BBC News with Gaenor Howells

Thousands of Egyptian protesters are maintaining a

defiant

presence in Tahrir Square in Cairo despite an earlier violent attempt by the security forces to evict them. Reports say at least seven people were killed. There were scenes of complete panic when hundreds of soldiers and police beat protesters on their heads. Hugh Sykes is close to Tahrir Square.

I can see Tahrir Square and the protesters there although not in such large numbers as they were earlier in the day. And indeed with their extremely violent charge with batons and tear gas, the armed forces here did drive most of the protesters out of the square for a while. And I was down between where I am now and the square - about 300 metres from Tahrir Square - a few hours ago, and the street - the main, one of the main Cairo's shopping streets - absolutely filled with thousands of protesters who were running away from the tear gas. But it now seems that a lot of them have poured back into the square.

Senior Libyan officials say the former intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi, the most wanted member of Colonel Gaddafi's government still

at large

, has been captured alive in southern Libya. Mr Senussi, a brother-in-law of the former leader, had a brutal reputation among Libyans and is believed to have played a key role in attempting to crush the uprising when it began in Benghazi in February. On Saturday, former rebel fighters detained Colonel Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam. Both men are wanted by the International Criminal Court accused of war crimes.