“a scene of complete anarchy”

If you saw the stone-throwing video on this blog earlier, this means those stone-throwers would now have moved forward from that position. Not sure if they’re as far as the Ramses Hilton, but given the gunfire northeast of the Hilton, I would conclude yes.

1609: The BBC’s Jim Muir in central Cairo says he’s in middle of pitched battle on the northern side of Tahrir Square. He says the anti-government protesters are pushing forward – lobbing stones and rock. They’ve moved out well beyond the perimeter of the square. Says it’s a scene of complete anarchy.

the least popular air passengers in history

Those people did decide to get off the flight. They’re telling us 1.5-2 hours delay now.

However, my computer will run out of battery before that.

about to leave

They’re counting us. That’s the final step.

delayed on tarmac

Apparently a few people on our plane decided they wanted to stay. The Embassy is urging them not to change their minds. If they do, all the luggage has to be gone through, and under the circumstances our tagging system is very primitive.

Highly irresponsible and should not be allowed. The airport could be closed while this is happening.

heavy gunfire

1522: BBC Arabic correspondent Khaled Ezzelarab: Heavy gunfire heard in Abdel Monem Riyad Square in downtown Cairo.

fire in the distance

1518: Ashraf Khalil tweets: “Huge plumes of smoke coming from up the river past national archives. Hard to tell but could be Arcadia mall.”

orientalist militias

Camel-riders with whips. Crusader swords. Ornate ceremonial knives.

Apparently there are some articles out there observing that this may have been deliberate orientalism to make the counter-protests look “authentic.”

It would only work for ignorant outsiders, of course. Egyptians, plus long-time residents like me, were simply confused by the bizarreness of all the medieval sh*t until we started reading these articles and understood their point. None of that Arabian Nights stuff exists in everyday Egyptian life in 2011 any more than it does in everyday Houston, Texas life in 2011.

Sandmonkey released, strange concessions made

1503: Evan Hill tweets: “Sandmonkey’s been released, he’s on his way home. His car has been destroyed and he and friends were beaten. #egypt#jan25”

Surprised but delighted.

Now this:

1507: There’s been a flurry of announcements from the prime minister and the vice-president, but we should take a moment to pick out a key one: the first official statement that Hosni Mubarak’s son Gamal won’t run for the presidency.

weird airplane

It’s an unmarked white airplane, as if we were going on some covert CIA mission. But it’s really just a charter.

As expected… Richtung: Deutschland.

I’ll be in Germany for a few days, possibly moving to Poland thereafter, depending on events.

dramatic video from today at Tahrir

Took this from Huffington. They say it appears to be pro-government supporters, but the AUC students and I disagree, from our sense of the geography: stones are being thrown to the north. That tallish, grey-looking building is the Ramses Hilton, which is where the pro-government people came from yesterday. These stone-throwers are at the northern extreme of Tahrir Square, behind the museum.

That overpass toward which they are throwing is the one my bus went across at about 10 AM today as we headed towards the airport. The area was calm then, so I’m guessing this is more recent.