Protests in Cairo demand to force Hosni Mubarak

Thousands of protesters flooded into the Egyptian capital's main square yesterday, braving water cannons and tear gas to demand a change in government, The National reports.

The demonstration, described by observers as the largest the capital has seen in years, was inspired by the ousting of Tunisia's president and partly organized through a Facebook page commemorating a young Egyptian who was allegedly beaten to death by police last June in Alexandria. Twitter was blocked and mobile phone service in the city centre restricted, hampering organizers' ability to co-ordinate the protest.

After a day of smaller, more peaceful marches across the city, the situation turned violent in the late afternoon as protesters converged on Tahrir Square. Police fired about a dozen tear-gas canisters and sprayed fire hoses deep into the crowd, while demonstrators tore up rocks from adjacent flower beds and hurled them into the police lines. Policemen threw the stones right back at them.

Protesters were quick to claim the event as a watershed moment in Egypt's history that had the potential to topple the government. After this month's events in Tunis, demonstrators saw a real possibility of forcing the Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak, from power, said Mohammed Said, 30, who has been active in the protest movement for 10 years.

"If we keep up like this for two or three days everything will be OK and Mubarak will go to Saudi [Arabia] as well," he said. Zine el Abidine Ben Ali, the former Tunisian president, fled to Saudi Arabia after resigning his post.