EGYPTIAN PRESIDENT HOSNI MUBARAK’S attempts to appease his opponents by announcing a new cabinet yesterday clearly failed, as two million people took to the streets of Cairo today in protest against his rule.

Al Jazeera reports that the crowds gathered at Tahrir Square in Cairo have been calling for Mubarak to leave, chanting “Leave!” and “Go Mubarak Go”.

They cheered when an effigy of the president was hung on some traffic lights.

Thousands more have been marching in Alexandria, Sinai and other Egyptian cities today, in the eight consecutive day of demonstrations against the president. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights called on Egyptian authorities to protect civilians against any excessive force by police or the army, Reuters reports.

Navi Pillay said she had received unconfirmed reports of up to 300 deaths over the past week of the protests.

Last night, the Egyptian military announced it would not use force “against the Egyptian people”, the BBC reported. The army said “peaceful freedom of expression is guaranteed for everyone”.

Opposition leaders have called on Mubarak to resign by Friday at the latest. Crowds in Cairo cheered as a rumour that Mubarak had fled the country began to spread, Channel 4′s Jonathan Rugman reported earlier.

The price of oil hit a two-year high yesterday amid fears that the Egyptian unrest would hamper the delivery of supplies. Although those fears – and the price – have since fallen, oil remains above $100 a barrel today.