Egyptian protesters return to Tahrir in the old numbers

Last week’s “Save the Revolution” day saw tens of thousands gather in Tahrir Square, Al Ahram on line tells us, but this Friday it is considerably more, as the picture shows. Last week the Muslim Brotherhood was absent, this week they participate. But that is not the only, nor even the main reason that so many came, I suspect.
Last week was a sort of  a rehearsal after some weeks during which there was no protest. This Friday it seems to be the real thing again. The committee which called for this weeks protest said the focus would be on demands: for the arrest and prosecution of  Mubarak and his family members, who ‎are under house arrest in Sharm El-Sheikh, as well as Mubarak's inner circle. People like Fathi ‎Sorour (former speaker of the parliament), Safwat El-Sherif (speaker of the Shura Council, party leader and former minister), and Zakaria Azmi (the manager of Mubarak's office).

 Tahrir Square 8 April 2011 (Photo Lilian Wagdy)

Apart from that students from Cairo University are expected to come, with demands for the replacement of the managemnet of the university, as well as textile workers from Shebin El-Kom and El-Mahalla. Trade unionists and workers have decided to meet in Tahrir Square on Friday to demand the removal of the Egyptian Federation of Trade Unions (EFTU), the return of privatised companies to the public sector, a minimum monthly wage of LE1,200 and the trial of the corrupt Mubarak gang, by which they, apart from Mubarak and his inner circle have also have in mind the former minister of investment Mahmoud Mohieldin, the former minister of manpower and emigration Aisha Abdel Hady and Said El-Gohary, general-secretary of the textile and yarn union – a branch of the corrupt, state-controlled EFTU.

 Shortly before the Friday prayer began. (Photo Mohammd Hamama).

Several hundreds (maybe some thousands) marched from Tahrir to the Israeli embassy at the other side of the Nile to protest the attacks on Gaza and to demand the closure of the embassy.