Hundreds of opponents of Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak called at a rally in Washington for his overthrow and urged Washington to "stand on the right side of history" and cut off aid to his regime.
Amid a sea of Egyptian and American flags and protest placards in English and Arabic with slogans including "Pharaoh no more" and "Overthrow Mubarak," the crowd, estimated at between 900 and 1,000, took turns leading chants in front of the Egyptian embassy.
"Mubarak has to go," shouted Ayman Hodhod, standing atop snow-covered security barriers.
"America should get on the right side of history and stop giving financial aid to Mubarak because he uses it to abuse his own people," said Hodhod, who had traveled from the midwestern state of Minnesota for the rally.
Mohammed Eid grabbed a megaphone, pointed it toward the embassy and led the protesters in chants in Arabic of "Down, down Mubarak" and "Seven million jobless in Egypt."
As that round of noise stopped, an emotional Amal el Bahi took up a new mantra of "Mubarak must go," shouting to the edge of hoarseness as the crowd joined in.
A pretty interesting sight here in the States, and a not-so-gentle reminder that yeah, a lot of folks are serious about Egypt being an actual democracy. Hey, after all, you can peaceably assemble here for purposes like this, especially if you don't agree with folks.
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