One voice, one message from people - Mubarak go

CAIRO (Reuters) - With one thundering voice, tens of thousands of Egyptians sent an unmistakable message to their ruler. They want him out. They want him out now.

The sudden revolt of Egypt's people, normally cowed by an arsenal of repression, has knocked the three-decade-old government of Hosni Mubarak off balance, shattered his cozy world and destroyed the image of his military-backed government as immune to popular discontent.

The streets of Cairo and other cities look like a battle zone. Undeterred by thousands of riot police firing rubber bullets, teargas and water cannon, the protesters' shouts of "Down, Down, Hosni Mubarak" reverberated across the cities of Egypt for a fourth day running on Friday.

Even the police seemed at times not to know what to make of the civic uprising.

In Cairo's Muski area four officers were seen huddled around a TV screen in a shop window where Arab stations showed the chaos unfolding on the streets. They had their faces in their palms, watching with awe and fear.

Thick black smoke billowed across Cairo as night fell.

Burned out cars, torched and ransacked government buildings, including offices of Mubarak's party, were evidence of the rage that exploded into the streets on a "Friday of Wrath" to force Mubarak to quit.

In scenes never before seen in the streets of Egypt, protesters stamped on posters of Mubarak and hurled insults at him and his son Gamal, a possible successor until today.

Mubarak responded by imposing a curfew and sending troops backed by tanks to bolster the police.

"Leave, leave, Mubarak, Mubarak, the plane awaits you," they chanted in the protests, which have drawn courage and inspiration from the revolt in Tunisia.

The Tunisian president of 25 years, Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, was forced to flee to Saudi Arabia on January 14 after a month of protests.

SAME FACES

"In America we saw five or six presidents come and go but in Egypt we still have the same president, the same ministers and the same corrupt officials. These officials make millions and we still have people earning 300 Egyptian pounds ($50) a month," said Ihab Moheiddine, 24, who works as a waiter.

"If Egyptians stay the course and keep the momentum they will be able to bring change. This country is not for Mubarak to own. People don't want Mubarak anymore. He should go. We want new blood. We want change. Thirty years are enough," he said.

Something appears to have changed in the Egyptian psyche, long a byword in the region for passivity and seen as living for the day as happily as they can.

The walls have started to crumble. Partly intoxicated by Tunisia's popular ferment, many are hoping the model can be replicated in Egypt.

Egyptians have a long list of economic and political grievances. They are angry at their president for overstaying his welcome, they are angry at the lack of jobs, they are angry at sky-rocketing food prices.

They are angry at their dismal salaries, and for nearly 40 percent of Egyptians, their abject poverty.

They are also angry at an emergency law in place for 30 years and under which, human rights groups say, their police detain, brutalize and torture dissidents and activists.

But the final straw seems to have been the parliamentary elections in November last year, which observers said the authorities rigged to exclude the opposition and secure Mubarak's ruling party a rubber-stamp parliament.

Egypt, a key ally of Washington which gives its army $1.3 billion a year, is at the center of an order of Western-backed Arab strongmen whose critics say have stifled freedom and stunted development and education.

This has channeled Egyptian dissidence into the mosque and left the field open to Islamist movements such as the Muslim Brotherhood.

TWO WORLDS

Economic growth has opened up huge wealth disparities. Egyptians whose earnings barely cover their daily food live cheek-to-cheek with the inhabitants of multi-million dollar apartments while other rich Egyptians have chosen to live in sumptuous villas in gated compounds more common to California than Egypt.

"There is no social justice at all. Under this government there is no future for us the young people. There is the upper class and the lower poor class. And the rich class is the one ruling this country," said Mohieddine, who has not been able to find a job in his field since he graduated two years ago.

Another bystander, Ramadan Mohamed, 23, has a law degree and sells sunglasses on a sidewalk in Cairo's downtown. "I have to pay 150 pounds a day to bribe police officers to let me sell on this pavement. How can I be this educated and cannot work?"

But will their calls for change, really make a difference? There is hardly any precedent in Egypt for a president or leader to be ejected by the will of their people.

They have seen King Farouq ovethrown in a military coup in 1952. President Gamal Abdel-Nasser died naturally and his successor President Anwar Sadat was killed by an Islamist officer's bullet. Vice president then, Mubarak took over and has been at he helm since 1981.

"All these Arab leaders are alike. Each one clings to his throne and they don't give a damn about their people. There is a total disconnect. They stash their cash in banks in Europe, Switzerland or America. Their days are numbered," said Moheiddine.

Many protesters said the total silence of their leaders after the violent protests swept their country spoke volumes about their governance.

"Not one official has said a word in three days to try and appease people or address their demands," she added.

"2011 is the year of all these Arab leaders. Their lucky stars have fizzled out. The year started with the ousting of Zine al-Abidine and it won't stop," said Jamal Mosaad, a 50-year-old father of four.

Protesters said that while Mubarak and his aides boasted about security, stability and economic growth, the government with its backbone in the army and intelligence services failed to address fast-moving social changes and the bottled up aspirations of a young population with little hope.

"For 30 years this government boasted about stability and security, for 30 years this government has failed to improve the lot of people," father-of-three Jamaal Mossad, 50, said.

"In this country you have the filthy rich, the billionaire and you have people scavenging in the rubbish to find something to eat."

(Additional reporting by Marwa Awad; Editing by Angus MacSwan)