CAIRO — Demonstrators made clear Tuesday that their quest to oust President Hosni Mubarak is far from over, flooding into a square in what appeared to be the largest turnout since the revolt began two weeks ago.
But even amid the reinforcements, protesters said they must do more or risk their political and physical survival. They said that if the crowds disperse but Mubarak remains in power, they might be attacked, jailed or killed.
The new vice president, Omar Suleiman, failed to calm those concerns as he delivered a mixed message Tuesday, promising that authorities would not seek retribution against demonstrators but warning that his government “can’t put up with” prolonged protests.
The protesters drew energy from Google executive Wael Ghonim, 30, who has become something of a folk hero among protesters.
“I’m not a hero, but those who were mar tyred are the heroes,” he told hundreds of thousands gathered in Tahrir Square.
Ghonim helped organize the first street protests in Cairo on Jan. 25; security officials detained him for 12 days. Many who joined the demonstrations for the first time Tuesday said Ghonim’s emotional television appearance after his release, in which he wept for those killed in the protests, had inspired them.
Ghonim galvanized a crowd that clearly rejected Suleiman’s assurances on state television that the protesters should not fear reprisals, the latest in the government’s attempts to persuade its critics to return home.
Mubarak had “issued a directive to prevent them being pursued, harassed or having their right to freedom of expression taken away,” Suleiman said.
Suleiman also quoted the president as saying that young people deserved gratitude “for this national dialogue, emphasizing that it puts our feet on the right path out of this ongoing crisis,” and he said Mubarak had called for an investigation into bloody clashes last week that protesters blame on Mubarak loyalists, undercover police and paid “thugs.”
But Suleiman also showed growing frustration with the protests. He told a meeting of newspaper chiefs that the demonstrations must end soon and repeated that there will be “no ending of the regime,” according to The Associated Press, which cited a report from the official Middle East News Agency.
The White House issued an unusually blunt rebuke to Suleiman on Tuesday over his weekend remarks suggesting that Egyptian society lacked a “culture of democracy” and was not ready for an immediate lifting of the country’s long-standing state of emergency.
“I don’t think that it in any way squares with what those seeking greater opportunity and freedom think is a timetable for progress,” White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.
He said a greater threat of instability would come from a government refusal to take steps to give demonstrators the real reforms they are looking for.
“They’re going to need to see progress from their government,” he said.
Vice President Joe Biden phoned Suleiman on Tuesday to reiterate U.S. concerns about Egypt’s response to the crisis and urged him to do more to end the arrests and harassment of journalists, protesters and activists.
Tahrir Square was decorated Tuesday with photos of some of the estimated 300 people killed during the two weeks of demonstrations. A memorial of “martyrs’ clothes” was set up at one entrance to the square.
Electricity lines have been diverted to the square to charge phones and other appliances as people in this tent city try to wait out the president.
Protesters also gathered Tuesday in front of parliament for the first time, demanding that it be dissolved.
