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>> from the egyptian capital in cairo. more gunfire in cairo. this situation is tense and volatile. today was the first day of clashes between rival groups. the army continues to stand by, not moving against either group. what role will the top security force plate? this is the scene live from the square tonight in cairo. welcome to the egyptian capital.

it is 11:00 in the evening. the ninth day of rage is coming to an end. it has been a long day of growing tensions in the capital. the helicopters are still circling in the skies above cairo. in the past few hours, we have heard more gunfire on the streets of the capital that we have heard in previous nights. today was the first day of confrontation in the square, this has been the focus of peace protests by anti-government protesters calling on mubarak to go. last night, the president said he would be stepping down by the elections in september. he would stay on for now to ensure stability in this country. today was not a day for order or peace.

>> passion and anger on the streets of cairo. this time from the people who want the president to stay. an astonishing thing that tyro began early. the supporters of mubarak going to the streets. they are angry at the media coverage of the story. they tried to stop the filming. they want the president to remain in power. they fear the chaos that change would bring. >> the argument that is going on in the crowd now. as the president goes, egypt will turn into another iraq. there will be anarchy in the country. this is a wall tile crowd. some are not looking for a debate. the first protester they found was attacked.

an omen of the violence to come. within hours, the two sides came together. both sides face to face for the first time. this is a clash between pro and anti-mubarak supporters. nobody knows when this is going to end. >> it took just a few minutes for mubarak's supporters to break through. one protester was simply unable to get out in time. beaten what he was hiding in the back.

the opposition accused the people of being thugs in the pocket of the president. they did not say that they were forced to be reckoned with. this is what has become of egypt's revolution. pitched battles in the heart of cairo. rocks and sticks now the language of protest. hundreds have been injured. an anti-government protesters has been taken away as passion gives way to bloodshed. the army asks people to go home. in the middle of the battle, they seem unable to stop here and egypt's up vital tourism industry has been dealt a blow. people came out to support the president. it is hard to know where this violence ends.

both sides are now fighting for their positions. there is no sign that either will back down soon. this battle seems far from over. they are far from control of the center of the city. >> what are the battle lines tonight? they are coming from the center. you can see that mubarak's people are gathered there. there were pitched battles on the edge of the square. weekend joined the panel that is close to the square. we have been hearing a lot of sounds of gunfire. is that coming from the square? >> it appears that it is coming from the egyptian museum from the edge of where we are.

it is always difficult to ascertain exactly where gunfire comes from, especially at night. we are seeing a lot of fire. there are molotov cocktails being thrown. we can only judge the movement of the crowd. there is a large movement of people that are pro-government forces moving away. you can hear gunfire echoing out to their rear. this has pretty much been a pattern for the last few hours. very volatile and very dangerous. they thinned out considerably through the day. they settled barricades on the main entrance of the square. they seem to be holding the line there. there are a number of different

streets and alleyways. >> the anti-mubaraks supporters have been working for many days. they have been saying that when the new pro-mubarak people came with knives and molotov cocktails. are the anti-government protesters responding? >> yes, they have responded. we have seen the images when they came into the center in a rather surreal moment. some of the riders were pulled off of the courses and they were beaten. some of the molotov cocktails are coming from both sides. it is impossible to know at the moment where the shooting has come from. you know over the last few days there has been a breakdown in

law and order. people have acquired the -- weapons in the neighborhood. there are weapons and sticks and knives and in some cases, guns as well. it is not surprising that this has manifested itself out in the square. they want to try to dominate the shape and direction of where the struggle is going. >> in all of the approaches to the square are so tightly controlled by the army on their tanks and armored personnel. the organizers carry out checks. how did people manage to get in? horses and camels. are they on the outskirts of the square? >> i think it was a question of sheer numbers. yesterday, this has been highly controlled.

people ask for identity cards to get in. the sheer volume of people involved means that the army's ability to control a crowd has been diminished. at one point we were there and there were people moving up the pavement. the main road being the purview of the military. the next moment, there were thousands of mubarak's supporters flooding the streets along the square. they were incapable of being out on the streets to do anything about it. nobody is in control at the moment. they are up to the job of trying to bring order to the streets. the army has said that they do not necessarily think that that is its role.

one of the officers was asked by our translator, why are you not doing anything about it? he responded, that is not my job. that is not what we are here to do. >> we heard that announcement by the army earlier this weekend which reassured protestors that they would not fire on them. they made it clear that their job was to provide order to maintain public property. let me ask you about the accusation by many of the protesters. we have reliable reports that it seems true that some of the people coming out were put on the streets by members of the national democratic party or their allies to deliberately create public disorder. >> i think there is an element of truth in that.

we know that has happened. i have heard from people that are on the anti-mubarak protest movement. it is always difficult in egypt to try to ascertain the truth of what is going on. the sheer volume of people that seem to appear from nowhere, do not forget the anti-mubarak protesters relied on facebook to get the word out. how was it possible to bring about so many people in favor of mubarak today? how was that done? there are plenty of rumors. money being offered, people being told that this is what they must do. people being egged on or financially rewarded to come out on the streets.

to be fair, i do not think that that is the -- everyone out there. there may be plainclothed policemen and state services. there are also lots of ordinary people from cairo. the difficult piece is, why did they come out? most people have been suffering economically. they did not get their pay packages at the end of the month. people fear the chaos that they have seen on the streets. some people were offended. last week, after president mubarak address the nation, there was a serious insult. they said that they had offended the position of the presidency. there are a whole range of things working together. undoubtedly, there has been a deliberate role trying to agitate the crowds in this situation.

this is being done absolutely deliberately to create fear that makes people say, this is enough. we need to go home. we need some form of law and order back on the streets. >> our world affairs correspondent. thank you for joining us with the update. describing what is unfolding in the square tonight. he gave some explanations as to who might be behind the sudden violent turn in the protest and raising the questions that have been passed from the very beginning. what side is the army on? what will they do when these protests turned violent? on a night where there has been much more gunfire in the capital and more violence in the square

than we have seen since the very early days when the riot police were on the streets. we will continue to keep an eye on all of the developments. >> good to have you with us on the "bbc world news." yemen's president is saying that he will not stand for reelection in 2013 after more than three decades in power. to the protests in egypt, they show no sign of abating. mubarak has not signaled any willingness to go before the election is scheduled later this year. he has been speaking to the bbc. he says that as commander in chief of the army, mr. mubarak is on likely to give in and stepped down.

