Egypt unrest: Voices from Tahrir Square
Thousands of Egyptians have gathered in Cairo's Tahrir Square for a mass demonstration against the interim military government. It follows three days of deadly clashes between protesters and security forces, which have left at least 28 people dead and hundreds wounded. Here, some of those in Tahrir Square explain why they are there.
Muhammad Ali, protester
This is our second revolution. We arrived with our dignity and we will leave with it. We are not weak now. We know our rights.
I am going to stay here in our square until we change this damned government.
Our message to [head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces] Field Marshal Tantawi is leave, just leave.
Nine months after the 25 January revolution, we have nothing. We still have Mubarak's system. At the same time, there is no security on our streets and tourism is going down.
They are still trying to kill us. So many young men have died. There is so much gas. It hurts my eyes and I can't breathe and I saw a lot of people falling down and getting hurt.
Dr Mohamad Abdallah, field medic from KFC Clinic
Most of the injuries we are seeing here are from [tear] gas bombs.
They cause shortage of breath, suffocation, drowsiness and unconsciousness. We also see injuries from shot guns and from rubber bullets.
The gas being used is different from that used in January. It is much more dangerous. The police are throwing them more than before. They don't care about the people. They just want to get rid of them.
At the KFC Clinic there are about 50 doctors. We are all volunteers, not from any particular group. Other volunteers help us with security and delivering medication.
We give out a kind of anti-acid, made with alcohol and onion, to help with the eye-burning from the gas. We also give out masks for free. We are trying to help protesters win this war. We were here in the first revolution and we will be here for as long as it takes. Normally I work in a hospital but now I am sleeping in the square.
Huda Saleh, demonstrator
My friends have been here since the big rally on Friday but this is my first time in the square.
I came because I saw on the television that all these people are being killed. For what? They just want their rights.
In the last nine months, nothing has changed whatsoever. I want to see a real democracy, not just more talk.
The experience of being here is a lot like January but this time I have seen more people dying. It seems like a dozen a day. I really don't like politics but I came because I want to see a change, I want to help.
Samih Farahat, independent government auditor
I work for an independent auditing institution that monitors the government departments and reports directly to the president. But of course, we have no president at the moment. I have come to see what is going on.
It may take years, but Egypt will pass these hard times because her people are very great. We will not stop demanding our freedom.
The revolution taught us a lot of things, but we want a new democratic system and we need corrective action now to set us on the right path. This is the common goal.
We will be helped by people such as [Egyptian Nobel prize winners] Dr Muhammad ElBaradei and Dr Ahmed Zuweil.
We do not have a problem with the army. The army is made up of the Egyptian people. We are the army.
Our problem is with the top generals who follow the last president. They must go.
All of the world, especially the Arab world, is looking to Egypt.
You can see we have Syrians who have joined us in the square. They have a dictatorial president, Bashar al-Assad. He is a butcher. The Syrians want to support us. Like us, and all the Arab world, they want a democratic system.
Egyptian mother (name not given)
The interim government has no role, the military council is in full charge. This is the problem in Egypt. The military council has to hand over to civilians. This is the only solution.
After 10 months, we have not restored order in the country.
We have to come to Tahrir Square and make our demands or nothing will happen.
I can see that the elections that are due to take place will not produce a good parliament for us either.
On the contrary, there will be some remnants of [former president Hosni Mubarak's party] the NDP and we will be forced to relive exactly the same story.
Another reason I am here is because I am against the emergency law and military trials. These have taken away many of the revolutionaries that would have been able to improve the situation in the country.
I have been coming to the square with my children and we come individually too. We want to do what we can.