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Live blog Feb 7 - Egypt protests

From our Doha headquarters, we keep you constantly updated on Egypt, with reporting from Al Jazeera staff.
Last modified: 7 Feb 2011 01:04
Photo: Reuters

From our headquarters in Doha, we keep you updated on all things Egypt, with reporting from Al Jazeera staff in Cairo and Alexandria.  Live Blog: Jan28 - Jan29 - Jan30 - Jan31 - Feb1 - Feb2 - Feb3 - Feb4 - Feb5 - Feb6The Battle for Egypt - AJE Live Stream - Timeline - Photo Gallery - AJE Tweets - AJE Audio Blogs

(All times are local in Egypt, GMT+2)

10:07pm  Wael Ghonim, head of Google's Middle East operations, has been released by Egyptian security forces. He spoke to Egyptian On TV about his ordeal.


First of all my sincere condolences for all the Egyptians that lost their lives. I am really sorry for their loss, none of us wanted this. We were not destroying things.

We all wanted peaceful protests, and our slogan was 'no to vandalism'.

Please don't turn me into a hero' I am not a hero, I am someone that was asleep for 12 days.

The real heroes are the ones that took to the streets, please focus your cameras on the right people.

I am ok. God willing we will change our country, and all the filth that was taking place in the country has to stop. Together we will clean this country," he said.


9:33pm Al Jazeera's Gregg Carlstrom reports on how the people of Egypt found community amid Egypt's chaos.
United against their president, demonstrators in Tahrir Square have managed to bridge the country's political divides. 
Despite the difficult conditions, protesters find ways to express themselves, a protestor holds a sign that reads: "leave already [Mubarak], I just got married and i miss my wife!"



 
8:44pm
Ahmad Nagib, one of the organisers of the protests in Tahrir Square told Al Jazeera: "We are not scared of being martyred, but we don't want to be shot at the back by state security."

We will continue to protest in Tahrir Square until he [Mubarak] steps down. It is safer for us to camp out here in the open, some of our friends that left the Square were kidnapped and tortured inside the museum by state security.

We are still resilient and we will carry on, real democracy can only be achieved by involving all of us in any talks, but any talks will happen after Mubarak leaves. Our voices have not been represented, and we call for the Egyptian state TV to be prosecuted for playing an instrumental part in inciting hatred towards us and encouraging the 'baltageya' thugs to attack us.

[Gallo/Getty]
7:44pm
Thousands are camping out in Cairo's Tahrir Square, refusing to budge until their demands for president Hosni Mubarak to stand down are met. Some set camps by the military tanks.



7:38pm Many members of the Egyptian diaspora continue to rally in solidarity with the country's uprising. This is a clip shot a few days ago in Ottawa, Canada.

Al Jazeera cannot verify the authenticity of any videos.



6:57pm
Ayman Mohyeldin, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Cairo who was held by the military outside Tahrir Square on Monday has now been released, and has spoken to Al Jazeera about his experiences.

Ayman describes how he was taken to a separate holding area, where he was handcuffed with plastic strips, had his equipment taken off him and was interrogated. At least two other journalists were already present at the holding area.



6:33pm
Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader, has said on Monday Egyptian protesters demanding the resignation of president Hosni Mubarak were changing the Middle East with their battle for "Arab dignity".

Your movement will entirely change the face of our region for the interest of its own people.

6:12pm Egypt's government has approved a 15 per cent raise in salaries and pensions in a bid to appease the angry masses.

5:24pm Wael Ghonim, a Google executive and political activist, arrested on 25 January by Egyptian authorities has been released.



4:00pm While banks have reopened, schools and the stock exhange remain closed, the Egyptian Stock exchange will resume next Sunday

3:30pm Al Jazeera's online producer speaks to young protesters occupying an apartment building near the site of fierce battles between pro- and anti-government crowds, they  discuss their motivations, the events of the past two weeks, and the diverse make-up of Egypt's democracy movement. You can watch the interviews here: Part 1 and Part 2.

2:05pm Zahi Hawass, Egypt's minister of antiquities, announces that artifacts damaged by looters would be restored over the next five days. He also says that steps were being taken to reopen Egypt's famed archaeological sites, which have been closed since pro-democracy protests started two weeks ago.

Among the objects damaged was a statue of King Tutankhamun standing on a panther and a wooden sarcophagus from the New Kingdom period, dating back roughly 3,500 years ago. On January 28, looters broke into the museum and damaged a number of items, including two mummified skulls from the Late Period.

The museum, which is right next to the massive anti-government protests in downtown Cairo, is now being guarded by the army.

