The US-based microblogging service that allows people to use mobile phones to broadcast short text messages was out of service in Egypt on Tuesday, according to the herdict.org tracking website recommended by Twitter.<\/p>\n
A Twitter spokesman declined to comment on what was causing the service outage in Egypt.<\/p>\n
The news came as tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets across Egypt, facing down a massive police presence to demand the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak in protests inspired by Tunisia’s popular uprising.<\/p>\n
Twitter and Facebook were among Internet social networking services reportedly being used by protesters to share information and coordinate activities.<\/p>\n
The protests were the largest and most significant since riots over bread subsidies shook the Arab world’s most populous nation in 1977, analysts said.<\/p>\n
In Cairo’s central Tahrir Square, thousands of protesters chanted in unison: “The people want the ouster of the regime.”<\/p>\n
Despite some 20,000 to 30,000 police being deployed in the center of the capital, demonstrators had broken police barriers to march towards the square, where police fired tear gas in an attempt to disperse them.<\/p>\n
The protest, called by the pro-democracy youth group the April 6 Movement, coincided with a national holiday to mark Police Day.<\/p>\n