Timeline: Protests in Egypt

January 25 - Thousands of Egyptians demand an end to President Hosni Mubarak's rule and clash with police in a "Day of Wrath" of anti-government demonstrations inspired by the downfall of Tunisia's President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali on January 14.

-- Protests also take place in Ismailia and Suez, east of Cairo, and in other Nile Delta cities.

January 26 - In unprecedented scenes, police fight with thousands of Egyptians who defy a government ban to protest against Mubarak's rule. Security forces arrest about 500 demonstrators over the two days, the Interior Ministry says.

January 27 - Reform campaigner and former head of the IAEA Mohamed ElBaradei arrives in Cairo.

January 28 - At least 24 people are killed and more than 1,000 wounded in clashes throughout Egypt, 13 are killed in Suez. Mubarak extends a curfew to all cities in Egypt.

-- Mubarak orders troops and tanks into cities overnight to quell demonstrations. Thousands cheer at the news of the intervention of the army, which is seen as neutral, unlike the police who are regularly deployed to stifle dissent.

January 29 - Mubarak sacks his cabinet but refuses to step down. Protesters stream back into Cairo's central Tahrir Square in the early hours after Mubarak's announcement.

-- Later Mubarak picks intelligence chief Omar Suleiman as vice president, the first time he has appointed a deputy since he took office in 1981.

-- Thousands of protesters continue to roam the streets after a curfew starts, defying an army warning that anyone violating the order would be in danger.

-- Egyptians form vigilante groups and assign private doormen armed with sticks to guard property after police withdraw from the streets.

January 30 - U.S. President Barack Obama urges an "orderly transition" to democracy in Egypt, stopping short of calling on Mubarak to step down.

January 31 - Egypt's army says it will not use force against Egyptians staging protests. It says freedom of expression is guaranteed to all citizens using peaceful means.

-- Egypt swears in a new government. Suleiman says Mubarak has asked him to start dialogue with all political forces, including on constitutional and legislative reforms.

-- Thousands in Tahrir Square hours after curfew, in a good-natured gathering, calling for the president to quit.

February 1 - Mubarak declares he will surrender power when his term ends in September, offering a mixture of concessions and defiance in a televised statement.