CAIRO: Around 3,000 demonstrators gathered in front of Lazoghly, the Ministry of Interior and State Security headquarters in downtown Cairo, on Sunday. The demonstrators demanded access to the headquarters to ensure secret documents were not shredded by State Security officers, as they were in other State Security headquarters. Reports came through Sunday evening of confrontations between demonstrators and thugs outside Lazoghly, and the army shooting into the air to disperse the protest. The protesters fear that State Security personnel were burning secret documents that could incriminate security officials. The army prevented the demonstrators from accessing Lazoghly and cordoned the main gates and entrances. A group of ten representatives was finally allowed to enter the building. The group reported finding mostly empty rooms, no detainees or important documents. The demonstrators chanted slogans including “people condemn the burning of documents,” and said that the leaders of the army have confirmed the presence of piles of shredded paper inside the headquarters of the Ministry of Interior. Protesters also said the army used tasert to disperse them, and were surprised by a group of thugs throwing stones and Molotov cocktails. The protesters managed to chase the thugs in the streets surrounding the state security headquarters in Lazoughli Square. It should be noted that more than a thousand protesters tried to storm the same headquarters on Sunday morning, but were denied entrance to the building. State television said that military police arrested around 30 protesters, including two women. BM
