A "horse" and a "camel" was stolen in today’s riots in Egypt

Supporters and opponents of President Hosni Mubarak battled in Cairo's main square on Wednesday the 2nd, raining stones, bottles and firebombs on each other in scenes of uncontrolled violence as soldiers stood by without intervening.

Police with civil cloths galloped on horses and camels in the middle of riots who were dragged to the ground and beaten.

Next to the Egyptian Museum next to the Tahrir Square, pro-government rioters blanketed the rooftops of nearby buildings and dumped bricks and firebombs onto the crowds below.

The two sides pummeled each other with hurled chunks of concrete and bottles at each of the six entrances of the square, where the 10,000 anti-Mubarak protesters tried to fend off the more than 3,000 attackers who besieged the square.

The protesters accused Mubarak's regime of unleashing a force of paid thugs and plainclothes police to crush their unprecedented 9-day-old movement demanding his ouster, a day after the 82-year-old president refused to step down. They showed off police ID badges they said were wrested off their attackers.

The health minister announced one dead person and nearly 600 injured. Bloodied young men staggered or were carried into makeshift clinics set up in mosques and alleyways by the anti-government side.

Protesters pleaded for protection from soldiers stationed at the square, who refused. Soldiers did nothing to stop the violence beyond firing an occasional shot in the air and no uniformed police were in sight state sources.

Some 20,000 pro-government demonstrators held an angry but mostly peaceful rally across the Nile River from Tahrir, saying Mubarak's concessions were enough and demanding protests end now that he has promised not to run for re-election in September, named a new government and appointed a vice president for the first time.

In his 10-minute speech Tuesday night, Mubarak emphasized the theme that he has often used in justifying his rule during his nearly three decades in power — that he can keep stability. Now he was promising to do so as he heads out the door.

He said he would serve out the rest of his term working "to accomplish the necessary steps for the peaceful transfer of power." He said he will carry out amendments to rules on presidential elections.