A dozen killed in Egypt
AT LEAST 12 people were killed in clashes between security forces and crowds protesting against Egypt’s ruling military council yesterday, in some of the worst violence since the overthrow of former president Hosni Mubarak.
With just a week before voting in the first free parliamentary election in decades, the confrontations raised worries about the impending vote.
Protesters camped out for a third night in Cairo’s Tahrir Square last night, the epicenter of the uprising that ended Mubarak’s 30-year rule.
Egyptians elect a new parliament in a vote that starts on 28 November, but presidential powers will stay with the army until a presidential poll, which may not happen until 2013. Protesters want a much swifter transition.
Teargas has rained down on demonstrators and police have used batons in a bid to end the protest. Angry protesters brandished spent shotgun cartridges and bullet casings, although police denied using live rounds.