CAIRO: Nubian rights activists said military police raided their sit-in outside the Aswan town hall on Sunday. The activists were accused of attacking the building and cutting the main road for several hours following the dispersing of their protest. Hundreds of Nubians participated in the sit-in that was planned to last for days and activists were calling for the right of return to their original towns in the Lake Nasser area, which was flooded following the construction of the dam. The activists were accused of hurling rocks at the building, breaking the glass windows, setting tires on fire and attacking the governor's car. A few of the activists were injured and were taken to a nearby hospital, but no serious injuries have been reported. Aswan's chief of security denied that security forces removed the activists' tents or attacked them. He told the state-run al-Akhbar newspaper that it was the local administrative personnel that took down the banners. Aswan's governor Mustafa el-Saied accused members of the deposed National Democratic Party, ousted president Honsi Muabrak's political party, of being behind the attack on the governorate building. He told the same newspaper that members from the deposed NDP put activists up to attack the building. Hundreds of thousands of Nubian were forced to leave their homes after it was under water following the Aswan dam construction. The dam was built between the 1960s and the 1970s and it provides storage water for agriculture to generate hydroelectricity. The Nubians were promised the right of return to their now ghost towns and financial compensation, however that promise was never fully realized. The activists were promised a meeting with Prime Minister Essam Sharaf, but that was pushed back until after the Eid holiday. A few activists remain outside the Aswan town hall on Monday. BM
