Five dead, 800 wounded by gunfire, clash of plainclothes-protesters
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Cairo, Feb 3, IRNA -- Protesters seeking the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak gathered at Tahrir Square on Thursday after a night of gunfire and a day of mayhem that left at least five dead and more than 800 wounded.
The newly-appointed prime minister, Ahmed Shafiq, on Thursday apologized for the violence and vowed to investigate who had instigated it.
“I offer my apology for everything that happened yesterday because it’s neither logical nor rational,” he said.
In the clashes on Wednesday, the Egyptian military did nothing to intervene. But, on Thursday for the first time, a thin line of soldiers appeared to have taken up positions between the combatants and to be urging Mubarak supporters, numbering in the hundreds, to avoid confrontation.
For their part, several thousand anti-government protesters, far fewer than in previous days, called for peaceful protest.
“An Egyptian will not attack another,” some chanted from behind makeshift barricades thrown up to seal access to the square. “No bloodshed.”
Volleys of gunfire broke out in Cairo. It was unclear whether the shots came from the pro-government demonstrators or from the military forces stationed in the square.
Two people were killed by the gunfire and 45 people were wounded, said a doctor at a nearby emergency clinic set up by the antigovernment demonstrators. After the initial volleys, soldiers fired into the air, temporarily scattering most of the people in the square.
The Egyptian Health Ministry said on Thursday that five people have been killed in the violence since Wednesday and 836 injured, most of them hit by stones or beaten with metal rods and sticks.
The violence on Wednesday and Thursday seemed to have hardened the protesters’ demands, going far beyond the ouster of Mubarak.
“The people want the execution of the president,” some chanted. “Mubarak is a war criminal.”
Some low-level clashes continued, but nothing on the scale of the volleys of rocks and petrol bombs of the earlier fighting.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
