[Al Arabiya Latest] Egyptian protesters demanding an end to President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule scuffled with security forces on Tuesday and dozens were detained, witnesses and security sources said. "Down, down, Hosni Mubarak," a group of more than 200 chanted as they tried to gather in central Cairo's Tahrir Square. Police hauled away a group of about a dozen protesters, shouting "freedom, freedom" near parliament, minutes later.Hosni looks like he's gonna live well into his later 120s. Shucks, he's eighty-something and his hair's not even gray yet.
Egypt, home of world class mummification.
Hundreds of riot police were also stationed across the capital, encircling small groups of protesters as they gathered to converge on the centre.
Police beat some with sticks and dragged dozens away, witnesses said. They also chased off reporters and seized cameras being used by media trying to cover the protest.
Such demonstrations are rare in Egypt, an important U.S. ally in the region, and are usually swiftly quashed by security forces.
"We are seeking to do away with injustice and other bad things," screamed Meena Samir, a student at Cairo University.
The pro-reform group behind the protest, the Sixth of April Youth, is seeking constitutional amendments and an end to an emergency law that sanctions indefinite detentions. Egypt holds a parliament election this year and a presidential vote in 2011.
Mubarak's National Democratic Party is expected to win an overwhelming majority in parliament. But human rights groups, which have long complained of manipulation of Egyptian voting, are calling for international oversight of the elections.
Mubarak, 81, has not said whether he will run for a sixth presidential term but, if he does not, many Egyptians believe he will try to hand power to his politician son, Gamal, 46.
Rules outlined in the constitution make it almost impossible for any candidate to mount a realistic challenge for the presidency without the backing of Mubarak's ruling party.
"What we are calling for is political freedom for Egyptians through peaceful means. Our aim is to instigate political movement among the people to demand their rights," Omar Ali, a April 6 movement organizer, told Reuters before the protest.