12.14am GMT: It's after 2am in Cairo – time to wrap up the live blog for the evening, although we'll be keeping a close eye on an outbreaks of further violence. Here are the highlights this evening:

• At least three people were killed and as many as 1,500 injured in a day of violence in central Cairo, as supporters of the Mubarak regime appeared in force. Protesters found plainclothes policemen among them

• Fighting continued around Tahrir Square past midnight, with both sides building barricades and pro-government supporters throwing molotov cocktails, setting fire to cars and buildings while the army refused to intervene

• The US government incrementally increased its pressure on Mubarak to step down and for reforms to take place, with Hillary Clinton speaking directly to vice president Omar Suleiman

• Pro-government forces appear to have arrested or attacked journalists reporting on the bloody events in Cairo. CNN presenter Anderson Cooper and his crew were among those attacked

You can read earlier updates here.

Thanks for reading – we'll be back tomorrow.

12.01am GMT: One last entry – a very depressing piece of analysis by Robert Springborg in Foreign Policy, who argues the upshot will be "back to business as usual with a repressive, US-backed military regime":

While much of American media has termed the events unfolding in Egypt today as "clashes between pro-government and opposition groups," this is not in fact what's happening on the street. The so-called "pro-government" forces are actually Mubarak's cleverly orchestrated goon squads dressed up as pro-Mubarak demonstrators to attack the protesters in Midan Tahrir, with the Army appearing to be a neutral force. The opposition, largely cognizant of the dirty game being played against it, nevertheless has had little choice but to call for protection against the regime's thugs by the regime itself, ie, the military. And so Mubarak begins to show us just how clever and experienced he truly is. The game is, thus, more or less over. The threat to the military's control of the Egyptian political system is passing. Millions of demonstrators in the street have not broken the chain of command over which President Mubarak presides. Paradoxically the popular uprising has even ensured that the presidential succession will not only be engineered by the military, but that an officer will succeed Mubarak. The only possible civilian candidate, Gamal Mubarak, has been chased into exile, thereby clearing the path for the new vice president, Gen. Omar Suleiman.

On that happy thought: good night.

11.48pm GMT: The Guardian's Jack Shenker reports on the fires now burning in central Cairo:

The fire you can see on television streams is a tree burning at the junction of Mohamed Haggag street and Mahmoud Basyuni, just off Abdel Munim Riyad square where the pro-Mubarak fighters are coming up against the anti-Mubarak protesters' barricade. It's just two blocks from my apartment building so I know this area well. From my vantage point it appears as if the burning tree has set alight parts of a derelict structure nearby – a beautiful old corner building with gargoyles carved above the doorways - which is thankfully empty, though there are many densely-populated residential blocks just a stone's throw away. It's almost 2am in Egypt, and amid all the drama on our screens and rumours zipping around on the web, we shouldn't lose sight of one basic and incredible fact – for the ninth night running, ordinary Egyptians are on the streets in their thousands, still bound together with remarkable social solidarity, still battling their three-decade-old dictatorial regime, still holding their ground even as it is rained on by rocks and molotov cocktails. Downtown Cairo is aflame tonight, its streets playing host to block-by-block, roof-by-roof, corner-by-corner urban warfare – but it's the bravery behind those fighting that battle that should really be leaving people open-mouthed.

11.31pm GMT: Frank Wisner, the US special envoy sent by Obama to talk to Egypt's government, is on his way back to the US, empty-handed it would appear. AP reports:

The White House had attempted to nudge Mubarak to the exits, dispatching former US Ambassador Frank Wisner as a special envoy to deliver the message to him. But by Wednesday, Wisner was on his way back to the United States. A senior US official, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the delicacy of the matter, suggested Wisner had been seeking specific pledges from Mubarak beyond just a promise not to stand for re-election. The official would not elaborate, but the administration has made no secret of the fact that it wants the state of emergency lifted and would prefer to see Mubarak's son, Gamal, not try to succeed his father. Mubarak mentioned neither in his address Tuesday night.

11.26pm GMT: Sharif Kouddous, a prolific Egyptian tweeter and blogger in Cairo, describes "a brutal and coordinated campaign of violence" by the Mubarak regime, in an article posted on Democracy Now's website:

"Suddenly, rocks started falling out of the sky," said Ismail Naguib, a witness at the scene. "Rocks were flying everywhere. Everywhere." Many people were hit. Some were badly cut, others had arms and legs broken. The mob then charged in; some rode on horseback and camels, trampling and beating people. Groups of them gathered on rooftops around Tahrir and continued to pelt people with rocks. "It's a massacre," said Selma al-Tarzi as the attack was ongoing. "They have knives, they are throwing molotov bombs, they are burning the trees, they are throwing stones at us ... this is not a demonstration anymore, this is war." Some of the attackers were caught. Their IDs showed them to be policemen dressed in civilians clothes. Others appeared to be state sponsored "baltagiya" (gangs) and government employees. "Instead of uniformed guys trying to stop you from protesting. You've got non-uniformed guys trying to stop you from protesting," Naguib said.

11.21pm GMT: Avaaz, the web-based digital activists, announces that it is supplying high-tech equipment to the protesters in Egypt to help them circumvent government restrictions:

The global campaign organisation Avaaz is working to help provide activists in Egypt with satellite phone devices together with secure online software to allow them to send and share information confidentially, beating the government crackdown on information. This comes as Avaaz has learnt that the Egyptian government has arrested eight bulletin board service operators in Egypt who have been providing internet access through landlines. In partnership with the TOR Project, Avaaz is providing equipment and software to increase the flow of information and online access for news dissemination via satellite phones. This comes as the crisis in Egypt continues and internet and mobile network access remains intermittent and has again been shut off today. Providing high-speed satellite equipment is not only much faster and more reliable, it is also far safer in the context of a violent government crackdown on information.

11.17pm GMT: A building near the Egyptian Museum appears to be on fire near Tahrir Square, an ominous development although not surprising given the number of molotov cocktails being thrown around.

Al-Jazeera is talking to a museum official, who says "The situation tonight is very, very dangerous."

Meanwhile, Mubarak supporters are massing again, and have used a billboard and a burned-out car to create a huge barrier, while smashing out street lights near Tahrir Square, preparing for a possible confrontation.

Every so often a car pulls up on top of the overpass and appears to deliver molotov cocktails to the pro-Mubarak supporters. Evan Hill

evanchill

Meanwhile, Evan Hill, a web producer for al-Jazeera in Cairo, tweets signs of co-ordination among the pro-government supporters.

11.10pm GMT: Malcom Gladwell, the New Yorker sociological popularist, is still trying to dismiss the influence of social media in events in Tunisia and Egypt:

Right now there are protests in Egypt that look like they might bring down the government. There are a thousand important things that can be said about their origins and implications: as I wrote last summer in The New Yorker, "high risk" social activism requires deep roots and strong ties. But surely the least interesting fact about them is that some of the protesters may (or may not) have at one point or another employed some of the tools of the new media to communicate with one another. Please. People protested and brought down governments before Facebook was invented. They did it before the Internet came along.

