No end in sight for Egypt uprising

Internet and mobile phone text messaging services appeared to be partially disabled, working only sporadically across the country. The government has denied disrupting communications networks that demonstrators have used to organise protests.

Internet and text messaging services flickered on and off through the night. US-based Internet monitoring firm Renesys said Egypt’s web access was totally shut down early on Friday, an event it called “unprecedented in internet history”.

“Renesys observed the virtually simultaneous withdrawal of all routes to Egyptian networks in the internet’s global routing table,” it said. “The Egyptian government’s actions tonight have essentially wiped their country from the global map.”

A page on Facebook listed more than 30 mosques and churches where protesters were expected to gather.

“Egypt’s Muslims and Christians will go out to fight against corruption, unemployment and oppression and absence of freedom,” the page said, adding more than 70,000 had signed up online.