Unrest in Egypt - a timeline
Here are the main developments in Egypt, rocked by the most serious anti-government demonstrations since President Hosni Mubarak came to power in 1981:
Here are the main developments in Egypt, rocked by the most serious anti-government demonstrations since President Hosni Mubarak came to power in 1981:
January 2011
- 17: A 50-year-old man sets himself on fire outside parliament, an apparent copycat of the suicide of a young Tunisian in mid-December, which unleashed an uprising that overthrew president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
- 18: A 25-year-old unemployed man dies after setting himself ablaze in the northern city of Alexandria. Another man, a lawyer in his forties, sets himself alight outside government headquarters in Cairo.
- 20: Two Egyptians injured after setting fire to themselves.
- 24: Leading opposition figure Mohamed ElBaradei says opponents of Egypt's long-running regime should be able to follow the lead set by the toppling of Tunisia's president.
- 25: Anti-government demonstrations bring several thousand people on to the streets across Egypt. Two demonstrators killed in Suez after clashes with police and in Cairo a police officer dies after being beaten by demonstrators.
- Overnight, police fire tear gas at thousands of protesters in central Cairo to demand Mubarak's ouster and calling for reforms.
- 26: Thousands of people demonstrate in Egyptian towns, despite a strict ban imposed by the authorities. Egyptian police fire tear gas at protesters.
- In Cairo a protester and a policeman are killed in clashes.
- In Suez, 55 demonstrators and 15 police officers injured in clashes.
- 27: Security forces flood central Cairo. Hundreds of protesters clash with police in Suez and Ismailiya.
- A young man is shot dead by police in the Sinai town of Sheikh Zuwayed.
- The White House warns the Cairo government and protesters they have an "obligation" to avoid violence. The European Union calls on Egypt to respect the right to protest.
- 28: Anti-regime protests come to a head after Friday prayers. In Cairo riot police fire tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse tens of thousands of protesters, while in Suez a protester is killed and in Alexandria the governorate building is torched.
- At least eight people have been killed -- six demonstrators and two police officers -- hundreds injured and some 1,000 arrested since Tuesday.
- Internet services go down.
- Nobel laureate ElBaradei joins at least 2,000 people in Friday prayers in Cairo, a day after returning home and saying he is ready to "lead the transition."
- Mubarak imposes a dusk-to-dawn curfew and calls on the army to assist beleaguered police in enforcing it.
- Key ally the United States, Britain and Germany express concern about the violence, with Britain saying the protesters had "legitimate grievances."
- Protesters set fire to the headquarters of the ruling National Democratic Party in Cairo.