Dawn Breaks on a New Day of Protests in Egypt
CAIRO, Feb. 3, 2011— -- After a day and night of pitched battles that broke up only as dawn broke, I went back to Tahrir Square with my team this morning to see which way the wind was blowing, because it's shifting all the time here.
What we found were anti-government protestors still in control of Liberation Square, and their resolve only stiffened. They're manning barricades to the square, and reinforcements are streaming in. People were bringing new supplies -- bottled water, bread and blankets -- digging in for the long haul.
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Around the barricades, they're re-arranging the piles of rocks from Wednesday night to use as weapons if they're attacked.
All over the square, we saw the walking wounded; foreheads, noses, faces bandaged and bloody. Groups of men sat reading the morning papers, with headlines proclaiming, "Tahrir Square has been turned into a battleground" and "The people remain victorious."
They're exhausted from Wednesday night's battle, and many are sleeping in the grass, resting for another day on the front lines. They say they won't leave until Mubarak does. "We have nothing to lose," one man told us.
In an extraordinary move today, the prime minister apologized for Wednesday's violence and promised an investigation. At this hour, there are reports of a few small clashes at one end of the square, on the 6th of October bridge, the scene of the worst of Wednesday's battle.
But, overall, the anti-government protestors' numbers vastly overwhelm the pro-Mubarak forces here. Everyone seems to be waiting for tomorrow, when the protestors have called for all of Egypt to come out after Friday prayers.
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