CAIRO (Agencies) – EgyptÂ’s president gave the first indication on Saturday he was preparing an eventual handover of power by naming a vice-president for the first time in 30 years after protests that have rocked the foundations of the state.
Hosni MubarakÂ’s decision to pick Omar Suleiman, his intelligence chief and confidant, as his No 2 is the first time the 82-year-old leader has hinted at a succession plan and may suggest he will not run in an election scheduled for September.
Until five days of unprecedented scenes of popular defiance and chaos across the country, officials had suggested Mubarak would run again. If not him, many Egyptians believed, his son, Gamal, 47, could be lined up to run. This now seems impossible.
Suleiman, 74, has long been central in key policy areas, including the Palestinian-Israeli peace process, an issue vital to EgyptÂ’s relationship with key aid donor the United States.
Some protesters, whose actions forced Mubarak to send the army onto the streets of the biggest Arab nation, were not happy with a decision that looks set to ensure power stays in the hands of military and security institutions.
“He is just like Mubarak, there is no change,” a protester told Reuters outside the Interior Ministry, where thousands were protesting, moments after the appointment.
The appointment as prime minister of Ahmad Shafiq – who is, like Mubarak himself, a former commander of the air force – also indicated a preference for responding to public demands for change with limited changes in personnel. MubarakÂ’s decision on Friday to sack the government failed to impress protesters.
The speaker of parliament was later quoted as saying that there were no plans to meet demands for early elections.
Thousands of anti-government protesters clashed with police in several Egyptian cities after President Mubarak spurned demands that he end his 30-year authoritarian rule.
Witnesses said police used teargas and live ammunition against demonstrators in Alexandria. Protesters also gathered on a main square in the capital Cairo in defiance of military orders for them to disperse.
Police opened fire on 1,000 protesters trying to storm the Interior Ministry in Cairo, Al Jazeera reported. Earlier, angry protesters set on fire ruling partyÂ’s headquarters.
The fresh unrest broke out as Mubarak clung to power, replacing his cabinet in an effort to appease angry Egyptians, complaining about poverty, corruption and unemployment.
The president ordered troops and tanks into Cairo and other cities overnight and imposed a curfew in an attempt to quell the protests that have shaken the Arab worldÂ’s most populous nation, a key US ally, to the core.
Tanks were parked on roads leading into the square. One army armoured personnel carrier had been gutted by fire. The square was strewn with rubble, burned tires and charred wood that had been used as barricades overnight.
Buildings, statues and even armoured security vehicles were covered in anti-Mubarak graffiti, including the words ‘Mubarak must fall’, which by morning had been written over to say ‘Mubarak fell’.
Despite scores of deaths in clashes, Egyptians said they would press on with protests until Mubarak quits. “We are not demanding a change of cabinet, we want them all to leave, Mubarak before anyone else,” said Saad Mohammed, a 45-year-old welder who was among about 2,000 people gathered in Cairo’s central Tahrir Square.
The capital was strewn with wreckage from a day of protests on Friday when protesters fought running battles with police firing rubber bullets, teargas and wielding batons – an unprecedented turn of events in the tightly-controlled country.
Government buildings, including the ruling party headquarters, still blazed on Saturday morning after being set alight by demonstrators who targeted symbols of MubarakÂ’s rule.
According to a Reuters tally, at least 82 people have been killed in the unrest. There was no official figure. Medical sources said at least 1,030 people were injured in Cairo, but with more protests starting throughout the country, the number was bound to rise.
Clashes broke out between police and prisoners attempting to escape from a Cairo prison on Saturday, a security source said.
None of the prisoners managed to escape, but eight were killed and 123 were wounded in the clashes at Abu Zaabal prison, northeast of Cairo, the security source said.
As well as Cairo and Alexandria, clashes have also occurred in Suez, site of the strategically important canal.
Mubarak, whose government still rules with emergency laws, promised to address EgyptiansÂ’ grievances in a television address on Friday night. He sacked the cabinet but made clear he intended to stay in power and he condemned the violence. The cabinet members tendered resignations on Saturday.
