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Home Last Updated: Sat Dec 17, 2011 18:51 pm (KSA) 15:51 pm (GMT) Nine dead as clashes between army and protesters continue for second day in Cairo
Saturday, 17 December 2011
Protesters assist an injured fellow protester during clashes with army soldiers at the cabinet near Tahrir Square in Cairo. (Reuters) inShare.3By Al Arabiya with Agencies
Dubai
Egyptian soldiers clashed with hundreds of rock-throwing protesters in central Cairo for a second consecutive day on Saturday, in a resurgence of turmoil just days after millions voted in parliamentary elections.
“The toll from incidents on Friday outside the cabinet offices reached nine dead and 299 wounded,” said Adel Adawi, an aide to the health minister quoted by state news agency MENA.
A previous toll put the dead at three and injured at 257.
The clashes have underlined the simmering tensions between activists and security officers. The violence also threatened to spark a new cycle of fighting after deadly clashes between youth revolutionaries and security forces in November that lasted for days and left more than 40 dead.
Caretaker Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzuri further raised tensions by accusing the protesters of being counter-revolutionaries and denying that security forces had opened fire as they broke up the sit-in launched against his nomination last month.
After a full day of clashes Friday, hundreds of protesters hurled stones early Saturday at security forces that have sealed off the streets around the country’s parliament building with barbed wire and large concrete blocks. Soldiers on rooftops pelted the crowds below with stones, prompting many of the protesters to pick up helmets, satellite dishes or sheets of metal to try to protect themselves.
Witnesses said that soldiers chased protesters through the streets, forcing them to retreat to nearby Tahrir Square, which served as the epicenter of the uprising that toppled longtime leader Hosni Mubarak in February.
The violence first began late Thursday after soldiers stormed an antimilitary protest camp outside the Cabinet building near Tahrir Square, expelling demonstrators demanding an end to military rule and an immediate transfer of power to a civilian authority. Witnesses said troops snatched a protester, taking him into the parliament building and beating him. The troops later moved in, burning protesters’ tents.
Rights groups and activists charge that the military is carrying on the practices of the old regime, including arresting and beating dissidents.
MENA said around 300 people have been injured in the ongoing clashes.
Funerals were expected Saturday for those killed a day earlier. Among the dead was Sheik Emad Effat, a cleric from Al-Azhar, Egypt’s most eminent religious institution. Effat had taken a pro-revolutionary position, criticizing the military and issuing a religious decree forbidding voting for former members of the regime in elections. He was shot in the chest after joining the protesters outside the Cabinet.
Many Egyptians have grown increasingly wary of the military and frustrated with its handling of the country’s transition period, and many activists accuse it of trying to hang on to power.
Mustafa Ali, a protester who was wounded by pellet shot in clashes last month, on Saturday accused the ruling generals of instigating the violence to “find a justification to remain in power and divide up people into factions.”
In a statement read on state TV Friday night, the ruling military said its forces did not intend to break up the protest and said officers showed self-restraint, denying the used any gunfire. It said the clashes began when a military officer was attacked while on duty and protesters tried to break into the parliament compound.
The young activists who led the protests against Mubarak have not translated that success into results at the polls, where Islamist parties won a clear majority of seats in the first round of voting last month over the more liberal parties that emerged from the uprising. Results from this week’s second round are expected in the coming days, with the rest of the country set to vote next month.
Images of troops protecting polling centers and soldiers carrying the elderly to the polls have served to boost the military’s image as guardians of the country. The military remains the ultimate authority on all matters of state in absence of a president.
The second round of voting took place Wednesday and Thursday in nine of the country’s 27 provinces. It covered vast rural areas where the religious stand of Islamist parties has strong support.
inShare.3Related Articles »
Egyptians elect their parliament again while army draft... Egyptians wrap up 2nd round of phased election; Islamis... Egyptian crowd clashes with police after rumors of bloo... Bloody clashes between Egypt’s protesters and militar... Clinton says women being sidelined in Egypt’s transit... Comments »
1 - Invisible Hands
aLADDIN (Guest) 11:41am GMT, 02:41pm KSA, 17/12/2011WHo is behind the protesters? and what they want? What they are agianst is law-and-order imposed by the army during transistion. they are just common criminals and should be controlled. Allah AKber
2 - Not your Business
Aladdin (Guest) 11:45am GMT, 02:45pm KSA, 17/12/2011Shame on you CLinton! what you said will not help; but create more problem and fire power for the fanatics.
