Security forces again fired teargas on Mansour Street in downtown Cairo Friday evening. The most recent barrage came after a temporary calm in clashes that began yesterday evening.
A group of mediators, which included sheikhs and politicians, brought a brief stop to clashes when they met with Security Force generals inside the Interior Ministry, said an Egyptian Independent reporter on the scene.
Security forces also fired tear gas on Mansour Street immediately after noon prayers concluded Friday, as anti-government protests continued into their second day after 74 were killed in Port Said in the country's worst-ever incidence of football violence.
Tahrir Square was closed to traffic Friday morning, as hundreds of protesters' numbers swelled in preparation for another day of protests against what they see as the military government's failure to prevent the deaths at Port Said Stadium on Wednesday evening.
Scores of Tahrir protesters began chanting against the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces just before noon, shouting, “Down with military rule.” They also demanded a quick investigation into the circumstances surrounding the Port Said riots that also left hundreds injured.The Facebook page for Masrena, an initiative of several revolutionary forces calling for unity and the immediate transfer of power to a civilian president, has called for various marches to the iconic square following noon prayers Friday.
The page said three planned marches from various neighborhoods will head to Tahrir in a rally activists are calling “The President First,” referring to many revolutionaries' demand that the military government schedule presidential elections before Egypt's new constitution is written.It said marchers should convene at Istiqama Mosque in Giza, Nour Mosque in Abbasseya and Mostafa Mahmoud Mosque in Mohandiseen.
Masrena called on all participants in the Friday marches to remain peaceful.
The night of clashes between police and protesters left hundreds injured. Ten military armored personnel carriers ha were deployed to provide security around the ministry building, the state-owned Middle East News Agency reported Friday.
The MENA report added that firefighters managed to control a fire that broke out at a building housing a private parking garage near the Interior Ministry in the early hours of Friday morning. The story did not mention how the fire began.