There are all sort of reasons why Gladwell has got this wrong and it deserves to be dealt with at greater length than I can here. But to deny the impact of technological change on what we've witnessed in recent weeks seems foolish, to say the least.

11pm GMT: Since Tahrir Square has been the crucible of the protest movement for the past week, it's useful to have a map to show the geography.

The map above comes from Canada's Globe and Mail, adapted from GoogleMaps.

10.46pm GMT: Based on the live TV feeds, the government supporters are tossing molotov cocktails ineffectually from the overpass that runs close to Tahrir Square towards the protesters below.

The protesters are still out in force – there's talk of 2,000 in the centre of the square – now behind barricades, and occasionally a few rush forward and stamp out the molotov cocktail fires.

10.36pm GMT: The Obama administration appears to be slowly hardening its stance this evening, with a State Department official now saying that Mubarak has "a narrow amount of time" to take concrete steps toward reform.

#Egypt: State Dept: "There is a sentiment in the govt they can outlive the protestors. This is a false assumption. They are not going away," Elise Labott

eliselabottcnn

Elise Labott, senior State Department producer for CNN, has been tweeting her briefing from the State Department.

10.29pm GMT: After Egypt, is Algeria next? Pro-government members of Algeria's parliament have proposed lifting the state of emergency that has been in force for 19 years, a key demand of a protest organised for 12 February.

Algeria's official news agency APS said 21 members of parliament had proposed a motion to scrap the state of emergency, enough to force the assembly and government to debate the issue.

But Nouredine Yazid Zerhouni, the deputy prime minister, said the government had no plans to lift the state of emergency. "Those who are calling for this march must take responsibility for damage or for things getting out of hand," Zerhouni said, according to state media.

10.23pm GMT: The toll of those injured today in Cairo has reached more than 1,500 people, a doctor at an emergency clinic at the scene has told Reuters:

Many of the injuries were from metal rods smashing faces and from bricks and rocks, said Dr Mona Mina, who is working at the clinic in the nearby Omar Makram mosque. The casualty toll, higher than that provided by the health ministry, includes many light injuries, she added.

10.17pm GMT: More from the State Department, with spokesman PJ Crowley suggesting that the US is reconciled to the Muslim Brotherhood being a part of whatever government replaces Mubarak's regime.

After urging the Muslim Brotherhood to respect democratic processes, Crowley acknowledged that its presence is "a fact of life in Egypt".

10.10pm GMT: Reuters reports comments from an anonymous "senior official" inside the White House:

The administration senior official, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said Wednesday's clashes could convince the Egyptian military that it needs to pressure Mubarak to do more. The official also said it was clear that "somebody loyal to Mubarak has unleashed these guys to try to intimidate the protesters," a reference to pro-Mubarak forces. "That shows that they're still dug in."

10.05pm GMT: Tahrir Square now seems to be relatively calm, with anti-Mubarak protesters retaking parts of the square that they were pushed out of by the government supporters earlier in the day, where much of the violence took place.

CNN's Anderson Cooper, looking down on Tahrir Square, reports that the anti-Mubarak groups have retaken the large area around Egyptian Museum, and have put up barricades, while several cars have been set on fire.

"I'm sorry I've got to duck down, some shoots have been fired," says Cooper, who seems not to have slept for three days.

Some molotov cocktails are still being thrown. CNN's camera is showing the burning cars and barricades being constructed on both sides.

10pm GMT: It's midnight in Egypt, and Al Arabiya television is quoting the Egyptian health minister that three people have been killed in violence between supporters and opponents in Cairo today, with some 600 injured.

That's an increase from the ministry's earlier claim that only one person had been killed.

9.54pm GMT: More details from the State Department briefing this afternoon, and the news that Hillary Clinton's call to Omar Suleiman was the first by a senior member of the administration since Suleiman was appointed vice president.

State Department spokesman PJ Crowley said that Clinton condemned the violence. But, incredibly, Crowley also said: "We don't know who's responsible for the violence," which he described as being caused by "thugs" and called it an attempt to intimidate protesters.

9.47pm GMT: The Atlantic's Graeme Wood managed to arrive in the centre of Cairo just in time to be caught up in the violence – and filed this vivid eyewitness account of what took place inside Tahrir Square:

Gradually, near the entrance to the Egyptian Museum, each side began to realize that neither faction would be overrun completely. Entrenchment began, and a no-man's-land of about a hundred yards opened up. I stood there in the middle, taking video, dodging rocks coming from the side I could see and holding my notebook to cover the side I couldn't. Then, right by the Egyptian Museum entrance, five men in plainclothes grabbed me, hit me three times, twice in the back and once in the chest, and brought me toward the Museum itself. They grabbed my video camera and still camera, shouting "memory card," and tried to break it when they couldn't figure out how to remove it. Then two of them grabbed my arms and ejected me from the square, onto the Nile corniche, which was so calm that the first person I met was a newspaper journalist who had to ask me whether we were among Mubarak supporters or protesters.

9.39pm GMT: One side-effect of the tumult in Tunisia and Egypt has been to massively raise the profile of al-Jazeera English in the US, where the news channel has been carried by very few cable TV providers (Washington DC residents are a lucky exception) thanks to hostility dating back to the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Now, though, Link TV has announced it is showing 12 hours of Al Jazeera coverage on its DirecTV satellite channel (owned by a Mr R Murdoch), which for those of you with DirecTV is on channel 375:

Link TV, an independent broadcaster seen primarily on the DirecTV and Dish satellite systems, said Wednesday it is simulcasting about 12 hours a day of live Al-Jazeera coverage to about 33 million of the nation's nearly 116 million homes with televisions.

9.30pm GMT: John McCain, the US senator and 2008 Republican presidential nominee, has joined the calls for Mubarak to step down immediately.

Regrettably the time has come 4 Pres. Mubarak 2 step down & relinquish power. It’s in the best interest of Egypt, its people & its military. John McCain

SenJohnMcCain

Naturally it comes via his Twitter feed @SenJohnMcCain.

Why this is important is that it not only puts more pressure on the Obama administration to be more active but it gives Obama political support from a prominent Republican if he does take a more aggressive stance.

9.25pm GMT: Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, has been in direct contact today with Egyptian vice president Omar Suleiman, the State Department revealed.

Clinton urged Suleiman "to hold accountable those responsible for violence" seen today.

9.15pm GMT: CNN have just shown some amazing footage taken earlier today of the attacks on its presenter Anderson Cooper near Tahrir Square. Anderson's cameraman managed to secretly film the attack, and the journalists can be seen being rushed and jostled by groups of young men – some clutching photos of Mubarak – with punches being thrown and bottles of water thrown. Some locals can be seen trying to help and ushering the CNN crew out of the area.

"Clearly there were people who came there looking for a fight," Cooper tells his colleagues back in the studio.

For all the criticisms of US television coverage, CNN's efforts this week have been superlative.

