Thousands Flood Tahrir Square in Massive Protests, Demand Military Transfer Power to Civilians
- Posted on November 20, 2011 at 2:12pm by
Madeleine Morgenstern
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Demonstrators assist a wounded man during clashes between Egyptian police and protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square. (AP Photo)
CAIRO (AP) — Egyptian soldiers and police set fire to protest tents in the middle of Cairo’s Tahrir Square and fired tear gas and rubber bullets in a major assault Sunday to drive out thousands demanding that the military rulers quickly transfer power to a civilian government. At least three protesters were killed.
It was the second day of clashes marking a sharp escalation of tensions on Egypt’s streets a week before the first elections since the ouster of longtime authoritarian leader Hosni Mubarak in February. The military took over the country, promising a swift transition to civilian rule. But the pro-democracy protesters who led the uprising have grown increasingly angry with the ruling generals, and suspect they are trying to cling to power even after an elected parliament is seated and a new president is voted in.
The military-backed Cabinet said in a statement that elections set to begin on Nov. 28 would take place on time and thanked the police for their “restraint,” language that is likely to enrage the protesters even more.
“We’re not going anywhere,” protester Mohammed Radwan said after security forces tried unsuccessfully to push the crowds out of Tahrir, the epicenter of the uprising. “The mood is good now and people are chanting again,” he added after many of the demonstrators returned.
Protesters run from tear gas during clashes with Egyptian riot police in Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Nov. 20, 2011. (AP Photo)
Two protesters were killed on Saturday, bringing the toll for two days of violence to five. The clashes were some of the worst since the uprising ended on Feb. 11.
They were also one of only a few violent confrontations to involve the police since the uprising. The black-clad police were a hated symbol of Mubarak’s regime and after the uprising, they have largely stayed in the background while the military took charge of security.
The military, which took over from Mubarak, has repeatedly pledged to hand power to an elected civilian government, but has yet to set a specific date. The protests over the past two days have demanded a specific date be set.
According to one timetable floated by the army, the handover will happen after presidential elections late next year or early in 2013. The protesters say this is too long and accuse the military of dragging its feet. They want a handover immediately after the end of the staggered parliamentary elections, which begin on Nov. 28 and end in March.
But other concerns are also feeding the tensions on the street. Many Egyptians are anxious about what the impending elections will bring. Specifically they worry that stalwarts of Mubarak’s ruling party could win a significant number of seats in the next parliament because the military did not ban them from running for public office as requested by activists.
The military’s failure to issue such a ban has fed widely held suspicion that the generals are reluctant to dismantle the old regime, partly out of loyalty to Mubarak, their longtime mentor.
The clashes began Saturday when police tried to clear a sit-in in Tahrir by people who were wounded during the 18-day uprising and have not received medical care. Some others at the sit-in were protesting the slow pace of justice for those killed or hurt in the revolt. Clashes broke out in Cairo and other major cities and by the end of the day, two protesters were dead.
The violence resumed Sunday, when police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to try to clear about 5,000 protesters still in Tahrir. Many chanted “freedom, freedom” as they pelted police with rocks and a white cloud of tear gas hung in the air.
“We have a single demand: The marshal must step down and be replaced by a civilian council,” said protester Ahmed Hani, referring to Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, head of the ruling military council and Mubarak’s longtime defense minister. “The violence yesterday showed us that Mubarak is still in power,” said Hani, who was wounded in the forehead by a rubber bullet.
Many of the protesters had red eyes and coughed incessantly. Some wore surgical masks to ward off the tear gas. A few fainted, overwhelmed by the gas.
Around sundown, an Associated Press reporter in Tahrir said police and troops chased the protesters out of most of the square. They set at least a dozen of the protesters’ tents, along with blankets and banners, ablaze after nightfall and a pall of black smoke rose over the square as the sound of gunshots rang out.
“This is what they (the military) will do if they rule the country,” one protester screamed while running away from the approaching security forces.
Protesters initially ran away in panic while being chased by army soldiers and police, hitting them with clubs. But they later regrouped at the southern entrance of the square next to the famed Egyptian museum and began to walk back to the square. Hundreds made their way back, waving the red, white and black Egyptian flags and chanting “Allahu Akbar,” or God is great.
