CAIRO - Egyptian police clashed with protesters in central Cairo on Monday in the latest demonstration against the 29-year rule of President Hosni Mubarak ahead of a parliamentary election this year. Police used batons and splintered wooden sticks to beat several protesters from a crowd of about 400 people, mostly from opposition groups and social movements, that turned out near the government headquarters in downtown Cairo.Analysts said the relatively small cadre of anti-government Egyptian activists would not be able to effectively challenge Mubarak's rule unless they broadened their support in the Arab world's most populous nation.
Political scientist Hassan Nafaa said attempts to use protests to achieve political opening may gain more momentum than they have before in Egypt, where rights groups say police have used arbitrary detention and torture to stifle dissent.
‘I believe demands for change are very serious this time. There is a growing feeling of danger due to having an ailing president in power. People are worried,' he said.
A wave of demonstrations erupted before the last elections in 2005, but the nascent protest movement ultimately fizzled out in the face of a tough response from Egyptian security forces.
It is uncertain if the latest protests will be any different, even though Mubarak, who is now almost 82 and is just back from surgery in Germany, has not said whether he will run for president in 2011 for a sixth six-year term.
Opposition lawmakers had called Monday's demonstration in part to condemn what they deem rough police treatment of protesters. Opponents were inflamed by comments from one MP loyal to Mubarak suggesting protesters be shot. The protests have aired several grievances, including calls for an end to a decades-old emergency law that permits indefinite detentions and to rules that make it difficult for candidates to challenge Mubarak in any vote.
Mohamed el-Beltagy, a member of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood's bloc in parliament, said ahead of the protest that the government feared such signs of Egyptians' dissatisfaction. ‘The government is keen to prevent protest mobility because it would instigate a mass reaction,' he said.