo

CAIRO: Supporters of embattled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak clashed violently Wednesday with opposition protesters after storming their rally in central Cairo, leaving several people hurt, witnesses said.

Protesters from both sides threw stones at each other in Tahrir Square, the epicentre of opposition demonstrations, a day after the Egyptian president refused to heed demands to step down and vowed to stay to the end of his term.

"The pro-Mubarak NDP (National Democratic Party) and the secret police dressed in plain clothes, they invaded the place to get rid of the revolt," said protester Mohammed Zomor, 63.

Fighting took place around army tanks deployed around the square, with stones bouncing off the armoured vehicles, an AFP reporter said, adding that at least 10 people were injured. Soldiers did not intervene.

Several groups were involved in fist fights, and some were using clubs.

The opposition said in a statement that plain-clothes policemen stormed the square.

"Members of security forces dressed in plain clothes and a number of thugs have stormed Tahrir Square," three opposition groups said in a statement.

The clashes came just hours after the military called on people to return home to allow a return to normality, but activists said a major protest planned for Friday would go ahead.

The army issued its call after Mubarak addressed the nation in a late-night speech, pledging he would not run for re-election in September after three decades of rule, and saying he would seek to ease the conditions for presidential candidacy.

But he did not offer to step down immediately, the key demand of protesters who have flooded the streets of Egypt's cities.

State news agency MENA said parliament had been suspended while allegations of fraud in last year's legislative elections were investigated, a move promised by the speaker of parliament last week.

The government also announced it would shorten a widely ignored curfew and Internet access was at least partially restored for the first time in five days.

A military spokesman said, "the army calls on protesters to go home to restore security and stability in the street."

That call set the stage for a potential confrontation with protesters, who had been buoyed by a promise from the military that it regarded the protesters grievances as "legitimate" and would not open fire.

Demonstrators said they would proceed with plans for a massive protest on Friday, their designated "departure day" for Mubarak.

"We will demonstrate on Friday, the 'Friday of Departure', and we expect more than one million people to take to the streets across all of Egypt to demand the fall of the regime," opposition activist Iman Hassan told AFP.

Ahead of the clashes, supporters of the president had staged a number of rallies around Cairo, saying Mubarak represented stability amid growing insecurity, and calling those who want his departure "traitors."

"Yes to Mubarak, to protect stability," read one banner in a crowd of 500 gathered near state television headquarters, about one kilometre (0.6 mile) from Tahrir Square.

A witness said organisers were paying people 100 Egyptian pounds (12 euros, $17) to take part in the pro-Mubarak rally.

Other pro-Mubarak demonstrations sprung up in the upmarket Mohandeseen district, as well as near Ramses Square where they harassed people heading for Tahrir Square.

"What more do you want? In any case Mubarak won't stay. You must leave or blood will flow," the small but vociferous crowd shouted.

Despite years of ambiguity over whether he would seek a sixth term and his refusal until this week to even name a vice president, the 82-year-old Mubarak insisted he had never intended to stay in office beyond this year.

"I say in all honesty, and without taking into consideration the current situation, I was not planning to present myself for a new presidential term," he said.

Egypt is "the nation I have defended and in which I will die," he said, rejecting the possibility he might flee as veteran Tunisian strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali did in January after a popular revolt ended his rule.

US President Barack Obama, who spoke to Mubarak after the speech, went on television to say he had told the Egyptian president that an orderly transition needed to begin immediately.

"What is clear, and what I indicated tonight to President Mubarak is my belief that an orderly transition must be meaningful, it must be peaceful and it must begin now," Obama said.

The president's announcement did go a long way to meeting quietly voiced US calls for him to make his future plans plain. A US official described it as significant but raised doubts about whether it would be enough.

"What's clear is that this is a movement that is gaining momentum; it's not going to go away. And it's not likely to be enough," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The revolt has sent jitters throughout the Middle East, coming after the uprising in Tunisia and with analysts warning of a domino effect through the Arab world.

Yemeni leader Ali Abdullah Saleh, also facing demands that he quit, said Wednesday he will freeze constitutional changes that would have allowed him to be president for life and delayed a controversial April poll.

In Jordan, King Abdullah II sacked his government after weeks of demands for change, while a Facebook group of Syrian youth called for a peaceful revolution to start on Friday.

With no sign of an end to Egypt's biggest uprising in three decades, foreign governments have been scrambling since the weekend to pull their nationals from the country, leading to chaotic scenes at Cairo's airport.