Egyptian artists take part in “Purification Friday”

A group of Egyptian artists have announced that they were present today at Tahrir square in order to rally with revolutionaries who have dubbed the day “Purification Friday”. Demonstrators demand the departure of Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq as they see him as an element of the previous regime. Protesters have also called on minister of the interior Major General Mahmoud Wagdy to step down following a television interview on “Masr al-Nahar Dah” (“Egypt Today”) in which the general did not apologize for police action on the 25th and the 28th of January but rather condemned protesters for allegedly using live fire. Protesters were also angry about an incident in Maadi where a police officer opened fire on a microbus driver, they also called for the release of political prisoners. The minister of the interior has denied the existence of such prisoners whereas the al-Badeel newspaper carried an article the following day claiming the existence of over 300 detainees at al-Wadi al-Gadeed. Moreover, protesters have also called for reform measures to be sped up.Artists taking part in the demonstrations included ‘Amr Waked, Khaled Abou al-Nagga, Khaled al-Sawwwy, Basma, Ahmed ‘Abd Allah, Mohamed Diab, Magdy Ahmed ‘Aly, Noha al-‘Amrousy, Maryam Na’oum, ‘Aly Qindeel and Asser Yassin.