Three protesters shot dead by police in clashes in Cairo as unrest following football riot leaves new government on brink

Almost 400 other protesters injured after police fire tear gas and rubber bullets
Motorcycle drivers ferry wounded from outside Interior Ministry as ambulances unable to get through
100 people pass out from tear gas, according to Egyptian state TV
Violence at Port Said stadium on Wednesday after local team Al-Masry beat Cairo's Al-Ahly
13,000 home fans stormed pitch armed with knives and machetes
Many victims were stabbed to death, say witnesses
'Riot orchestrated by forces loyal to ousted president Hosni Mubarak'
Al-Ahly's ultra fans - key in Tahrir Square uprising - vow vengeance

By Nick Enoch

Last updated at 3:24 PM on 3rd February 2012


Police have shot dead three protesters in Egypt amid chaotic scenes that could bring down the country's new government just days after some of the worst football violence ever seen.

The victims were among a crowd of people blasted with rubber bullets and tear gas in demonstrations outside the Interior Ministry in Cairo.

One man died just feet away from the Interior Ministry, which has become a target for demonstrators furious that the police failed to prevent a soccer riot that killed 74 people in the Mediterranean city of Port Said on Wednesday. It was the world's worst soccer violence in 15 years.

A volunteer doctor said the man in Cairo died of wounds from birdshot fired at close range during clashes at dawn Friday. The doctor, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared reprisals by the authorities, said his field hospital close to Cairo's Tahrir Square was overwhelmed with injuries overnight.


Earlier today, two protesters died by police gunfire in clashes with security forces in Suez, said health official Mohammed Lasheen. Some 3,000 people had demonstrated in front of the city's police headquarters and police fired tear gas and live ammunition, witnesses said. A third protester in Suez was in critical condition because of a wound to the neck.

The deaths are likely to fuel anger in the troubled country and ignite more protests that could topple the military government that was put in place following the ousting of Hosni Mubarak last March.

Protesters angry over the deadly riot turned their rallies in Cairo and the city of Suez into a call for Egypt's ruling military council, led by Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, to surrender power because of what they say is the military's mismanagement of the country's transition to democracy.

In Suez, witnesses said about 3,000 people demonstrated in front of police headquarters early on Friday morning after news spread that one of the victims in the Port Said riot was from their city.

Health official Mohammed Lasheen said two men were killed by bullets. Fifteen other protesters were wounded, he said. Police responded with tear gas and then opened fire, witnesses said.

The deaths follow the security forces' failure to prevent a football riot that killed 74 people and left more than a thousand injured.

Anger has been building as the public and lawmakers blamed the country's military rulers for the bloodshed - the latest to signal rapidly deteriorating security in the country since Mubarak's fall nearly a year ago.

The protests started as a peaceful march from the headquarters of Al-Ahly - one of Egypt's most popular football clubs - to the area outside the ministry building near Tahrir Square, the epicentre of last year's popular uprising that ousted Mubarak.

Security forces guarding the area were separated from around 10,000 protesters by concrete blocks and barbed wire, but tensions rose as protesters advanced towards them, cursing and removing some of the barriers.

They also raised their shoes in the air and hurled stones.Police responded with heavy tear gas, sending demonstrators running, with some passing out and falling to the ground.

Adel Adawi, a Health Ministry official, told a state-run news agency that 388 protesters were injured outside the government building - most from tear gas inhalation as well as bruises and broken bones from thrown rocks.

Some tried to move the concrete blocks erected around the ministry since November, when clashes between the police and protesters then left more than 40 people dead.

At one point, the stadium lights went out, plunging it into darkness. At the time, the TV sportscaster announcing the match said authorities shut them off to 'calm the situation'.

'We were surprised the police let them in that easy. The numbers were huge,' said Ahmed Ghaffar, one of the visiting Al-Ahly fans at the stadium.
A wounded man is carried away by his comrades after the violence this morning. The unrest was fuelled after two men were killed and hundreds more injured


As many Al-Ahly fans crowded into the corridor leading out of the stadium, they were trapped, with the doors at the other end locked.

'Layers of people' were 'stuck over each other because there was no other exit,' Ghaffar tweeted. 'We were between two choices, either death coming from behind us, or the closed doors.'

He said Al-Masry fans beat Al-Ahly fans who fell on the floor. Mahmoud Ibrahim, 22, a survivor who visited a Cairo morgue where two of his dead friends were taken, said that after the lights went out, people were left 'to kill each other'.

