A ceremony on Monday morning in Tahrir Square saw Prime Minister Hazem al-Beblawy lay the foundation stone for a memorial remembering the martyrs from over two years of unrest in Egypt.
As well as Beblawy, the ceremony was attended by Cairo governor Galal Saeed and a group of ministers, officials and public and political figures.
The memorial which will be built in the centre of the square is dedicated to all those who lost their lives "in Tahrir, Mohamed Mahmoud, Sinai, [the] Ettehadiya presidential palace, Kerdasa, Omraniya and all over Egypt," said Saeed.
Security forces and the army shut down all streets and roads leading to the square, shortly before Beblawy's visit.
The army and the police deployed armored vehicles and military vehicles, as well as the barriers of barbed wire in front of the Egyptian Museum and the streets of Bostan, Qasr al Nil, Bab El Louk, Omar Makram and Qasr al Nil Bridge.
Traffic around downtown was severely disrupted, according to eyewitnesses.
Some activists have decried the new monument in Tahrir Square, claiming the army and Interior Ministry are commemorating deaths they were responsible for.
Edited translation from MENA
