In separate clashes in the city of Suez, two protesters were killed as police used live rounds to hold back crowds trying to break into a police station, witnesses said.

Demonstrations erupted in Egypt this week following deaths at a soccer stadium in Port Said as the football incident turned quickly into a political crisis. Protesters hold the military-led authorities responsible for the bloodshed.

In Cairo, several thousand protesters remained in the streets around the ministry as night fell. The only vehicles in the usually congested downtown area were largely ambulances that ferried away casualties from clashes with police.

Underlining the tension, ambulances had to intervene to extract riot police whose truck took a wrong turn into a street full of protesters, a Reuters witness said.

Protesters surrounded the vehicle for at least 45 minutes, rocking it while the police were inside. Some of the demonstrators then formed a human corridor to help them escape.

Close to 400 people were wounded in confrontations that erupted late on Thursday, the health ministry said, many of them suffering the effects of inhaling tear gas fired by riot police who the Interior Ministry said were protecting the building.

Rocks thrown by protesters were strewn across streets that two months ago witnessed violent clashes between police and activists who see the Interior Ministry as an unreformed vestige of former president Hosni Mubarak’s rule.

“We are not going to leave this time,” said Sami Adel, a 23-year-old member of the “Ultras”, a group of football fans known for confronting police. They have regularly been on the front lines of clashes with security forces over the last year.

Security forces fired tear gas into the night to drive back protesters, who then regrouped ready for more. “The crimes committed against the revolutionary forces will not stop the revolution or scare the revolutionaries,” said a pamphlet printed in the name of the Ultras.

In Suez, witnesses said fighting broke out at a local police station in the early hours of Friday. “We received two corpses of protesters shot dead by live ammunition,” said a doctor at a morgue where the bodies were kept.

A witness said: “Protesters are trying to break into the Suez police station and police are now firing live ammunition.”

The soccer stadium deaths have heaped new criticism on the military council, which has governed Egypt since Mubarak stepped down a year ago in the face of mass protests. Critics regard them as part of his administration and an obstacle to change.

The army leadership, in turn, has presented itself as the guardian of the “January 25 revolution”. It has promised to hand power to an elected president by the end of June.

INTERIOR MINISTER BLAMES FANS

At least 1,000 people were injured in the soccer violence when fans invaded the pitch after local team al-Masry beat Cairo-based Al Ahli, the most successful club in Africa.

Hundreds of al-Masry supporters surged across the pitch to the visitors’ end and panicked Ahli fans dashed for the exit. But the steel doors were bolted shut and dozens were crushed to death in the stampede, witnesses said.

The cause of the violence has been the focus of intense speculation. Some believe it was triggered by unknown provocateurs working for remnants of the Mubarak administration who are seeking to sabotage the transition to democracy.

Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim said the fans started it.

“The events started with provocations between the Ahli and Masri crowds, then insults, until it ended up with those sorrowful events,” he told the Egyptian TV station CBC during a telephone interview.

Ibrahim was widely blamed for the deaths during an emergency parliamentary session on Thursday. MPs including the Islamists who control some 70 percent of the chamber called for him to be held to account and accused him of negligence.

Safwat Zayat, an analyst, said the incident had done further damage to the image of the ruling military council. “The current events push in the direction of speeding up the transfer of power to civilians,” Zayat told Reuters.

Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, the head of the military council, responded to the deaths by vowing that Egypt would remain stable. “We have a roadmap to transfer power to elected civilians,” he said in broadcast remarks.

Reuters.

“The World Bank has received an official request from the Egyptian authorities to support their economic program,” Inger Andersen, World Bank vice president for the Middle East and North Africa, said in a statement.

Egypt said last month it would seek a $500 million loan from the World Bank and another $500 million from the African Development Bank to help it plug a budget gap widened by a year of political and economic turmoil.

World Bank President Robert Zoellick announced last year that the development lender would make $4.5 billion available over 24 months for Egypt.

Egypt is also in talks with the International Monetary Fund on a possible $3.2 billion loan to help stabilize its economy. The fund has said any agreement would need broad political support as the country prepares for elections, in which Egypt’s ruling army would transfer power to civilians.

Reuters.

Les violences ont éclaté au 17ème jour du championnat national, lorsque l’arbitre a sifflé la fin du match. Selon des témoins, c’est à ce moment que les supporteurs de l’équipe gagnante Al-Masry ont investi le terrain de foot. Ils ont commencé à lancer des pierres, des bouteilles et des fusées contre leurs rivaux de l’équipe d’Al-Ahly, l’un des meilleurs clubs d’Egypte.

Parmi les morts, il n’y aurait non seulement des supporters, mais aussi des policiers. Des policiers, qui sont accusés sur des blogs égyptiens d’avoir été incapables de stopper les violences. Bien au contraire : ils auraient retiré les barrières entre les groupes rivaux, ce qui a apparemment empiré les affrontements.