He ran into the corridor. 'We went down trying to get out and everyone was pushing. Under me was more than three people and I am being pushed. Everyone is pushing trying to breathe.'

Al-Masry fan, Mohammed Mosleh, who posted his account on Facebook, said he saw 'thugs with weapons' on his side in the stadium where police presence was meagre.


'This was unbelievable,' he said. 'We were supposed to be celebrating, not killing people. We defeated Al-Ahly, something I saw twice only in my lifetime. All the people were happy. Nobody expected this.'

Health ministry official Hisham Sheha said the deaths were caused by stabs by sharp tools, brain haemorrhage and concussions.

TV footage showed Al-Ahly players rushing for their dressing room as fistfights broke out among the hundreds of fans swarming on to the field.

Some men had to rescue a manager from the losing team as he was being beaten. Riot police stood by, appearing overwhelmed.

A network of rabid soccer fans known as Ultras vowed vengeance, accusing the police of intentionally letting rivals attack them because they have been at the forefront of protests over the past year, first against Mubarak and now the military.

Many Ultra members were among the protesters who vowed to storm the ministry. 'Either they [police] will die or we will die,' said Islam. 'We are willing to die for the blood of martyrs.'

'RIOT DEADLIEST SINCE 1996'

The Egyptian football riot was the deadliest incident in the sport since October 1996.

A total of 78 fans died and 180 others injured in a stampede at a stadium in Guatemala City before a World Cup qualifying match between Guatemala and Costa Rica.

The match with the most fatalities was in May 1964 when a game between Peru and Argentina in Lima descended into violence and 318 fans were killed.

Britain's worst football disaster is the Hillsborough tragedy (above) in Sheffield in April 1989, in which 96 supporters died.

Several MPs said the lapse was intentional, aimed at stoking the country's insecurity since the fall a year ago of Mubarak.

He declined to give his last name because of the volatility of the situation.

Many Egyptians are blaming police and the ruling military for failing to prevent the football riot.

Prime Minister Kamal el-Ganzouri, in an emergency parliamentary session, announced he has dissolved the Egyptian Soccer Federation's board and referred its members for questioning by prosecutors about the violence.

He also said the governor of Port Said province and the area's police chief have resigned.

In an emergency session, Parliament Speaker Saad el-Katatni, of the Muslim Brotherhood, accused security authorities of hesitating to act, putting 'the revolution in danger'.

'This is a complete crime,' said Abbas Mekhimar, head of parliament's defence committee. 'This is part of the scenario of fuelling chaos against Egypt.'

The Interior Ministry said 74 people died, including one police officer, and 248 were injured, 14 of them police.

A local health official initially said 1,000 people were injured and it was not clear how severely. Security forces arrested 47 people for involvement in the violence, the statement said.
Victim: A football fan (in white) crouches down over his friend who it is believed had been killed during the Egyptian football riot

Victim: A football fan (in white) crouches down, in the Al-Ahly changing room, over his friend who it is believed had been killed during the Egyptian football riot

Egypt football riot
riot
Attacked: The final whistle prompted more than 13,000 home fans, armed with knives, iron bars and machetes, to storm the pitch and attack rival players and their 1,200 supporters

Chaos: Al-Alhy's players tried in vain to save fans (left) who fled into their changing room after being attacked by thousands of supposed rival supporters

Missiles: Al-Ahly players ran for their lives as rival fans streamed onto the pitch and headed towards them

Missiles: Al-Ahly players ran for their lives as rival fans streamed onto the pitch and headed towards them, throwing bottles and fireworks
Relatives of victims killed in the stadium cry as they wait to receive the bodies at a morgue

Relatives of victims killed in the stadium cry as they wait to receive the bodies at a morgue

Mourners carry the body of one of the fans killed during Egypt's worst ever football riot

Mourners carry the body of one of the fans killed during Egypt's worst ever football riot

Essam el-Erian, a Brotherhood MP, said the military and police were complicit in the violence, accusing them of trying to show that emergency regulations giving security forces wide-ranging powers must be maintained.

'This tragedy is a result of intentional reluctance by the military and the police,' he said.

A number of political parties called on the Egyptian parliament to pass no-confidence vote against the government of el-Ganzouri, a Mubarak-era politician appointed by the much-criticised ruling military council.

Osama Yassin, head of sports committee in parliament, said the parliament holds the interior minister, who is in charge of police, responsible for the violence. He demanded the removal of the prosecutor general Prosecutor-General Mahmoud Abdel-Meguid to guarantee 'transparent investigations'.

