Violence rocks Cairo for 3rd straight day

A wounded Egyptian protester shows his blood-stained palm during clashes with security forces in central Cairo on Sunday in the third straight day of violence which has left 10 people dead and some 500 wounded. — AFP photo

Agence France-Presse . Cairo

Clashes between Egyptian troops and protesters rocked central Cairo Sunday in a third straight day of violence that has left 10 people dead and damaged a world-famous historic library.

Some 500 people have also been wounded in the street battles outside parliament and the government’s offices where protesters have been demanding an end to military rule.

The clashes erupted Friday overshadowing the count from the second phase of the first parliamentary elections since president Hosni Mubarak was ousted in February.

Demonstrators hurled stones and pieces of metal over a concrete wall erected by troops on a wide avenue leading from Tahrir Square to the seat of government, AFP journalists reported.

Outrage flared on Sunday as furious protesters brandished the frontpage of a local paper showing military police clubbing a veiled woman after having ripped her clothes to reveal her bra.

In the picture and YouTube footage of the incident, the woman is sprawled on the ground, helmeted troops towering over her, one is seen kicking her, and later she appears unconscious, her stomach bared and her bra showing.

Other pictures circulating on social media networks that have enraged protesters include one of a military policeman looming over a sobbing elderly lady with his truncheon.

The clashes were the deadliest in weeks.

The health ministry said late on Saturday that the violence had killed 10 people and wounded 500 since Friday.

Prosecutors ordered that 17 people arrested on Saturday be remanded in custody for four days.

The clashes also took their toll on the historic Institute of Egypt which was set alight on Saturday.

On Sunday, a group entered the premises to recover ancient manuscripts, some of which were burned, AFP correspondents said.

The institute for the advancement of scientific research was founded in 1798 during Napoleon Bonaparte’s expedition to Egypt.

The culture minister, Shaker Abdel Hamid, said the fire that ripped through the institute was ‘a catastrophe for science.’

‘The building contained important manuscripts and rare books which have no parallel in the world,’ Abdel Hamid said on state television late Saturday.

He said efforts were being made to salvage what can be saved and announced the creation of a committee of experts to restore the books and manuscripts ‘when conditions permit.’

Egyptian authorities have squarely blamed the protesters for the deadly unrest.

The military council which has been ruling Egypt since Mubarak’s ouster late Saturday posted footage on its Facebook page and YouTube of protesters ransacking a government office on Friday.

‘Is it not our right to protect the people’s property?’ said a brief message.

The prime minister, Kamal al-Ganzuri, raised tensions Saturday by accusing the protesters of being counter-revolutionaries and denying security forces had opened fire.
Source : New Age

Posted in: World News