Egypt's Much-Ignored Curfew Will Officially End

Egypt’s practically non-existent curfew will become a literally non-existent curfew tomorrow when it is officially lifted. The move comes five months after President Hosni Mubarak imposed it in a futile attempt to keep his people from protesting. Mubarak mandated the curfew on Jan. 28 in Cairo, Alexandria, and Suez as anti-government demonstrations swelled in each city. As the protests intensified, so did the curfew—from 11 hours a day to 17 hours a day. It was eventually scaled back after he fell from power, from 2 to 5am.

The first such restriction on Cairo since 1986, the curfew was widely ignored by the city's residents. One called the restriction “imaginary,” and even a police officer said the curfew was “nominal at best.” (More Egypt stories.)