At least 54 people have been reported dead in clashes with
anti-government protesters in Egypt on the third anniversary of the
uprising that culminated in the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak as president.
Thousands of Egyptians also rallied in support of the army-led authorities, underlining the country's deep political divisions.
The
majority of the deaths were in Cairo, according to the health ministry.
Security forces lobbed teargas and fired in the air to try to prevent
anti-government demonstrators from reaching Tahrir Square, the symbolic
heart of the 2011 uprising, where government supporters called for the
head of the military, General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, to run for the
presidency.
Armoured personnel carriers were deployed to try to keep order and anyone entering Tahrir had to pass through a metal detector.
Elsewhere
in Cairo, supporters of the man Sisi toppled last July, the Muslim
Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi, marched in over 30 neighbourhoods to
protest against Morsi's overthrow. There were smaller gatherings of
pro-democracy activists who are opposed to the authoritarianism of both
men.
The
protesters defied threats of violence from an al-Qaida-inspired group,
Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, which claimed responsibility for a series of bomb
blasts in Cairo on Friday that targeted police and killed at least eight
people.
In
the southern town of Minya, two people were killed in clashes between
Morsi supporters and security forces, said Brigadier General Hisham
Nasr, the director of criminal investigations in the regional police
department.
A woman was killed in Egypt's second city, Alexandria, during clashes between supporters of Morsi and security forces.
The
scene inside Tahrir was a stark contrast to that three years ago when
anti-government protesters clashed with police. Those in control of the
square on Saturday were supporters of the police and Egypt's security
establishment, with several men seen kissing policemen and soldiers as
they entered the square.
"The police are our brothers, our people,
our sons," said Khaled Nasredeen, a 45-year-old trader, who carried a
banner calling for Sisi to run for the presidency. "The problems between
the people and the police – it was a trick played on us by the Muslim
Brotherhood."
Other pro-government demonstrators said a security
state, led by a military strongman such as Sisi, was the only solution
to the political and economic chaos since the 2011 uprising.
"We
pray for stability. We've never seen such a bad situation in Egypt, not
even during the 1973 war," said Atef Hayal, who travelled hundreds of
miles to attend the rally. "Sisi is the only guy who can protect Egypt."
A
few miles west, at Mostafa Mahmoud square, pro-democracy activists
expressing the opposite viewpoint were prevented from gathering for a
march by police. "As
soon as I got to Mostafa Mahmoud, two cops came up to me, kept kicking
me and telling me to get the fuck out or else they'll jail me," tweeted a leftwing activist, Tarek Shalaby.
Police
later attacked another leftist rally near Tahrir Square, continuing a
crackdown on all forms of dissent that has seen thousands of Islamists
and dozens of secular activists arrested since July.
"This is not
the Egypt that we are looking for," said a spokesman for the 6 April
group, the youth movement that organised many of the first protests
against Mubarak in 2011.- Patrick Kingsley
Thousands of Egyptians also rallied in support of the army-led authorities, underlining the country's deep political divisions.
The
majority of the deaths were in Cairo, according to the health ministry.
Security forces lobbed teargas and fired in the air to try to prevent
anti-government demonstrators from reaching Tahrir Square, the symbolic
heart of the 2011 uprising, where government supporters called for the
head of the military, General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, to run for the
presidency.
Armoured personnel carriers were deployed to try to keep order and anyone entering Tahrir had to pass through a metal detector.
Elsewhere
in Cairo, supporters of the man Sisi toppled last July, the Muslim
Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi, marched in over 30 neighbourhoods to
protest against Morsi's overthrow. There were smaller gatherings of
pro-democracy activists who are opposed to the authoritarianism of both
men.
The
protesters defied threats of violence from an al-Qaida-inspired group,
Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, which claimed responsibility for a series of bomb
blasts in Cairo on Friday that targeted police and killed at least eight
people.
In
the southern town of Minya, two people were killed in clashes between
Morsi supporters and security forces, said Brigadier General Hisham
Nasr, the director of criminal investigations in the regional police
department.
A woman was killed in Egypt's second city, Alexandria, during clashes between supporters of Morsi and security forces.
The
scene inside Tahrir was a stark contrast to that three years ago when
anti-government protesters clashed with police. Those in control of the
square on Saturday were supporters of the police and Egypt's security
establishment, with several men seen kissing policemen and soldiers as
they entered the square.
"The police are our brothers, our people,
our sons," said Khaled Nasredeen, a 45-year-old trader, who carried a
banner calling for Sisi to run for the presidency. "The problems between
the people and the police – it was a trick played on us by the Muslim
Brotherhood."
Other pro-government demonstrators said a security
state, led by a military strongman such as Sisi, was the only solution
to the political and economic chaos since the 2011 uprising.
"We
pray for stability. We've never seen such a bad situation in Egypt, not
even during the 1973 war," said Atef Hayal, who travelled hundreds of
miles to attend the rally. "Sisi is the only guy who can protect Egypt."
A
few miles west, at Mostafa Mahmoud square, pro-democracy activists
expressing the opposite viewpoint were prevented from gathering for a
march by police. "As
soon as I got to Mostafa Mahmoud, two cops came up to me, kept kicking
me and telling me to get the fuck out or else they'll jail me," tweeted a leftwing activist, Tarek Shalaby.
Police
later attacked another leftist rally near Tahrir Square, continuing a
crackdown on all forms of dissent that has seen thousands of Islamists
and dozens of secular activists arrested since July.
"This is not
the Egypt that we are looking for," said a spokesman for the 6 April
group, the youth movement that organised many of the first protests
against Mubarak in 2011.- Patrick Kingsley
0 comments :
Enregistrer un commentaire
التعليق على هذا المقال