Cairo: Egyptian security forces and demonstrators, angered by an America-made video insulting the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) , yesterday fought running battles near the US embassy in Cairo. At least 17 people were injured in the clashes, in which police fired tear gas at stone-throwing demonstrators, according to state television. The area where the embassy is located in Garden City and the nearby Tahrir Square were shrouded in thick plumes of smoke caused by tear gas.
Security forces were deployed to the perimeter of the Omar Makram Mosque and nearby streets in the vicinity of Tahrir. However, the police stayed clear from stepping into the square for fear of triggering larger protests.
The violence followed two days of largely peaceful protests outside the US embassy where demonstrators Tuesday scaled the walls of the fortified embassy and tore down the American flag. Security officials and protesters traded blame on who initiated the clashes. “Everything was quiet until early today (Thursday) when we were surprised by stones thrown from the side of the protesters,” said a police officer. “We had to fire tear gas in order to stop the attack and prevent the protesters from attempting to storm the embassy,” he added. He said that the situation got worse when the protesters set two police cars in the area on fire. “The police were the ones who started the clashes by firing tear gas at the peaceful demonstrators,” said a young protester who gave his name as Ahmad. “It is clear that the police are unable to forget about the brutal methods they used during the era of (Hosni) Mubarak,” added Ahmad as he wore a facemask to curb the effect of the tear gas swirling around in the Tahrir Square.
The square was the focal point of mass protests that eventually forced Mubarak out of power in February last year. The protesters included dozens of fervent football fans, known as the ultras, who are traditionally on bad terms with the Egyptian police.
The Cairo violence comes two days after an attack by angry insurgents in neighbouring Libya killed the US ambassador and three other Americans in the eastern city of Benghazi.
While condemning the Libya killings, Egyptian President Mohammad Mursi denounced anti-Islam moves. “The Prophet (Mohammad (PBUH)) is a red line. Anyone defaming him earns our enmity,” Mursi said in a statement recorded in Brussels broadcast on Egyptian TV.
He added that he had asked US President Barak Obama in a call on Wednesday to take legal action “against those who want to subvert relations between peoples of the US and Egypt”. Mursi, Egypt’s first elected civilian and Islamist president, said freedom of protests is protected, but warned against vandalism. “This freedom should not be expressed by attacking public and private property or diplomatic missions,” he said. Mursi yesterday started a European tour of Belgium and Italy, his first since taking office in June.
Egypt’s top prosecutor has ordered that the US Pastor Terry Jones and 10 Coptic Christians, staying in the US, be placed on a watch list to be probed over insulting Islam for reportedly making the offensive film, which was released on the anniversary of the September 11 attacks in New York.
