Chaos broke out in Cairo’s Tahrir Square yesterday, as supporters of
Hosni Mubarak took to the streets, resulting in a violent confrontation with pro-democracy protesters. A crowd of about 20,000 Mubarak supporters fought viciously with a crowd of around the same size,
Sky News reports, with the combatants throwing rocks and swinging metal bars. Then, in one part of the square, the violence suddenly stopped, after a man stood between the sides and called for calm.
A
CNN correspondent reports seeing the sides hug one another and chant “We are one.” But it wasn’t hugging all around; elsewhere, Mubarak supporters rode into a crowd on camels and horseback, thrashing protesters with whips. Protesters pulled several riders down, and beat them badly. Soldiers are standing by in tanks, but haven’t gotten involved yet.