Pour l’heure, des joueurs restent encore bloqués dans le stade – l’armée égyptienne aurait envoyé des hélicoptères pour les évacuer.

Jeudi, le Parlement se réunira en séance extraordinaire pour évoquer ces violences.
La Fédération égyptienne de football a suspendu le championnat.

Et les Frères musulmans, eux, accusent les partisans de Moubarak d’être à l’origine de ces violences. « Les événements de Port-Saïd ont été planifiés et sont un message des partisans de l’ancien régime », peut-on lire sur le site internet du Parti de la liberté et de la justice (PLJ), la formation politique des Frères musulmans.

RFI

China had earlier said it was “shocked” by a separate abduction, involving 29 Chinese workers held by rebels in the Sudanese border state of South Kordofan, highlighting growing fears over such incidents.

The freed 25 workers in Egypt “were in good condition”, Xinhua said, citing an embassy official, Ma Jianchun.

Bedouin tribesmen kidnapped 24 Chinese cement factory workers and a translator in Egypt’s Sinai region on Tuesday and held them for 15 hours, according to Xinhua.

The kidnappings in Sudan and Egypt dramatise China’s difficulties as it ventures into dangerous places generally shunned by Western companies.

China’s ambassador to Egypt, Song Aiguo, had contacted Egyptian officials from the interior and defense ministries on Tuesday, urging them to secure the release of the Chinese workers, Xinhua said.

The kidnappers were demanding that authorities free fellow tribesmen from prison, according to tribal sources.

Residents of Sinai say they are neglected by Cairo and have attacked police stations and blocked access to towns, villages and industrial sites to show their discontent.

The isolated desert region has descended further into lawlessness since a popular uprising ousted President Hosni Mubarak a year ago and threw the security apparatus into disarray.

A team of officials sent by China to Sudan to seek the release of the 29 workers arrived in the capital, Khartoum, on Tuesday.

The Sudan abductions marked the third such case in recent years, with other Chinese workers and engineers abducted in 2004 and 2008.

Reuters.

Inside, army-backed Prime Minister Kamal Ganzouri, 78, who served ousted President Hosni Mubarak in the 1990s, addressed the new parliament for the first time but faced tough criticism by Islamist and other deputies of the slow pace of reform.

Some youth members of the Muslim Brotherhood, whose Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) won nearly half the seats in the recent parliamentary election, formed a cordon in the street leading to parliament to prevent protesters from approaching the building.

“The people want the fall of the Brotherhood,” protesters chanted, twisting a chant normally used against the army council that has held power since Mubarak was toppled in February. They also chanted against the army.

The standoff reflects the deepening frustration of young activists who galvanised the anti-Mubarak revolt but have seen Islamists capitalise on the political changes by sweeping up seats in the first free parliamentary poll in decades.

Haitham Saleh, 26, a member of the FJP who was outside parliament, defended the Brotherhood: “We want what protesters want. A quick transfer of power and an end to military rule. Senior Brotherhood leaders and parliamentarians have said that on many talk shows and interviews.”

The army has pledged to hand over power by the end of June and an army-appointed advisory council is considering a proposal that may lead to a presidential vote in May. Activists suspect the military wants to hold onto power behind the scenes after that.

Among the new legislators are members of the Brotherhood who had served time in jail when their organisation was banned under Mubarak. The Brotherhood had also secured some seats in the Mubarak era, skirting the ban by standing as “independents”.

“I must say this assembly is new in everything. Glory be to God, I see faces here today that are very different from the faces of before,” Ganzouri told the assembly.

FOOT-DRAGGING

Striking a different tone from previous parliaments that were stuffed with members of Mubarak’s ruling party, one deputy after another took the floor to question Ganzouri, criticising months of foot-dragging and calling for faster reforms.

“We appreciate the government is facing a difficult mission at a difficult time but the government must know that we will not rest until real retribution, with real trials, happens,” said Essam El-Erian, a senior FJP official.

Parliament said in its first sessions that it would hold its own inquiry into violence during the uprising, to secure justice for those injured or families of those killed.

No one has yet been held accountable for the hundreds who died. The trial of Mubarak, his sons, his interior minister and senior police officers is still going on.

“The demands of the revolution are known. The regime has not fallen yet and all Egyptians know that,” youth member of parliament Moustafa al-Naggar said, calling on the cabinet to focus more seriously on the ongoing trials.

Deputies also made clear that Ganzouri’s government would face close scrutiny by the new parliament.

“The government must take initiative to tell us what its vision to achieve justice is, and we will take initiative by providing any legislation needed,” Erian added, calling on the government to increase financial compensation to the victims.

