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Deadly Clashes Kill 13 as Morsi Backers Rally in Egypt
[An Nahar] At least 13 people were killed Friday in festivities across Egypt as police dispersed thousands of protesters demanding the reinstatement of deposed Islamist president Mohammed Morsi...the former president of Egypt. A proponent of the One Man, One Vote, One Timeprinciple, Morsi won election after the deposal of Hosni Mubarak and jumped to the conclusion it was his turn to be dictator... , the health ministry said. The protests came after an Islamist alliance that backs Morsi called for demonstrations ahead of a new hearing on Wednesday in a trial of the ousted president. Police moved in swiftly to disperse the rallies, after warning they would not tolerate protests by Morsi's Moslem Brüderbund following its designation as a terrorist group last week. Four were killed in Cairo and the rest in several other cities, the ministry said, adding that at least 52 people were maimed. The ministry did not say whether the dead were protesters, police or bystanders. The interior ministry said 122 protesters were jugged Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! Police fought street battles with rock-throwing protesters in several districts of Cairo. Protesters in the capital set fire to a police vehicle with petrol bombs, a security official said, with state media saying residents extinguished the fires. In the upscale neighborhood of Maadi, police fired tear gas near a military hospital as protesters threw fireworks at them, an Agence La Belle France Presse news hound said. Protesters also clashed with police on a road along the Nile River and inside the suburb. The street was littered with rocks and burning wood as police vehicles sped up and down the road to disperse the protesters. The demonstrators regrouped in a side street, facing off with riot police and chanting "They are the thugs!" Some protesters threw stones. In an eastern neighborhood of the capital, police also fired tear gas at thousands of Morsi supporters who burnt tires and threw fireworks at security forces, another AFP correspondent said. Gunshots were also heard. Protesters chanted "Down with military rule" and slogans against army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, who led Morsi's ouster in July. Cairo's main squares were sealed off by security forces with barbed wire and military vehicles. They included Tahrir Square, as well as Rabaa al-Adawiya and Nahda squares, which were the sites of a bloody crackdown on Morsi's supporters in August. State news agency MENA reported a number were maimed by birdshot in festivities in Alexandria and that Morsi supporters set fire to two civilian cars. Since the Morsi's ouster, his supporters have staged near-daily protests calling for his reinstatement, particularly after Friday prayers. But their numbers have dwindled amid a violent government crackdown. Posted by: Fred 2014-01-04 |
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