Egyptian protesters clash with police after days of calm
9 February Yahoo News
Egyptians marched and chanted against Islamist President Mohamed
Mursi in cities across the country on Friday and several hundred
attacked the presidential palace with petrol bombs and rocks. At least
126 people were hurt in unrest in various provinces, state media said,
while two officers and three soldiers of the Republican Guard were
wounded in clashes.
Protests erupted last month over what demonstrators saw as Mursi's
attempts to monopolize power as well as wider political and economic
grievances.The main opposition alliance signed an agreement with the
ruling Muslim Brotherhood last week rejecting violence and had not
officially called for marches on Friday, although some of the alliance's
younger members called for protests.While the number of protesters has
dwindled, distrust of Mursi and the Brotherhood and a sense of political
and economic malaise have continued to bring people into the streets.At
least 59 people were killed in the demonstrations between January 25,
second anniversary of the uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak
two years ago, and February 4.A few hundred protesters gathered outside
the presidential palace in Cairo as night fell, throwing stones and
homemade bombs at the main gate. Police fired into the air, shot teargas
and drove cars toward the crowd to scatter them.
“The people want to overthrow the regime,” the protesters chanted,
turning the slogan of Arab Spring protests against the Islamist-led
government they helped bring to power.In Zagazig north of Cairo,
protesters gathered in the area of Mursi's home, MENA said. The
demonstrators threw rocks at police, who fired teargas back.Egypt's
Prime Minister Hisham Kandil condemned the unrest and said the protests’
organizers had to prevent the violence and stop “criminal elements” from
carrying out destruction.ÓViolence cannot be justified under any name.
It is reprehensible behavior that harms the stability of the country and
obstructs the interests of its citizens,” he said in a statement.Two
years after sweeping autocratic rulers from power, many in Egypt and
Tunisia are angry over what they see as an attempt by Islamists to
hijack their revolutions without improving their prospects for a better
life.In Tunisia, police and mourners clashed at the mass funeral of
secular opposition leader Chokri Belaid, whose assassination on
Wednesday plunged the country deeper into political crisis.Some of the
most violent clashes on Friday were in the Nile Delta town of Tanta,
hometown of an activist, 23-year-old Mohamed el-Gendi, who was buried
there this week after being beaten to death by security men in Cairo.
Television footage showed scores of protesters lobbing petrol bombs
at riot police, who responded with teargas to scatter the
demonstrators.“Down, down with the rule of the Supreme Guide,”
protesters chanted, referring to Mohamed Badie, leader of the
Brotherhood, which has dominated Egypt's politics since the fall of
Mubarak.In al-Mahalla al-Kubra, another delta town, protesters threw
bombs and broke down the door of a city council building as they tried
to break in, MENA reported. Police fired teargas to disperse them.The
Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party issued a statement on its
Facebook page condemning “the attempts of some political forces in
al-Mahalla al-Kubra to incite violence and destruction of public
property”.In Kafr el-Sheikh, dozens of protesters pelted police with
rocks and tried to storm a government building to demand the removal of
the provincial governor, MENA said.At a subway station near Tahrir
Square, epicenter of the 18-day revolt that toppled Mubarak,
demonstrators stopped trains by climbing onto the tracks, MENA reported.
In the town of El-Santa in Gharbiya province, protesters threw rocks
at the offices of the Freedom and Justice Party, the Brotherhood's
political party, MENA reported.
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