The police are handling rioters around Tahrir Square in accordance with the law, the interior minister said Sunday, calling on the media and political groups to go to the streets and see this for themselves.
Interior Minister Ahmed Gamal Eddin said his ministry respects peaceful demonstrations. “Yet some try to drive a wedge between the police and the demonstrators,” he said.
“The security forces in Tahrir Square carry no [live ammunition],” he added. “They only have shields, helmets, water [cannons] and teargas.”
“I ordered [the police] to only confront those who try to destroy public property,” Gamal Eddin said, explaining that the teargas being fired on Qasr al-Aini Street is blocking protesters from breaking into the Shura Council.
“The police will never fight the demonstrators,” he said, and called on all political forces to coordinate with the ministry to contain the events in Tahrir Square.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
