Egypt Police Clash With Protesters

The clashes were the first outbreak of violence on Cairo's Tahrir Square in several weeks.


Police have used teargas in clashes with several hundred youths in Cairo's central Tahrir Square, the first such violence in weeks.

Clashes broke out late on June 28 in a nearby area of Cairo where families had gathered to honor some of the more than 840 people killed in the uprising that led to Hosni Mubarak's overthrow in February.

The Interior Ministry blamed a group seeking to disrupt the event and stir up a riot.

Analysts, however, says some of the families of those killed in the 18-day uprising are frustrated at what they believe is the slow prosecution of security officers connected with the crackdown.

It was the first such violence in weeks in Tahrir Square, ground zero of the revolt that led to Mubarak being toppled.

Earlier, an Egyptian court ordered the disbanding of more than 1,750 municipal councils, seen as one of the last vestiges of Mubarak's rule.

Analysts say abolishing the local councils -- with over 50,000 seats filled by elections widely viewed as rigged -- was a major demand of the protest movement that drove Mubarak from power.

compiled from agency reports