Egyptian protesters set ablaze a police station in Port Said on Saturday after 500 protesters threw stones and petrol bombs at the police station and then blocked fire engines from approaching the blaze, said the interior ministry. It comes as clashes erupted across the country on Saturday in the latest spat of violence to rock Egypt. At least one protester was killed after an armored vehicle crushed a man to death. Anger is rising as the government and security forces appear to continue their brutal crackdown on protests in the country. In January, violence in Port Said was set off when a court convicted and sentenced 21 people to death for involvement in a mass soccer riot in the city's main stadium on Feb. 1, 2012 that left 74 dead. Most of those killed in the melee were visiting fans of Cairo's Al-Ahly team. The verdict enraged people in Port Said, where the majority of the condemned were local soccer fans, many of whom claim innocence. The ensuing security crackdown deepened a sense of persecution that residents have harbored since the stadium disaster, the worst soccer violence ever to hit Egypt. The opposition has called for a boycott of parliamentary elections, which are scheduled to take place in the next two months and tension in the country remains extremely high since the two-year anniversary of the beginning of the January 25 uprising this year. BN
