ARMY ENDORSES EGYPTIANS’ RIGHT TO PROTEST

Egypt’s armed forces on January 31 pledged not to fire on peaceful demonstrators as thousands of people, freed from fear after decades of oppression, tried to press home their campaign to oust President Hosni Mubarak. The army, which put Mubarak into power in 1981, seemed to be weighing whether to shift its loyalties as the former general’s opponents spoke of getting a million people onto the streets on Tuesday to mark a week since the unprecedented protests began. The military command, which may be keener to preserve a 60-year-old system of army-backed government than to prolong the personal rule of the 82-year-old Mubarak, issued a statement on January 31 calling protesters’ demands “legitimate” and promising not to use force against people expressing themselves peacefully. “The people want the president out!” chanted thousands in Cairo. “Wake up, Mubarak! Today is your last day!” was the cry of a crowd in Mahalla, a textile mill town in the Nile Delta. On the sixth day of rallies that have roused fellow Arabs and undermined the long-entrenched assumptions of diplomats and investors, tens of thousands on the streets of Cairo and other cities poured scorn on Mubarak’s bid to save his 30-year rule by naming a new set of loyalists to his government. “There is no turning back. There is no fear,” 35-year-old Hassan Shaaban said at the permanent rally in central Cairo. “After Mubarak, no other president will dare to oppress us.”