Demonstrators gathering in the Tahrir Square in Cairo, 28 January 2011. Photo: Frame Maker/Flickr.

Nafisa el Sabagh, Egyptian journalist and a close partner of IMS, reports from Cairo on the morning of what could turn out to be a defining day for Egypt

The world is watching as millions of Egyptians are trying to reach the political hotspots of Cairo to join the biggest demonstrations announced yet in the past week’s demonstrations calling for an end to President Mubarak’s regime.

Egyptian demonstrators have announced that millions will take to the streets in a call for Mubarak to step down. Tuesday morning over the phone to IMS from Cairo, journalist Nafisa el Sabagh describes the situation as fairly calm:

- This morning, people are trying to reach Cairo to participate in the demonstrations. We hear that people are coming by the thousands from the provinces today, she says on a poor mobile connection.

According to Nafisa, only few police and army soldiers are seen in the streets this morning. There is fear that the authorities will infiltrate the demonstrations and try to provoke violence. In an attempt to counter provocateurs, she says demonstrators have set up checkpoints around the central square in Cairo where the demonstrations will take place to remove weapons from demonstrators.

State-controlled media finally cover demos

Internet and sms-services are still blocked as they have been for days now, but there is no stopping the Egyptians at this point. Even the state-controlled media are unable to ignore events any longer.

Nafisa explains:

- Today for the first time we are seing that the Egyptian mainstream media are talking about ‘a big event’ happening today. Until yesterday, they referred to the demonstrations as young criminals roaming the streets, she explains.

In what could become a defining moment for President Mubarak, Nafisa doesn't dare to predict the outcome of today’s demonstrations:

- Mr. Mubarak is very, very stubborn. But so are the people, this time they might be more stubborn than him.

- It could be an ‘all out’ situation today – it’s either him or the demonstrators, she says.

Closely following developments

IMS has many activities in Egypt through the regional media partnership programme for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Since the events in Tunisia picked up speed and spread to other countries in the region, the IMS team has been in close contact with media partners in the region.

On the current situation in Egypt, IMS’ executive director Jesper Højberg says:

- We are closely monitoring the situation and remain in close contact with all our Egyptian partners in the face of the strongest call for reforms in Egypt in years. We support our partners in this challenging time and remain committed to initiatives that can broaden the space for pluralism and independent, professional journalism in Egypt.

IMS in Egypt:

In Egypt, IMS supports newspapers, online media, Internet radio as well as TV and documentary film. IMS has ongoing training courses for aspiring young documentarists in Alexandria as part of our support to documentary film production. Last year two of the students produced a short documentary about the police kiling of a young man named Khaled Said. Shaid has since then become a symbol for the demonstrators, who are now taking to the streets in Egypt.

Follow the link to watch the video:

http://www.vimeo.com/12923673