The Ultras, meanwhile, accused the military council and former members of Mubarak's regime of retaliating against them for their role in the uprising last year against Mubarak and in anti-military protests since.

'They want to punish us and execute us for our participation in the revolution against suppression,' the Ultras of Al-Ahly group said in a statement.

It vowed a 'new war in defence of our revolution'.

The Ultras have long been bitter enemies of the police. Their anti-police songs, peppered with curses, have quickly become viral and an expression of the hatred many Egyptians feel toward security forces that were accused of much of the abuse that was widespread under Mubarak's regime.

There were chaotic scenes at Cairo's main train station, Ramses, last night as hundreds of football fans returned from the Port Said stadium.

While anxious Egyptians gathered to see whether friends and family had made it back safely, anger quickly spread across the country.

Thousands of protesters turned up at the Ramses terminal to chant 'Down with military rule'.

As covered bodies were unloaded from trains to awaiting ambulances, they shouted: 'The people want the execution of the field marshal. We will secure their rights, or die like them.'

Egyptian soldiers were later airlifted in by helicopter to rescue stranded players who became trapped in the changing rooms.

As the trouble unfolded in Port Said, a stadium in Cairo was also set on fire by fans after a referee cancelled a match.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2095579/Egypt-football-violence-Riot-spreads-thousands-protesters-clash-police-Cairo.html#ixzz1lKo52LdD

Militia Violence Threatens The Revolution

February 6, 2012: Three months after the Kaddafi dictatorship was overthrown the new government has a serious cash-flow problem and a lot of other woes as well. Only $6 billion of the $150 billion of Kaddafi era assets have been returned to Libya. The rest is on the way but legal and diplomatic hurdles cause delays. Meanwhile[b] the government has a $22 billion a year payroll (the government is the largest employer) and spends $14 billion on providing electricity, fuel, and other goods to citizens. Kaddafi used oil revenue to run a welfare state, which made most Libyans fearful of opposing him[/b]. The government has to continue this welfare state spending for a while and expects to come up $10 billion short in the next year. The NTC is looking for loans. Libya is a good credit risk, as it has over $5 trillion worth of oil reserves. But too much money is not available right now. Oil production declined 98 percent during the fighting and is not quite back to half its pre-war level. The oil dependent economy shrank 60 percent in the last year and most Libyans are feeling the paid and are not happy about it. Many government employees have not been paid for months.

Then there are the problems at the top. The NTC (National Transitional Council), which is to be replaced by June elections, is secretive and not trusted. Many Libyans believe there is a lot of money coming in that is promptly disappearing. Rumors and conspiracy theories abound. Confidence and cash are in short supply. The NTC is even having a hard time organizing the June elections, or maintaining order within the NTC itself. There are already charges of corruption and too many secrets. Libyans are having a hard time ruling their country, or themselves.

What the country lacks right now is unity and discipline. Dozens of armed militias occupy parts of the country and demand to be paid for their services. The cash, goods, and privileges owed varies and many of the militias are fighting with other militias over territory and such. The government has not yet been able to form a large enough security forces to disarm the militias and there is not enough money or other assets to buy off the militias. As long as the militias exist, reconstruction and reviving the economy will be difficult. That's because the militias act as mini-governments in the areas they occupy. The militias take what they want and injure or kill those who oppose them.

The militia violence is causing the NTC much embarrassment. Militias control many jails and prisons, and it's gotten out that many captured Kaddafi aides and followers have been beaten and killed while in custody. Most of this violence was revenge, but some was intended to discover the location of hidden wealth. The NTC was embarrassed when it was revealed that this misbehavior was taking place in some NTC controlled prisons as well.

Neighboring Mali complains that a recent uprising by Tuareg tribesmen was made possible by weapons and ammo stolen from Libyan stocks during the rebellion last year. Moreover, many Tuareg served as highly paid mercenaries for Kaddafi. While a lot of these hired guns were killed most made it back home, with weapons and cash.

February 1, 2012: Outside Tripoli, rival militias fought for two hours over who would control a beach mansion belonging to a son of deposed dictator Moamar Kaddafi. The NTC eventually got enough troops to the area to halt the fighting. This was the first time in weeks that such a gun battle was seen in Tripoli, as the NTC is slowly gaining control of the city (the largest in the country).

January 28, 2012: Bowing to pressure from Islamic groups, the NTC changed the new electoral law to eliminate a guarantee that ten percent of the 200 seats in the new parliament would be reserved for women.

