In the suburbs women and children are hiding inside while the men are out in the streets equipped with metal bars and wooden sticks. There is no longer any police or security guards available and people are doing what they can to protect themselves from thugs and looters that have started to roam the streets. Earlier in Tahrir Square I witnessed a mob attacking a man who was said to have stolen a necklace from a woman in the street. He was hit hard with fists and kicking from around 30 men until the military grabbed him and brought him in to one of the tanks. On the other side of the square police had once again moved in and was shooting repeatedly.
It's nothing less than amazing to watch the sister- and brotherhood that is forming among the protesters. Civilians are forming human shields to protect people from walking in a direction where the police are shooting. They have also surrounded the Egyptian museum to protect it from looters and are guarding shops and are cleaning up in the streets as all community workers are gone from public areas.
Everyone is cheering and befriending eahother; muslims and christians, blacks and whites, women and men. The curfew started at 4 PM today, but I haven't heard of anyone who have obeyed this and neither have I. Everything is closed and we're currently hunting for some place where we can get food and water, but it's difficult under the circumstances. airo is in anarchy and it's only around Tahrir Square that there seems to be some kind of order, despite of (or because of) thousands of people sometimes screaming and sometimes cheering at an approaching victory.
So far I haven't met anyone who is satisfied with Mubarak's promises. The people want him gone. They don't care about his words or the announcement of a new government anymore. What they want is a new president, elected by the people, and this new president is certainly not Mubarak's son.
The mobile net has now been turned on but we're still being cut off from internet. I don't know what tonight will be like, nobody knows. But I do hope that Mubarak will acknowledge the people's demands and realize that he no longer is welcome at the party. I also hope that the military have enough resources to restore some kind of order in the city. The streets of Cairo are no longer safe, especially not after dark and people are afraid. They're standing in line at the ATM:s to empty their accounts and I'm guessing that most people, like us, are stocking up on food and drinks.
It's difficult to leave the city at the moment. Buses and trains are not running as they should to and from the city, and those who are are fully booked. We'll stay put for a few days and see what will happen.
As far as I know, Mubarak still hasn't announced his new government, and when he does it won't do any good anyways. The people of Egypt have spoken: Mubarak's days are numbered.
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