Thousands of anti-government protesters, some hurling rocks and climbing atop an armored police truck, clashed with riot police Tuesday in the center of Cairo in a Tunisia-inspired demonstration to demand the end of Hosni Mubarak's nearly 30 years in power. Three people were killed in confrontations around the country. 
 
 Anti-government protesters demonstrate in downtown Cairo, Egypt Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2011. Hundreds of anti-government protesters marched in the Egyptian capital chanting against President Hosni Mubarak... (Associated Press) 
 
 A protester scuffles with a riot policeman as he demonstrates in downtown Cairo, Egypt Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2011. Hundreds of anti-government protesters marched in the Egyptian capital chanting against President... (Associated Press) 
 
 Protesters are confronted by riot police as they demonstrate in downtown Cairo, Egypt Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2011. Hundreds of anti-government protesters marched in the Egyptian capital chanting against President... (Associated Press) 
 
 A protestor holding a placard in French reading "Mubarak, get out", is surrounded by riot police during a demonstration in downtown Cairo, Egypt Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2011. Anti-government protesters marched... (Associated Press) 
 
 A protester scuffles with a riot policeman as he demonstrates in downtown Cairo, Egypt Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2011. Hundreds of anti-government protesters marched in the Egyptian capital chanting against President... (Associated Press) 
 
 After a day of violence, thousands of demonstrators stood their ground in downtown Cairo's vast Tahrir Square, steps away from parliament and other government buildings. They promised to camp out overnight, setting the stage for an even more dramatic confrontation. 
 
 Throughout the day, police blasted crowds with water cannons and set upon them with batons and acrid clouds of tear gas in an attempt to clear demonstrators crying out "Down with Mubarak" and demanding an end to Egypt's grinding poverty, corruption, unemployment and police abuses. 
 
 Tuesday's demonstration, the largest Egypt has seen for years, began peacefully, with police showing unusual restraint in what appeared to be a calculated strategy by the government to avoid further sullying the image of a security apparatus widely criticized as corrupt and violent. 
 
 With discontent growing over economic woes, and the toppling of Tunisia's president still resonating in the region, Egypt's government _ which normally responds with swift retribution to any dissent _ needed to tread carefully. 
 
 But as crowds filled Tahrir Square _ waving Egyptian and Tunisian flags and adopting the same protest chants that rang out in the streets of Tunis _ security personnel changed tactics and the protest turned violent. Around 10,000 protesters packed the square, the Interior Ministry said. 
 
 The sight of officers beating demonstrators had particular resonance because Tuesday was also a national holiday honoring the much-feared police. 
 
 A policeman was hit in the head with a rock during the protest in Cairo and died later in the hospital, an Interior Ministry official said. 
 
 In another demonstration in the city of Suez, two protesters were killed, he said. One of them had respiratory problems and died as a result of tear gas inhalation; the other was killed by a rock. 
 
 The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release information to journalists. 
 
 In Egypt, discontent with life in the autocratic, police state has simmered under the surface for years. It is the example of Tunisia, though, that appeared to be enough to push many young Egyptians into the streets for the first time. 
 
 "This is the first time I am protesting, but we have been a cowardly nation. We have to finally say no," said 24-year-old Ismail Syed, a hotel worker who struggles to live on a salary of $50 a month. 
 
 Demonstrators attacked a water cannon truck, opening the driver's door and ordering the man out of the vehicle. Some hurled rocks and dragged metal barricades. Officers beat back protesters with batons as they tried to break cordons to join the main group of demonstrators downtown. 
 
 Protesters emerged stumbling from white clouds of tear gas, coughing and covering their faces with scarves. 
 
 Some had blood streaming down their faces. One man fainted. Police dragged some away and beat a journalist, smashing her glasses and seizing her camera. 
 
 Crowds also marched to the headquarters of Mubarak's National Democratic Party, shouting, "Here are the thieves." 
 
 After remaining silent throughout the day, Egypt's government on Tuesday night called for an end to the protests. The Interior Ministry, which controls the security forces, said authorities wanted to allow the protesters the chance to express their opinions and accused the crowds of "insisting on provocation." 
 
 "Some threw rocks at police ... and others carried out acts of rioting and damage to state institutions," it said. 
 
 In Washington, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Egypt's government, a key U.S. ally in the Middle East, is stable despite the outpouring. Clinton said Egyptians have the right to protest, but urged all parties to avoid violence. 
 
