Mubarak Regime Totters as Million Man Marches Planned

Mass Rallies Planned for Cairo, Alexandria as Govt Halts all Trains

by Jason Ditz, January 31, 2011

Already hanging on seemingly by a thread, opposition figures hope to push the Mubarak regime out of office entirely Tuesday with “million man marches” planned in both the cities of Cairo and Alexandria.

Such a rally will likely be a trivial matter in Cairo, a densely populated metro area of nearly 20 million people. Alexandria may be somewhat more difficult, as the city has only 4 million people.

Attendance at the protests in the major cities has been spiraling over the past several days, and the Egyptian government is now reportedly ordering a halt to all train service across the nation, apparently an effort to keep people from gathering in the major cities.

Exactly what effect the even larger protests would net, both domestically and in international opinion remains to be seen, but the Egyptian government does not appear keen to find out, with figures already offering talks and concessions in a desperate attempt to secure Mubarak’s rule going forward.

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