1:12pm Symbolic funeral procession for Ahmed Mahmoud now underway in Tahrir Square. He was shot as he filmed the clashes between protesters and riot police from his Cairo office. Protesters are demanding an investigation into the cause of his death. Full story here: http://aje.me/hqTHAH

12:56pm An Egyptian pro-democracy demonstrator sleeps on the wheels of a military vehicle at Cairo's Tahrir square on February 6, 2011 on the 13th day of protests calling for the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak. (AFP)

11:26pm Al Jazeera's Folly Bah Thibault interviews Maged Reda Boutros, a member of ruling NDP on January 29. Boutros keeps referring to the protestors as "mobs of looters" and "setting fire to our beloved Cairo", despite pictures on the screen that showed peaceful protesters.

10:48pm Al-Masry al-Youm, the largest independent newspaper, released information from Egyptian authorities investigating the former ministers, businessmen, and officials who were banned from travelling and whose assets were frozen. It shows that: 

The wealth of Ahmed Ezz, the former NDP Organisation Secretary, is estimated to be 18 billion Egyptian pounds; 

The wealth of former Housing Minister Ahmed al-Maghraby is estimated to be more than 11 billion Egyptian pounds; 

The wealth of former Minister of Tourism Zuhair Garrana is estimated to be 13 billion Egyptian pounds; 

The wealth of former Minister of Trade and Industry, Rashid Mohamed Rashid, is estimated to be 12 billion Egyptian pounds;

The wealth of former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly is estimated to be 8 billion Egyptian pounds. 

Sources at Cairo Airport said 3 of former ministers asked for a permission to travel yesterday and the day before yesterday, but they were denied such permission.

9:34pm Protesters set set up smoking and non-smoking areas in Tahrir Square - proof that they are a real community and that they don't plan on leaving anytime soon.

8:15pm Blogger Aaron Bady has put together a collection of cables from WikiLeaks that sheds some light into the personality of Omar Suleiman - State Department cable 07CAIRO1417, "Presidential Succession in Egypt," from 2007:

Egyptian intelligence chief and Mubarak consigliere, in past years Soliman was often cited as likely to be named to the long-vacant vice-presidential post. In the past two years, Soliman has stepped out of the shadows, and allowed himself to be photographed, and his meetings with foreign leaders reported. Many of our contacts believe that Soliman, because of his military background, would at the least have to figure in any succession scenario for Gamal, possibly as a transitional figure.

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7:30pm Wael Ghonim, head of Google's Middle East operations, is due to be released by Egyptian security forces, the Wall Street Journal reports. 

More than a week after his mysterious disappearance in Egypt, Ghonim will be released from government detention on Monday say his family.

Ghonim emerged as a central symbol of the anti-government protests, and protesters in Tahrir Square adopted him as a symbolic leader. Marchers carried homemade signs emblazoned with his name.

His brother, Hazem Ghonim, said that Egyptian authorities told the family he will be released on Monday: 

"They told us they'll probably bring him to us, and that he will likely be escorted by security."

7:21pm Barack Obama says Egypt has changed forever and calls for a "representative government" - however he stopped short of calling on Mubarak, an old US ally, to quit immediately.

Only he knows what he's going to do. Here's what we know is that Egypt is not going to go back to what it was ... 

... He's not running for re-election. His term is up this year.

6:14pm Once again we show you this video with some shocking footage from last week. The images show a man being shot at at a close range by what appears to be police; it is not known if the man survived.

The Egyptian authorities say 11 people have been killed in the unrest across the country. The United Nations says it is more than 300.

4:58am Protesters have started using the massive piles of garbage that have accumulated in and around Tahrir Square to make anti-Mubarak themed pieces.

4:00am: USA Today reports on how audiences are flocking to the Al Jazeera English website, "which some people consider to be one of the most dependable news sources about the situation in Egypt".

3:20am Al Jazeera speaks to Ramy - a protester who has been camping out in Tahrir, or Liberation, Square for most nights.

3:08am Leaked US cables raise questions over whether Omar Suleiman, Egypt's vice-president, can be an honest broker during talks with the Muslim Brotherhood. Read more about the revelations here.

2:00am Thousands are camping out in Cairo's Tahrir Square, refusing to budge until their demands for president Hosni Mubarak to stand down are met.
 

1:27am US President Barack Obama, speaking on Fox television, said Egypt is not going to go back to the way it was before pro-democracy protests roiled the country, and played down prospects that the Muslim Brotherhood would take a major role in a new government. 

"I think that the Muslim Brotherhood is one faction in Egypt," Obama said. "They don't have majority support."

12:40am Al Jazeera's Paul Brennan reports on the Mubarak empire and how it shows no sign of dwindling.

12:20am Al Jazeera's online producer meets the vanguards of the pro-democracy protests that have flooded Cairo's Tahrir Square for 12 days.

"Everyone suffers, there isn't one person who doesn't suffer. Everyone down there is suffering, everyone at home is suffering, even the people who come to oppose us, those who support the president, they suffer as well, but they've been paid."

12:00am We continue our live blogging for February 7 here, as protests enter the 14th day in Egypt.