Protestors Try To Storm President's Palace In Cairo
By Countercurrents.org
9 February 2013
Countercurrents.org
Protestors in Cairo tried to storm Presidential Palace in Cairo while thousands participated in demonstrations in cities across Egypt . More than hundred demonstrators were injured during clashes with police.
A Cairo datelined Reuters report [1] by Alexander Dziadosz said:
Egyptians marched and chanted against Islamist president Mohamed Mursi in cities across the country on Friday, February 8, 2013. Several hundred demonstrators attacked the presidential palace with petrol bombs and rocks.
At least 126 people were hurt in unrest in provinces while two officers and three soldiers of the Republican Guard were wounded in clashes.
Protests erupted as Mursi attempts to monopolize power as well as there are wider political and economic grievances.
The main opposition alliance signed an agreement with the ruling Muslim Brotherhood last week rejecting violence and had not officially called for marches on Friday, although some of the alliance's younger members called for protests.
Distrust of Mursi and the Brotherhood and a sense of political and economic malaise have continued to bring people into the streets.
A few hundred protesters gathered outside the presidential palace in Cairo as night fell, threw stones and homemade bombs at the main gate. Police fired into the air, shot teargas and drove cars toward the crowd to scatter them.
"The people want to overthrow the regime," the protesters chanted, turning the slogan of Arab Spring protests against the Islamist-led government.
In Zagazig north of Cairo , protesters gathered in the area of Mursi's home. The demonstrators threw rocks at police, who fired teargas back.
Some of the most violent clashes on Friday were in Tanta , hometown of an activist, 23-year-old Mohamed el-Gendi, who was buried there this week after being beaten to death by security men in Cairo .
Scores of protesters lobbed petrol bombs at riot police, who responded with teargas to scatter the demonstrators.
"Down, down with the rule of the Supreme Guide," protesters chanted, referring to Mohamed Badie, leader of the Brotherhood.
In al-Mahalla al-Kubra, protesters threw bombs and broke down the door of a city council building as they tried to break in. Police fired teargas to disperse them.
In Kafr el-Sheikh, dozens of protesters pelted police with rocks and tried to storm a government building to demand the removal of the provincial governor.
At a subway station near Tahrir Square , epicenter of the 18-day revolt that toppled Mubarak, demonstrators stopped trains by climbing onto the tracks.
In the town of El-Santa , protesters threw rocks at the offices of the Freedom and Justice Party, the Brotherhood's political party.
An Ahram Online report [2] said:
Security forces at the presidential palace fired shots to ward off hundreds of anti-Morsi protesters who managed to remove the barricades surrounding one of the palace's gates.
Hundreds of protesters chanted "Down, down with the Brotherhood," as they removed the wires and barricades which the presidential guard had set up to seal the palace.
A number of protesters threw Molotov cocktails and fireworks in the direction of the premises of the presidential palace.
Security forces used water hoses to clear protesters away from the palace's gates.
Another Ahram Online report headlined “Anti-Morsi demonstrations turn violent in Cairo ; clashes in several provincial cities” [3] said:
The head of Egypt 's Republican Guard told state-run news agency MENA: "Our soldiers are not present in the presidential palace's vicinity to avoid any direct confrontations with the people ... I ask the revolutionaries to firmly reject such acts."
Clashes broke out in the cities of Mahalla and Tanta in the late afternoon hours after a day of peaceful rallies.
In Tanta , similar clashes erupted when a group attempted to storm the governorate building.
Security forces had also foiled an attempt to storm the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party bureau in the city.
The demonstrations in the Delta cities come as part of nationwide anti-government rallies taking place in Cairo , Alexandria , Suez , and Kafr El-Sheikh.
Earlier on Friday in Cairo , hundreds marched from Mostafa Mahmoud mosque in the Cairo suburb of Mohandeseen and Nour mosque to the presidential palace.
Hundreds also demonstrated in Damietta on the Mediterranean against the government.
Marches also took place in Mansoura, Samanoud and Damanhour in the Delta, and Port Said .
The demonstrators chanted against the Muslim Brotherhood and president Morsi, who hails from its ranks.
Demonstrators also chanted against police brutality.
