Police and army brutality triggers the second wave of Egypt's revolution, reports Khaled Dawoud The 18 November mass protest in Tahrir divided political forces in Egypt, with liberals and leftists accusing the Muslim Brotherhood of flexing its muscles ahead of the parliamentary elections scheduled to begin within days. When the Brotherhood's supporters, along with members of smaller Islamist parties, left the square on Friday evening only a handful of protesters remained. They comprised mainly those injured by security forces in January and February's clashes, together with their relatives, who vowed to stage a sit-in until the authorities dealt with their cases. Then, on Saturday, Interior Ministry forces -- the black clad policemen who were a hated symbol of Mubarak's regime -- moved into the square just before noon and began to clear the handful of protesters, beating them savagely and burning tents. Images of the brutal behaviour of the police were broadcast for all to see, and months of anger at the way the transition period has been handled by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces burst to the surface. Within hours the handful of protesters had been joined by hundreds of sympathisers. Crowds continued to flood into the square, many of them not members of political parties but ordinary citizens appalled by the violence of the police. Nothing, they said, had changed in the nine months since the military took over from Mubarak. SCAF's promises of change had turned out to be a lie, and the political groups that were supposed to represent the interests of the people have done little beyond fight among themselves. In a matter of a few hours, hundreds of people started heading to Tahrir Square to express their dismay against the brutality used against protesters. As the number of protesters grew, a battle began in Al-Sheikh Rihan Street, on which the Interior Ministry's headquarters is located. For nearly 10 hours protesters hurled stones at the police while soldiers with tanks stood in the background, protecting the Interior Ministry building. Police fired volley after volley of tear gas canisters, some of which ricocheted from the façade of the Mogamaa government complex facing the Sheikh Rihan Street before falling among the demonstrators. By the end of the first day of clashes -- which spread to other Egyptian towns and cities -- four people were dead and hundreds injured, and the protesters in Tahrir had been joined by young supporters of Salafi presidential candidate Hazem Salah Abu Ismail. People spent their first night in the square, clearly worried the police and military would launch another attack. When, by 6am that had not happened, the sense of relief was palpable. As news and images of the clashes and casualties spread, the numbers in Tahrir grew. By 5pm on Sunday, as thousands more were heading to the square a battlefront opened between police and protesters in Mohamed Mahmoud Street, close to the American University in Cairo. A joint force of police and army soldiers had clearly been ordered to charge the protesters in an attempt to clear the Square. Within less than an hour they had been forced to retreat but not before their brutal assault had been caught on camera, images that when broadcast spurred yet more people to join the protest. Among the footage captured was an anti-riot soldier dragging the body of a young protester along the street and depositing the corpse amid a pile of garbage as police and soldiers watched on indifferently. A second film showed a soldier dragging a young woman by the hair. She was thrown violently to the ground only to be dragged to her feet again by a policeman who grabbed her hair again before another soldier intervened. Protesters from Tahrir gathered in nearby streets Downtown. Shop owners quickly shut their premises and owners of cars parked in side streets rushed to remove them. Close to 100,000 people had arrived in the square. Twelve people were killed on Sunday and more than 1,000 injured. Checkpoints were quickly established at the entrances of streets leading to Tahrir, a reminder of the mast protests in January and February. Makeshift clinics were set up, including one at the entrance to Bab Al-Louq Street. Protesters were brought in large numbers, many with eye injuries, yet more suffering from the effects of tear gas, some dead. In Tahrir protesters were chanting demanding the removal of Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, SCAF commander and Egypt's de-facto president. "Say it, don't be afraid," they shouted, "the military has to go." Mohamed Mahmoud Street became the site of fierce battles between anti-riot police and hundreds of protesters, many of them members of the Ultras, fanatic supporters of Ahli and Zamalek soccer teams who have long been hostile to the police, having been on the receiving end of their brutish tactics at football games, and who first appeared to protect Tahrir Square when the army attempted to clear it in February. The majority of protesters kept away from the scene of the worst violence as Mohamed Mahmoud Street filled with rocks, small fires, broken glass and hastily erected barricades. Attempts to negotiate a truce between protesters and the riot police, Interior Ministry and army officials, were ongoing. On Monday a senior army officer announced that an agreement has been reached, and that the army would separate police and protesters in Mohamed Mahmoud Street as they had done earlier in Sheikh Rihan. It did not work. Street lighting was cut off the in the street on Monday night, and ambulances took the seriously injured to hospital in ever growing numbers. Less serious cases were picked up on motorcycles and carried to the nearest field hospital. There was growing anger in the square against the representatives of the organised political parties. When Mohamed El-Beltagui, secretary-general of the Muslim Brotherhood's political wing, the Freedom and Justice Party, appeared to try and negotiate with the demonstrators he was forcibly ejected from the square. The Muslim Brotherhood has refused to participate in the demonstration, fearing that it might derail elections, due in a few days, which the Brotherhood expects to dominate. Calls for a massive demonstration on Tuesday to protest against the military- sponsored violence were dismissed by Brotherhood leaders. Early on Tuesday Tahrir began to fill again with protesters. When, by noon, word spread that Field Marshal Tantawi would deliver a statement rumours raged, with many drawing parallels with Mubarak's first speech after the 25 January demonstrations began. Indeed, there was one major similarity: state-television announced that the statement would be aired "shortly" at 1pm. It was then inexplicably delayed for hours. Tantawi's statement, in which he said the presidential election could be brought forward to June, was met with dismay, provoking yet more chants calling for an end to military rule. There was anger that the speech contained no apology for the deadly violence that was directed at protesters, and which resumed almost as soon as Tantawi stopped speaking. By Tuesday night more than 30 protesters had been killed. The battle continued to rage in Mohamed Mahmoud Street, and there was no let up in the volleys of gas canisters being fired into the crowds. Protesters were, however, able to buy rudimentary masks from street vendors, along with water and food. As Al-Ahram Weekly went to press on Wednesday there were reports that a truce between protesters and the Interior Ministry had been negotiated by a group from Al-Azhar. The religious scholars led a delegation of protesters to the first barricade police established near the Ministry of Interior and the two sides shook hands. Immediately afterwards, hundreds of young men started cleaning up the street from rocks and other litter. Fire engines were also allowed to proceed to an American University in Cairo building where a small fire had broken out. However, clashes erupted shortly after the truce, and protesters declared they have no intention of abandoning the square. They will remain, they say, until Friday, when another mass rally -- the Friday of the Last Chance -- is due to be staged. "25 January was the first wave of the revolution. This is part two," said one protester. "We said in January we wanted to change the regime, not just Mubarak. And that is what we will do."