3 - Thanks Arabyah
Adel Masry (Guest) 11:48am GMT, 02:48pm KSA, 17/12/2011You stopped calling terrorists (Irhabyeen) and extremists ( motaterfeen) Islamists. They are not muslims. As you know, words can be more than bullets. Allah Kabeer.
4 - Iran
Metwalee, Cairo (Guest) 11:54am GMT, 02:54pm KSA, 17/12/2011I regret to take money to protest against Government. I regret for using religion to hide my true interntion. May Allah forgive me.
5 - behind protests
True lover (Guest) 01:45pm GMT, 04:45pm KSA, 17/12/2011some thing is definitely behind innocent protesters. May be some forces do not like to Islamists to come in power ..... Allahu Akabr ..
6 - Egytpian Media
Aladdin (Guest) 05:28pm GMT, 08:28pm KSA, 17/12/2011THey are not up to their responsbilities by disclosing the groups behind this street violence. We need information who are they and who support them? I suspect the MBH and its satanic affiliates who want free had to grap power and take Egypt to Dark Age.
7 - Motivation
David (Guest) 07:28pm GMT, 10:28pm KSA, 17/12/2011NO DOUBT the military is not acting swiftly enough for the Clerics who are behind this instabilty. If the MBH controlled the military the repression would be brutal and relentless (wait...its coming). Islamists are not letting go of this historical opportunity to rule Egypt entirely. Control of the army is integral to their plan and these demonstrations and destabalizing protests will continue until someone, anyone, applies the same level of authority every prior leader of Egypt has had to in order to bring civil order to the population. Sad!Post Your Comment »
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AL ARABIYA NETWORKAbout usContactNine dead as clashes between army and protesters continue for second day in Cairo
Home Last Updated: Sat Dec 17, 2011 18:51 pm (KSA) 15:51 pm (GMT) Nine dead as clashes between army and protesters continue for second day in Cairo
Saturday, 17 December 2011
Protesters assist an injured fellow protester during clashes with army soldiers at the cabinet near Tahrir Square in Cairo. (Reuters) inShare.3By Al Arabiya with Agencies
Dubai
Egyptian soldiers clashed with hundreds of rock-throwing protesters in central Cairo for a second consecutive day on Saturday, in a resurgence of turmoil just days after millions voted in parliamentary elections.
“The toll from incidents on Friday outside the cabinet offices reached nine dead and 299 wounded,” said Adel Adawi, an aide to the health minister quoted by state news agency MENA.
A previous toll put the dead at three and injured at 257.
The clashes have underlined the simmering tensions between activists and security officers. The violence also threatened to spark a new cycle of fighting after deadly clashes between youth revolutionaries and security forces in November that lasted for days and left more than 40 dead.
Caretaker Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzuri further raised tensions by accusing the protesters of being counter-revolutionaries and denying that security forces had opened fire as they broke up the sit-in launched against his nomination last month.
After a full day of clashes Friday, hundreds of protesters hurled stones early Saturday at security forces that have sealed off the streets around the country’s parliament building with barbed wire and large concrete blocks. Soldiers on rooftops pelted the crowds below with stones, prompting many of the protesters to pick up helmets, satellite dishes or sheets of metal to try to protect themselves.
Witnesses said that soldiers chased protesters through the streets, forcing them to retreat to nearby Tahrir Square, which served as the epicenter of the uprising that toppled longtime leader Hosni Mubarak in February.
The violence first began late Thursday after soldiers stormed an antimilitary protest camp outside the Cabinet building near Tahrir Square, expelling demonstrators demanding an end to military rule and an immediate transfer of power to a civilian authority. Witnesses said troops snatched a protester, taking him into the parliament building and beating him. The troops later moved in, burning protesters’ tents.
Rights groups and activists charge that the military is carrying on the practices of the old regime, including arresting and beating dissidents.
MENA said around 300 people have been injured in the ongoing clashes.
