Egypt elections: Cairo protesters clash with army

LONDON. December 17. KAZINFORM Clashes have broken out in Egypt's capital, Cairo, after the army tried to remove demonstrators staging a sit-in near the country's cabinet building; Kazinform refers to BBC.

The protesters threw stones at soldiers, who responded in kind. The troops also fired water cannons at the activists and beat them with batons.

At least two people are believed to have been killed.

The sit-in began three weeks ago after the appointment of a new prime minister by Egypt's governing military council.

The protesters want the generals to transfer power immediately to a civilian authority, and not wait until a presidential election in mid-2012.

The military council took control of the country after a popular uprising forced President Hosni Mubarak to step down in February.

Elections

The clashes in Cairo reportedly began early on Friday after images were published online of the badly bruised face of an activist, who said he had been detained by military police at the sit-in the previous day and beaten.

Protesters threw stones at the soldiers deployed outside the cabinet and parliament buildings, who responded with their own volleys of stones.

They also attempted to end the sit-in by tearing down the demonstrators' tents and carrying out several baton charges, beating several women.

By early afternoon, the troops had pulled back, but the crowd continued to be pelted with stones and concrete slabs by plainclothes and uniformed security officers on the roof of the parliament building.

Some in the crowd threw petrol bombs, setting part of the building and several cars alight. They also burnt car tires in the street to send up plumes of smoke and block the view of the security forces; Kazinform cites BBC.

To learn more go to www.bbc.co.uk