Sandmonkey called me from in front of the Cairo Press Syndicate, where around 100 demonstrators are under siege by the police, who crackded down earlier on the Tala’at Harb Sq solidarity demo, banning There are unconfirmed reports journalist Jano Charbel has been detained by the police, together with three others. I tried calling Jano, but his phone kept ringing and no one was answeringPolice troops also blocked the entrance of the building that houses Al-Ghad Party HQ in Tala’at Harb banning activists from leaving the building to demonstrate.

UPDATE: It’s confirmed, Jano Charbel has been arrested, according to a SMS I received from the Sandmonkey. He says there are 200 people in front of the syndicate now demonstrating in solidarity with the Mahalla strikers, and calling for the release of the detainees..

UPDATE: Jano has been released.. I’ve just spoken with him now. He says he and three other citizens were detained for over an hour near Groppie Cafe in Talaat Harb, and that earlier reports about them being taken to el-Tagamo el-Khames are not true. Jano added that police searched their bags and digital cameras, and when they found pix of the Mahalla strike on his digital camera memory card, they accused him of being a “modawwen” (”blogger”)!!! That one cracked me up… “Blogging” is a crime these days for Mubarak’s pigs..