ROBERT SIEGEL, host:
In Egypt today, thousands of people packed the streets, not only in Cairo, but in several cities around the country. The mood was celebratory in Cairo's Tahrir Square, and there were fewer signs of pro-Mubarak supporters who have clashed violently with protesters this week.
MICHELE NORRIS, host:
We're going to hear now from Alexandria, Egypt's second-largest city.
Unidentified Man: (Speaking foreign language)
NORRIS: Marching protesters called for President Hosni Mubarak to leave office immediately.
Unidentified Group: (Speaking foreign language)
SIEGEL: NPR's Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson is in Alexandria and joins us. Soraya, what did you see at these protests?
SORAYA SARHADDI NELSON: Well, it was amazing. The call to prayer came and went. The Friday prayers were finished, and suddenly what looked like thousands of people - I mean it's always hard to do crowd estimates but it was definitely a lot of people - pouring into the streets of this working-class neighborhood that we were in, Abu Soliman, and marching down the streets.
Now, the area that we were in, the producer and I, we were inside basically a cordon of women, if you will, dressed in Islamic hijab. And they were sort of protecting us and also walking behind this huge truck with speakers and a guy with a microphone who was basically calling out chants, and everybody was chanting with him.
And they were making their way across Alexandria. They were trying to come out in the biggest numbers yet because as the organizers were pointing out to me, they will not give up on this until Mr. Mubarak leaves.
SIEGEL: Now, but these demonstrations you're describing, the crowd sounds a lot less educated, a lot less cosmopolitan than the crowds we've been hearing about in Cairo.
NELSON: Well, certainly it's a working-class neighborhood. I mean, there are educated people among the mix there, and the organizer I spoke to is a former lawmaker who's a lawyer who actually has represented cops in Alexandria, too. I mean, it's sort of an interesting mix.
But yes, the people who live there have felt quite neglected, and certainly the banned Muslim Brotherhood group, has been a real strong social force there.
SIEGEL: And these protests in Alexandria, they were made up mostly of Muslim Brotherhood supporters?
NELSON: Certainly where I was, it was completely that. My understanding from speaking to Mr. Salay(ph), who was the former lawmaker that I was referring to, the Brotherhood was the main organizer for what was on the streets today.
SIEGEL: And was there any sign of any government or pro-Mubarak reaction to all this?
NELSON: Surprisingly little. There were reports early on that at Ibrahim Mosque, which again is this famous mosque where everyone was trying to converge, there were some skirmishes being reported between pro- and anti-Mubarak demonstrators.
But we saw none of it, I mean, certainly compared to yesterday, where there were actually people arguing on the street with each other about whether Mubarak should stay or go. It just seemed that they were not really there today.
SIEGEL: And what were other Alexandrians saying about the protests?
NELSON: Well, it's been very difficult to get them to talk. There's still a great deal of paranoia and fear here because there is no police or law enforcement presence. People have basically taken the law into their own hands, and they are carrying around sticks and knives and that sort of thing.
But the ones we did reach by telephone were on both sides of the fence. Some wanted Mubarak to stay; others didn't. But the consensus was that they are tired. They want this chaos to end. They want to be able to go back to work.
At the moment, there are food shortages. Banks are not open. And people have not been to work, most of them, for the past 11 days.
SIEGEL: Thank you, Soraya, and take care.
NELSON: You're welcome, Robert.
SIEGEL: That's NPR's Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson, speaking to us from Alexandria in Egypt. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.