S.F. Protesters March In Support Of Egypt Uprising

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Demonstrators marched through downtown San Francisco on Saturday to show solidarity with the uprising in Egypt and demand the ouster of the Egyptian president.

A crowd of several hundred crammed into a small plaza Saturday afternoon waving Egyptian flags and raising chants in English and Arabic against President Hosni Mubarak.

"One, two, three, four, kick the tyrant out the door!" demonstrators chanted.

Speakers at the rally condemned what they saw as President Obama's lack of support for the uprising and said U.S. aid helped prop up a regime they called oppressive.

"We want to say to the U.S. administration, stop supporting terror, terror and dictatorship," said Omar Ali, 21, of San Francisco, referring to the Mubarak regime. "Either you stand for democracy or not."

Administration officials on Saturday called on Mubarak to implement reforms and urged restraint on all sides to prevent bloodshed.

Demonstrators in San Francisco said they were not placated by Mubarak's decision Saturday to name his intelligence chief as his first-ever vice president. They said Mubarak and his allies in government have a stranglehold on the country that has led to widespread poverty and despair across the country.

"There is no life at home," said Mohammad Salama, a professor of Arabic at San Francisco State University and an Egyptian citizen who said he left the country 10 years ago to escape the dictatorship.

Seething street protests in Egypt against Mubarak's rule are now in their fifth day.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)