 ZAGAZIG, Egypt -
| ... where nobody ever walks in a straight line... |
Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at crowds trying to break through blockades of polling stations in an opposition stronghold Wednesday, the final day of parliamentary elections, and two people were killed and hundreds were wounded.
| And a wonderful time was had by all, except for the dead guys... |
Government supporters armed with machetes alighted from a police armored car in this Nile Delta city and attacked supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, the government's main rival in the voting.
| Bringing in the brownshirts to do the dirty work |
The two deaths occurred in the northern town of Damietta, said Dr. Mohammed Balboula of Damietta Public Hospital.
The Interior Ministry confirmed the two deaths and accused the Brotherhood of instigating riots in Damietta.
| "Yeah! They attacked our machete-wielding brownshirts!" |
The statement indicated the police had nothing to do with the fatalities because the men were killed by live ammunition and the police in Damietta did not use firearms. | "So y'see, they musta shot each other!" |
Police also cordoned off polling stations in the southern city of Sohag, frustrating hundreds trying to vote.
"We're closed! Beat it! Go vote someplace else?"
"Where?"
"Try Argentina!" |
 The deaths raised to four the number of people killed in political violence since the elections began Nov. 9. Police in Cairo said about 600 people were wounded in election violence Wednesday, and more than 80 people were arrested.
"Ow! Ow! Ooooow!"
"Shuddup! Into the paddy wagon wit' yez!" |
Earlier, Interior Ministry spokesman Ibrahim Hammad said "the election process is going normally," apart from 10 polling stations where he accused Brotherhood "thugs" of causing disturbances.
| "Those bastards keep hitting our truncheons with their heads!" |
Hammad said the police are protecting the judges who supervise polling stations "and helping the voters to reach the ballot box." But Associated Press reporters in Zagazig, 50 miles northeast of Cairo, and Sohag, 240 miles south of the capital, saw security forces blocking voters from reaching the polls.
"'Scuse me, officer! Couldja move aside so I can vote?"
"Beat it!" |
AP photographer Amr Nabil was wounded in Zagazig and hospitalized in Cairo.
"Oooow!"
"Oh, Amr! That hadda hurt!" |
Egypt's three-stage elections, which began in November, have been plagued by increasing violence as police and government supporters try to put down a strong showing by the outlawed Brotherhood, which so far has increased its presence in parliament fivefold. Independent monitors and human rights groups have reported numerous irregularities, including busing of state employees to polling stations, tampering with ballot boxes, blockading of polling stations, and bribing, intimidating and attacking voters.
| "Hey! Dis is Egypt! What's so irregular about dat?" |
The United States sharply criticized the violence, including "intimidation and harassment" and abuse of monitors and voters by Egyptian authorities. "We've seen a number of developments over the past couple weeks during the parliamentary elections that raise serious concerns about the path of political reform in Egypt," State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said Tuesday. "Clearly, these actions send the wrong signal about Egypt's commitment to democracy and freedom, and we see them as inconsistent with the government of Egypt's professed commitment to increased political openness and dialogue within Egyptian society."
| Maybe it's the "wrong" signal, but it's an accurate signal. Lucy Ramirez would understand. |
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