Both sides then began pelting each other with rocks.
Security forces pulled back to the outskirts of the square, where clashes were continuing into the night.
Mahmoud Said, a doctor at the nearby Munira hospital, said the bodies of two men were brought to the hospital. Mohamed Qenawy, a doctor at one of two field hospitals in the square, said a male protester in his early 20s also was killed after a blow to his head. The Health Ministry confirmed three people were killed and said more than 100 injured were treated at public hospitals.
Rocks, shattered glass and trash covered Tahrir Square and the side streets around it. The windows of the main campus of the American University in Cairo, which overlooks the square, were shattered and stores were shuttered.
“The marshal is Mubarak’s dog,” read freshly scrawled graffiti in the square.
An Interior Ministry statement said 55 protesters have been arrested since the violence began on Saturday and a total of 85 policemen were hurt in clashes. It said some of the protesters were using firearms, firebombs and knifes to attack security forces.
Doctors staffing two field hospitals in the square said they have treated around 700 protesters on Sunday. Alaa Mohammed, a doctor, said most of those treated suffered breathing problems or wounds caused by rubber bullets.
“The police are targeting the head, not the legs as they normally do,” said Mohammed.
By Sunday evening, clashes spread to the city of Suez east of Cairo and the coast city of el-Arish in the Sinai Peninsula, where police and protesters clashed on the streets.
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Comments (63)
Joyce D
Posted on November 20, 2011 at 5:32pmI watched this this morning on AlJazeera with Sherine Tadros reporting. It is sad that after all the sacrifices made by the protesters to achieve the overthrowing of Mubarek the end result turned out to be another dictatorship of the Field Marshalls. They have no intention of giving up power regardless of what elections are scheduled for next week. The US has been reluctant to support any democratic candidate. Rather. they are working hard to sabotage the list of the Muslim Brotherhood. Domestic pressure in the US requires the State Dept. to support the Military rulers led by Tanrari.
Report Post »karen162
Posted on November 20, 2011 at 5:13pmGet ready for the Muslim Brotherhood and once the Brothers are in power, all these useful idiots will end up like the Useful Idiots did in Iran in ‘79: Imprisoned, tortured and killed.
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on November 20, 2011 at 6:51pmI’ve been there… and I feel sorry for them. The people just want a better Economy and Life… but they are being manipulated by the Puppet Masters!
Report Post »Mr.ManZ
Posted on November 20, 2011 at 11:53pmAnd those that don’t get Imprisoned, tortured or killed will surely be recruited and turned into sheer killing machines, oh wait they are already this aren’t they.
Report Post »fishstx777
Posted on November 20, 2011 at 4:58pmThese pitchers and this cluster#### Arab spring should be the only words uttered out of every conservatives mouth tues night on CNN An I told you so moment . If I am any of the group up there this is all they would here from me. wolf blitzer lets talk foreign relations answer wolf lets talk Arab spring and what this wonderful president has created Hell IN THE MIDDLE EAST.
Report Post »chinable
Posted on November 20, 2011 at 6:36pmGrammar police are pepper spraying you.
Report Post »Give it another try so I can understand what you are saying.
fishstx777
Posted on November 20, 2011 at 7:19pm#####. C.N.N, Wolf Blitzer: Lets talk foreign politics? ( Hell in the Middle East) I evah aixelsyd yrros tuoba taht. Decoded I have dyslexia sorry about that .Thanks for making me correct myself I fell smarter already.
Report Post »affinnity
Posted on November 20, 2011 at 4:24pmI don’t live in Egypt.
Report Post »affinnity
Posted on November 20, 2011 at 4:26pmThe guy with the bloody head should buy a helmet like his buddy standing next to him has on.
Report Post »Walkabout
Posted on November 20, 2011 at 5:54pmThey’ll shoot for the throat or balls if you have head protection.
Report Post »Seneca264
Posted on November 20, 2011 at 3:36pmYou stupid camel dung gobblers, you will be begging for Mubarak to come back into power. You didn’t figure that our Marxist piece of fecal matter President Obama would set you up. Hahahahahahahahahaha……you deserve every death coming your way by your new violent military dictatorship.