The opposition's call to protest came after widely published reports of human rights violations against anti-government protesters, including reports of torture.
A march from Cairo 's Shubra district is also headed to Tahrir Square , with hundreds of Coptic activists raising pictures of those killed during clashes with the army on 9 October 2011.
Known as the Maspero massacre, 28 peaceful protesters lost their lives when a march against religious discrimination was attacked by security forces. Videos of the clashes showed military tanks driving over protesters.
The Shubra march was in protest at a recent court ruling sentencing two Copts to three years in prison on charges of stealing weapons from the army during the clashes. No military personnel have been held accountable for the events.
Human dignity for all
In Tahrir Square , Imam Mohamed Abdallah Nasr, who led the Friday prayers at noon, gave a sermon discussing a video that showed the police beating and dragging a naked protester, later named as Hamada Saber.
"Human dignity should be guaranteed to all regardless of gender, race or religion," the Al-Azhar sheikh stressed.
Nasr gives the Friday sermon and leads prayers in the centre of the iconic square on days when mass demonstrations are planned.
Nasr is part of the Al-Azhar movement calling for a civil (i.e. non-theocratic) state. He is known to be an outspoken critic of the Muslim Brotherhood.
One banner in Tahrir displayed a message in French expressing solidarity with the Tunisian people after the killing of opposition figure Choukri Belaid.
Another report [4] added:
Clashes erupted in Alexandria between protesters and police in front of the Sidi Gaber police station. Police fired tear gas to disperse protesters.
Hundreds rallied in Alexandria answering a call for nationwide anti-government protests. Demonstrations also protested police brutality after several were reported tortured during last week's detentions and two were reported dead during clashes at the presidential palace.
Another report [5] said:
Hundreds of protesters attempted to storm a police station in Kafr El-Zayat on Friday afternoon, prompting clashes with police. Police fired gunshots and rounds of teargas. Some protesters were taken to hospital suffering from tear gas asphyxiation.
Morsi betrayed revolution, says Tahrir Imam
Sheikh Mazhar Shaheen, preacher at the Omar Makram mosque in Tahrir Square , called on opposition forces and activists to preserve the revolution and continue their determination to achieve its goals in his Friday sermon at the mosque [6].
"The people responsible for the deaths of young revolutionaries today are the same people who opposed the exit of the ruling regime during the January 25 revolution,” he said.
Shaheen, who has been dubbed the “Tahrir preacher”, directed his words at the ruling Islamist regime, headed by president Morsi, who hails from the Muslim Brotherhood.
Shaheen said: “It is unbelievable that when a person opposes the ruling regime, he is threatened with death.”
Shaheen's comments come after a highly controversial fatwa made last week by Al-Azhar University professor and host of a religious television show on the ultraconservative TV channel El-Hafez, Mahmoud Shaaban.
Shaaban stated that the opposition should be punished by death for attempting to bring down a leader elected by the public, directly naming National Salvation Front (NSF) heads Hamdeen Sabbahi and Mohamed ElBaradei.
Directing a statement at Morsi, Shaheen said: "We will not allow for the martyrs' blood to go in vain; these martyrs are the reason why you [Morsi] are now in power...You have to bow down to the demands of the public.”
Shaheen further added that the Al-Azhar institution had to remain independent and should not be used to stand in support of one political faction over another.
Source:
[1] Feb 8, 2013, “Egyptian protesters clash with police after days of calm”,
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/02/08/uk-egypt-crisis-protests-idUKBRE9170TL20130208
[2] Feb 8, 2013, “BREAKING: Security fires shots into air as anti-Morsi protesters charge at presidential palace”,
[3] Feb 8, 2013,
[4] Ahram Online, Feb 8, 2013, “BREAKING: Police fire teargas at anti-president demonstrators in Alexandria ”,
[5] Ahram Online, Feb 8, 2013,
“Clashes in Kafr El-Zayat as protesters attack police station”, http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/64342/Egypt/Politics-/Clashes-in-Kafr-ElZayat-as-protesters-attack-polic.aspx
[6] Ahram Online, Feb 8, 2013, “Tahrir Imam holds Morsi accountable for 'betraying revolution'”,
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