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Egyptian police disperse small Islamist rallies in Nile Delta cities Pro-Islamist, anti-government demonstrations reported in Kafr El-Sheikh, Beheira, Alexandria and Minya
Cities around Egypt saw small-scale demonstrations on Friday afternoon, in response to a call by the Salafist Front group for a day of demonstrations against the government. Two officers had been killed earlier on Friday morning in the capital and in nearby Qalioubiya, while a man was shot dead in clashes at a protest in Matarayia in eastern Cairo. In Kafr El-Sheikh, one of the largest Nile Delta governorates, nine people were arrested after police dispersed a small rally in the governorate capital of the same name. The rally took place on one of Kafr El-Sheikh city's highways. Al-Ahram correspondent Mohamed El-Essawy reported that protesters raised copies of the Quran, a gesture which has been condemned by several state-sanctioned religious authorities in recent days. In Kafr El-Dawwar in the Nile Delta governorate of Beheira, four people were arrested when police dispersed a demonstration using teargas on Friday afternoon. Dozens participated in two other protests in small villages in Beheira, Al-Ahram correspondent Yasser Zeidan reported. Alexandria also witnessed small protests which were quickly dispersed by police who arrested twenty people in the process, Al-Ahram's Arabic news website reported. Rallies by supporters of Egypt's former president Mohamed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood group have significantly reduced in size since a crackdown on Morsi supporters by police which has seen hundreds killed and thousands arrested. Clashes were also reported between police forces and protesters in several towns in Upper Egypt's Minya governorate, known for widespread Islamist support. Several shops belonging to Coptic Christians were vandalised in the town of Malawi in Minya. Calls by a Salafist group, the Salafist Front, for an "Islamic uprising" on Friday raised apprehension that larger-scale protests may occur. Security around the country was beefed up as a result. In contrast to other governorates, the Red Sea governorate saw relative calm on Friday, Al-Ahram Arabic site reported. Protesting without securing a permit from the interior ministry is illegal in Egypt under the terms of a law passed last year. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/116669.aspx
