Military council draws flak for football pitch bloodbath

Cairo: Egyptian football fans and politicians yesterday vented their anger at the ruling army for failing to prevent a football riot in Port Said that left 74 people dead, in the worst violence since Hosni Mubarak was forced to step down as president a year ago.

In the country's polarised politics, the violence quickly became the focus of argument, with supporters of the ruling military council alleging on television that the mayhem on Wednesday night was a result of a security vacuum created by the continued protests by opponents of military rule and by those who criticise the police for its human rights record.

Prime Minister Kamal Al Ganzouri told an extraordinary session of parliament in Cairo that the football association's director and management board had been sacked for their responsibility in the previous night's disaster. Al Ganzouri also said that the governor of Port Said, where the stadium tragedy took place, had resigned his post and that his resignation "had been accepted".

The Muslim Brotherhood, whose Freedom and Justice party has the most seats in parliament, blamed an "invisible" hand for provoking the violence and accused the authorities of negligence. "We fear that some officers are punishing the people for their revolution and for depriving them of their ability to act as tyrants and restricting their privileges," it said.

Parliament held its first emergency session in 40 years yesterday to discuss the violence.

Saad Al Katatni the speaker proposed that the live TV transmission be stopped but faced loud objections from the floor and it was voted down.Osama Yassin, the head of the youth committee in the newly-elected parliament also called for the sacking of the interior minister and the Port Said police chiefs.

"First, we hold the interior minister completely responsible for what happened, and we also hold responsible alongside him the police chiefs of Port Said," he said.

"We call for their sacking to give an opportunity to others... we also want legislation to purify the police and all ministries from corrupt elements."

The session, taking place in the presence of both the prime minister and interior minister, gives Egyptians their first whiff of parliamentary democracy in action. Under Mubarak, ministers were shielded from criticism and were rarely exposed to such hostility in parliament.

A security official and a doctor quoted by the Associated Press news agency said supporters of the home team, Al Masri, swarmed the pitch on Wednesday night after a rare 3-1 win against Al Ahli, the country's leading team. The security official said some police conscripts were among the dead.

State television reported that Field Marshal Mohammad Hussain Tantawi, Egypt's de facto leader who heads the ruling military council, was sending two military aircraft to evacuate the Al Ahli players to Cairo.

He also made the rare move of calling a TV station to try to calm the situation and promising to catch and prosecute the culprits. The army announced three days of national mourning.

— Financial Times