CAIRO: Egyptian protesters have torn down a wall leading from central Cairo's Tahrir Square to the two houses of Parliament and have begun clashing with police near the Shoura Council, or Upper House of Parliament. It came after small skirmishes between activists and police occurred earlier on Thursday on Qasr el-Aini street in downtown Cairo, spurring the military to erect yet another concrete barrier on the main thoroughfare. Riot police used tear gas in an effort to disperse the protesters near the parliament building. By Thursday evening, Cairo is tense as protesters and police are gathering near the iconic square where two years ago celebrations were had after President Hosni Mubarak was forced out from power. The wall taken down had been erected last November during Mohamed Mahmoud's commemoration where clashes took place between Egypt's Central Security Forces (CSF) and protesters. According to Bikyanews.com reporters in November 2011 during the clashes, around 75 protesters were killed during the weeklong street clashes that erupted after Egypt's CSF violently dispersed a sit-in in Cairo's Tahrir Square. BN