9.04pm GMT: Good afternoon from Washington DC, where the Obama administration's stance towards Egypt is coming under increasing pressure as the violent scenes from Tahrir Square and other parts of Egypt are being shown live on the US television.

Obama's call both for an "orderly transition" in power and for immediate change has been seized upon by members of the Mubarak regime, according to the Associated Press:

An Egyptian official says his government believes that White House demands for President Hosni Mubarak to step down immediately are in "clear contradiction" with Obama administration calls for an orderly transition to a new government. The official, speaking for his government from a location outside Egypt, told the Associated Press on Wednesday that Mubarak's decision not to seek re-election in September was not a result of White House pressure. The official spoke on condition of anonymity, saying his government would not allow him to associate his name with the statement. The official said in the statement: "There is a clear contradiction between an orderly process of transition and the insistence that this process be rushed."

8.57pm: The Committee to Protect Journalists has compiled a list of members of the media who have been attacked today.

Mohamed Abel Dayem, CPJ's Middle East and North Africa programme coordinator, said:

The Egyptian government is employing a strategy of eliminating witnesses ot their actions The government has resorted to blanket censorship, intimidation and today a serious of deliberate attacks on journalists carried out by pro-government mobs.

I'm handing over to my colleague Richard Adams now.

8.44pm: Jack Shenker is one block north of Tahrir Square, where he says there is "intense fighting".

I can see Molotov cocktails being thrown from different roofs...There are two battles going on, one on the ground and one in the air, on the rooftops...They are throwing petrol bombs down on the crowd.

8.19pm: Still the battles continue near the museum:

@RiverDryFilm

Massive battle going on to take control of the roofs opposite the museum. Molotov cocktails still raining down on protestors #jan25 Something is very seriously on fire in front of the barricade. #jan25 The people have boys on pickup trucks to tell them where to throw. The police have a massive laser. #jan25

8.12pm: This video shows the attacks from earlier today, including, 1 minute 20 seconds in, a man on camel beating people with a stick

8.06pm: The newly appointed vice president Omar Suleiman has just urged the protesters to go home, offering them the prospect of dialogue. That is very unlikely to have any impact, judging by the determination the protesters have shown today in the face of violent attack.

8.03pm: All accounts suggest Tahrir Square itself is relatively calm but fighting continues in the museum area.

7.48pm: The numbers have gone down in Tahrir Square but in the streets surrounding it clashes continue. Pro-democracy protesters have been urging people to join them there to help keep it in their hands.

@mosaaberizing

The thugs inside the square are quickly falling. Counted at least 20 arrested in last hour. #Jan25

@RiverDryFilm

Am at the front of the battle for the museum. The people are winning #jan25

@hadeelalsh



Both sides battling on side streets. Pro-mubarak carrying machetes #egypt #jan25

@Port_Sa3eedy



15,000 people coming from Sharkia to Tahrir sq to demand the fall of Mubarak and his ruthless regime

7.30pm: The missing al-Arabiya journalist Ahmad Abdallah (see 6.53pm) has reportedly been found but was beaten.

7.22pm: Mohamed Effat (@3effat) tweets about the identity of the pro-Mubarak supporters:

Today In Tahrir square i SAW captured thugs admitting that they were paid LE100 to protest and others with ID's of police officers #jan25

7.19pm: The UK foreign secretary, William Hague, was on BBC Radio 4's PM programme and said he has spoken to Gamal Mubarak today (thanks to @cornelia23) in the comments section but said the president's son is in "Egypt...not in London". There has been speculation as to his whereabouts amid no public appearances or comments from him. Hague told PM:

In the last hour I have spoken to the president's son Gamal Mubarak and said that if it turned out that there was state-sponsored violence that would be catastrophic for Egypt and for those in the government now

.

6.59pm: The Associated Press has written up the comments by White House press secretary Robert Gibbs, see (6.45pm):

The White House said Wednesday that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has a chance to show the world "exactly who he is" by bringing desperately needed transition to his country now. Press secretary Robert Gibbs also decried bloody violence happening in Cairo, where pro-government forces clashed with protesters a day after Mubarak announced he would not seek re-election in September. That was not good enough for the protesters, who want him out now. If any of the violence is instigated by the government it should stop immediately," Gibbs said, while declining to speculate whether the government was in fact behind the violence. Protesters contend plainclothes police are among the pro-government attackers. Gibbs said no decision had been made on cutting off the $1.5 billion in annual aid the US provides Egypt but that it was still under review. Gibbs reiterated President Barack Obama's call from Tuesday night that transition in Egypt must begin now but he did not explain exactly what that meant or say whether Mubarak should resign now. "Now means now," Gibbs said at the White House briefing. "The people of Egypt need to see change, the people of Egypt need to see progress," he said. Gibbs didn't directly answer when asked whether Obama viewed Mubarak as a dictator, saying the Egyptian president had a chance to show who he was.

6.55pm: We received a very interesting email from a Brit living in Cairo, who does not want to be named:

I received a txt message from "Egypt Lovers" telling me to go to Tahrir Square and show my support for the regime! The message was translated for me by a friend and I understand it has been sent to everyone. How did the pro-Mubarak supporters do that? How did they get everyones phone numbers? Perhaps because "Egyt Lovers" are actually the interior ministry...?

6.53pm: Al Arbiya says one of its journalists has been kidnapped by pro-Mubarak supporters.

@SultanAlQassemi

Al Arabiya is pleading for assistance in finding its missing reporter (captured by NDP thugs) Ahmad Abdallah to call 257 85 005.

6.49pm: Two ambulances have entered Tahrir Square, Al Jazeera is reporting.

6.45pm: Apologies, we've had some technical problems with the blog, which removed some of the content below.

The White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said in the last few minutes:

If any violence in Egypt is instigated by government, it should stop immediately.

He rebuffed criticism that the US had been slow in supporting the pro-democracy protesters.

6.04pm: Here's a summary of events so far today

• Thousands of pro-Mubarak supporters have attacked pro-democracy supporters in central Cairo. Some rode in on horses and camels (1.24pm). Many brandished iron bars and baseball bats and they have also thrown rocks and ripped up bits of pavement to create weapons.

• Pro-democracy protesters have fought back and managed to keep control of Tahrir Square as clashes took place in all the side streets around Cairo's central plaza (4.43pm).

• Eyewitnesses say hundreds of people have been injured. An unconscious boy, no more than 8-years-old, was among those seen being carried away for medical treatment. The health ministry said one person has been killed in Tahrir Square and 403 people injured (5.49pm)

• The violence of the pro-Mubarak supporters appears to be organised, with policemen and hired thugs seemingly involved. The UK prime minister, David Cameron, said it would be "completely unacceptable" if the government was involved (3.16pm). The Egyptian interior ministry has denied any involvement but has made no attempt to intervene in the clashes.

•Mohamed ElBaradei has urged the army to intervene to stop the violence in Cairo (3.24pm). He told the Guardian the determination not to negotiate with the Mubarak regime had been strengthened by today's events and people now want to see the Egyptian leader put on trial (5.52pm).

