Unrest persists, Egypt army takes on journalists

Authorities on Thursday cracked down on international reporters in Egypt, confiscating cameras and equipment in a move that has triggered angry reactions from across the world even as the upheaval in the Arab nation shows no sign of fizzling out.

Several journalists have been attacked and detained along with human rights activists, the Western media reported. Some of reporters have been told that they were being taken under ?protective custody?.

The foreign press has been asked to vacate hotels around the Tahrir Square, the centre of unrest in the Egyptian capital, even as some reports say authorities are barring them from leaving from airports with media equipment across the country.

The U.S. has strongly condemned the clampdown. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley tweeted, “There is a concerted campaign to intimidate international journalists in Cairo and interfere with their reporting. We condemn such actions.?

The crackdown on journalists started simultaneously along with what seemed like a planned offensive by supporters of President Hosni Mubarak on the anti-government protesters in the Tahrir Square.

Pro-Mubarak activists reportedly took on the protesters with rocks, bats, and knives and Molotov cocktails. Foreign press photographers are also said to be facing violent opposition from Mubarak supporters.

Meanwhile, the Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq on Thursday offered to meet anti-government protesters in Tahrir Square and talk to them, Egypt?s state news agency said.

Shafiq has also apologised for the violent attacks on protesters and has said that the country?s president has ordered an investigation into the security lapses on Wednesday, CNN reported.

Security forces were reported to be standing by, refusing to take charge even as pro-Mubarak activists and anti-government protesters clashed in Egypt?s main square on Wednesday.

On Thursday, at least six protesters were killed and over 800 were wounded as gunmen, said to be secret policemen by some, opened fire on protesters.

?This is a fatal error, and when investigations reveal who is behind this crime and who allowed it to happen, I promise they will be held accountable and will be punished for what they did,? he was quoted as saying.

Reports have also emerged on how the government is forcing the telecoms operators to send out government-scripted text messages in an attempt to assuage the unrest. U.K.-based carrier Vodafone said the government had invoked emergency powers to send out the messages.

Hackers around the world have started rallying for the anti-government protesters as an online group, Anonymous, said that they had brought down websites of the Egyptian government and the ruling party.

Social networking sites are buzzing with support for the protesters as their new chant, “We won’t go!”, saw widespread re-tweeting and re-posting on blogs and Twitter accounts from all over.

Egypt?s upheaval fell on its tenth day on Thursday since it broke out on Jan 25 after anti-government protesters sought relief from what they call years of authoritarian rule and economic hardships.

Despite 82-year-old President Hosni Mubarak promising to step down in September following fresh polls and coming out with a new government cabinet, protests have only grown more intense in the past week.