Ganzouri outlined the funds allocated to families of those killed. “Compensation to the victims of the revolution cannot, in any way, be measured in financial terms … but can only be compensated through retribution,” he added.

The Brotherhood won nearly half the seats in the phased election that began in November and ended this month, an outcome unthinkable just a year ago. But many Egyptians are frustrated at the pace of change and some have been driven to the streets.

Ganzouri repeated calls for protesters and the assembly to help restore calm to help the battered economy.

“Ganzouri said nothing new. It is the same talk about making little progress made here and there in the last period. He spoke in the same way that members of the past regime used to speak,” liberal MP Basil Adel told Reuters.

“What we wanted to hear from him was a true assessment of the current political and economic situation in Egypt and the economic crisis the country is heading to soon,” he added.

Reuters.

The change is the first in the military council since the generals took power from President Hosni Mubarak during a popular uprising last February.

Although it defused a violent confrontation by ushering Mubarak out, the military has also tried to crush subsequent protests by force, killing dozens. It has only grudgingly agreed to hand over to a civilian president by June, and tried to protect its privileges and avoid civilian oversight.

Major General Ismail Etman, 60, was “exempted from service and replaced by Major General Ahmed Abu El-Dahab, the director of the artillery division,” a defence ministry source said. The decision was announced later by state media.

Since the 1973 war against Israel, Egypt’s army was seen as a respected institution set above the fray. But its direct involvement in politics has exposed it to closer scrutiny.

The generals are not trusted by many young pro-democracy campaigners, who suspect they want to curtail civilian power by exploiting the fragile security situation.

Dozens died when the army tried to suppress protests on the streets of Cairo in November and December and video of soldiers mistreating injured demonstrators sparked widespread anger. The army said troops were also killed.

It has blamed the violence on “invisible hands” determined to sow chaos among Egyptians and undermine the achievements of the uprising against Mubarak.

“NEW LEADERSHIP”

A source close to the military council said it was concerned about its deteriorating public image.

“The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces concluded that the army’s image in the media has suffered over the past year under Etman’s leadership,” said the source.

“The decision is intended to bring in new leadership to improve the armed forces’ performance,” and was decreed by Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, who heads the council, the source added.

Etman led the army department which handled a wide range of issues ranging from media relations to dealing with the concerns of military officers.

Little is known about Etman’s successor, Abu El-Dahab, and it remains to be seen whether the change will alter the army’s public affairs policy.

Tantawi has tried to improve the military’s public image, calling on Egyptians to unite with the army and ordering the formation of a committee of generals to ensure positive media coverage, Egyptian media reported last week.

While no longer a member of the 20-member military council, Etman will however remain one of Tantawi’s many advisers, positions given to officers closely tied to the army leadership, the source at the defence ministry said.

Reuters.

Egypt’s generals, who took over from ousted President Hosni Mubarak in February last year, have faced renewed street protests demanding they hand power to civilians sooner than the June deadline they set themselves.

Civilian council members told Reuters they would discuss the presidential election and its timing at a meeting on Monday evening and Tuesday.

The body, which includes a number of influential politicians, can only advise the army and has no power to change the election timetable itself.

“On the agenda is the presidential election and the possibility of advancing the date. We have to debate that,” presidential candidate Amr Moussa, a member of the council, told Reuters ahead of the meeting.

Sherif Zahran, another council member, said the timetable could be accelerated, though the issue was still subject to debate.

Egypt’s authorities had said nominations for the country’s first free presidential race would open on April 15. Army officials and other politicians had indicated the vote would take place in June, though no formal announcement was made.

The head of the military council, Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, met the speaker of parliament and the prime minister on Monday, a source said, to discuss the presidential race.

Egypt held its first multi-candidate presidential election in 2005, a vote won easily by Mubarak. For most of his 30 years in office, Mubarak was elected in a single candidate referendum.

Under new rules approved in a referendum last year, Egypt’s next president will only be able to govern for two consecutive, four-year terms.

A committee overseeing the presidential election vote will meet next week to discuss preparations for the race, a judge was quoted by state media as saying.

Protesters have been camped out in Cairo’s Tahrir Square for days, vowing to stay until the army hands power to civilians. They fear the military wants to hang on to power from behind the scenes after the vote.

Their protests have yet to create the kind of street pressure that helped topple Mubarak a year ago.

Reuters.

La très faible affluence des premières heures reflète le désintérêt quasi généralisé des électeurs. Au début des législatives, les électeurs se pressaient en longues files d’attente devant les bureaux de vote.