•Pro-Mubarak protesters have also taken to the streets in Alexandria but so far there have not been the violent scenes seen in Cairo. (5.30pm)

• Ahead of a planned protest in Yemen, president Ali Abdullah Saleh has said he won't seek re-election in 2013. Analysts say he is up to his old tricks. (9.31am)

5.52pm: Egyptian state TV is warning people to evacuate the square.

5.49pm: The Egyptian health ministry is saying one person has been killed in Tahrir Square today and 403 injured. That could prove to be conservative but lets hope not.

5.42pm: Jack Shenker has interviewed Mohamed ElBaradei, who has said he is not prepared to negotiate with "killers" but there is "no going back" for the pro-democracy movement. Here's a taste of what he said, there will be more in tomorrow's newpaper:

After today, people are realising just what they're dealing with. Now they're not just talking about the man responsible leaving the country, they're also talking about putting him on trial. If he has an iota of dignity left, he should leave. Mubarak has received a vote of no confidence by the entire Egyptian people. Our determination not to hold negotiations with the government until Mubarak leaves has only been strengthened today. First of all this is not a negotiation – we the people have legitimate demands and we would like to tell the government what to do. Our freedom is not up for negotiation. Secondly how can you negotiate with a regime that is killing its people? When I see some of the young people heading on to the streets and then corpses coming back the other way, it makes you cringe that this could be a state [sic]...I will be encouraging people campaigning for change to return to the streets, and I think Friday will be a very big day in that respect. But even if they don't, even if they are repressed and crushed, there is still no going back.

5.32pm: The military in Tahrir is now, belatedly, trying to enforce the curfew, according to al-Jazeera, telling people to go inside and take cover.

5.30pm: Harriet Sherwood has sent an update from Alexandria, which thankfully so far not witnessed the violence seen in Cairo today:

Alexandria has today seen a fightback by supporters of the regime, challenging the protests of the anti-Mubarak camp. There were very ugly scenes in the square where the protests have been taking place all day until mid-afternoon when the anti-Mubarak protesters marched down the Corniche. Several times I thought I was about to witness bloodshed, but somehow the guys trying to keep the two sides apart managed to literally bundle the protagonists apart. Since then there have been rival groups marauding around Alexandria. It's now well after dark, and too dangerous to go out alone. But - so far - it's been threatening and ugly but nothing on the scale of civil war that seems to be erupting in central Cairo. People here are now extremely fearful and anxious; no one knows what the coming days will bring.

5.16pm: To clarify the situation with the lights in Tahrir Square (see 4.49pm). The main lights in the square have been turned off - street lights are still on but it's normally illuminated by much larger lights as it's a transport hub and they are out now.

5.11pm: We've recieved a couple of very enlightening first person accounts of today's events that I would urge you to read. Thank you to both contributors.

The first is an anonymous account sent by email:

They came into the square and we blocked them peacefully, forming a human line and peacefully pushing them back . A number of thugs had infiltrated behind our human line and all of a sudden 70 people from behind us started running towards us from behind the line and started throwing rocks and stones and picking up pieces of wood from their side. This was the signal for other 'Pro-Mubarak' side to start reponding by throwing rocks. Our people retreated, they came forward - the point of stopping was where the army tanks were [next to the Egyptian Museum] and as we came forward people started throwing stones at us from the side of those tanks. This is significant because the only way you can get there is with the permission of the army.

Stone throwing was happening - then suddenly someone gets up on the tank shouting "People, stop stop stop, we can't behave like this! ' - and immediately another guy comes straight up holding a picture of Mubarak and the tank is swarmed with Mubarak supporters as if they're trying to stop violence! That was clearly a photo op. Once that photo opportunity had happened the 'Mubarak Protesters' got down from top of the tanks all of a sudden. Suddenly a whole load of camels and horses with people on top of them with whips came through the entrance right by the tanks. It was so clearly orchestrated that some of the young guys from the army were breaking ranks because they were so

disillusioned and didn't want to be part of this bullshit. We managed to pull people off

camels, and they all went back and it all returned to a vague normality and calmed down.

And this is from the comments section, from marwaa:

The first act of violence I saw was a family crossing street into Tahrir Square and a car passed by with a group of women and suddently they got out of the car and started cursing, intimidating and throwing stones as they ran after the family harassing them and other people. We started creating human chain around the square and inside the square we were putting signs calling it "Shuhada Square" (Martyr Square) to remember the 300 people who died so far. Peace was maintained inside the square. We decided to take a break and go home. As we are walking away from the square, suddenly I see pro Mubarak protesters on horses and camels riding down from Talaat Harb Square toward us, cursing me and my husband. They had whips and all kinds of weapons on them. I called to check on my friends who'd stayed in Tahrir Square and they began to shout that they are being beaten – my friend described to me what she was seeing: a 7-year-old-boy was wounded by stones thrown at him by the pro Mubarak campaigners. The anti Mubarak camp kept chanting: Peaceful. Peaceful. Peaceful but the pro camp kept pushing in and they had all kinds of weapons on them and the stone throwing fight began. In the meantime, all they have on national TV is a broadcast of peaceful protesters chanting pro-mubarak [slogans] and callers calling in blaming everything on the anti-Mubarak protests and saying that they deserve whatever happens to them because they didn't stop.

4.56pm: We mentioned the New York Times Pulitzer prize winning columnist Nicholas Kristof earlier today (2.52pm). He has now blogged on what he saw in Tahrir:

In my area of Tahrir, the thugs were armed with machetes, straight razors, clubs and stones. And they all had the same chants, the same slogans and the same hostility to journalists. They clearly had been organized and briefed. So the idea that this is some spontaneous outpouring of pro-Mubarak supporters, both in Cairo and in Alexandria, who happen to end up clashing with other side — that is preposterous. It's difficult to know what is happening, and I'm only one observer, but to me these seem to be organized thugs sent in to crack heads, chase out journalists, intimidate the pro-democracy forces and perhaps create a pretext for an even harsher crackdown.

4.54pm: Two Molotov cocktails have been thrown into the grounds of the Egyptian Museum, it is being reported

4.49pm: There are ominous reports that the lights have been turned off, prompting fears of what the government has planned.

@RamyYaacoub

Lights off in #Tahrir square. God help us all #Jan25 #Cairo #Egypt

I should add that, from the TV pictures, it looks like at least some lights are on.

4.43pm: I've just spoken to Karim Ennarah, a pro-democracy protester in Tahrir Square (apologies for the quality of the line). He says the protesters opposed to Mubarak are still in control of the square but it is an "ugly and messy scene".

Both groups are pelting each other with rocks, it's extremely violent here...people are unsure about the army position...I don't see this coming to an end, it's been going on for hours now. There are hundreds of people injured, literally hundreds of people.

