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Participant Ashraf Omar said:
"I am one of the thousands of people who stood their ground after the army started dispersing the protesters, shooting live bullets into the air to scare them."
He said soldiers wore black masks to avoid being identified. Military buses were used for those arrested. It's "a cat-and-mouse chase.There is no more unity between the people and the army."
In fact, there never was, only the illusion that unsympathetic generals were populists at heart. In fact, they've been regime hard-liners for decades, rewarded handsomely for backing state repression.
"They were using tasers and (batons) to beat us without any control," said Omar. "I thought things would change. I wanted to give the government a chance, but there is no hope with this regime. There is no use. I am back on the street. I either live with dignity or I die here."
Egyptians want the military junta-led government to resign and immediately release all political prisoners. They're outraged by no reforms, and because Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq reshuffled his cabinet, leaving Mubarak cronies in power.
As a result, battle lines are again drawn. "Counterrevolution" comments are heard, protesters chanting:
"We do not want Shafiq any more, even if they shoot us with bullets....Revolution until victory, revolution against Shafiq and the palace....We won't leave! He will go!" This isn't "what hundreds of people died (for). Shafiq is a student of Mubarak. We have demanded a new beginning, and (he's) not part of it. We refuse him."
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