Locals seek normality, protesters vow to go on: Cairo
Banks will reopen on Sunday, giving some hope of cash starting to flow once more.
CAIRO:
Egypt's capital has become a divided city, one side gripped by protest and one in which people are desperate to return to ordinary life, said a Reuters report on Thursday.
Mass demonstrations to try to oust President Hosni Mubarak and then violent clashes between pro- and anti-government supporters in less than a square mile of Cairo's centre have all but paralysed parts of the rest of the sprawling metropolis.
"I can't work anymore. Last night, one of my patients was in labour, and I couldn't reach her at all. For how long will this go on?" said Ahmed Naguib, a 48-year-old doctor.
The protesters say they will stay in Tahrir Square, a key traffic hub as well as the symbolic heart of the city on the Nile, until Mubarak is toppled and plan another mass demonstration on Friday, dubbed the Day of Departure, on Friday.
Supporters of Mubarak, who has said he will step down at elections in September, charged on camels and horses towards protesters occupying the square on Wednesday before it descended into pitched battles between the two sides in which at least six were killed and approaching 1,000 wounded. They too say they will not leave.
Even before the clashes, many private businesses such as banks, the stock exchange and shops had closed and army roadblocks made it harder to travel round a city of some 20 million that is almost totally reliant on cars and buses for travel.
At night, during the hours of curfew, vigilantes man makeshift checkpoints with machetes and sticks to try to protect their property and stop anyone they see as an enemy infiltrating protests.
"I can't carry on with my ordinary life. I can't even go to my dentist because his clinic is downtown. I want this to end so that I can go to work. It makes no difference to me now whether Mubarak stays or leaves. I just want to see security back on the streets so that I can go on with my life," said teacher Amira Hassan, 55.
Banks will reopen on Sunday, giving some hope of cash starting to flow once more.
For many state employees, their lives have been shaped by Mubarak and the apparatus of the state that has ruled with emergency law since 1981, when his predecessor was assassinated.
Egypt's capital has become a divided city, one side gripped by protest and one in which people are desperate to return to ordinary life, said a Reuters report on Thursday.
Mass demonstrations to try to oust President Hosni Mubarak and then violent clashes between pro- and anti-government supporters in less than a square mile of Cairo's centre have all but paralysed parts of the rest of the sprawling metropolis.
"I can't work anymore. Last night, one of my patients was in labour, and I couldn't reach her at all. For how long will this go on?" said Ahmed Naguib, a 48-year-old doctor.
The protesters say they will stay in Tahrir Square, a key traffic hub as well as the symbolic heart of the city on the Nile, until Mubarak is toppled and plan another mass demonstration on Friday, dubbed the Day of Departure, on Friday.
Supporters of Mubarak, who has said he will step down at elections in September, charged on camels and horses towards protesters occupying the square on Wednesday before it descended into pitched battles between the two sides in which at least six were killed and approaching 1,000 wounded. They too say they will not leave.
Even before the clashes, many private businesses such as banks, the stock exchange and shops had closed and army roadblocks made it harder to travel round a city of some 20 million that is almost totally reliant on cars and buses for travel.
At night, during the hours of curfew, vigilantes man makeshift checkpoints with machetes and sticks to try to protect their property and stop anyone they see as an enemy infiltrating protests.
"I can't carry on with my ordinary life. I can't even go to my dentist because his clinic is downtown. I want this to end so that I can go to work. It makes no difference to me now whether Mubarak stays or leaves. I just want to see security back on the streets so that I can go on with my life," said teacher Amira Hassan, 55.
Banks will reopen on Sunday, giving some hope of cash starting to flow once more.
For many state employees, their lives have been shaped by Mubarak and the apparatus of the state that has ruled with emergency law since 1981, when his predecessor was assassinated.