Middle East
Clashes erupt around Cairo's Tahrir Square
Protesters retake iconic square, hours after security forces moved in to break
up crowd demanding Mubarak's trial.
Evan Hill Last Modified: 09 Apr 2011 10:15
Twitter user @AhmedMorsy07 posted an image of a man who said he had been beaten
by the army [TwitPic]
Hundreds of protesters demanding that Hosni Mubarak, the former Egyptian
president, be put on trial for alleged corruption, have retaken Cairo's iconic
Tahrir Square, hours after security forces attempted to disperse them, in a
clash that killed at least two people.
By 7am (local time) on Saturday morning, army and central security troops
appeared to have withdrawn, leaving the square to protesters who set vehicles
on fire and began setting up barricades made of furniture and left-behind
barbed wire.
"The number of protesters remaining in the square is swelling, as news [of the
clashes] spreads through the city," reported Mike Hanna, Al Jazeera's
correspondent in Cairo.
Hundreds of army and security forces troops had stormed the square earlier, in
an attempt to disperse the thousands of protesters.
In scenes reminiscent of the violent 18-day uprising that ousted longtime
President Mubarak in February, protesters and riot police threw rocks at each
other, and security forces responded by firing tear gas, witnesses said.
Medical sources told Al Jazeera that at least two people had been killed in
those clashes, and that that number could rise. The military has denied that
anyone was hurt or killed in their raid of the square.
Groups of protesters rallying around the southeast corner of the square threw
bottles and possibly petrol firebombs at riot police, Michelle May, a freelance
journalist, told Al Jazeera.
One of the main roads running east from Tahrir Square towards Talaat Harb
Square was virtually empty, and gunfire seemed to have subsided, a witness said.
The military in a statement released through the state MENA news agency, said
that security forces were attempting to enforce a 2am to 5am (local time)
curfew.
"Elements from the interior ministry along with some noble citizens confronted
the riotous actions and enforced the curfew without any losses," the statement
read. "The armed forces stress that they will not tolerate any acts of rioting
or any act that harms the interest of the country and the people."
A separate statement carried on the military's Facebook page blamed "remnants"
of Mubarak's National Democratic Party for the clashes, and ordered the arrest
of four party members it accused of "thuggery" during the sit-in.
Army officers joined protest
Hundreds of soldiers and security troops backed by armoured vehicles stormed
into the square at around 3am on Saturday, firing shots into the air,
brandishing tasers and batons, and beating people, witnesses said.
YouTube user Kikhote posted this video showing army officers breaking through
lines of protesters to tear down tents, with automatic gunfire
audible in the background
Tens of thousands of protesters had flooded into the square on Friday in one of
the largest demonstrations since Mubarak stepped down on February 11.
The protesters called for the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which nows
runs the country, to honour their demands, which include prosecuting a number
of former high-ranking regime officials and Mubarak himself.
The protesters had been joined by perhaps as many as 20 military officers, who
had been under orders not to participate. Demonstrators stayed in the square
past the military curfew, which runs from 2am to 5am, saying they wanted to
protect the officers who joined.
When security forces stormed the square, some of the protesting army officers
managed to escape, while at least seven officers were arrested, witnesses said.
Loai Nagati, a student, told Al Jazeera that military police and central
security forces took some protesters and beat them, but that nobody had been
shot. Speaking while gunfire echoed in the background, he said that some of the
army officers who joined the protests had been arrested by security forces.
Amr Bassiouny, who was standing at the square's south entrance near the old
campus of the American University in Cairo, told Al Jazeera that hundreds of
soldiers backed by eight armoured vehicles entered the square from that
direction at around 3am.
The soldiers formed a semi-circle around the south end of the square and
advanced towards a tent in the middle where the protesting army officers had
been kept. Soldiers could be seen tearing down the tent in an amateur video
posted on YouTube.
For 10 or 15 minutes, the protesters and soldiers faced each other, said Sanaa
Seif, who had been in the square since 11pm. Protesters chanted "Peaceful,
peaceful," and "The people and the army, hand in hand", but the soldiers moved
forward again, firing "non-stop" into the air, she said.
Guns fired, rocks thrown
Most of the protesters retreated after the army entered the square, witnesses
said. Bassiouny ran to the west side of the square, which leads to Kasr el-Nil
Bridge, and found more troops entering from that direction.
Protesters ringing the central 'garden' in Tahrir Square faced off with
soldiers before the troops advanced
On the road leading east into the central business district around Talaat Harb
Square, protesters tore down the roof of a bus stop and dragged it down the
road to protect themselves from gunfire and rocks, said Drew Storey, a
neighbourhood resident.
Protesters and army soldiers threw rocks at each other, and at least four
injured protesters had to be carried away, he said. Soldiers fired their guns
into metal shopfronts, sending sparks flying and bullets ricocheting,
apparently to scare away the protesters, Storey said.
At one point, he said, security forces clad in riot gear chanted, cheered and
shook each others' hands after driving the protesters away.
Other central security and army forces had been stationed to the north of
Tahrir Square next to the Egyptian Museum, which military police have turned
into a makeshift detention centre.
Arbitrary arrest allegations
In recent weeks, activists have accused the army of making arbitrary arrests,
abusing and torturing prisoners, and subjecting detainees to rapid military
justice - all complaints that had fuelled mass anger against Mubarak's
government.
The increasingly icy relationship between the ruling military council and the
youth-driven protest movement was one reason many had returned to the square on
Friday. But as the protest thinned and only a few people remained,
demonstrators vowed to protect the army officers who had joined them, using
loudspeakers to urge others to defend the soldiers with their lives, Seif said.
Though some of the protesting army officers were reportedly arrested, seven or
eight escaped the square, Bassiouny said.
Seif said she saw a group of people leading some of the protesting officers out
of the square.
She said she hoped the crackdown would bring more people out into the street to
protest.
"I hope so, I mean it happened before, but I think it's getting better, because
people are now more aware that the army is not really that loyal to the
revolution," she said.
Source:
Al Jazeera
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