Chaos and vandalism spread in Egypt as Mubarak pledges reform

Thousands of demonstrators revolted on the streets of Egypt since Friday demanding an end to the decade-long dictatorship of the Mubarak regime.

Masses have voiced a unified need to terminate the endless emergency law in the country that have exploited their freedom and gauged them to live in a culture of despotism. Throughout the weekend, a state of chaos engulfed the capital forcing the government to take immediate measures for reform.

Although the President fired his entire cabinet and promised immediate restructuring, protestors returned to the streets demanding total change of the ruling regime.

In a Youtube interview on Friday, US President Barack Obama said that Political reform, economic reform is absolutely critical for the long-term wellbeing of Egypt. Violence is not the answer in solving these problems in Egypt. So, the government has to be careful in not resorting to violence. The people on the streets have to be careful about not resorting to violence.

Shortly after this, State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley stated on his Twitter account that the US wanted Mubarak to take concrete steps towards reform.

With protesters still on the streets of Egypt, we remain concerned about the potential for violence and again urge restraint on all sides. The Egyptian government can't reshuffle the deck and then stand pat. President Mubarak's words pledging reform must be followed by action, Crowley twitted.

On Saturday, Mubarak appointed Omar Suleiman, Egypt's intelligence chief as vice-president and former air force commander Ahmed Shafiq as prime minister.

Nevertheless, violent demonstrations and protests continue in the capital as shopkeepers and natives strive to protect their goods from vandals on the street. Armed with knives and guns, looters are destroying and stealing what they could see.

Tanks and armoured personnel carriers fanned out across the city of 18 million, guarding key government buildings, and major tourist and archaeological sites, the Associated Press reports.

On Saturday, looters broke into the famed Egyptian Museum in Cairo and ripped apart the heads of two mummies apart from damaging a few artifacts. This led the government to dispatch armored personnel carriers and troops to major archaeological sites in the region like the temple city of Luxor and the Pyramids of Giza.