Report Post »NOBALONEY
Posted on November 20, 2011 at 3:30pmThe Worlds MSM still calls this an “Arab Spring”, and a democratic movement. It’s neither! It’a a Khilafah!
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on November 20, 2011 at 4:23pmThe Masses are just changing Slave Masters!
Report Post »The_Almighty_Creestof
Posted on November 20, 2011 at 3:15pmMore of the islamic “Beverly Hillbilly’s” finding out things are a little different when you move out of the middle ages. Next thing you know, they‘ll want a McD’s on every corner.
Report Post »cloudsofwar
Posted on November 20, 2011 at 3:10pmObama supports them just like OWS.
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on November 20, 2011 at 3:13pmAnd just like with the OWS groups, when the chaos rises enough guess what Obama backed band will make their apperance to calm things down and show themselves in a false, alternative light as those who can restore law and order and faith…
The good old Muslim Brotherhood.
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on November 20, 2011 at 3:47pmTo these leaders, people are alike Chess Pieces… or a Napoleon said: Canonfodder… Useful to simply win Battles!
Report Post »Thevoice
Posted on November 20, 2011 at 3:05pmBeat a Muslium with a stick day ..Were can I sign up …
Report Post »ares338
Posted on November 20, 2011 at 2:43pmWhen are we going to realize than we cannot help these fools that are stuck in the Middle Ages. We could stay in one of these Islamic holes for twenty years and 6 months after we leave it will turn into a huge turd patch once again. It’s a huge waste of money but more importantly a waste of precious lives. Let them butcher themselves; it’s a preferable scenario!
Report Post »Walkabout
Posted on November 20, 2011 at 3:43pmI disagree.
Some of these protester might be set up by the Muslim Brotherhood as proxy to fight the Mubarak’s ruling party (Faction against Faction).
Some might be actual protesters, although I would like top see how they treat Coptic Christians & Jews.
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on November 20, 2011 at 4:05pmYou are right. The Culture of Islam… is barbaric and primitive… based upon standards of some 1,200 years ago… designed to unite Tribes into an Army. Allah… gives and takes away — So, production and productivity are accidental or “inspired”… and real Education is Censored by the Clerics!
Report Post »kcinco
Posted on November 20, 2011 at 2:37pmJust think, our president condoned the “revolution” that led up to this chaos. What does he have to say now? Nothing. Arab spring? How about arab anarchy?
Report Post »CatB
Posted on November 20, 2011 at 2:53pmHe also condones and encourages OWS here .. that says it all.
TEA!
Report Post »Walkabout
Posted on November 20, 2011 at 2:57pmThe president won’t own up to his action regarding Egypt; he’ll merely change the subject & move on.
Report Post »truthseekerusa
Posted on November 20, 2011 at 2:36pmSeems like anything Obama touches first begins to rot, and then begins to stink and ends up with more people being dead.
Report Post »Cyhort
Posted on November 20, 2011 at 2:33pmI wonder how long it’ll take the leftist media to use this to try and legitimize OWS?
Report Post »RLTW
Posted on November 20, 2011 at 2:42pmThe whole world is watching, the whole world is watching, the whole world is watching!
Report Post »Collective suicide in progress//ives, I’m looking forward to the OWS crowds spring offensive and the different factions killing each other.
82dAirborne
Posted on November 20, 2011 at 2:31pmHappy now Mr. Obama??
Report Post »CatB
Posted on November 20, 2011 at 3:07pmSadly … I think he is getting happier and happier the more the world implodes.
TEA!
Report Post »Walkabout
Posted on November 20, 2011 at 4:19pm82dAirborne
His “arab Spring” victories will still be in the news next year much to his chagrin.
Report Post »82dAirborne
Posted on November 20, 2011 at 5:55pmWe can hope. Remember the media is on his side.
Report Post »truthseekerusa
Posted on November 20, 2011 at 2:31pmWasn’t this supposed to be that wonderful Arab Spring that Obama was so thrilled about?
