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| Africa North | ||
| Egypt protests on the wane | ||
| 2012-09-16 | ||
Security forces secured the square, just a few hundred yards from the US embassy, and formed cordons in the surrounding roads. Plain-clothes officers patrolled the area, grabbing anyone they saw as suspicious. There was no sign of protests by mid-morning and traffic through Tahrir resumed. In clashes overnight, a 35-year-old man died of birdshot wounds near the heavily-fortified embassy, the target of the protests, as police used volleys of teargas to repel a crowd throwing stones and petrol bombs. The protesters said they wanted to expel the US ambassador to punish Washington over the film which was produced in California. US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta called on Egypt's government on Friday to ensure the embassy's safety. Many of the men rounded up looked bruised and one was stripped down to his underwear. "Not so rough," shouted another as he was hustled away. The square, the focus of last year's popular uprising that ousted President Hosni Mubarak, was strewn with garbage and a torched vehicle was towed away. Egypt's state news agency said 220 "troublemakers and lawbreakers" were detained during the early-morning operation. It said 54 people were jailed for four days pending prosecution over the embassy clashes. "Our presence here is to clear the square of people who are breaking the law," Interior Minister Ahmed Gamal El Din said as he inspected the area. "We must preserve the square as a symbol of the revolution. That is the aim of our operation." He said measures would be taken to ensure "those breaking the law" do not return. More than 250 people have been reported injured in the clashes since Tuesday, when protesters climbed the embassy's walls and tore down an American flag in anger at the film. | ||
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #4 Morsi, the new Hosni. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2012-09-16 07:37 |
| #3 Till the next Muslim holy day (Friday). |
| Posted by: phil_b 2012-09-16 03:56 |
| #2 Buried with a donkey He's my favorite honky... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2012-09-16 02:09 |
| #1 wait til a King Tut episode on the 60's Batman version shows on TVLand. Insane provocation. |
| Posted by: Frank G 2012-09-16 00:30 |