PROTESTS ARE CONTINUING on Tahrir Square in the Egyptian capital of Cairo this morning, as protests aimed at ousting the leadership of President Hosni Mubarak continue into a third week.

The main square in the city has almost become a de facto separate town, with areas sealed off and controlled by both the pro- and anti-Mubarak protestors.

New momentum will be given to the campaign against the leader today, however, with Google staff member Wael Ghonim – who had played a key role in organising the online movement against Mubarak – set to address protesters for the first time since he was released by the Egyptian authorities.

The speech – and the new resolve to the protests – comes as the government tries to capitalise on a moderate calming of tensions in recent days; the BBC reports that the government is to increase the wages of its six million public servants by 15 per cent in an attempt to win their support.

Al Jazeera says the tactic has been dismissed by many; it quotes one protester as saying the rise “doesn’t mean anything… it’s just a tablet of aspirin, but it’s nothing meaningful.”

Despite the ongoing public calls for his departure, however, Mubarak has refused to quit until the next presidential elections are held in September.

The United States, while seeking resolution to the conflict, has showed scepticism about whether Mubarak should quit immediately; in a briefing yesterday, State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said an immediate resignation would trigger an election within 60 days, and was unsure if an election held so quickly could be fully fair and transparent.