CAIRO: The fires could be seen in the distance. Cairo's Tahrir Square was yet again the seen of clashes with protesters camped out in the central square of Egypt's capital city. This time, they were engaged in a battle with street vendors, who had become angry after a number of the demonstrators had attempted to move the sellers from the nearby area. Approaching Tahrir, young men were running in all directions, many with butane tanks armed and ready to spew flames on the streets surrounding the tent city erected by the protesters who are demanding a quicker pace of reform in the country following the January/February uprising that ousted the former regime of Hosni Mubarak. Sellers had sticks and other “weapons” and their anger was directed at the protesters. Rocks began to be thrown as the sun set on the city. The sellers of mainly tea and small products lit ablaze carpets and anything else they could find in their antagonism toward the protesters, who they blamed for forcing them out of the area. Reports on Dream TV said there were some 20 people injured in the violence, which has left the country in a state of tension after days of violence in Cairo's now infamous square. Protesters said the sellers also wielded knives in their attack on those deployed in the sit-in, but Bikya Masr could not confirm these accusations. Ironically, the police were no where to be found during the build-up around the square. Average citizens quickly scurried away from the area as the sellers could be seen arming themselves. The roads to Tahrir were blocked and traffic came to a stand still in downtown for a number of hours, hearkening back to the uprising that saw millions come to the central area demanding an end to three decades of Hosni Mubarak's rule. After last week's clashes between Egyptians and police in the capital's main artery, the sense on the street is that the country is again spiraling toward a violent confrontation. “It is definitely a worry that we must be careful not to let happen,” one activist told Bikya Masr. Another, Ahmed, said that a number of “forces” are attempting to derail “our attempts to push Egypt in the right direction so it is hard to keep calm when many sides are attacking us.” Already, the country is gearing up for planned mass demonstrations on July 8 organized by youth movements in the country. Women have been warned away from spending the night in the square – female activists had been instrumental in bringing down Mubarak and had stayed overnight in the makeshift tent cities throughout the 18-day uprising – in what some say could be a sign of expected violence. “I don't know, but women should not be staying at night in the square, we don't want any trouble,” one organizer for the demonstration told Bikya Masr. For now, Egypt continues to languish in a state of chaos, with elections uncertain to take place in September and reforms promised by the military remaining on the back burner. BM