4.26pm: Some recent tweets on the continuing violence, from Cairo:

@Ssirgany

Until last night, Tahrir was the safest place in Egypt, with pro-change protesters staying there for 8 days. Now Mubarak people go in & WAR

@sandmonkey

The egyptian state TV are on a different universe, showing pictures of pro-Mubarak protesters all over egypt. #jan25

@bencnn

All indications are that what is happening in Tahrir Square is government-sanctioned. #Jan25 #Egypt

4.11pm: US state department spokesman PJ Crowley has infuriated people with his appeal for "all sides in #Egypt to show restraint and avoid violence".

Here is just a sample of the reaction on Twitter:

@draddee

Did @PJCrowley really call on all sides to stop the violence?? All sides!!!!!!!?? Is the USG watching Egyptian State TV's coverage today?

@AfriNomad

Dear @PJCrowley, You are a coward. Dear #SecClinton, You are a coward. @BarackObama this is your Rwanda moment #Jan25 #Egypt



@weddady

If u support the ppl of #Egypt and want Hosni Mubarak out pls tell the state dept @PJCrowley to stop their idiotic statements

@Salma_Tweets

@pjcrowley,@barakobama,@statedepartment what are you doing to help us, we're being killed by Mubarak in Tahrir, long live US Freedom!!!!!

3.51pm: Al-Jazeera's reporter can see other emergency vehicles heading to Tahrir Square now; sirens are audible over TV coverage.

3.48pm: The White House press secretary Robert Gibbs has put out this statement:

The United States deplores and condemns the violence that is taking place in Egypt, and we are deeply concerned about attacks on the media and peaceful demonstrators. We repeat our strong call for restraint.

It's worth noting again that the US has not come out strongly calling for Hosni Mubarak to go.

3.46pm: Al-Jazeera is reporting that an emergency vehicle is trying to get into Tahrir Square. The UN fears that 300 people have been killed and 500 more injured to date.

3.45pm: US state department spokesman PJ Crowley has called on all sides to avoid violence. On Twitter, Crowley wrote:

We reiterate our call for all sides in Egypt to show restraint and avoid violence. Egypt's path to democratic change must be peaceful.

3.42pm: Al-Jazeera just showed some kind of burning object being thrown from a building into the crowd in central Cairo.

3.39pm: Al-Jazeera is showing smoke rising from a building in the centre of Cairo.

Reuters is reporting that the Egyptian army has denied firing any shots at protesters in Tahrir Square.

"The army denies firing any shots on the protesters," according to a statement from the defence ministry, read to Reuters by a ministry source. It added that some smoke canisters were fired near the US embassy to disperse crowds. The US embassy in Cairo is close to Tahrir Square. "No one in the army participated in the protest," the source said, denying some reports that those involved included soldiers. An al-Jazeera correspondent earlier said the army had fired shots in the air. A Reuters witness said they heard shots fired, but it was not immediately clear where the shots came from.

3.36pm: PJ Crowley, a spokesman for the US state department, has criticised Hosni Mubarak's government regarding detentions and freedom of the press – although he did not discuss the violence taking place in Cairo. Crowley said on Twitter that the US was "concerned about detentions and attacks on news media in Egypt. The civil society that Egypt wants to build includes a free press."

3.31pm: Al-Jazeera is now reporting pro-Mubarak supporters dropping concrete blocks off the roofs of buildings on to protesters. I can't confirm that.

One of the channel's correspondents asked some pro-Mubarak demonstrators why they waited until today to come out on to the streets. He says they said: "Yesterday we weren't happy seeing our leader broken on screen," referring to Mubarak's televised address announcing he would not seek a further term as president.

3.29pm: The Associated Press news agency has been speaking to pro-Mubarak protesters gathering "on an upscale Cairo boulevard" for a counter-demonstration.

The mood was angry and defiant but the protest was mostly peaceful, in contrast to the scene in Cairo's main square, where hundreds of young pro-government supporters attacked crowds of thousands demanding his ouster. On the boulevard in the upper-class neighbourhood of Mohandiseen, men in designer sunglasses and women with expensive hairdos joined government employees, including a few dozen nurses in white dresses and stockings who jumped and chanted, "We love you Mubarak!" In dozens of interviews, they expressed fears of chaos and violence engulfing the country. They said they feared for Egypt's plummeting currency and the shortages of food and gasoline gripping the country's major cities. They identified themselves as middle- and working-class people whose lives had improved under Mubarak, whom praised for keeping the country at peace after a series of wars with Israel. Many said they felt personally humiliated by the jeers of anti-Mubarak demonstrators for the Egyptian leader to leave the country. They called Egypt a deeply patriarchal society where the leader is seen as a father-like figure, and a symbol of the nation itself. "We have been a stable country since the days of the Pharoahs. These demonstrators want to turn us into Somalia: poor and at war with itself," cried Samir Hamid, a 58-year-old war veteran who said his age made him remember life in Egypt Mubarak took power nearly 30 years ago. Many said they did not necessarily support the Egyptian president, but said the anti-Mubarak demonstrators should have been satisfied by his Tuesday night pledge to step down from power in seven months, after the country holds elections. "It's not like Mubarak can rub Aladdin's lamp and pull out a genie who will fix everything," said Fatima al-Shal, 41, who wore a heavily bejeweled ring on each hand. "We have to give them time to peacefully change power," she said. "I feel humiliated," said Mohammed Hussein, a 31-year-old factory worker. "He is the symbol of our country. When he is insulted, I am insulted."

3.28pm: My colleagues on the video desk have sent this video of the clashes in Cairo.

3.24pm: Mohamed ElBaradei, the leading opposition figure, has called on the army to intervene and prevent bloodshed.

3.21pm: The military is refusing to get involved in the clashes between pro- and anti-Mubarak protesters, al-Jazeera is reporting.

3.17pm: Mohamed ElBaradei, the leading opposition figurehead and former head of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency, has told al-Jazeera he hopes Hosni Mubarak, the president, will leave office before Friday, when protesters are planning the "Friday of departure". More from his interview when we get it.

3.16pm: Some more from David Cameron (left), who has said that it would be unacceptable for the Egyptian government to be supporting violence in any way:

If it turns out that the regime in any way has sponsored or tolerated this violence, that is completely unacceptable.

3.13pm: A comment from YShawkat below the line:

I've seen pro-Mubarak thugs out on the streets today in a violent attempt to disperse peaceful pro-deomocracy protesters in Tahrir Square in Cairo, as I walked with my wife on October bridge. The corrupt regime has managed to turn part of its people on each other as, mostly through instilling fear and panic. We, the Egyptian people, must realise we are all on the same side.

3.10pm: Below the line, the Guardian's Middle East expert Brian Whitaker has responded to some of your comments.

Snickid asked:

What is probably needed now is some very senior army officers to come out in support of the revolution. Does anyone know enough about how the Egyptian army is organised - esp. how politicised it is - to say whether this is possible or likely?

Brian Whitaker responded:



The role of an army is to protect the state, not the regime or the revolution. Anything else is an interference in the sovereignty of the people.

Readers are also asking whether Hosni Mubarak's speech last night and his announcement that he wouldn't run again is binding or a ploy to disperse tensions and get protesters off the streets.

