Leading Article
The Independent
"The three-decade long rule of Hosni Mubarak over Egypt was crumbling last night. The old dictator, confronted by an unprecedented wave of popular protests and strikes, was not prepared to go without a struggle. First he tried to divide the protesters, announcing his intention to step down as president later in the year. When that failed to disperse the crowds, Mr Mubarak is believed to have sent state-sponsored thugs to attack the pro-democracy protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square.
Mr Mubarak's allies abroad tried their best to prop up the Egyptian strongman too.....
It is impossible to predict the effect on the region of these events. But there will certainly be repercussions. The autocrats of Riyadh are plainly deeply rattled. The repressive rulers of Syria, Jordan, Algeria and Libya will know that if the Egyptian regime can be overturned, with all its military and financial aid from the United States, it can happen anywhere. The oppressed people of the Arab world have now watched two revolutions in three months unfold in splendid detail, in large part thanks to the Al-Jazeera news channel.
The Arab revolution looks anything but over."
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