Egypt minister admits security flaws

Cairo: Egyptian Interior Minister Mohammad Ebrahim yesterday admitted that chiefs of police in the coastal city of Port Said were responsible for not tightening security at the football match that was followed by rioting which claimed 74 lives.

"When we asked the chief of the security investigations department in Port Said why he had not separated the fans of the two rival teams following the match, he said it was not necessary because Al Masry (the home side) had won the game," the minister told a press conference.

The deaths, Egypt's worst-ever football tragedy, occurred on February 1 when fans invaded the pitch following a match between Al Masry and Al Ahli. Their games have often been marred by rioting in the past years.

Ebrahim said that his ministry was investigating the incident and would go public with the findings.

In the aftermath of the Port Said deaths, the Islamist-dominated parliament demanded that Ebrahim be sacked and put on trial on charges of negligence. Ebrahim took up his post last December.

Thousands of protesters continued to battle security forces near the Interior Ministry headquarters in Cairo yesterday for the fourth day in a row. Repeated bids to broker a truce between the two sides failed as the protesters hurled stones at the security personnel who responded by firing tear gas.

The area near Tahrir Square, the epicentre of last year's protests that forced long-standing president Hosni Mubarak to step down, was shrouded in thick clouds of tear gas.

Twelve people have been killed and more than 2,500 injured since the clashes erupted in Cairo and the seaport city of Suez on Thursday.

Hundreds of women protested outside parliament yesterday, demanding the suspected "collaborators" in the Port Said killings be brought to justice.

NGos' case: 40 to go on trial

Egypt yesterday said that 40 Egyptians and foreigners would be tried at a criminal court for receiving illegal funding for non-governmental organisations in the country. The defendants, including Americans, are barred from leaving Egypt, state television said.

Last December, Egyptian authorities raided offices of 17 local and foreign pro-democracy groups. Earlier this month, Egypt barred Americans and Europeans from leaving in connection with probes over illegally funding the NGOs.