Egypt police drive riot vans into 3,000 protesters in Cairo

Around 3000 of Egyptians protesters attended a rally in the centre of the capital, where police drove riot vans into the crowd and fired shots in the air to disperse it.

The protests have continued after four people - three activists and a policeman - were killed in Tuesday's "Day of Wrath", according to Herald Scotland.

The protests against the autocratic rule of President Hosni Mubarak, inspired by the groundbreaking "Jasmine Revolution" in Tunisia, have sent shockwaves across the region and prompted Washington to prod its long-time ally on democratic reforms.

Events on the streets sent jitters Thursday through Egypt's stock exchange, which suspended trading temporarily after a drop of 6.2 percent in the benchmark EGX 30 index, a day after it fell six percent, FOCUS Information Agency reports.

Prominent Egyptian reform campaigner Mohamed ElBaradei said he expected large demonstrations across Egypt on Friday and that the time had come for President Hosni Mubarak to leave power.

"He has served the country for 30 years and it is about time for him to retire," ElBaradei, a Nobel Peace Prize-winning former head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog, told Reuters shortly before he was due to leave Vienna for Cairo on Thursday, CNBC reports.