james robbins, bbc news. >> the arabic reporter for bbc told us how significant egypt is in the arab world. >> it is the most populous country, with a population up to 80 million people. egypt has one of the most powerful armies in the middle east. egypt is the closest ally after israel in the middle east to the united states. today we had mr. obama, barack obama, speaking about the protests. he said mr. mubarak must deliver on his promises. so, i mean, the protesters in egypt through our bbc arabic website and even through twitter, although the internet is blocked, they have maneuvered using old-fashioned technique. they're receiving the statement of obama with this appointment, with bitter irony, and actually they expect little or nothing from obama. >> the unrest in egypt has put washington in an awkward diplomatic position. mubarak is a key middle eastern ally. andrew north reports. >> calls for the egyptian leader to go have come to president obama's doorstep, keeping up the pressure on the u.s. administration to back the protests in cairo. >> i want obama to pick up the phone,

. >> a diplomatic correspondent james robbins takes a closer look at what's behind the protest. >> protestersin egypt and across the arab world are mainly young and have powerful peaceful weapons in their hands, cameras in their mobile phones, as the images flash around the internet, bringing others onto the street. it means the vast egyptian security apparatus is almost powerless to prevent the spread of potent images like, this of president mubarak being torn down. >> today every protester is a journalist straight from the field from where the action is going and taking place with no censorship. traditionally they can't compete with that. they can't keep up with such coverage. >> which explains why, after remarkable pictures of defiance like this one got out, the egyptian regime has simile shut down modern communications, including mobile networks, all to try to protect the old order. look at this chart of egypt internet use age over a 24-hour period. it shows the flow in megabites per second climbing until a government shutdown sent suspects crashing. >> what do the crowds on the streets w