Funerals were expected Saturday for those killed a day earlier. Among the dead was Sheik Emad Effat, a cleric from Al-Azhar, Egypt’s most eminent religious institution. Effat had taken a pro-revolutionary position, criticizing the military and issuing a religious decree forbidding voting for former members of the regime in elections. He was shot in the chest after joining the protesters outside the Cabinet.
Many Egyptians have grown increasingly wary of the military and frustrated with its handling of the country’s transition period, and many activists accuse it of trying to hang on to power.
Mustafa Ali, a protester who was wounded by pellet shot in clashes last month, on Saturday accused the ruling generals of instigating the violence to “find a justification to remain in power and divide up people into factions.”
In a statement read on state TV Friday night, the ruling military said its forces did not intend to break up the protest and said officers showed self-restraint, denying the used any gunfire. It said the clashes began when a military officer was attacked while on duty and protesters tried to break into the parliament compound.
The young activists who led the protests against Mubarak have not translated that success into results at the polls, where Islamist parties won a clear majority of seats in the first round of voting last month over the more liberal parties that emerged from the uprising. Results from this week’s second round are expected in the coming days, with the rest of the country set to vote next month.
Images of troops protecting polling centers and soldiers carrying the elderly to the polls have served to boost the military’s image as guardians of the country. The military remains the ultimate authority on all matters of state in absence of a president.
The second round of voting took place Wednesday and Thursday in nine of the country’s 27 provinces. It covered vast rural areas where the religious stand of Islamist parties has strong support.
inShare.3Related Articles »
Egyptians elect their parliament again while army draft... Egyptians wrap up 2nd round of phased election; Islamis... Egyptian crowd clashes with police after rumors of bloo... Bloody clashes between Egypt’s protesters and militar... Clinton says women being sidelined in Egypt’s transit... Comments »
1 - Invisible Hands
aLADDIN (Guest) 11:41am GMT, 02:41pm KSA, 17/12/2011WHo is behind the protesters? and what they want? What they are agianst is law-and-order imposed by the army during transistion. they are just common criminals and should be controlled. Allah AKber
2 - Not your Business
Aladdin (Guest) 11:45am GMT, 02:45pm KSA, 17/12/2011Shame on you CLinton! what you said will not help; but create more problem and fire power for the fanatics.
3 - Thanks Arabyah
Adel Masry (Guest) 11:48am GMT, 02:48pm KSA, 17/12/2011You stopped calling terrorists (Irhabyeen) and extremists ( motaterfeen) Islamists. They are not muslims. As you know, words can be more than bullets. Allah Kabeer.
4 - Iran
Metwalee, Cairo (Guest) 11:54am GMT, 02:54pm KSA, 17/12/2011I regret to take money to protest against Government. I regret for using religion to hide my true interntion. May Allah forgive me.
5 - behind protests
True lover (Guest) 01:45pm GMT, 04:45pm KSA, 17/12/2011some thing is definitely behind innocent protesters. May be some forces do not like to Islamists to come in power ..... Allahu Akabr ..
6 - Egytpian Media
Aladdin (Guest) 05:28pm GMT, 08:28pm KSA, 17/12/2011THey are not up to their responsbilities by disclosing the groups behind this street violence. We need information who are they and who support them? I suspect the MBH and its satanic affiliates who want free had to grap power and take Egypt to Dark Age.
7 - Motivation
David (Guest) 07:28pm GMT, 10:28pm KSA, 17/12/2011NO DOUBT the military is not acting swiftly enough for the Clerics who are behind this instabilty. If the MBH controlled the military the repression would be brutal and relentless (wait...its coming). Islamists are not letting go of this historical opportunity to rule Egypt entirely. Control of the army is integral to their plan and these demonstrations and destabalizing protests will continue until someone, anyone, applies the same level of authority every prior leader of Egypt has had to in order to bring civil order to the population. Sad!Post Your Comment »
registration will preserve your nickname from being impersonated.
Name:
Title: Comment: characters (550) remaining
Search Social Media »
You Tube
RSS
Al Arabiya NewsFront PageMiddle EastInternationalAnalysisBusiness & TechnologyFeatures
BlogsVarietySports
Web ServicesAl Arabiya MobileRSS
AL ARABIYA NETWORKAbout usContactNine dead as clashes between army and protesters continue for second day in Cairo