Opposition calls for a million to protest in Cairo

A COALITION of opposition groups called for a million people to take to Cairo’s streets today to demand the removal of President Hosni Mubarak, the clearest sign yet that a unified leadership was trying to emerge for Egypt’s powerful but disparate protest movement.

In an apparent attempt to defuse the week-long political upheaval, Mubarak named a new government yesterday — dropping the interior minister, who is in charge of security forces and whom protesters have denounced for the brutality of police. But the lineup was greeted with scorn in Tahrir Square, the central Cairo plaza that has become the protests’ epicentre, with crowds of more than 10,000 chanting for Mubarak’s ouster.

“We don’t want life to go back to normal until Mubarak leaves,” said Israa Abdel-Fattah, a founder of the April 6 Group, a movement of young people pushing for democratic reform.