Police battle protesters as violence rocks Cairo
November 21, 2011, Monday
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Firing tear gas and rubber bullets, Egyptian riot police clashed for a second day in downtown Cairo yesterday with thousands of rock-throwing protesters demanding the ruling military quickly announce a date to hand over power to an elected government.
The police battled an estimated 5,000 protesters in and around the capital's Tahrir Square, birthplace of the 18-day uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak in February. Tear gas filled the air as protesters, many chanting "freedom, freedom," pelted the police with rocks.
Yesterday's clashes, which came a day after two people were killed and hundreds wounded in similar unrest in the capital and other major cities, are stoking tensions eight days before the start of the country's first post-Mubarak parliamentary elections. The violence reflects rising public anger over the slow pace of reform and apparent attempts by Egypt's ruling generals to retain power over a future civilian government.
"We have a single demand: The marshal must step down and be replaced by a civilian council," said protester Ahmed Hani, referring to Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, Egypt's military ruler and Mubarak's longtime defense minister.
"The violence yesterday showed us that Mubarak is still in power," said Hani, who was wounded in the forehead by a rubber bullet.
Rocks, shattered glass and trash covered the pavement in Tahrir and the side streets leading off the square, while a cloud of white smoke from tear gas hung in the air. Several hundred protesters were camping out on the lawn of the square's traffic island, and protesters manning barricades into the square checked the IDs of anyone trying to enter.
The windows of the main campus of the American University in Cairo, which overlooks the square, were shattered and stores were shut. "The marshal is Mubarak's dog," read fresh graffiti in the square.
An Interior Ministry official said 55 protesters have been arrested since the violence began on Saturday.
Yahya el-Sawi, a 21-year-old university student, said he was enraged by the sight of riot police beating up protesters already hurt in an earlier attack by the security forces. "I did not support the sit-in at the beginning, but when I saw this brutality I had to come back to be with my brothers," he said.
Many of the protesters had red eyes and coughed incessantly.
Hundreds of protesters gathered near the Interior Ministry, which is in charge of police, to offer up Muslim noon prayers, but came under attack from police using tear gas and rubber bullets.
Doctors at two field hospitals in the square said they had treated around 700 protesters yesterday. Most suffered breathing problems or wounds caused by rubber bullets.
"The police are targeting the head, not the legs as they normally do," said one doctor.
Protesters were using social networking sites to call on Egyptians to join them, and there were reports of several demonstrations headed to the square.
The military, which took over from Mubarak, has repeatedly pledged to hand over power to an elected government but has yet to set a date. According to one timetable, it will happen after presidential elections late next year or early in 2013.
The protesters say this is too late. They want a handover immediately after the end of parliamentary elections in March.
The police battled an estimated 5,000 protesters in and around the capital's Tahrir Square, birthplace of the 18-day uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak in February. Tear gas filled the air as protesters, many chanting "freedom, freedom," pelted the police with rocks.
Yesterday's clashes, which came a day after two people were killed and hundreds wounded in similar unrest in the capital and other major cities, are stoking tensions eight days before the start of the country's first post-Mubarak parliamentary elections. The violence reflects rising public anger over the slow pace of reform and apparent attempts by Egypt's ruling generals to retain power over a future civilian government.
"We have a single demand: The marshal must step down and be replaced by a civilian council," said protester Ahmed Hani, referring to Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, Egypt's military ruler and Mubarak's longtime defense minister.
"The violence yesterday showed us that Mubarak is still in power," said Hani, who was wounded in the forehead by a rubber bullet.
Rocks, shattered glass and trash covered the pavement in Tahrir and the side streets leading off the square, while a cloud of white smoke from tear gas hung in the air. Several hundred protesters were camping out on the lawn of the square's traffic island, and protesters manning barricades into the square checked the IDs of anyone trying to enter.
The windows of the main campus of the American University in Cairo, which overlooks the square, were shattered and stores were shut. "The marshal is Mubarak's dog," read fresh graffiti in the square.
An Interior Ministry official said 55 protesters have been arrested since the violence began on Saturday.
Yahya el-Sawi, a 21-year-old university student, said he was enraged by the sight of riot police beating up protesters already hurt in an earlier attack by the security forces. "I did not support the sit-in at the beginning, but when I saw this brutality I had to come back to be with my brothers," he said.
Many of the protesters had red eyes and coughed incessantly.
Hundreds of protesters gathered near the Interior Ministry, which is in charge of police, to offer up Muslim noon prayers, but came under attack from police using tear gas and rubber bullets.
Doctors at two field hospitals in the square said they had treated around 700 protesters yesterday. Most suffered breathing problems or wounds caused by rubber bullets.
"The police are targeting the head, not the legs as they normally do," said one doctor.
Protesters were using social networking sites to call on Egyptians to join them, and there were reports of several demonstrations headed to the square.
The military, which took over from Mubarak, has repeatedly pledged to hand over power to an elected government but has yet to set a date. According to one timetable, it will happen after presidential elections late next year or early in 2013.
The protesters say this is too late. They want a handover immediately after the end of parliamentary elections in March.
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