Egypt army and anti-riot police on Monday cleared Cairo’s Tahrir Square of a three-week-long sit-in that had been organized by mostly young people to protest the slow pace of reform following the January 25 revolution that forced President Hosni Mubarak to step down.
The military beat up young people, and arrested dozens who attempted to resist. Tents were dismantled and thrown into garbage trucks.
Organizers of the sit-in had said they would dismantle their tents and leave the square during the Islamic month of Ramadan, which started in Egypt on Monday, but a few hundred remained, state television reported.
The military deploys tanks and dismantled the tents set up in the square center. Dozens of protesters initially were able to reassemble and chanted anti-military slogans. Security forces used batons to break them up and clear the epicenter of the revolution. Several protesters were arrested.
Protesters had gathered in the square on July 8 to demand speedy political reforms, including the speedy prosecution of former regime members guilty of abuse, and the redistribution of wealth. They accused the ruling military council of lacking the will to uphold justice for crimes committed during the Mubarak era.
Twenty-six political parties and protest movements on Sunday said in a joint statement that their three-week sit-in had succeeded in achieving some of their demands, “pushing the Egyptian revolution a step forward.”
“But based on our belief that sit-ins are a means, and not a goal… the political parties and youth movements have decided to temporarily suspend their sit-in during the holy month of Ramadan,” they said.
They stressed that they “will return once again after the Eid (feast marking the end of Ramadan) to protest peacefully in Tahrir Square so that the rest of the demands are met.”
Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, head of the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) and Mr. Mubarak’s long-time defense minister, pledged in a television address to work for a free system through fair elections and a constitution.
But the military rulers have accused the Tahrir protesters – singling out the April 6 movement – of driving a wedge between the people and the army.
Protesters have accused the SCAF of stalling reforms and of using Mubarak-era tactics to stifle dissent.
The military council has also come under fire from local and international rights groups for alleged rights abuses.
The holy month of Ramadan, during which Muslims abstain from food and drink from sunrise to sunset, began on Monday.
Several dozen young people, however, had insisted on staying in the square.
Traffic was seen flowing through Tahrir Square – the epicenter of protests that toppled President Hosni Mubarak in February – for the first time in three weeks.
Activists said they would return to the square to push for reforms once Ramadan is over.
Source: Al Arabiya And Agencies
Comments