Brian responded:

These guys are tricky and not to be trusted. Of course the aim is to get the anti-Mubarak protesters off the streets. Once they have done that, they will drag their feet as much as possible on the question of reform.

3.07pm: My colleague Jack Shenker emails with confirmation that the explosions he has been hearing in Tahrir Square are warning shots being fired into the air by the army, at a military checkpoint at the Talaat Harb entrance to the square. Jack writes:

The situation is looking very serious - the road between Abdel Munim Riyad Square and Tahrir Square is now a war zone, with a debris-strewn no man's land in between. Behind the front lines of the pro-Mubarak stone-throwers is a crowd several thousand strong in Abdel Munim Riyad, and although some of them seem peaceful many others are breaking apart burnt-out police trucks to obtain metal rods. On the anti-Mubarak side of the battle in Tahrir, demonstrators fear they are being slowly encircled, with pro-Mubarak young men stealing through the downtown backstreets to approach Tahrir from different entrances. I've just run into grown men crying at the chaos and bloodshed on their streets: "When we were fighting the central security forces last Friday it felt liberating," one told me, "yet we know we are fighting each other and that breaks my heart." Reports are streaming on of there being government-employed thugs and ex-prisoners among the pro-Mubarak crowd, alongside plainclothes policemen - though it would be misleading to suggest that these are the only people making up that side of these increasingly-violent rival demonstrations.

3.06pm: David Cameron, the prime minister, and Ban Ki-Moon, the UN secretary-general, have appeared in Downing Street to condemn the violence and call for urgent change.

Cameron said:

These are despicable scenes that are we are seeing and they should not be repeated. They are underline the need for political reform and frankly for that political reform to be accelerated.

Ban said:

This is an unacceptable situation. Any attack on peaceful demonstrators in unacceptable and I condemn it. It is important at this junction to ensure that an orderly and peaceful transition should take place. I urge all the parties to engage in a such a process without further delay.

3.04pm: It's just gone 5pm in Cairo and tonight's curfew is supposed to begin. But clashes are continuing between pro- and anti-government supporters in the centre of the city. Al-Jazeera has just been showing pictures of people throwing rocks and chairs off the roof of a building. You can watch their live stream from Cairo here.

2.52pm: New York Times Pulitzer prize winning columnist Nicholas Kristof tweets that menacing pro-Mubarak mobs have arrived in buses.

2.49pm: There are lots of people saying the army is simply watching as the violence unfolds around them:

@ashrafkhalil

#jan25 I saw at least a dozen guys coming back badly bloodied from front line. Incredibly violent scene and the soldiers are just watching

@TravellerW

I saw an army checkpoint searching barely 5% of a pro-Mub group then waving them all through #egypt #jan25

Tear gas is now being fired, it is not clear who is firing it.

2.43pm: Abdel Halim Qandil, from the opposition Kefaya party, echoed the claims that it is Mubarak's security services who are responsible for the unrest. He told al-Jazeera.

There are no Mubarak protesters. They are thugs, security personnel, dressed as civilians. What is happening in Tahrir Square now is a crime perpetrated by the Mubarak regime. It is another crime perpetrated by him...he must be held accountable.....we cannot stop until we see this murderous regime step down.

2.33pm: An al-Jazeera correspondent estimates he has seen around 100 people carried away from Tahrir Square, with the most seriously injured an unconscious boy, no more than 8-years-old, who was being carried on the back of a man.

A crying female protester told the station that pro-democracy protesters were being prevented from leaving the square and urged people not to credit the pro-Mubarak supporters with the description "protesters".

2.29pm: Pro-Mubarak supporters are recognizably police, says Peter Beaumont.

There is no question in my mind that they police, they are central security forces. These are the same guys that were out in force all last week and they have filtered back in again. They are very very recognisable, they are certain kind of people.

At that point the line cut out.

2.25pm: Three army trucks have been seized by pro-Mubarak supporters and are now using them as a barricade to attack pro-democracy campaigners. Al Jazeera reported that the trucks were seized without any resistance from the army, which is not making its presence felt at all.

2.10pm: Very ominous information coming out of Cairo, with reports of gunfire. Al Jazeera suggests they might be warning shots to keep people away from the museum, which is being defended by a number of military vehicles.

@BloggerSeif

Gunshots from behind me somewhere #Jan25

2.00pm: The Egyptian interior ministry is denying charges by anti-government protesters that plainclothes police have been involved in the violence, Channel 4 News reports.

1.53pm: Mohamed ElBaradei has told BBC Arabic the clashes in Tahrir Square are a "criminal act done by a criminal regime".

1.49pm: In the clashes at and near Tahrir Square people are literally grabbing anything at hand, rocks, sticks to hurl at their opponents.

Anti-government protesters have shown al-Jazeera the ID cards of plain clothed security police they say they seized from attackers.

1.33pm: The CNN reporter, Anderson Cooper, has reportedly been attacked by pro-Mubarak posters.

George Hale, English editor of the Maan News Agency, tweeted:

Anderson Cooper punched 10 times in the head as pro-Mubarak mob surrounds him and his crew at Cairo rally - CNN manager

1.24pm: Mubarak supporters came in on camels and horses, according to AP.

Several thousand supporters of President Hosni Mubarak, including some riding horses and camels and wielding whips, attacked anti-government protesters today as Egypt's upheaval took a dangerous new turn. In chaotic scenes, the two sides pelted each other with stones, and protesters dragged attackers off their horses. The turmoil was the first significant violence between supporters of the two camps in more than a week of anti-government protests. It erupted after Mubarak went on national television the night before and rejected demands he step down immediately and said he would serve out the remaining seven months of his term. In the early afternoon around 3,000 Mubarak supporters break through a human chain of anti-government protesters trying to defend thousands gathered in Tahrir. Chaos erupted as they tore down banners denouncing the president. Fistfights broke out as they advanced across the massive square in the heart of the capital. The anti-government protesters grabbed Mubarak posters from the hands of the supporters and ripped them. The two sides began hurling stones and bottles and sticks at each other, chasing each other as the protesters' human chains moved back to try to shield the larger mass of demonstrators at the plaza's centre. At one point, a small contingent of pro-Mubarak forces on horseback and camels rushed into the anti-Mubarak crowds, swinging whips and sticks to beat people. Protesters retaliated, dragging some from their mounts, throwing them to the ground and beating their faces bloody. Protesters were seen running with their shirts or faces bloodied, some men and women in the crowd were weeping. A scent of tear gas wafted over the area, but it was not clear who had fired it. The army troops who have been guarding the square had been keeping the two sides apart earlier in the day, but when the clashes erupted they did not intervene. Most took shelter behind or inside the armored vehicles and tanks stationed at the entrances to Tahrir.

1.23pm: Spain's Cadena SER radio station's reporters in Cairo are reporting that their car has been surrounded and attacked by pro-Mubarak thugs and they have had to take refuge in a building protected by the army, writes Giles Tremlett in Madrid.

1.11pm: Anti-Murbarak supporters are holding their ground in Tahrir Square, Jack Shenker reports, as "very injured people" are carried to safety.

