CAIRO: Egypt's Parliamentary Fact-Finding Committee into the clashes that lasted for five days between police and protesters, which resulted into the death of 15 and thousands others injured, recommended holding the Minister of Interior responsible for the casualties and deaths of the protesters. It came even as Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim claimed that his security forces only used tear gas against protesters in downtown Cairo, denying any use of rubber bullets, birdshot or live ammunition, despite widespread evidence to the contrary. The report from the committee was read on Tuesday during the parliamentary session by Osama Yassin, head of the youth committee, where he said that the committee has found “effects of tear gas,” however, it didn't witness birdshot, despite the fact that eyewitnesses told the members of the committee that the police forces used birdshots intensively at night. Other evidence, including photos of victims and medical personnel on the frontlines and at field hospitals, have also stated publicly that birdshot was being used by police, injuring and causing at least 17 protesters to lose an eye. But, the committee recommended withdrawing the confidence from Ibrahim, and demanded the dismissal of corrupt officials in the Ministry, the “purging and restructuring it and moving the headquarters to another location,” and pointed out the suffering of shopowners and residents of the areas where protests took place. The committtee also stressed the immediate need to end violence against peaceful protesters. Yassin noted that the number of injuries among security forces personnel police injured was estimated at 271, after visiting a police hospital. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/VULuI Tags: Birdshot, featured, MOI, Protests Section: Egypt, Latest News
