Egypt uprising anniversary clouded by bombings
An al-Qaida inspired group - Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, or Partisans of Jerusalem - claimed responsibility for the bombings, all of them targeting police, and urged ordinary Egyptian "Muslims" to stay away from police buildings.
Police sealed off the capital's main squares as supporters of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, toppled by the military in July, readied counter-demonstrations to the commemorations called by the authorities.
The Islamists have announced more than a dozen planned marches from Cairo mosques for Saturday to launch 18 days of protests.
On Friday, clashes pitting Morsi supporters against their opponents and police killed 14 people nationwide.
Police, who have killed hundreds of Islamist protesters in street clashes since Morsi's overthrow, have vowed to put a stop to their planned demonstrations.
But they have encouraged Egyptians to turn out in support of the interim government, and some politicians called for rallies to back army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the general who overthrew Morsi in July.
Tahrir Square, epicentre of the popular revolt that toppled autocratic president Hosni Mubarak in 2011, was closed off by police and soldiers ahead of the commemorations.
Morsi's Islamist supporters condemned Friday's bomb blasts as they have previous attacks on the police and army.
But following a previous attack on a police building in December, also claimed by Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, the authorities declared Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood a "terrorist organisation", making even expressions of verbal support punishable by heavy prison sentences.
That view has been taken to heart by the Brotherhood's opponents - after each of Friday's bombings, crowds gathered brandishing posters of Sisi and shouting praise for the government he installed.
Officials in the government and military have been hinting for days that the turnout at the pro-government rallies on Saturday could be a bellwether for a run by Sisi in a presidential election promised for later this year.
Mubarak was forced to step down on February 11, 2011 after 18 days of demonstrations that left some 850 people dead, ending his three-decade rule of the Arab world's most populous country.
0 comments: