Women told to stay away from night time strike

Cairo: An Egyptian protest group Monday urged women to stay away from an open-ended nightime strike planned to start in central Cairo on Friday.

"The sit-in called by the April 6 Movement in Al Tahrir Square on Friday will be limited to men at night," said Hani Korshed, a spokesman for the group. "Women should observe this restriction," he added.

The April 6 Movement was instrumental in igniting a 18-day popular revolt that forced long-standing president Hosni Mubarak to step down earlier this year.

Several protest groups, including the April 6 Movement, have called for a one million-strong march on July 8, dubbed it the Friday of determination - the Poor First, to push for swift and public trials of former officials, including Mubarak, his two sons and ex-interior minister Habib Al Adli.

The protesters , moreover, call for measures to promote social justice in this country where 40 per cent of its 80 million-strong population are believed to be living below the poverty line.

"The decision to exclude women from the nightime sit-in on Al Tahrir Square is because the strike is open-ended," said Shaheenaz Meshal, a member of the April 6 Movement.

She added that the strike would not end until "the people's demands" were met. Protesters have begun pitching tents in Al Tahrir Square, which was the epicentre of the anti-Mubarak revolt.

Dozens were injured Sunday night in clashes between the protesters and street vendors whom the former alleged were thugs hired by Mubarak's loyalists.