 At one point Tuesday, the protesters seemed to gain the upper hand, forcing a line of riot police to flee under a barrage of rocks. One demonstrator climbed into a fire engine and drove it away. 
 
 "I want my 3-year-old child to grow up with dignity and to find a job just like the president," said 50-year-old Eid Attallah, who works as a driver. 
 
 He said he had heard about the planned protests from friends but didn't expect them to be so big. 
 
 Many expressed similar surprise. 
 
 "We are fed up; this is just enough," said Sayid Abdelfatah, a 38-year-old civil servant who marched with an Egyptian flag. "Tunisia's revolution inspired me but I really never thought we would find such people ready to do the same here." 
 
 During a lull in the clashes, lines of protesters bowed in unison to perform the sunset prayer as police stood aside. 
 
 Demonstration organizers issued demands for Mubarak and his government to resign, for parliament to be dissolved and for a national unity government to be formed. 
 
 To the north, in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria, thousands of protesters also marched in what was dubbed a "Day of Rage" against Mubarak and lack of political freedoms under his rule. 
 
 Like the Tunisian protests, the calls for the rallies in Egypt went out on Facebook and Twitter, with 90,000 people logging their support on the site. Organizers used the site to give minute-by-minute instructions on where demonstrators should go in an attempt to outmaneuver the police. 
 
 By late afternoon, access to Twitter appeared to have been blocked. 
 
 In another parallel with Tunisia, the protests drew energy in large part from the death of one person: a young Egyptian man named Khaled Said whose family and witnesses say was beaten to death by a pair of policemen in Alexandria last year. 
 
 His case has become a rallying point for Egypt's opposition. Two policemen are on trial in connection with his death. 
 
 Tunisia's protests were also sparked by the death of one man: a poor Tunisian vegetable vendor who set himself in fire to protest corruption. 
 
 Last week, several people in Egypt _ and elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa _ set themselves on fire in apparent attempts to copy his actions. 
 
 Mothers carrying babies also marched Tuesday and chanted, "Revolution until Victory!" while young waved signs reading "OUT!" that were inspired by the Tunisian protestations of "DEGAGE!" Men sprayed graffiti reading "Down with Hosni Mubarak." 
 
 "We want to see change just like in Tunisia," said Lamia Rayan, 24, one of the protesters. 
 
 Some passers-by dismissed the protests, saying a few thousand of Cairo's 18 million people coming out on the streets was not nearly enough to force change. 
 
 "This is all just a waste of time," said Ali Mustafa Ibrahim, who works at a cigarette stand. "These are a bunch of kids playing cat and mouse. ... It's just going to create more problems and more traffic in the city." 
 
 Nearly half of Egypt's 80 million people live under or just above the poverty line set by the United Nations at $2 a day. Poor quality education, health care and high unemployment have left large numbers of Egyptians deprived of basic needs. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Hadeel Al-Shalchi, Hamza Hendawi and Tarek el-Tablawy in Cairo and Bradley Klapper in Washington contributed to this report. ||||| Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Jon Leyne says the anger of protesters took police by surprise (The mobile phone footage in this video was sent to the BBC by members of the public) 
 
 At least three people are reported to have been killed during a day of rare anti-government protests in Egypt. 
 
 In Cairo, where the biggest rallies were held, state TV said a policeman had died in clashes. Two protesters died in Suez, doctors there said. 
 
 Thousands joined the protests after an internet campaign inspired by the uprising in Tunisia. 
 
 In central Cairo, police starting using tear gas early on Wednesday in an attempt to disperse the crowds. 
 
 Thousands of demonstrators remained in the city centre around Tahrir Square late into the night, vowing to camp out overnight. 
 
 There were appeals on Facebook for food and blankets for those staying put. 
 
 But police moved in at 0100 local time (2300 GMT Tuesday), using tear gas and driving protesters into nearby streets, with reports that some people were beaten by police. 
 
 As dawn neared, Tahrir Square was reported to be empty of demonstrators, with cleaners removing rocks and litter as police looked on. 
 
 Twitter blocked 
 
 Activists had called for a "day of revolt" in a web message. Protests are uncommon in Egypt, which President Hosni Mubarak has ruled since 1981, tolerating little dissent. 
 
 At the scene The demonstrations in Egypt were clearly inspired by what happened in Tunisia. They were bigger than anything seen here for a number of years. What was also most striking was the boldness and anger of the protesters. Even when the police moved in with water cannon and tear gas, they stood their ground. The police, by contrast, appeared wrong-footed. They are unused to confronting crowds as big and determined as this. On its own, this is not going to threaten President Mubarak's hold on power. But it must be a huge shock to him. And the protesters might just begin to think that anything is possible. 
 