>> i know what it is like to be a commander in chief. there are statesmen and politicians. a politician might look at this as a game. i do not care. i am a commander in chief. he is a commander. if they abandoned their posts, they are shot. i respect him very much. you see the demonstrations from everywhere supporting the president to stay until the end of his term. this is a mission. this is a difficult mission.

this is a very difficult mission to do. the easiest thing is to live his years away in luxury. he does not do that. >> he is a member of the policy committee of the ruling national democratic party. you can keep up to date any time on our website. you will find live commentary there. you will be updated around the clock. the latest headlines for you on "bbc world news." street battles in central cairo. there are still gunshots and fire bombs going off. the white house is treading a fine line between censure and condemnation. the state department has urged its new vice president to hold accountable those responsible for today's violence.

for many egyptians this past week, it has been a deeply troubling time. some have ventured out from their homes. he spent the day out from cairo's main square. >> people are fearful. what ever else president mubarak has done, he has brought a measure of stability. >> the people in liberation square, they say that president mubarak should donau straight away. >> we go now. people are fighting together. it is not good for me. >> thank you.

thank you. thank you. >> what you have is a sense of a country that is now divided. so far, the pro-democracy activists have had the streets to themselves. it is beginning to change. a few hundred meters away, a pro-mubarak demonstration is under way. they fear that cairo could go the way of baghdad. >> not know. iraq, saddam goes out, one day, destroyed. >> why are you frightened? >> long live mubarak to drown out any further discussion. this presents a challenge to the pro-democracy activists.

do they want change enough to withstand this? >> george is on the streets. clearly they are worrying political leaders across the middle east. in yemen, the president has said that he will not extend his presidential term or extend power onto his son. he has been in power more than three decades. that got the opposition groups to cancel protests scheduled for thursday. >> it was the news that the president had wanted to hear for years. in power since 1978, he told parliament when he planned to step down. >> no extension, no inheritance, and no resetting the clock. i call on the opposition to ease all planned protests. i offer these concessions in the

interest of the country. the interest of the country come in front of personal interests. >> last month, he said that he wanted the constitution changed so that he could stand for reelection in two years' time. just as in egypt, protesters took to the streets. the president also has his supporters. on wednesday, some of them rallied to his defense. the young people call themselves the will of youth. they want the president to remain in power. >> his statement today is seen as an attempt to diffuse any demonstrations for tomorrow. how will they respond to his statement? the question is, how is he going to deliver on his promises?

>> a leading political analyst is enthusiastic. >> people expect real results. i do not think that the president has in his mind, any idea. >> the opposition it still takes to the streets on thursday. they have heard this before and want more on the table. and instability is not want the poorest country in the region needs at the moment. >> let's round up some of the other international news. president obama has signed document approving a major nuclear arms treaty between the u.s. and russia. there will be big cuts between the nuclear arsenals and reestablish as a monetary system. it will come into force when the u.s. and russia exchange be signed papers.

russia is increasing the offices are in their military by 7000. the extra officers are needed for a new aerospace defense branch of the military. it has been cut heavily in recent years. at least 2000 police officers in berlin have that cleared a building occupied by squatters for two decades. police moved in including militants in their 50's. it had become a symbol of the battle against gentrification. google has accused microsoft of plagiarizing their search results. the claims that microsoft is cheating by using google search data on its own. microsoft denies the charge. it says it is just using information that customers are willing to share with them. another massive story around one of the biggest storms ever to

hit australia has hit the coast of queensland. it has already suffered months of flooding. the cyclone roars across the east coast of australia. they tell you to prepare to be ready for the cyclone. >> the cyclone hit the queensland coast at the midnight hour. 90 mile per hour winds and potentially fatal force. one would expect the worst storm in the state's history. they were in complete locked down. emergency services were unable to respond to calls from frightened residents. it is simply too dangerous to venture out onto the streets. >> we are seeing winds across this area of more than 120 kilometers per hour. we are seeing torrential rain and the beginning of some

serious wave activity. we can send out the emergency workers. these are not conditions where you can put up by helicopter to do a win to rescue. all of this is not outside of the realm of possibility. eight category five storm is the most severe level. this is thought to be over 20 miles. its front stretches some 400 miles. those in its destructive path have been warned to expect a terrifying 24 hours. some of the smaller communities along the coast have been completely evacuated. emergency relief centers our fault with over 10,000 people seeking shelter. >> i have never seen anything like this in my life. >> i do not know. >> that is still the middle of the night here.

residents remain in lockdown. people fear what dawn will bring. australia has rarely seen a storm of this intensity in an area of this populated. the people of queensland are being tested by a cyclone of potentially deadly fury. >> just to bring you up-to-date on the main news this hour. the egyptian government is saying that one person has been killed and at least 600 have been injured. this is the scene in cairo now. the two sides were pelting each other with stones. many demonstrators have left. the skirmishes are going on. we have got many more details anytime you want them on bbc.com. thanks very much for watching.

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