Anti-Mubarak protesters have seized a pro-Mubarak supporter, he says. "So far we are not seeing any lynchings because a number of responsible citizens are shepherding them [pro-Mubarak supporters] to an army checkpoint," he says.

12.59pm: The writer Ahdaf Soueif emails to express concern.

This is urgent news: the Mubarak thugs are now suddenly out in force. I say 'thugs' because their behaviour immediately is radically different from everything we have seen in the last week. They are in microbuses and trucks and are keeping up a deafening wall of sound with their claxons. They are armed with sticks and various bits of weaponry and are waving them and shouting and honking their horns. They carry large well-made banners - replicas of the banners that are used in the rigged elections, proclaiming for Mubarak.



In Tahrir Square, the army has pulled its positions well back into the square instead of at the peripheries and have stopped guarding the entrances to the square. The army s no longer checking the IDs of those who enter the square nor are they checking them for weapons. A few minutes ago the Mubarak "supportrs" started attacking our press area in the square where activists have been collecting photo and video evidence of people who have been tortured under the Mubarak regime. As I write this the activists are being attacked with stones and sticks.

12.49pm: "It's all kicked off and it's getting very ugly," Jack Shenker reports from a side street off Tahrir square. Some of those involved in the violence have been dragged away by the army, he says.

"People continue to run away from the square. Many of them have got blood wounds. I could saw one man just brush past me carrying a child ... there appeared to blood on his chest," Jack said.

One pro-Mubarak supporter yelled "liars and Jews" at journalists.

12.42pm: "I've seem one guy with pole with a knife attached to it. It's quite clear some of these people came prepared for a violent confrontation," Peter Beaumont reports.

12.19pm: "There is a fight of some kind of going on right in front of me. I'm assuming that it's pro and anti Mubarak supporters," Peter Beaumont reports from Tahrir Square.

The security services are just sitting on their tanks watching, he says. "You can't help feeling that it has all been heavily coordinated," he says.

"It's an extraordinary turnaround."

12.10pm: Tahrir Square is changing hands, according to Peter Beaumont.

"Thousands and thousands of pro-Murabak demonstrators are now pouring into the square," he says.

"It seems to have been heavily choreographed," Peter says.

12.04pm: Speaking at prime ministers questions David Cameron said:

You can't watch the scenes in Cairo without finding them incredibly moving.

There's more on our politics live blog.

11.55am: Time for a lunchtime summary:

• Thousands of pro-Mubarak supporters are taking part in rallies in Cairo and Alexandria. Some of those protesting yesterday are satisfied that the Egyptian president has offered enough concessions, and have switched sides. Others continue to call for Hosni Mubarak to go now.

• The Egyptian military is calling for an end to the protests. "Your message has arrived, your demands became known ... You are capable of bringing normal life to Egypt," a military spokesman said.

• Some signs of normality have returned to Egypt. Internet restrictions have been lifted, al-Jazeera is available again, and the curfew has been eased.

• Ahead of a planned protest in Yemen, president Ali Abdullah Saleh has said he won't seek re-election in 2013. Analysts say he is up to his old tricks.

• The families of those arrested in the protests are demanding answers from the military. Around 150 people gathered outside the army HQ in Alexandria where it is thought the missing are being detained.

11.54am: David Cameron has echoed Barack Obama's call for an "orderly transition" to "begin immediately".

The prime minister's spokesman said:

Our position has been to repeatedly call for an orderly transition. Our view is also that the process of change needs to begin immediately.

11.40am: We have set up a phone line for those protesting in Egypt to call in with their accounts of the demonstrations. Tarek Nagar, an architect in Cairo, phoned in to leave his views on Hosni Mubarak's speech yesterday. He said Mubarak's decision not to run for another term would not wash with the protesters:

He's a dictator who's not willing to let go of his own power, he's behaving in a very irresponsible way because he's actually agitating the young people who have been demonstrating, protesting peacefully. They have been attacked by his own brutal security forces and he should have admitted his complete responsibility for the mistakes of the last week or so. On the other hand the minimum demand that everyone is requesting or asking for is for him to dissolve the parliament to form a committee for a new constitution, immediately abolishing the emergency law and above all for his own resignation immediately. We are demanding and the young people and the youth in the square that a new transitional national government will take over.

You can hear the whole thing below. The number is +44 203 353 2959 if anyone else wants to call.

11.30am: The families of those arrested in the protests are demanding answers about their loved ones at an army headquarters in Alexandria where they are being detained, writes Peter Bouckaert, emergencies director for Human Rights Watch.

About 150 angry relatives are gathered outside the army HQ in Alexandria, desperate for information about their missing relatives. The army has not produced any lists of those they have detained, and have not allowed anyone into the base to visit the detainees. We tried to gain access, but were refused. One old woman told me she had been there since Saturday, looking for her son, and had no news. The relatives are very concerned about the treatment the detainees are receiving. As we were there, a group of female relatives of the detained started a protest, shouting 'We want our children, give us back our children!' The situation is very tense. The army has used the HQ as a detention centre for all of the suspected looters and other troublemakers handed over to them by the neighbourhood security committees since Friday. This is an unfamiliar role for the army, and they are clearly at a loss as to what to do. Many of the detainees are probably innocent, just caught in the wrong neighbourhood without identification. The army is in a difficult position, as it has no evidence of wrongdoing by most of the detainees and no judicial system to process or release them. But they are the only functioning security institution. At the very least, the army should publish a complete list of the detainees and allow lawyers to visit them and ensure they are properly treated. And they should release the innocent as soon as possible.

11.15am: As the internet is back in Egypt, if you're an Arabic speaker you may find this blog easier to follow using this (automatic) translation button.

It doesn't translate photos of placards, though.

11.12am: Pro-Mubarak supporters claim if there are one million against Mubarak there are 80 million backing him, al-Jazeera reports.

It is showing live pictures of several thousands of the regime's supporters at a rally in Cairo.

10.55am: Al-Jazeera appears to be available again in Egypt. The channel is no longer showing constant coverage of the unrest.

Egyptian blogger Zeinobia, tweets:

I am currently watching Al Jazeera on Noor Business Channel on Nile Sat

10.53am: Cairo blogger Sandmonkey is frustrated by the support for Mubarak among some:

10.49am: Another sign of a return to normality - the curfew is to be relaxed, according to CNN's Ben Wedeman.

10.36am: Some of the pro-Mubarak supporters have been bussed-in, but others have switched sides, Peter Beaumont reports.

"I've just been talking to two guys who were with the demonstrators in Tahrir square, and they have changed sides. What they are saying is 'Mubarak has made all the concessions that people are asking for, therefore we should give him time.

"There are certainly people who now, after eight days of demonstrations, are sufficiently concerned to have come over to the pro-Mubarak camp.

"They are chanting Baradei, Baradei get out."

10.22am: Egyptian bloggers are celebrating, and coming to terms with, getting back online.

