Seven Dead in Egypt Anniversary Clashes Injuring Hundreds
http://nigeriaafrica1.blogspot.com/2013/01/seven-dead-in-egypt-anniversary-clashes.html
Overnight clashes between protesters and security forces killed seven people, while Egypt’s army deployed in the port city of Suez after violence that laid bare the rifts stymieing Egypt’s stability.
The sporadic clashes punctuated the second anniversary of Egypt’s 2011 uprising, with President Mohamed Mursi’s opponents massing against an Islamist they say has failed to fulfill the revolution’s goals.
The military deployed early today in Suez, site of the majority of the fatalities, in a bid to protect state institutions. Protests also erupted in Alexandria, while in Cairo, Mursi’s largely secular and youth activist opponents turned out by the tens of thousands in Tahrir Square.
The unrest, which boiled over on the day marking the second anniversary of the start of the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak, left at least 476 wounded, the Health Ministry said.
It also spotlighted the challenges and opposition to Mursi whose critics contend has focused more on cementing his and the Muslim Brotherhood’s grip on power than on reviving the economy and fulfilling the goals of the revolution.
“The people decided to take to the streets to put the revolution back on track,” Emad Gad, a former lawmaker with a secular party in the now dissolved parliament’s lower house said. “Neither the president, nor the Muslim Brotherhood honor any of the pledges they make.”
“Mursi is working for the Brotherhood and not for Egypt,” Gad said.
The military deployed early today in Suez, site of the majority of the fatalities, in a bid to protect state institutions. Protests also erupted in Alexandria, while in Cairo, Mursi’s largely secular and youth activist opponents turned out by the tens of thousands in Tahrir Square.
The unrest, which boiled over on the day marking the second anniversary of the start of the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak, left at least 476 wounded, the Health Ministry said.
It also spotlighted the challenges and opposition to Mursi whose critics contend has focused more on cementing his and the Muslim Brotherhood’s grip on power than on reviving the economy and fulfilling the goals of the revolution.
“The people decided to take to the streets to put the revolution back on track,” Emad Gad, a former lawmaker with a secular party in the now dissolved parliament’s lower house said. “Neither the president, nor the Muslim Brotherhood honor any of the pledges they make.”
“Mursi is working for the Brotherhood and not for Egypt,” Gad said.
