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23<br />
The Muslim Brotherhood announce their intention to<br />
join the following day's demonstrations, whilst Salafis<br />
leader Yassir al-Burhami states that he will not take<br />
part.<br />
In the evening, the government shuts down Facebook<br />
and Twitter, and then, after midnight, shuts down the<br />
internet completely. Meanwhile, security forces in most<br />
Egyptian cities prepare for the following day.<br />
January 28<br />
Despite the closure of mobile phone networks and the<br />
internet to prevent the organisation of protests,<br />
hundreds of thousands of people flood out of mosques<br />
after prayers on the 'Friday of Rage' and head for Tahrir<br />
Square. The same happens in Alexandria, Suez,<br />
Mansoura, Ismailiya, Damietta, Fayoum, Damanhur,<br />
Zagazig, Port Said and North Sinai governorate.<br />
Over 800 people are martyred and over a thousand<br />
more injured across the country. Alexandria is hardest<br />
hit, with 87 dead, followed by Suez, with 13.<br />
Having failed to deter protestors, the police withdraw<br />
from Qasr al-Nil bridge in Cairo. Demonstrators gain<br />
control of Alexandria and Suez and burn local National<br />
Democratic Party headquarters and police stations until<br />
Hosni Mubarak, in his role as military commander,<br />
announces a curfew in Cairo, Alexandria and Suez<br />
from 6pm until 7am. Tanks roll into the streets to<br />
maintain security and are welcomed by protestors who<br />
see the army as neutral. The slogan “The army and the<br />
people are one hand” appears for the first time.<br />
Shortly after midnight, Mubarak delivers a speech to<br />
the Egyptian people in which he dismisses the<br />
government, seemingly unaware that he himself is the<br />
target of the revolutionaries' anger.<br />
January 29<br />
Flouting the curfew, demonstrators pour into Tahrir<br />
Square in the early hours of the morning to demand<br />
Mubarak's resignation, and violent clashes with police<br />
take place in front of the Interior Ministry building,<br />
where three people are martyred and scores more<br />
injured. The military intervene with armoured vehicles<br />
and take control of the situation.<br />
Mubarak appoints Omar Suleiman, intelligence chief<br />
and close ally, as his first-ever vice-president, and<br />
assigns former Civil Aviation Minister and Commander<br />
of the Air Force Ahmed Shafik the task of forming a<br />
new government.<br />
From Berlin, the German, French and British leaders<br />
express their concern at the situation in Egypt, and
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