Egypt Protesters Defy Cairo Curfew

As darkness fell in Cairo Saturday night, protesters continued to march in the streets, defying a curfew from 6 p.m. until 8 a.m. The government warned the demonstrators that they would be in danger if they stayed in the streets after dark, but the crowds have refused to go home. President Hosni Mubarak's appointments of a vice president and a prime minster did not calm the activists who want Mubarak out of office. There were unconfirmed rumors of gunfire in a wealthy neighborhood of Cairo, and three protesters were killed while trying to storm the interior department. But some reported that soldiers have treated them warmly, allowing them to write anti-regime graffiti and take pictures on military tanks. Al Jazeera reporters in downtown Cairo said the soldiers are no longer intervening in the demonstrations. Fifty thousand protesters gathered at Tahrir Square in the heart of Cairo earlier Saturday. Six Cairo police stations and several police cars were set on fire, the ruling party’s headquarters was attacked and looted, and the American embassy was attacked. Limited cellphone service is back, but the Internet remains down. Reports from morgues indicate that at least 50 people have been killed so far, and Al Jazeera reports that over 1,000 were wounded Friday.