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Egyptian voices reflect diverse crowd of protesters

By the CNN Wire Staff
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Chaos in Tahrir Square

Cairo, Egypt (CNN) -- A tapestry of people covered the streets of Egypt on Tuesday. They are young and old, rich and poor, Muslim and Christian. There were even people who, amid the sweeping calls for President Hosni Mubarak's resignation, made known their support for the embattled leader.

Here is a look at what people were saying:

Noha Tarek, political researcher and graduate student of political science

"It's a people's revolution. It doesn't have anything to do with politics or religion. The thing that is amazing about this revolution is that it came from the young people, young people who represent all sorts of different ideologies."

Maha Haggag, anti-Mubarak protester

"Maybe he doesn't understand the language of his people so I'm telling him in English: Please go away."

Marwa Thabit, anti-Mubarak protester

"We've reached the downfall of Egypt. We've hit rock bottom, so honestly, leave. Get the hell out of here and leave."

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Ali Abdel-Fattah, Leader of the banned opposition Muslim Brotherhood in Alexandria

"We want absolute freedom for the all the people. It's enough. We need freedom of expression, lifting the emergency law, and dissolving the parliament. We want civil rights to all citizens. The police should be serving the people, not the people serving the police."

Kamal Zakher, Coptic Christian intellectual and leader

"These protests are a part of a phenomenon created by the youth -- not affected by any political leadership. There is a black hole between these protesters and the current regime because these youthful protesters are a part of the internet generation who is used to quick responses. This black hole is created due to the regime's slow response to the demonstrations.

Islamic radicalism is a product of the (Egyptian) security agencies. They created it to instill fear in people. The latest prison breaks look too suspicious to be the works of rioters. I think they were coordinated by the authorities to spread chaos in the streets, making the protesters appear bad."

Afshin Rattansi, political journalist

"Mohamed ElBaradei's belated attempt at getting (into) this opposition movement -- well, it may be too late, he is a part of the international crisis group, a murky elite group with close ties to Western interests. I think the media have bought different lines as the people of Egypt have shown such courage in the face of such U.S.-backed terror that has occurred in Egypt for the past 30 years. I'm not sure Mohamed ElBaradei really stands much of a chance as senior analysts are saying."

Muna al-Mahdi, Mubarak supporter

"I am upset with the revolution in Tahrir Square. It doesn't represent us. It doesn't represent our opinion. We are here sticking with Hosni Mubarak only. Give him two months, give him time to work. And then he can go peacefully." Her voice quivers even more as she switches to Arabic to ask, "Who is going to govern Egypt? A bunch of youth?"

Hisham Qasim, newspaper publisher

"The whole country has come to standstill."

CNN's Ben Wedeman, Amir Ahmed, Arwa Damon and CNN affiliate RTTV contributed to this report.

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