Egypt Burning

Egypt Burning tells the story of the Egyptian revolution that forced Hosni Mubarak, who had ruled the country for 30 years, from power.

Through interviews with Al Jazeera correspondents on the ground – whose coverage of the popular uprising made them the target of a state campaign to get Al Jazeera off the air – the three-part series revisits those critical moments as history unfolded.

The first episode of Egypt Burning tells the story of five days in January 2011 when the people of Egypt broke through a barrier of fear they had known for a generation and rose in revolt against their president.

Anger had long been brewing in Egypt – strikes, unemployment and sectarian tension were on the rise.

Small networks of activists had been agitating against Hosni Mubarak’s autocratic rule for years. But it was only when another Arab country, Tunisia, rose up against its tyrant that the Egyptian activists attracted mass support.

People took to the streets across Egypt demanding political freedoms, an end to state corruption and a better quality of life for the impoverished population.

After seven days of mass protests, a people’s movement had taken hold of the country.

At Tahrir Square in the centre of the Egyptian capital, Cairo, the police had melted away. The army had moved in, but was doing nothing to stop the protests.

Full of hope and sensing that the regime might be cracking, the protesters called for a million people to gather and voice their demand that Hosni Mubarak step down. But the regime was about to fight back.

As the protests moved into their third week, what began as a demonstration had turned into a revolution. But with a seemingly immovable head of state and resolute protesters standing firm in their call for the president to resign, Egypt had reached a deadlock.

Tahrir Square had become a tent city; a permanent vigil for the anti-government protesters. But cracks between the demonstrators were starting to show.