In a press conference, the April 6 movement called on Egyptians to start a general strike on Sunday that would last until the demands of the people are met. It also said it was attempting to persuade the army to side with the people.
April 6 is one of the movements that called for the January 25 day of anger that sparked the series of mass protests. Protesters initially called for economic and political reforms but this escalated to demanding the fall of the regime. This prompted Mubarak to ask his cabinet to resign and appoint a new vice president.
Ahmed Maher, head of the April 6 movement, announced the movement’s rejection of President Mubarak’s Friday night speech, calling it the “repeated nonsense that we’ve been hearing for 30 years.”
“The president’s false promises do not fool us anymore. He is the one responsible for all the crimes that were committed against the people,” said the April 6 statement.
The statement urged the people to continue uprising until the president steps down.
Maher blamed the recent vandalism and theft on the security forces which–he claims–released large numbers of thugs and convicts from prisons to terrorize the people and ruin the image of the uprising.
He asserts that the movement is not affiliated with vandalism and that it has formed popular committees to defend public and private facilities.
The April 6 movement gained popularity after it called on Facebook for a civil disobedience day in April 2008.
