10:10pm: An unknown group distributed pamphlets in Tahrir Square calling for the establishment of a “presidential council” to rule the country, replacing the ruling military which has been in power since February. According to the pamphlet, the “presidential council” is to be comprised of presidential candidates, Mohamed ElBaradei and Abdel Monim Aboul Fottouh, Nasserist Law Professor Hussam Eissa, the liberal activist Nasser Abdel Hameed, and a representative from the armed forces. Earlier, the SCAF vehemently rejected such calls.
9:15pm: Sami Ibrahim, 57, said he was fired from his job at a military factory before the uprising and has been struggling to make ends meet since. He told Al-Masry Al-Youm that he came to Tahrir hoping to find someone who would listen to his plight, as there was nowhere else in Egypt where people pay attention to common people's demands.
8:30 pm: Rumors are circulating inside Tahrir Square that there will be an attack on the square by thugs tonight. While no one is preparing for a fight, many say they are on alert.
8:20 pm: Bassem Mohsen, a 23-year-old protester from Suez who works as a laborer at a petroleum company, said he came to Tahrir Square because he thought Suez is too small and he wanted to be in the center of events. However, he is disappointed that “many Egyptians come to Tahrir to relax.”“In Suez, the revolution is not a spectacle,” Mohsen said.
7:15 pm: Khaled Essawy, representing the Youth Movement for Freedom and Justice, spoke on a stage in front of the Mugamma. “We are here because of two speeches,” Essawy said. “[Prime Minister] Essam Sharaf’s speech yesterday, which reminds me of Mubarak’s second speech, and [SCAF spokesperson Mohsen] al-Fangary’s speech from today in which he threatened revolutionary youth.”
“We don’t succumb to any threats,” Essawy said. “We don’t give SCAF requests. We give them orders that come from the people.”
6:30 pm: Thousands have flocked to Tahrir Square to begin a planned protest in addition to the open-ended sit-in that started on Friday, 8 July to demand the fulfillment of the revolution's goals.
Popular committees have guarded the square's entrances and expressed fears that there could be an attack following the speech of Mohsen al-Fangary, deputy defense minister and spokesperson for the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), in which he threatened to take measures against protests that can disrupt public order.
People have marched to the cabinet premises on the nearby Qasr al-Aini street. Protesters are shouting, "The people want the marshal down," in reference to field marshal and head of the SCAF, Hussein Tantawi.
"I am here because I want to show al-Fangary and the military that we are not afraid," said Zeina Salem, a tour guide.
Military police trucks currently surround the premises of the cabinet building.
