2 soccer players among 27 dead as Egypt reacts to stadium ruling
Source: Agencies |
January 27, 2013, Sunday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THE director of hospitals in Egypt's Mediterranean city of Port Said says two soccer players are among the 27 people killed in riots there.
Violence erupted in Port Said after a judge sentenced 21 people to death in connection with a February 1 soccer melee that killed 74 fans of the Cairo-based al-Ahly team.
Dr Abdel-Raham Farah says Mahmoud Abdel-Halim al-Dizawi, a soccer player in Port Said's al-Marikh club, was shot three times and died.
He says Tamer al-Fahla, a soccer player who used to play for the city's main al-Masry team, was also shot dead on his way to al-Marikh club.
The club is near a prison residents tried to storm yesterday to free defendants in the soccer trial. The military has been deployed to try and restore security.
The riots added to the bloody street turmoil confronting Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.
Armored vehicles and military police fanned through the streets of Port Said after the violence. The state news agency quoted a general as saying the military aimed to "establish calm and stability in Port Said and to protect public institutions."
The unrest began with nationwide rallies on Friday to mark the second anniversary of the overthrow of autocrat Hosni Mubarak, a democratic uprising that protesters now accuse Morsi of betraying by ramming through an Islamist-hued constitution.
New flare-up
While anniversary-related violence subsided, a new flare-up hit Port Said after the court sentence.
Residents ran wildly through the streets of Port Said in rage that men from their city had been blamed for the stadium disaster, and gunshots were reported near the prison where most of the defendants were being held. State television, citing the Health Ministry, said 27 people were killed and more than 200 wounded. A witness said some men stormed a police station in Port Said, where protesters lit tires in the street, sending black smoke into the air.
At least nine people were killed in clashes with police on Friday, mainly in the port of Suez where the army has also deployed. Hundreds were injured as police rained down tear gas on protesters armed with stones and petrol bombs.
The schism between Islamists and secular Egyptians is hurting efforts by Morsi, freely elected in June, to revive an economy in crisis and reverse a slide in Egypt's currency.
The political strife and lack of security that has blighted the Arab world's most populous country over much of the post-Mubarak era is casting a chilling shadow over a parliamentary election expected to start in April.
Highlighting tensions, the opposition National Salvation Front coalition called for a government of national unity and an early presidential vote among other demands. It said it would call for more protests next Friday and could boycott the parliamentary election if its demands are not met.
Thrown off balconies
At the Port Said soccer stadium a year ago, many spectators were crushed and witnesses saw some thrown off balconies after the match between al-Ahly and al-Masry.
Families of victims in court cheered and wept for joy when Judge Sobhy Abdel Maguid read a list of 21 names "referred to the Mufti", a phrase used to denote execution, as all death sentences must be reviewed by Egypt's top religious authority.
A total of 73 people have been standing trial. Other rulings will be issued on March 9, the judge said.
One relative in the court shouted: "God is greatest." Outside the Al Ahly club in Cairo, fans also cheered. They had threatened more violence unless the death penalty was meted out.
Violence erupted in Port Said after a judge sentenced 21 people to death in connection with a February 1 soccer melee that killed 74 fans of the Cairo-based al-Ahly team.
Dr Abdel-Raham Farah says Mahmoud Abdel-Halim al-Dizawi, a soccer player in Port Said's al-Marikh club, was shot three times and died.
He says Tamer al-Fahla, a soccer player who used to play for the city's main al-Masry team, was also shot dead on his way to al-Marikh club.
The club is near a prison residents tried to storm yesterday to free defendants in the soccer trial. The military has been deployed to try and restore security.
The riots added to the bloody street turmoil confronting Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.
Armored vehicles and military police fanned through the streets of Port Said after the violence. The state news agency quoted a general as saying the military aimed to "establish calm and stability in Port Said and to protect public institutions."
The unrest began with nationwide rallies on Friday to mark the second anniversary of the overthrow of autocrat Hosni Mubarak, a democratic uprising that protesters now accuse Morsi of betraying by ramming through an Islamist-hued constitution.
New flare-up
While anniversary-related violence subsided, a new flare-up hit Port Said after the court sentence.
Residents ran wildly through the streets of Port Said in rage that men from their city had been blamed for the stadium disaster, and gunshots were reported near the prison where most of the defendants were being held. State television, citing the Health Ministry, said 27 people were killed and more than 200 wounded. A witness said some men stormed a police station in Port Said, where protesters lit tires in the street, sending black smoke into the air.
At least nine people were killed in clashes with police on Friday, mainly in the port of Suez where the army has also deployed. Hundreds were injured as police rained down tear gas on protesters armed with stones and petrol bombs.
The schism between Islamists and secular Egyptians is hurting efforts by Morsi, freely elected in June, to revive an economy in crisis and reverse a slide in Egypt's currency.
The political strife and lack of security that has blighted the Arab world's most populous country over much of the post-Mubarak era is casting a chilling shadow over a parliamentary election expected to start in April.
Highlighting tensions, the opposition National Salvation Front coalition called for a government of national unity and an early presidential vote among other demands. It said it would call for more protests next Friday and could boycott the parliamentary election if its demands are not met.
Thrown off balconies
At the Port Said soccer stadium a year ago, many spectators were crushed and witnesses saw some thrown off balconies after the match between al-Ahly and al-Masry.
Families of victims in court cheered and wept for joy when Judge Sobhy Abdel Maguid read a list of 21 names "referred to the Mufti", a phrase used to denote execution, as all death sentences must be reviewed by Egypt's top religious authority.
A total of 73 people have been standing trial. Other rulings will be issued on March 9, the judge said.
One relative in the court shouted: "God is greatest." Outside the Al Ahly club in Cairo, fans also cheered. They had threatened more violence unless the death penalty was meted out.
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