Contrairement aux partis islamistes qui ont présenté des candidats pour tous les sièges, la plupart des partis laïcs boudent ces élections qu’ils estiment aussi dispendieuses qu’inutiles. Le Conseil consultatif n’a, en effet, aucun pouvoir législatif. Son seul intérêt est qu’il participera, avec le Parlement, au choix des 100 membres de l’Assemblée constituante chargée de rédiger la nouvelle Constitution.

Cette Constitution pourrait paradoxalement sceller la mort du Conseil consultatif dont la plupart des courants politiques réclament la disparition sous sa forme actuelle. Le Conseil n’aurait donc plus que quelques mois à vivre.

L’élection de la Choura doit se dérouler dans deux zones géographiques et se termineront le 22 février 2012.

RFI.

The army has pledged to hand power to civilians after a presidential vote in June, although protesters have demanded that the ruling military council quit power sooner.

General Mohsen Fangary made the comments to an Egyptian television channel that were shown on its website www.el-balad.com.

Mubarak won Egypt’s first multi-candidate presidential vote in 2005 that was marred by abuses and held under rules that prevented any realistic challenge to the incumbent.

Sayed el-Badawi, the head of the liberal Wafd party, said after a meeting of political groups last week a referendum on the new constitution would be held on May 15 and a presidential vote on June 20, in line with a previously announced army timetable.

Reuters.

Le Parti de la liberté et de la justice (PLJ), issu de la confrérie, obtiendrait quelque 45% des 498 sièges de députés en lice aux législatives qui viennent de s’achever, selon des estimations de presse.

Un score qui en fait la première formation politique de l’Egypte près d’un an après la chute du régime de Hosni Moubarak, sans toutefois disposer, selon les résultats provisoires, d’une majorité absolue.

Après des décennies de semi-clandestinité et un programme résumé par la formule “l’islam est la solution”, présentés comme un épouvantail par le régime Moubarak, les Frères musulmans veulent aujourd’hui endosser l’habit d’une force politique respectable.

“Le PLJ essaie d’apparaître comme modéré, adopte un ton apaisant et cherche à faire coalition avec d’autres. Pour faire passer des lois, il aura certainement besoin de coopérer avec des partis non-islamistes”, affirme à l’AFP Moustafa Kamel Sayyed, professeur de sciences politiques à l’Université du Caire.

Le parti islamiste, qui a multiplié les propos et les gestes rassurants en direction de la minorité chrétienne copte, “n’insiste pas sur une application intégrale de la charia (loi islamique)”, du moins “pas tout de suite”, relève-t-il.

Au cas où il serait amené à participer au gouvernement, ce mouvement pourrait délaisser les ministères “régaliens” (Affaires étrangères, Finances, Intérieur. . . ) au profit de portefeuilles comme la Santé ou les Affaires sociales.

“Les Frères préfèrent des ministères de services aux citoyens”, leur permettant de cultiver la tradition d’aide sociale qui fait depuis longtemps leur force dans les couches les plus pauvres de la population, estime M. Kamel Sayyed.

Une rencontre d’un niveau inédit mercredi de la direction du PLJ avec le numéro deux de la diplomatie américaine, William Burns, lui a apporté une reconnaissance internationale appréciable.

Face aux ouvertures des Etats-Unis, “la confrérie a de son côté fait preuve de pragmatisme. Elle a transmis un message de modération et des assurances sur les intentions de l’Egypte dans la région”, relève le rédacteur en chef du magazine Al-Ahram Hebdo, Hicham Mourad, dans un éditorial.

Washington avait déjà assuré avoir obtenu de la confrérie des assurances sur le respect du traité de paix conclu en 1979 entre l’Egypte et Israël – un enjeu crucial pour les Etats-Unis.

Mais sur ce dossier sensible, le langage de la confrérie “reste ambigu”, estime Hicham Mourad. “Certains disent que le traité serait révisé, d’autres soulignent qu’il est du ressort du peuple égyptien de décider du sort du traité”.

Après avoir plaidé pour un système parlementaire -qui lui donnerait l’avantage- le parti des Frères musulmans a cherché à désamorcer la polémique avec l’armée au pouvoir et les partis libéraux favorables à un exécutif fort, en se prononçant pour un “système mixte parlementaire-présidentiel”.

L’émergence lors des élections des partis fondamentalistes salafistes, crédités de près de 25% des sièges, a toutefois sérieusement entamé le quasi-monopole autrefois présumé de la confrérie sur le terrain de l’islam politique égyptien.

Celle-ci pourra difficilement éviter de satisfaire les aspirations d’une population très majoritairement acquise à plus d’islam en politique, qu’il soit modéré ou conservateur, estiment les experts.

“Les Frères musulmans changent d’un jour à l’autre. Aujourd’hui ils se disent modérés pour se distinguer des salafistes, mais vont-ils continuer ainsi? Ce n’est pas sûr”, estime la politologue Nevine Mosaad.

Jeune Afrique