CAIRO: Voters in Alexandria have eagerly turned out to polls this morning, as Egyptians in 9 governates vote in the first stage of the nation's unprecedented parliamentary elections. Elections come just days after a series of anti-military demonstrations across Egypt were met with intense police brutality. Voters have reported that various political campaigns have worked near polling stations in a last ditch effort to gain visibility in Alexandria, as military police work to secure polling stations. Meanwhile, Alexandrian state security has issued an official apology to residents living the neighborhood in which police and military forces attacked anti-military demonstrators for six straight days, leaving 4 dead and about 1,000 wounded in the coastal city alone. The neighborhood is a residential, upper class area. The official apology, however, was not extended to those who died in the horrendous violence that wracked the city for the majority of the past week. During a meeting on Sunday, the Alexandria Security Deputy to the Minister of Interior, General Khaled Gharaba, defended the violence, saying that state security was forced to defend the Alexandria police headquarters because it is “public property.” Gharaba alleged that protesters initiated the violence by attacking the building. He thanked local residents for “aiding” the police in protecting the premise. BM
