Exactly what sparked heavy clashes between police and demonstrators around Tahrir Square Tuesday night is unclear, but the result is worrying to all, reports Khaled Dawoud An event aimed at honouring the families of the martyrs of the 25 January Revolution at the Balloon Theatre in Agouza, a district of Cairo, on Tuesday sparked some of the worst clashes between protesters and the police since the ouster of former president Hosni Mubarak on 11 February. Eyewitnesses said that members of seven to 10 families that were already staging a sit-in in front of the State TV building in Maspero since Friday, requesting a swift trial for Mubarak and top Interior Ministry officials allegedly involved in killing protesters during the January revolt, headed to the theatre to attend the ceremony. The families, who arrived in microbuses, were told by organisers that their names were not on the list of invitees, and they would not be allowed to attend. They later clashed with police in front of the theatre, and rumours quickly spread that the mother of one of those killed in January was detained. Private television channels showed footage of policemen kicking and beating protesters in front of the theatre, adding to the anger of the families trying to attend the ceremony. The families and their relatives decided to head to Tahrir Square to protest against the way they were treated, and were joined by others on the way there. The protesters headed directly towards the Interior Ministry, allegedly trying to raid the heavily fortified building. As soon as protesters got close to the ministry, riot police responded by firing scores of rounds of tear gas. Tahrir Square was quickly covered by clouds of smoke in scenes reminiscent of the clashes witnessed in January. The melee went on between 9pm on Tuesday until early hours of Wednesday, leading to sharp criticism by human rights activists and others who took part in the 25 January revolt, saying that the Interior Ministry did not change its tactics from the days of Mubarak. The Interior Ministry denied the claim, insisting that its soldiers were only trying to protect their headquarters. Tahrir Square soon became a battleground as protesters continued to hurl rocks, and in some cases, Molotov cocktails, at police. Security forces responded with tear gas, throwing rocks back at protesters, and firing rubber bullets. Some of the protesters alleged that police fired live bullets, but that charge was vehemently denied by the Interior Ministry and the army. Health Ministry officials said over 500 people were injured in the clashes, but Ahmed El-Semman, a spokesman for Prime Minister Essam Sharaf, issued a statement Wednesday afternoon claiming only 65 people were injured, all of them lightly, except for 10 cases. After a few hours of calm on Wednesday morning, clashes were renewed and lasted until the time Al-Ahram Weekly went to press. All the streets off Tahrir Square leading to the nearby Interior Ministry, particularly Mohamed Mahmoud, Bab Al-Louq and Falaki streets, were littered with rocks and broken glass. A few cars parked had their windows smashed. By Wednesday noon, army tanks surrounded the Interior Ministry together with riot police. Whenever protesters came close to the building and started throwing rocks at it, riot police would fire rounds of tear gas, forcing the protesters to retreat. Yet they would return soon for another round of clashes. Young men on motorcycles would carry those injured, mostly suffering respiratory stress because of heavy amounts of tear gas inhaled, to nearby ambulances stationed in the middle of Tahrir Square. At Tahrir Square and in the nearby streets there were deep divisions among the people on the identity of the protesters and support for their demands. "These are not families of martyrs who died in the revolution," said one resident as he stood in front of his building. "These are baltageya, thugs, who want to destroy the country. Families of the martyrs would never act this way." The man, who only gave his name as Omar, said many residents of the neighbourhood sided with the police and tried to push back the protesters who were trying to attack the Interior Ministry. A number of protesters interviewed by the Weekly claimed that the riot police used thugs to attack them, but police denied the charge, and insisted those who stood by them were ordinary citizens who did not approve of what was taking place. Others questioned whether the families who tried to get into the Balloon Theatre did actually lose loved ones during the 25 January Revolution. One of the most controversial issues since Mubarak's removal has been determining the exact number and identities of those killed in the popular revolt, and whether they all died as a result of police brutality. Interior Ministry officials claim that a lot of those who died in January were thugs who were trying to raid police stations all over the country to release their relatives. They also alleged that policemen inside the stations were forced to shoot to defend themselves. Such argument makes the families of those who lost loved ones furious, insisting that their relatives were unjustly killed by the police and that they were not thugs. The families who gathered in Maspero starting Friday to demand the swift trial of Mubarak and former Interior Ministry officials also claimed they did not receive compensation the government promised for those killed in the January clashes. However, in Tahrir Square, and close to the Interior Ministry, there were only a few people who said that they had lost relatives in January. One man stopped this reporter and said his car was burned during the revolution. While showing documents to prove his point, he said: "I got nothing from the government. Where is the compensation they promised us?" Shadi El-Ghazali Harb, a leading figure in the youth organisations that emerged during the revolution, strongly criticised what he described as an organised campaign in the state-owned media �ê" especially television �ê" to discredit protesters. "Indeed, many of the families who lost loved ones are poor, and they come from poor areas. But this does not mean they are thugs." Harb, like many activists who took part in the January Revolution, demanded the immediate resignation of Interior Minister Mansour El-Eissawi, claiming that he failed to reform the security bodies since he took office four months ago. "Nothing has changed despite all the sweet talk. The same top officers who suppressed Egyptians remain in office, and the police did not change. What happened in Tahrir is a disaster." Harb added that protesters had "legitimate demands", such as the immediate trial of Mubarak and his sons, as well as top Interior Ministry officials led by former interior minister Habib El-Adli. El-Adli's trial for his role in the killing of protesters in January has been repeatedly postponed, fuelling further the anger of families and political activists. Gamal Zahran, a university professor and former member of parliament who supported the revolution, had another view. He charged that those who pushed for clashes with the police on Tuesday were not supporters of the revolution, "but people hired by supporters of the dissolved former ruling National Democratic Party [NDP]." Zahran claimed that NDP members were angered by a court ruling Tuesday ordering that all local councils be dissolved, because they were run and controlled by the NDP. "The ruling meant that at least 50,000 NDP officials have lost their jobs, and they had to react," Zahran said. The Higher Council of the Armed Forces (HCAF) did imply similar suspicions in a statement issued Wednesday. It appealed to Egyptians not to respond to "calls aimed at threatening stability and security in the country". The HCAF statement added that such calls were "well planned and organised to create friction between the security establishment and the people." Premier Sharaf issued a similar statement after meeting the Board of Governors on Wednesday, saying that whenever the security situation seemed to improve slightly, certain unnamed "elements" sought to create trouble to halt progress. Sharaf noted that the latest round of clashes came after senior international officials and representatives of international companies visited Egypt to discuss how they could help Egypt's economy. Ironically, and amid all the differences over how the protests developed into such violent clashes, another controversial issue for those who gathered in Tahrir Square was whether the top Premier League football game between the two most popular clubs in town �ê" Zamalek and Ahli �ê" should take place as scheduled on Wednesday evening. On Wednesday morning, the word in Tahrir was that the game has been cancelled. However, a few hours later, the HCAF confirmed that the popular game would go ahead as planned, leaving some in Tahrir wondering whether a football game was more important than the deteriorating security situation.
