The government's handling of Sunday's violent clashes between the military and protesters has left many commentators bewildered, reports Reem Leila In the immediate aftermath of protests which left at least 25 dead the government was rumoured to have submitted its resignation. The reports were then denied by cabinet spokesman Mohamed Hegazi. Statements from military sources to the effect that they are not releasing figures of casualties among soldiers further muddied an already confused picture. According to Health Ministry spokesman Shaimaa Ahmed hospitals have been instructed by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) not to provide any details of military personnel. What, then, should the public make of official figures such as 25 dead and 329 injured, among them 171 civilians and 158 soldiers? A press release issued by the Ministry of Health stated that less than 10 per cent of the injured were suffering serious trauma. At 2am on Monday Prime Minister Essam Sharaf briefly appeared on state TV urging the public to unite in the face of "plots against the country". According to Sharaf, sectarian tension and attempts to turn the people against the army were threatening stability. He described Sunday's events as a "conspiracy against the nation" and then urged the public not to pay attention to rumours. The SCAF, argues Hamzawy, is guilty of failing to deal with critical issues before they spin out of control. Sharaf's speech, he said, might as well have been delivered by Mubarak. Once again Egypt's rulers had shown they operated on the basis of "too little, too late". Official incompetence was evident from the very start, in the contradictory announcements about victim numbers and in the swirling rumours of the government's resignation. Ahmed El-Tayeb, sheikh of Al-Azhar, called an urgent meeting of the Family House -- the committee launched by Al-Azhar following the bombing of the Two Saints Church in Alexandria on New Year's Eve -- in the wake of the violence. The committee comprises Muslim and Christian scholars. During the meeting El-Tayeb warned that sectarianism could destroy the country. The performance of the state media in covering the clashes has come in for swinging criticism. State TV appeared to revert to its pre-revolutionary practices, broadcasting a cloud of misinformation. For three hours it promoted the line that the Egyptian army was being attacked by Christians and in an extraordinary incident broadcasters urged members of the public to head to Maspero to defend the army. Minister of Information Osama Heikal defended statements made by state TV broadcasters that appeared to have incited sectarian violence as a result of "emotional stress". He then urged Egyptian media, both state-owned and private, to be more cautious when broadcasting news.