Report Post »TJexcite
Posted on November 20, 2011 at 2:30pmA military coup that was slow and just happened. Now they just awoke up to it.
Report Post »Baddoggy
Posted on November 20, 2011 at 2:29pmA Muslim civil war is brewing. Bring our boys home and let them have their oil. They cant eat sand. Drill here and get off foreign oil. Bring them to their knees. Let a loaf of bread cost them a million dollars and watch them beg.
Report Post »toomuchgovt
Posted on November 20, 2011 at 2:54pmTheir is a solution. Too bad it will never happen. We feed the world for free, they soak us and call us greedy.
Report Post »kcinco
Posted on November 20, 2011 at 2:58pmAmen to that!
Report Post »Walkabout
Posted on November 20, 2011 at 4:25pmtoomuchgovt & Baddoggy
Both good posts
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on November 20, 2011 at 4:51pm@Bad Doggy
Yes, there will be a war, not a civil war yet one many times worse; one based on the differences of faith and ideology within that faith. Sect against sect — focused around the Brotherhood on one part, The house of Saud on a second, and Iran on the third.
Report Post »BrerRabbit
Posted on November 20, 2011 at 2:29pmSpring to Winter ! it seems the Muslim Brotherhood is getting impatient. They want control NOW!
Report Post »Walkabout
Posted on November 20, 2011 at 4:31pmThe Muslim Brotherhood faction is fighting for control of Egypt with the “National Democratic Party” faction.
When & if the Brotherhood wins, I wonder how El-Ghad Party (“Tomorrow party”) & others will feel.
Will Code Pink, SEIU & other meddlers feel that their efforts led to something better?
Report Post »mrsalvage2
Posted on November 20, 2011 at 2:27pmThey had better be careful.
They might find themselves in a High-speed Armored Personnel Carrier Parking Zone like those Christians a couple months ago.
Just like those other Christians who got dead and their churches burned to the ground, by some unexplained force.
Report Post »Ravings of a lunatic planet
Posted on November 20, 2011 at 2:24pmReally? Why am I not shocked.
Report Post »pavepaws
Posted on November 20, 2011 at 2:24pmHow’s that Arab Spring working out?
Report Post »CatB
Posted on November 20, 2011 at 2:40pmThe opposite of Obama ….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSK-1guFLDk
TEA!
Report Post »COFemale
Posted on November 20, 2011 at 6:27pmWow F I was just saying the same thing about you. Even your name is on the losing side. You must be lonely down in your basement. Maybe you need to go back and play those Wii or PlayStation games because we are all adults here and kids just don’t belong. Especially one with your limited vocabulary. We might use big words that you don‘t understand and we don’t have the time to explain the meanings to you. Now run along like a good little boy.
Report Post »dontbotherme
Posted on November 20, 2011 at 2:24pmIt‘s hard to satisfy mob crowds when they don’t know what they want. Violence begets violence. I wonder what the end of the riots will look like.
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on November 20, 2011 at 2:23pmAnyone remeber what started the Egyptian Revolt?
Report Post »The US… had Egypt join the Kyoto Protocols upon Global Warming… where in Egypt everyone used Butane for Cooking and Heating… which increased the Cost and Limited Supply… so the people protested against this Problem!
mrsalvage2
Posted on November 20, 2011 at 2:22pmThey had better be careful.
They might find themselves in a High-speed Amored Personnel Carrier Parking Zone, just like those Christians did, after thos echurches and all those people got burned and dead (by some unknown reason of course).
Report Post »DDD
Posted on November 20, 2011 at 2:22pmWhich “civilians” do they want to be handed control?
Report Post »UBETHECHANGE
Posted on November 20, 2011 at 3:17pmYou know the anarchists, marxists, communists, Egyptian Nazi Party, Islamists, who are the “peaceful”, “civil”, and “democratic” civilians.
Report Post »DDD
Posted on November 20, 2011 at 5:59pmLike Glenn says, if people get desperate enough, they’ll back anyone who can end the chaos. In the case of Egypt, it will be the Muslim Brotherhood who comes to the rescue. Who will it be in this country?
Report Post »