Egyptian soldiers have used force to break up a protest demanding more political reform in the toughest move yet against opposition activists who accuse the country's military rulers of ‘betraying the people’.
Protestors said the soldiers had moved against them after midnight, firing in the air and using sticks to break up the remnants of a demonstration urging the military to enact deeper reforms including a complete overhaul of the cabinet.
The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which has been governing Egypt since President Hosni Mubarak stepped down in the face of a mass uprising, said there had been no order ‘to assault’ the protestors and it was not intentional.
‘What happened last night was ... the result of unintentional altercations between the military police and the children of the revolution,’ the council said, according to state news agency MENA.
One demonstrator said soldiers had used tasers and batons against the protestors.
The military council has promised constitutional changes leading to free and fair elections within six months. The judicial council tasked with drafting the constitutional reforms is expected to announce its proposals soon.
Thousands of Egyptians had gathered in Tahrir Square yesterday to press broader demands including the replacement of the prime minister, who was appointed by the ousted president in the last weeks of his rule and had long served his administration.
The protestors want the resignation of Ahmed Shafiq as well as other ministers and the immediate release of remaining political detainees.
A partial reshuffle of the government announced this week did not satisfy opposition forces.
Besides the post of prime minister, they are concerned that the portfolios of defence, foreign affairs, justice and the interior were left unchanged.
Opposition groups want a complete break with the past in the run-up to democratic elections promised by the military.
24 killed in Yemen protests
Two people died overnight after being shot during anti-government protests in Yemen's southern city of Aden, a doctor said.
That brought to four the number killed in clashes with security forces in Aden yesterday. Dozens were wounded.
21 people have now been killed since 17 February in daily protests against President Ali Abdullah Saleh's 32-year rule.
Unrest has been especially intense in the once-independent south, where many people resent rule from the north.
Loyalists and opponents of the 68-year-old leader held
rival demonstrations in the capital Sanaa after Friday prayers.
Anti-Saleh protestors shouted slogans which have echoed around the Arab world since the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia: ‘The people demand the downfall of the regime.’
Saleh supporters chanted their loyalty to a man they see as holding the impoverished tribal nation together.