Prominent activist Mohamed ElBaradei returned to Egypt from Europe to join the protests. But many Egyptians feel he has not spent enough time in the country.
In an interview with France 24 television, El Baradei said Mubarak should step down and begin a transition of power.
The Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist opposition group, has also stayed in the background, although several of its senior officials have been rounded up. The government has accused it of planning to exploit the protests.
The army told Egyptians on Saturday not to gather in groups and to observe the curfew, which was extended by two hours to begin at 4pm (2pm British time).
Tanks were parked on roads leading into Tahrir Square, which was strewn with rubble, burnt tyres and charred wood that had been used as barricades overnight.
The number of protesters was fewer than in previous days but they were nonetheless defiant.
Protesters mocked MubarakÂ’s sacking of his cabinet as an empty gesture.
Mahmoud Mohammed Imam, a 26-year-old taxi-driver, said: “All he said was empty promises and lies. He appointed a new government of thieves, one thief goes and one thief comes to loot the country.”
Throughout Friday, flames rose in cities across Egypt, including Alexandria, Suez, Assiut and Port Said, and security officials said there were protests in 11 of the countryÂ’s 28 provinces.
Looters broke into the Egyptian Museum during anti-government protests late Friday and destroyed two Pharaonic mummies, EgyptÂ’s top archaeologist told state television.
The museum in central Cairo, which has the worldÂ’s biggest collection of Pharaonic antiquities, is adjacent to the headquarters of the ruling National Democratic Party that protesters had earlier set ablaze. Flames were seen still pouring out of the party headquarters early Saturday.
Meanwhile, the European Union has cancelled all flights to Europe. A British Midland International flight to Cairo returned to London on Saturday after turning back in mid-flight due to protests in Egypt, and British Airways sent an extra plane to the country to evacuate tourists. The plane was carrying 64 passengers and six crewmembers.
Saudi ArabiaÂ’s King Abdullah has expressed support for President Mubarak in the face of massive protests, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said on Saturday. It said King Abdullah phoned Mubarak after days of massive anti-government protests.
“No Arab or Muslim can tolerate any meddling in the security and stability of Arab and Muslim Egypt by those who infiltrated the people in the name of freedom of expression, exploiting it to inject their destructive hatred,” SPA quoted King Abdullah as saying.
Meanwhile, YemenÂ’s ruling party has called for dialogue with the opposition, the countryÂ’s state news agency said, in a bid to end anti-government protests fuelled by popular unrest across the Arab World.
Thousands of Yemenis have taken to the streets of the capital Sanaa in recent days demanding a change of government, inspired by the overthrow two weeks ago of Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Al Ben Ali and spillover to Egypt.
“We … call for the halting of media propaganda and urge all political parties to work together to make the dialogue a success and arrange for upcoming elections,” a committee of the ruling General PeopleÂ’s Congress (GPC) party was quoted as saying on the website of the Saba state news agency. “Furthermore, we urge an end to protests that ignite dissent to avoid dragging the country into conflict or sedition,” it said.
In London, hundreds protested outside EgyptÂ’s embassy calling for President Hosni Mubarak to go.
“Mubarak out, Islam in,” and “Allah take Mubarak the pharaoh,” chanted Islamist protesters, including organisers Hizb ut Tahrir. Women and men in the group protested separately.
Nearby, other demonstrators were careful to distinguish themselves from the Islamists, sticking to secular chants.
“WeÂ’re completely unrelated to that demonstration … It feeds into Western fears on how it would affect their interests, and thatÂ’s the excuse the Egyptian government is using to avoid change,” said protest organiser Rafik Bedair, 36.
Jordanian activists rallied outside government offices in Amman Saturday as they tried to step up their campaign to force Prime Minister Samir Rifai to step down.
Inspired by unrest in Tunisia and elsewhere in the region, about 200 Jordanians gathered outside the prime minister’s office shouting “Our government is a bunch of thieves” and holding banners reading “No to poverty or hunger.”
“We’ve come from distant, rural areas to Amman to ask Rifai to leave,” said Mohammed Sunaid, a prominent labour activist.