Zeinobia founder of the popular Egyptian Chronicles writes this short post:

I am back, in fact Egypt is back online. What shall I say, what can I say !!?? Egypt is back online Smile Wait for more updates, daily journals for the past days, photos and videos are coming in the way.



Wael Abbas tweets the downside:

10.16am: The Egyptian military is calling for an end to more than a

week of demonstrations, AP reports.



A military spokesman says: "Your message has arrived, your demands became known ... you are capable of bringing normal life to Egypt." Internet service is also returning to Egypt after days of an unprecedented cut-off by the government.

10.09am: "It's window dressing" protester Ayman Farag says of Mubarak's concessions. Speaking from Tahrir square Farag, a 32-year-old journalist, describes splits among the protesters about what to do next and a change in the mood since Mubarak's statement.

"There are divisions, that's the fear, numbers are going to go down," he said. "People are going to say 'we have achieved something - Gamal Mubarak won't succeed the throne and Hosni is definitely going'. Unfortunately that's not enough because we can't trust this regime, this president. It's all window dressing."

9.40am: "Mubarak, Mubarak, we love you" the president's supporters chant at an angry demo outside a TV station, Peter Beaumont reports.

"For the last hour or so there has been an increasingly angry demonstrations by pro Mubarak supporters, more of whom are arriving all of the time. They are carrying a policeman on their shoulders and are chanting things like 'Mubarak, Mubarak we love you' and 'al-Jazeera where are you now?'" Peter says.

He says up to 7,000 people involved, amid concerns that they may clash with anti-government protesters later.

9.31am: Yememi president Ali Abdullah Saleh's announcement that he won't be standing for re-election is "a canny move" ahead of a "day of rage", Tom Finn from the Yemen Times tells me.

"Saleh is famous for doing these stunts where he tells people he will stand down in order to provoke a reaction for people to say 'no we want you to stay', at which point he says 'if you insists I'll stay'. But people are saying this time it could be different because the opposition have been strengthened by the what's being happened in Tunisia and Egypt. Saleh has been forced to give a lot of concessions in the last week."

8.53am: "Thousands" of people have been involved in a number of pro-Mubarak rallies, according to AP.

The small rallies appeared to be the start of an attempt by Mubarak's 3 million-member National Democratic Party to retake momentum from protesters demanding Egypt's nearly 30-year ruler step down immediately. The army separated about 20 Mubarak supporters from about 1,000 pro-democracy protesters in Tahrir Square, but the Mediterranean city of Alexandria saw clashes erupt between several hundred protesters and government supporters early today, Al-Jazeera television footage showed. Several thousand people outside Mustafa Mahmoud Mosque in the upper-class neighbourhood of Mohandiseen waved Egyptian flags and carried a large printed banner with Mubarak's face. Many passing cars honked in apparent support. Police officers surrounded the area and directed traffic.

8.47am: 300 pro-Mubarak protesters have gathered outside the offices of ABC News in Cairo, according to a Twitter update from its reporter Lara Setrakian.

Around 300 people at the pro-Mubarak rally downstairs, chanting 'mish yamshee' - he won't go

ABC Biggest threat of violence comes from clashes between pro-Mubarak & anti-Mubarak crowds. One rally FOR Mubarak outside our bureau now #Jan25

8.29am: Mubarak supporters have clashed with protesters in Tahrir Square, al-Jazeera reports. There have been several scuffles in the last few hours, its reporter in the square said.



Protesters have linked hands around the square to "self-police" it, she said.

Overnight TV footage showed pro-Mubarak supporters clashing with protesters in the port city of Alexandria. My colleague Harriet Sherwood, who is in the city, has been told that 12 people were injured in the violence.

You can read Harriet's Twitter updates, and those of other correspondents in Egypt, on the righthand side of the blog.

8.03am: Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh has done a Mubarak, by saying he won't seek to extend his presidency.

Eyeing protests that brought down Tunisia's leader and threaten to topple Egypt's president, Saleh also vowed not to pass on the reins of government to his son, Reuters reports.

"No extension, no inheritance, no resetting the clock," Saleh said, speaking ahead of a planned rally in Sanaa today that has been dubbed a "Day of rage".

7.49am: What's going on Egypt is "incredible exciting", according to deputy prime minister Nick Clegg, who still hasn't mastered the language of international diplomacy.

"It is incredibly exciting what is going on, it reminds me so much of the time when the Berlin Wall fell, the power of the people out on the streets, in a regime which two weeks ago everybody thought was one of the most stable regimes in the region," he told ITV's Daybreak.

He then seem to remember he was deputy prime minister, adding: "I don't think it is really for me or anybody else to start dictating exactly when the transition should take place but clearly it is already taking place, and that holds out at least the exciting prospect of real democracy and real freedom and openness in Egypt for the first time ever."

7.45am: Hosni Mubarak's decision to tough it out for now has been greeted by rage from protesters and international calls for more immediate change.

Egypt's key ally Turkey today urged Mubarak to heed protesters calls. Prime minister Tayyip Erdogan said Mubarak should take a different step. Last night Barack Obama said "change must begin now".

Opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei said Mubarak's speech was an act of "deception". Speaking to CNN he said Mubarak was a "dead man walking" and "a person who doesn't want to let go, a dictator who doesn't want to listen to the clear voice of the people."

As the Egyptian president announced that he would stay on until September protesters exploded in anger in Tahrir Square last night. A screen rigged up to show al-Jazeera was pelted with bottles and the cry "Irhal, irhal" went up repeatedly: "Leave, leave."

In Alexandria, however, following Mubarak's broadcast his supporters clashed with protesters occupying the main square. Sticks were brandished and rocks thrown. Bursts of gunfire were heard, thought to have been soldiers shooting into the air in an attempt to separate the two factions.

In his defiant TV address Mubarak said he would die on Egyptian soil (read the full text here).

The regime is still very much in power, the Guardian's foreign affairs columnist Simon Tisdall explains.

After a week in the headlights, the regime is showing signs of regaining its nerve and assembling a strategy to overcome its perilous predicament. Whether it can work is another matter. The survival plan centres on Omar Suleiman, who is head of intelligence, Mubarak's close confidant, and the newly installed vice-president. Right now Suleiman is the most powerful man in Egypt, backed by the military (from which he hails), the security apparatus, and a frightened ruling elite hoping to salvage something from the wreckage. Suleiman is, in effect, heading a junta of former or acting military officers. Mubarak has been reduced to a figurehead, sheltering behind this clique. But they will not humiliate him. There will be no ignominious flight to Saudi Arabia, like that of Tunisia's deposed president, Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali. Mubarak's fate aside, the regime may also be hoping that recent lawlessness and looting will convince people, particularly Cairo's middle-class, that revolution is too risky and that the protesters have made their point. Likewise, rising food and fuel prices, shortages, lost earnings, closed businesses, falling exports and reduced tourism caused by the unrest will have a growing impact on working people if they persist with street action.

Not everyone is calling for Mubarak to stand down now. Speaking to CNN Tony Blair described him as "immensely courageous and a force for good".