January 26, 2012: Turkey delivered 30 police cars and 6,000 police uniforms to the NTC. Turkey, and several Arab Gulf States, has been very active in helping the NTC restore law and order, as well as the economy.

January 25, 2012: [b]The NTC recognized another tribal faction as the ruling power in pro-Kaddafi stronghold Bani Walid (a town of 50,000, some 150 kilometers southeast of Tripoli), which technically returned the town to NTC control. The NTC claims that the recent unrest in Bani Walid was about tribal politics, not support for Kaddafi.[/b]

January 24, 2012: I[b]n Egypt, a bomb was found in a Libyan airliner that had just arrived from Libya. The bomb was disabled. It’s unclear who was responsible for this.[/b]

January 23, 2012: About a hundred Kaddafi supporters attacked Bani-Walid and drove out the pro-NTC tribal gunmen. The town had been captured by the NTC only four months ago and pro-Kaddafi tribesmen fled to nearby towns and plotted a return.

January 20, 2012: Thousands of demonstrators, in several towns and cities, urged the NTC to make sharia (Islamic law) the basis of the new legal system. Most Libyans oppose this and many Sharia supporters just want less corruption.


http://www.strategypage.com/qnd/libya/articles/20120206.aspx

Libyan militias 'out of control,' Amnesty International says
By the CNN Wire Staff
February 16, 2012 -- Updated 1114 GMT (1914 HKT)
Libyan militia members man a checkpoint in the capital, Tripoli, in December.

NEW: Military council spokesman: "Systemic abuse and torture is continuing"
Report: Militias torture detainees, target migrants and displace communities
The rights organization says the interim government has not effectively investigated
Officials have said they are working to stop abuse and integrate militias into a national force

(CNN) -- Armed militias in Libya are committing human rights abuses with impunity, threatening to destabilize the country and hindering its efforts to rebuild, Amnesty International said Thursday.

Militias have tortured detainees, targeted migrants and displaced entire communities in revenge attacks, according to a report the organization released a year after the start of popular uprisings that eventually ended Moammar Gadhafi's 42-year rule.

"Hundreds of armed militias, widely hailed in Libya as heroes for their role in toppling the former regime, are largely out of control," the report says.

Detainees at 10 facilities used by militia in central and western Libya told representatives from Amnesty International this year that they had been tortured or abused. Several detainees said they confessed to crimes they had not committed in order to stop the torture, Amnesty International said.

At least 12 detainees held by militias have died after being tortured since September, the human rights organization said, adding that authorities have not effectively investigated the torture allegations.
Is Arab Spring in danger of wilting?
Rights group: Libyan detainees tortured

"A year ago Libyans risked their lives to demand justice," Donatella Rovera, a senior crisis response adviser at Amnesty, said in a statement. "Today their hopes are being jeopardized by lawless armed militias who trample human rights with impunity. The only way to break with the entrenched practices of decades of abuse under (Gadhafi's) authoritarian rule is to ensure that nobody is above the law and that investigations are carried out into such abuses."

Libyan officials could not be immediately reached for comment.

A spokesman for the Tripoli Military Council told CNN on Wednesday that civilian leaders in Libya must do more to assert their authority, holding accountable militia members who perpetrate abuses.

"If the Libyan state is being built, these guys who committed this need to be brought to justice, whether they are revolutionary fighters or not, otherwise the whole world will ask, 'What changed in Libya?' The same systemic abuse and torture is continuing, and this is dangerous for the new Libya," council spokesman Anes Alsharif said. "The only solution is for the government to take over. You can not let these guys keep holding the prisoners."

Civilian authorities have been slow to step in, Alsharif said, even though some prisoners have been held for months without facing official charges.

"When you talk to the government they say, 'keep them, we don't have time yet.' and this is wrong," he said.

A process for government takeovers of prisons has begun, Libya's interim prime minister said in a televised address last month.

Libya's ambassador to the United Nations, Mohammed Shalgham, told the United Nations last month that Libya does not approve of any abuse of detainees and was working to stop any such practices.

Libyan Interior Minister Fawzy Abdilal told CNN this month that the country's interim government had not yet succeeded in integrating militias from different cities into a national security force.

Other organizations have also raised concerns about the militias.

The medical charity Doctors Without Borders said last month it was halting its work in detention centers in Misrata because detainees were tortured and were denied urgent medical care.

Human Rights Watch said earlier this month that the torture and killing of detainees is an ongoing practice among Libyan militias and will continue unless the militias are held to account.

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/02/15/world/africa/libya-militias/index.html?hpt=iaf_c1