The Interior Ministry has called on all political forces to help end persistent clashes in Tahrir Square and in the Delta city of Mansoura, stressing that a security-centered solution was not enough.
Public Relations Director Abdel Fattah Othman in a telephone call with Al-Hayat satellite channel’s program “Al-Hayat Al-Youm” Sunday that police were attacked by thugs and forced to retreat when they tried to reopen the square to traffic Sunday morning.
He added that the ministry has been unable to end violent clashes between protesters and security forces in Mansoura, urging politicians in the city to go to protest sites themselves and help restore calm.
Eighty-eight people, including a number of children, were arrested during the clashes in Mansoura. Some were released on bail, according Daqahliya Security Directorate head Samy al-Meehy.
Security forces removed all tents from the edges of Tahrir Sunday morning and the barriers at its street entrances, but protesters closed the square again hours later.
Protesters in the square had been staging a sit-in since demonstrations marking the second anniversary of the 25 January revolution, joining others who were camped out there since protests against President Mohamed Morsy’s constitutional declaration in November.
Meanwhile, the Daqahliya Security Directorate announced an initiative on Sunday evening to stop the clashes in Mansoura by forming a committee of political figures and “honorable citizens” to protect key institutions during protests, promising to withdraw security forces in return.
The initiative was announced during a press conference at the governorate’s security directorate, which Meehy and Assistant Interior Minister Ahmed Salem attended.
The streets of Mansoura have witnessed ongoing clashes between security forces and anti-Morsy protesters for more than a week.
