The View From Cairo, Egypt: Day 6 of Unrest as Observed on the Streets

(Photo: Nile River, Cairo, Egypt. Courtesy, AStantin.com)(HN-1/30/11) -- With a ten kilometer line of sight vantage point from where he can see th Nile River, after spending the day roaming the streets of Cairo with a longtime Egyptian friend, HUMNEWS' Michael Bociurkiw says that he sees something he has never experienced in all his time in the ancient and now chaotic city, "absolutely no vehicle traffic on any of the streets, bridges or on the Nile river where dozens of tourist boats normally dot the waterway at night. It's eery after such a day of demonstrations just hours ago." 

Bociurkiw has been staying at the Four Seasons just near the on the October 4th bridge near the Cairo zoo for the past two days, and says the hotel manager tells him the hotel itself is now "only 25 percent full". 

"The only thing you can hear tonight with my window on the 16th floor of the hotel open is the wind and a dog barking," says Bociurkiw in a phone call. 

"You can hear gunshots every now and then".

At full capacity Cairo is one of the densest and oldest cities in the world with 15 to 20 million people filling its neighborhoods. The country has one of the largest standing armies in the world with almost half a million troops. 

There is still no internet connectivity, and the country's mobile phone service is running now, but spotty and "I still can't receive text messages," says Bociurkiw.  

He reports what other news media is also observing which is that, "one of the strangest things we observed on the streets today was almost no police presence in trying to stop the crowds, nor security forces openly stopping the looting or things like 'pop up' checkpoints. What we did see, ironically were all these trucks or lorries which are usually reserved for arrested people, full with police in them, just driving around. But they never got out of the vehicles to stop anyone. The police just sat by while things happened," Bociurkiw said.

"It seems more and more that people here are feeling the lack of police involvement in the past two days is a deliberate tactic by the government here," he says. 

Bociurkiw has been to Egypt many times and has, in the past lived there for a 6 month period.  His friend Marwa who lives in Cairo has also been travelling about with him throughout the day today. They observed hundreds of shop and stores broken into, cars overturned in the streets and makeshift checkpoints and bullet casings littering the streets and a steady stream of tear gas filling the air. 

Bociurkiw remains in Cairo as day 6 of Egypt's unrest dawns. 

Sunday is a work day in Egypt and the beginning of the week. 

-HUMNEWS staff

Comments

[Maureen Sullivan Stemberg]

Michael, NYTIMES just had an alert that Cairo, has gone down. I do hope you are very careful and safe. Great job reporting!! ~m