Leyla Qasim

Mother of the Revolution

On a sun baked hill in a quiet corner of noisy Alexandria, Khaled Said's grave is unremarkable.

Perhaps the flowers on top are more watered than the others, but the tombstone simply states his name next to a short verse from the Koran. It also has the date of his death, the 6th of June, 2010, the day many here say marked the beginning of Egypt's revolution.

Khaled was 28.  He'd gone out to use an internet cafe in the coastal city.  It was a Sunday night.

According to one man who says he was there, two policemen walked in and there was some sort of row with them and Khalid. The police started to beat him.  Khalid tried to fight back or escape. In the confusion, it was hard to tell. In the scuffle, the young man's head hit a marble table with a sickening thud and blood began to pour from his head.

The police then pulled him out of the cafe.