Women protests   An Egyptian protest group on Monday urged women to stay away from an open-ended nightime strike planned to start in central Cairo on Friday. \"The sit-in called by the April 6 Movement in Al Tahrir Square on Friday will be limited to men at night,\" said Hani Korshed, a spokesman for the group. \"Women should observe this restriction.\"
The April 6 Movement was instrumental in igniting an 18-day popular revolt that forced long-standing president Hosni Mubarak to step down earlier this year.
Several protest groups, including the April 6 Movement, have called for a one million-strong march on July 8, dubbing it the Friday of determination --the Poor First, to push for swift and public trials of former officials, including Mubarak, his two sons and ex-interior minister Habib al-Adli.
The protesters, moreover, call for measures to promote social justice in this country, where 40 per cent of its 80 million population are believed to be living below the poverty line.
\"The decision to exclude women from the nightime sit-in on Al-Tahrir Square is because the strike is open-ended,\" said Shaheenaz Meshal, a member of the April 6 Movement.
She added that the strike would not end until \"the people\'s demands\" were met.
Protesters have begun pitching tents in Al Tahrir Square, which was the epicentre of the anti-Mubarak revolt. Dozens were injured on Sunday night in clashes between the protesters and street vendors whom the former alleged were thugs hired by Mubarak\'s loyalists.
From gulfnews .