CAIRO: Tahrir square, the birthplace of the Egyptian revolution on January 25 and where hundreds of protesters remain in hopes of reviving the demands of that revolution, witnessed on Wednesday ruffles between vendors and activists for the third time in less than one month. Minor injuries on both sides were reported. The clashes started when the protesters attempted to regulate the presence of the street vendors in the square. That attempt to move the vendors was met with resistant from the sellers and clashes ensued. The protesters, who have formed a committee to deal with and regulate the number of vendors then forced many of the sellers outside of the square after clashes with sticks occurred. The protesters say the vendors, mostly selling foodstuffs, were “acting out of control” and littering the square. Some activists condemned the booting out of the vendors by force and called for better organization instead. The relationship between the vendors and the activists who spend the night in their tents in Tahrir haven't been in harmony. On June 28, violent clashes erupted when some activists attempted to force all vendors out. Some vendors turned into an armed force, with sticks and gas canisters, to remain in the square. They used heavy sticks and lit the gas containers on fire in protest of what they said was the “controlling of their territory.” The protesters, who are demanding the a speedy trial of ousted President Hosni Mubarak and his aides who were involved in killing protesters during January returned to the square on July 8 in a move aimed to put pressure on the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) who has taken charge of the country until elections take place in November. Many activists from different political currents question the intentions of the SCAF in giving up its full power over the country and accuse it of interfering in the dealings of the transitional government led by Prime Minister Essam Sharaf. Wednesday's scuffle shows the tenuous position between the protesters and a number of Egyptians, who have become frustrated by the ongoing sit-in. BM
