Egypt’s 3-day unrest leaves 6 dead

At least six people, four protesters and two policemen, have been killed in Egypt, as unprecedented protests against Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year rule entered a third day.

Clashes have been reported between anti-government protesters and the police in the Egyptian capital city, Cairo, in the early hours of Thursday, Reuters reported.

Activists trying to oust the incumbent president play cat-and-mouse with the police on the streets as the unrest in Egypt continues to gain momentum.

The protests, inspired by a popular revolt in Tunisia, have seen the police fire rubber bullets and tear gas at demonstrators, throwing rocks and petrol bombs at the forces.

In central Cairo on Wednesday, demonstrators burned tires and hurled stones at the police. In Suez, protesters torched a government building.

According to witnesses, the Egyptian police dragged away, beat and shoved the protesters into police vans.

Protesters have promised to hold the biggest demonstration yet on Friday, after the Muslim communal prayers.

“Egypt’s Muslims and Christians will go out to fight against corruption, unemployment, oppression and absence of freedom,” wrote an activist on a Facebook page.

The country’s Interior Ministry said on Wednesday that 500 individuals had been arrested, but according to an independent coalition of lawyers, at least 1,200 were detained.

Prominent opposition figure Mohamed ElBaradei, who lives in Vienna, is expected to return to Egypt on Thursday.

ElBaradei was the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), from December 1997 to November 2009.

ElBaradei and the IAEA were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005.