Egypt tensions spark clashes in Cairo's Tahrir Square

13 October BBC

Fresh clashes have broken out in the Egyptian capital Cairo in the worst violence since President Mohammed Mursi took office at the end of June.

Scores of people were reported injured as supporters and opponents of Mr Mursi fought in Tahrir Square. Tensions are high after Egyptian judges criticised Mr Mursi's attempt to remove the country's top prosecutor.

It follows the acquittal of 24 people accused of attacks on protesters during last year's uprising.

Witnesses said a rally critical of the president was taking place in Tahrir Square on Friday when a crowd of his supporters stormed their stage.Fighting broke out and protesters pelted each other with stones, bottles and petrol bombs.

The Health Ministry put the number of injured at 110, state TV said."My conclusion is that Mursi is just the president of the [Muslim] Brotherhood, that's all," said one protester, Sayed al-Hawari. Another, Rania Mohsen, said: "We are here against turning the state into a Brotherhood state.

We do not want to replace the old regime with one like the old one."

However, Mursi supporter Moez Naggar accused the other camp of behaving like "thugs"."We have to give Mursi a chance," he said.

As darkness fell at least two buses, believed to belong to the Muslim Brotherhood which backs Mr Mursi, were seen on fire near the square.

An urgent screen caption on Egypt's state-run Channel 1 TV read: "Muslim Brotherhood group denounces regrettable incidents in Tahrir Square, calls on its members to withdraw from the square." In unrest elsewhere, protesters in Egypt's northern industrial town of Mahalla stormed the headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood and tore down pictures of President Mursi, security officials told BBC Arabic.

The BBC's Jon Leyne in Cairo says that, 100 days into his term, this is the first time President Mursi has experienced big demonstrations against him.

However, it is not clear how much it represents wider discontent with the Muslim Brotherhood and the government, he says.

Egyptians are frustrated that so far the new president appears to have done little to change the country or boost the economy, our correspondent adds.Opponents are also angry at Egypt's proposed new constitution, which they see as too dominated by Islam.

Earlier, a group of Egyptian judges criticised President Mursi's attempt to remove the country's top prosecutor as a "farce".

The president said he was reassigning Prosecutor-General Abdel Maguid Mahmoud regarded as a figure from the era of ousted President Hosni Mubarak as Vatican envoy.

Mr Mahmoud is refusing to go.