Tahrir square expects largest protest today

Ekram Ibrahim , Tuesday 8 Feb 2011

Demonstrators and organizers of the continuing protests in Tahrir Square are expecting the largest turn-out yet today

Tahrir

"Jan 25" revolutionaries are organizing another "million man" protest today, but expect the numbers to exceed one million after Wael Ghonim's - founder of the Facebook page instrumental in triggering the January 25 uprising - gave a live interview on TV yesterday.

"Today more protesters are coming to Tahrir and I expect it to be more than a million today," an Ahram Online reporter said.

Many Egyptians have sympathized with the revolution after watching Ghoniem's interview on the popular show Al-Ashera Masaan (The Ten O'clock Show) on the Dream Channel. "I cried after Ghoniem's tears yesterday. I felt the noble cause moving those people, so I came here today," said Sally Nasser, a protester who just started protesting today.

Not only have the protesters increased today, but the sleep-overs in Tahrir have increased dramatically as well. "All the pavements were packed with people, I couldn't even find a place to sleep at Tahrir last night," said the reporter. "

"It is amazing, I have never seen this amount of people in Tahrir," Ahmed Mostafa, a protester in Tahrir told Ahram Online.

It is worth noting that today protesters poured into Tahrir in groups as people finished work. Also numerous protests and strikes began today in public and private companies, with many expected to join Tahrir later today.

People's solidarity was not only seen in form of joining the protests but also in offering more supplies to the protesters. "More people are offering more food and blankets to the protesters," said the Ahram Online reporter.

Moreover, reported plans indicate that protesters won't stay in Tahrir but head to the Egyptian State TV building. "I would go to the Egyptian State TV builiding tomorrow, the protest does not end in Tahrir," wrote Mohamed Adel, a memeber of April 6 movement, on his twitter account.

Ghoneim is Google’s regional marketing manager in the Middle East, founder of the “Kolona Khaled Said” (We are all Khaled Said) Facebook page and one of the masterminds behind the January 25 revolt in Egypt. Ghoneim was detained on January 27 and was set free yesterday.

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