Supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood and Egypt’s ousted president Mohammed Mursi demonstrate on the Sixth of October bridge in the centre of Cairo yesterday.
CAIRO: Police fired tear gas in central Cairo yesterday when protesters calling for the reinstatement of the ousted Islamist president, Mohammed Mursi, scuffled with drivers and passers-by annoyed that they had blocked major roads.
Supporters of Mursi, Egypt’s first freely elected president, threw rocks at police near Ramses Street, one of the capital’s main thoroughfares, and on the Sixth of October Bridge over the Nile in the first outbreak of violence in Egypt in a week.
“It’s the army against the people, these are our soldiers, we have no weapons,” said Alaa el-Din, a 34-year-old computer engineer, clutching a laptop.
“The army is killing our brothers, you are meant to defend me and you are attacking me. The army turned against the Egyptian people.”
While smaller in scale and more localised than previous clashes since Mursi was deposed by the military on July 3, scenes of running street battles will raise further concerns over stability in the Arab world’s most populous country.
Eye witnesses said thousands of pro-Mursi demonstrators were in the area and police had used tear gas several times to try to control the crowd. A large fire was burning on the bridge, although the cause was not immediately clear.
Large crowds mobilised by Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood movement gathered at various points in the city, including outside the Rabaa Adawiya mosque where they have held a three-week vigil, and at Cairo University.
The army warned demonstrators yesterday that it would respond with “the utmost severity and firmness and force” if they approached military bases.
In Paris, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warned yesterday against “revenge” and “retribution” in Egypt, which has been hit by large-scale protests since Mursi was overthrown.
The country’s first freely elected president was deposed on July 3, and a military-installed caretaker government has since tightened the screws on the Islamist leader’s backers.
“This is not the time of revenge or retribution”, Ban told reporters after holding talks with French President Francois Hollande, denouncing the arrests of officials from Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood.
“This is a time for inclusion and reconciliation.
“It is important that Egyptian authorities should include all the parties in managing the current difficult situation.”
Hollande said “clashes must be avoided” and order restored, and called for “a political solution as rapidly as possible”.
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