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He said France was so close to Tunisia that it had been unable to stand back and see the situation clearly. "Behind the emancipation of women, the drive for education and training, the economic dynamism, the emergence of a middle class, there was a despair, a suffering, a sense of suffocation. We have to recognise that we underestimated it," Sarkozy said.

A former colonial power should never "make judgments" on the internal workings of countries that once made up its empire

Before the revolution, men didn't have their rights and would take out the injustice they felt on women. If all Egyptians have their human rights, women's rights will be achieved

As a result of taking part in the revolution, Egyptian women now see themselves as equal to men and have the confidence to demand their rights. We've proved that we can organise and effect change and the challenge for us and all Egyptians is to make sure extremists don't take control

All this means nothing, however, to 25-year-old Hemmat Ahmed, who sells vegetables on a wooden cart at the side of a busy Cairo road. "I stand here from 0600 every day to feed my children and I earn more money than my husband, who doesn't have a regular job. I left school and went to work when I was eight years old, but I'll make sure my children get an education, even if I have to beg for it." She has no faith in the political system and thinks that the new president, whoever it may be, will continue to steal the country's riches. "At least Hosni Mubarak was full from 30 years of robbery. "People will soon be back in Tahrir because nothing will change. There are no jobs, no good salaries, I can't even afford oil and sugar anymore. "All I dream of is to have a home and some new clothes for my children."

Regueb, with 7,000 inhabitants, is one of the most fully mobilised places.

epresentatives of the inhabitants of Regueb attended a meeting in the provincial governorate of Sidi Bouzid calling for a regional hospital for the town; a local covered market square for the fruits and vegetables produced in Regueb; and the removal from power of all the groups of people connected to the regime of Ben Ali.

Outside the Rixos hotel we still don't believe the streets are safe. And Gaddafi men are outside with guns, waiting. We still can't leave. Elsewhere I can hear gunfire - not in celebration, but in battle.