Egyptian troops have blasted protesters with water cannons, tear gas
and live ammunition, trying to prevent them from marching on the
Defense Ministry in clashes that left one soldier dead and scores of
people injured just three weeks ahead of presidential elections.
The
fierce street battles on Friday raised fears of a new cycle of violence
surrounding the upcoming vote to replace Hosni Mubarak, who was ousted
more than a year ago. For the first time in Egypt's chaotic transition,
hard-line Islamists, rather than secular forces, were at the forefront
of the confrontation with the military rulers who have been accused of
trying to cling to power.
The military council imposed an 11 p.m.
to 7 a.m. curfew on the area surrounding the Defense Ministry, which
has emerged as a flashpoint for the protesters' anger after nine people
were killed on Wednesday in clashes between unidentified assailants and
protesters who mainly comprised supporters of a disqualified Islamist
presidential candidate.
The violence has thrown the campaign for
the May 23-24 elections into turmoil, with two front-runners and
several other candidates temporarily suspending their campaigns to
protest the military's handling of the situation.
Thousands of
demonstrators massed in Cairo's downtown Tahrir Square — the epicenter
of last year's popular uprising — earlier Friday for what has become a
weekly rally to demand that the generals speed up a transition to
civilian rule. Protesters included the powerful Muslim Brotherhood and
ultraconservative Islamists known as Salafis but also revolutionary
youth who spearheaded the mass rallies that ousted Mubarak.
Despite
official warnings against gathering, groups marched to the district of
Abbasiyah to join a sit-in outside the Defense Ministry initially held
by supporters of Hazem Abu Ismail. A lawyer-turned-preacher, hard-line
Abu Ismail was disqualified from the race because his late mother
allegedly held dual Egyptian-American citizenship, making him
ineligible under election laws. He has encouraged his followers to take
to the streets. "We are in the face of a plot to abort the revolution,"
his spokesman Gamal Saber told the Al-Jazeera network on Friday.
Violence
appeared to have ensued when protesters tried to cut through the barbed
wire that separated them from troops blocking access to the road that
leads up to the ministry. Some protesters chanted "peaceful, peaceful"
to deter fighting, but the clashes began after troops fired water
cannons at protesters and hurled stones to keep them from advancing.
The
protesters took shelter behind metal sheets snatched from a nearby
construction site and hurled stones back. Others climbed the roof of a
nearby university and showered soldiers with rocks from above. The
troops then opened up with heavy volleys of tear gas that pushed the
demonstrators back. Protesters sat fire to garbage to raise smoke to
lessen the impact of the gas.
Troops snatched one protester and
beat him with metal sticks, tearing his clothes and leaving his back
bloody — a scene aired live on state TV. Soldiers with body shield and
red helmets also were seen carrying a soldier who collapsed with his
nose bleeding.
After several hours, troops swept through the
protesters' camp, set tents on fire and drove them out of the area.
Armored vehicles cordoned off several streets and occupied the main
square and surrounding areas, including a big mosque. At least two
subway stations were closed and military helicopters were seen circling
the site of clashes.
The Health Ministry said one soldier was killed and at least 373 people were injured.
More
than 170 were arrested by the military, according to a security
official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't
authorized to release the information. Several journalists, including a
Belgian photographer, also were detained or injured as they were caught
up in the chaos.
The Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday
that at least 18 journalists have been assaulted, injured, or arrested
in the past three days while covering Cairo clashes. CPJ also called on
the ruling military to "identify the attackers and bring them to
justice immediately, as well as to release journalists in custody."
Maj.
Gen. Mukhtar al-Mullah, a member of the military council, warned late
Friday in a televised statement that those involved in or instigating
violence would be arrested. The daily Al-Ahram quoted an unidentified
military official as saying 50 men who were allegedly hiding inside a
mosque with automatic weapons were among those arrested.
Violence
also spread to the port city of Suez where anti-military protesters
pelted the building of the governor's office with stones. Seven were
arrested.
Anger at the ruling military council, which took power
after Mubarak's ouster, has risen across the political spectrum as the
generals are accused of steering a messy transition, using oppressive
measures and maneuvering to maintain a degree of power even after the
presidential election and handover of authority. The Islamists have
joined in after the disqualification of two heavyweight Islamists, Abu
Ismail and Muslim Brotherhood chief strategist Khairat el-Shater, whose
group has been frustrated that its domination of parliament — where it
holds nearly half the seats — has not translated into political power.
The
generals promised Thursday to hand over power after one of the 13
remaining candidates wins an outright victory, but they also warned
against protests near the Defense Ministry and said soldiers have the
right to defend their positions.
Friday's clashes centered around
the pro-Abu Ismail sit-in that has been maintained for a week in a
square several blocks away from the heavily guarded Defense Ministry.
The Salafis have been involved in past fighting but for the first time
were in the front lines, signaling a dangerous escalation in tensions.
The
more politically savvy Brotherhood called for the march to Abbasiyah on
Thursday but stayed in Tahrir on Friday. Some liberal and leftist
groups joined the Salafis in Abbasiyah on Friday to show solidarity
after Wednesday's deaths but most of them later withdrew.
"The
farce in Abbasiyah showed that this is a battle that does not serve any
interest for the Egyptian people," said the leftist group April 6. "We
decided to withdraw and not participate in the shedding of Egyptian
blood."
Others accused Abu Ismail of dragging the country to
confrontation with the military, reflecting divisions over whether to
support the Salafis who oppose the military but also are known to
include Islamic extremists.
"The man has believed his own lies
and is now land-mining Egypt to serve his own interests," wrote Ibrahim
Eissa, a chief editor of the independent Tahrir daily.
The
circumstances surrounding the deadly clashes on Wednesday that launched
the current round of tensions remain unclear as protesters at the
sit-in and Abbasiyah residents traded allegations.
Protesters
said that the assailants were hired thugs or plainclothes police and
troops, similar to past attacks. They also said the military allowed
Wednesday's attack to take place, noting troops nearby did nothing to
stop fighting for hours.
But residents and activists said some of the protesters were armed and provoked the situation.
Alaa Abdel-Fatah, a prominent democracy activist, claimed in several tweets that protesters had weapons.
"The
revolutionaries also fired live ammunition in the middle of residential
streets," he tweeted on Wednesday. "We have battled with the wrong
people, and we have threatened innocent souls secure in their houses."