 US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said her administration supported "the fundamental right of expression and assembly" and urged all parties "to exercise restraint". 
 
 She added that Washington believed the Egyptian government was "stable" and "looking for ways to respond to the legitimate needs and interests of the Egyptian people". 
 
 The events in Cairo were co-ordinated on a Facebook page - tens of thousands of supporters clicked on the page to say they would take part. 
 
 The microblogging website, Twitter, has confirmed that its website has been blocked in Egypt. 
 
 Twitter said it believed the open exchange of information and views was a benefit to societies and helped government better connect with their people. 
 
 The Swedish-based website Bambuser, which streams video from mobile phones, said it had been blocked in Egypt. On its blog, it accused Egyptian officials of trying to control the news agenda. 
 
 The BBC's Jon Leyne in Cairo said rallies had been held in several parts of the capital, and the turnout had been more than the organisers could have hoped. 
 
 Police were taken aback by the anger of the crowd and let protesters make their way to the parliament building, he says. 
 
 There police regrouped in full riot gear with tear gas and water cannon and temporarily drove the crowd back. However, protesters threw stones and stood their ground, pushing the police back until they were on the run. 
 
 Protests also broke out in other areas, including the eastern city of Ismailiya and the northern port city of Alexandria. 
 
 In Alexandria, witnesses said thousands joined the protests, some chanting: "Revolution, revolution, like a volcano, against Mubarak the coward." 
 
 'Nothing to fear' 
 
 In Cairo's Tahrir Square, demonstrators attacked a police water cannon vehicle, opening the driver's door and ordering the man out of the vehicle. 
 
 Officers beat back protesters with batons as they tried to break the police cordons to join the main demonstration. 
 
 Cairo resident Abd-Allah told the BBC that by Tuesday night some protesters were saying they wouldn't give up until President Mubarak had gone. 
 
 "People are behaving as if they are ready to die," he said. 
 
 "The atmosphere is very tense, it feels like a revolution. I see people who are determined, people who have nothing to lose, people who want a better future." 
 
 Reports said protesters had earlier gathered outside the Supreme Court holding large signs that read: "Tunisia is the solution." 
 
 Image caption A poster of Hosni Mubarak was defaced by protesters in Alexandria 
 
 Some chants referred to Mr Mubarak's son Gamal, who some analysts believe is being groomed as his father's successor. "Gamal, tell your father Egyptians hate you," they shouted. 
 
 The organisers rallied support saying the protest would focus on torture, poverty, corruption and unemployment, calling it "the beginning of the end". 
 
 Disillusioned 
 
 Weeks of unrest in Tunisia eventually toppled President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali earlier this month. 
 
 Egypt has many of the same social and political problems that brought about the unrest in Tunisia - rising food prices, high unemployment and anger at official corruption. 
 
 However, the population of Egypt has a much lower level of education than Tunisia. Illiteracy is high and internet penetration is low. 
 
 There are deep frustrations in Egyptian society, our Cairo correspondent says, yet Egyptians are almost as disillusioned with the opposition as they are with the government; even the Muslim Brotherhood, the banned Islamist movement, seems rudderless. 
 
 While one opposition leader, Mohamed ElBaradei, called on Egyptians to take part in these protests, the Muslim Brotherhood has been more ambivalent. 
 
 Our correspondent adds that Egypt is widely seen to have lost power, status and prestige in the three decades of President Mubarak's rule.
– Massive anti-government protests in Egypt today left three people dead, and demonstrators vowed to camp out overnight and continue demonstrations tomorrow, reports AP. Riot police in Cairo used tear gas, water cannons, and batons throughout the day to try to disperse protesters, who marched in what activists called a “day of revolt” inspired by the protests in Tunisia. A Cairo policeman died after being hit in the head with a rock, as did two protesters in Suez, one killed by tear gas inhalation and the other by a rock. Tens of thousands backed the Cairo demonstrations on Facebook, reports BBC, and there have been reports that Twitter has been blocked and mobile phone networks in the city knocked offline. At one demonstration, protesters rushed a water cannon vehicle, forcing out its driver, while officers beat back protesters with batons to try to prevent them from reaching the main protest nearby. “I came here today willing to die,” one 43-year-old protester said. “I have nothing to fear.” The protests are the biggest in Egypt's modern history.