More than 5,000 protesters in Cairo

Egyptian demonstrators gather at dusk in Tahrir Square in Cairo on Jan 31, 2011. -- PHOTO: AFP

CAIRO - MORE than 5,000 people gathered in central Cairo early on Tuesday ahead of a 'march of a million' called by the opposition in their campaign to oust President Hosni Mubarak, an AFP reporter said.

Many protesters defied a curfew to bunker down overnight in Tahrir square, epicentre of the protests which have forced Mr Mubarak to announce political and economic reforms dismissed as inadequate by opposition figures.

Protest organisers have announced an indefinite general strike and called for a mass march in the capital on Tuesday, the eighth day of an uprising that has claimed at least 125 lives in clashes between demonstrators and police.

Another million-strong march was planned in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria, as national train services were cancelled in an apparent bid to stymie protests. -- AFP