CAIRO: Mass protests erupted across Egypt following Friday prayers parallel to major gathering in Cairo's Tahrir Square dubbed the “Second Friday of Anger.” In Suez, a few thousand protested in the main El-Arbi'ein Street demanding faster trials for ousted president Hosni Mubarak, ex-interior minister Habib El-Adly and the local police officers accused of using live ammunition to quell protests during the 18-day uprising that ousted Mubarak. Protesters also rejected statements by the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) and Salafi groups denouncing the Friday demonstrations, chanting “we are not infidels, we are revolutionaries.” Others carried banners saying: “Don't try to scare us; we are not afraid.” Suez witnessed the most intense clashes when the January 25 Revolution broke out as protesters demanded civil rights and an end to the Mubarak regime. The first Egyptian to die in the uprising was from Suez, Moustafa Ragab Mohamed, who was shot dead on the night of Jan. 25. The former chief of the Suez police directorate and three officers in Suez are currently facing trial at a criminal court over charges of opening fire at protesters. The next trial hearing of El-Adly on charges of premeditated and attempted murder and the injury of protesters across the country is scheduled for June 26. “We slammed the fact that a low-ranking policeman recently received a death sentence in absentia for killing and injuring protesters in Cairo while others who are already in custody have not been sentenced yet,” Kamel said. On Tuesday, Prosecutor General Abdel-Meguid Mahmoud referred Mubarak to a criminal court over corruption charges and responsibility for killing and injuring protesters. In Alexandria, thousands gathered for a march in front of Al-Qaed Ibrahim Mosque in the downtown area. Members of political parties including El-Wafd, El-Ghad and the Democratic Front Parties were among the protesters. The Alexandria demonstrators called for dissolving local councils, known for being pockets of corruption, in addition to demands they shared with other protesters nationwide. “Is it a real revolution or a joke?” some protesters chanted. Others said: “Raise your voice … the age of the traitors will not come back.” They also chanted anti-Muslim Brotherhood slogans. “We wanted to deliver a message to the Muslim Brotherhood members that we [successfully] protested without them,” a member of the Alexandria chapter of El-Wafd party, Haitham Nassar, told DNE. In a related development, five protests were held in the South Sinai cities as Bedouins blocked all major roads, set tires fire and carried machine guns to demand the release of detainees and the departure of Mubarak from Sharm El-Sheikh, where he is currently detained in hospital. Hundreds of tourism workers and Bedouin residents protested at the hospital shouting slogans against rumors that certain Gulf countries are pushing to grant amnesty to Mubarak. They denounced the negative impact of Mubarak's presence on tourism. In the North Sinai capital city of Al-Arish, hundreds of citizens protested in Horriya Square in the center of the city. Protesters included members of the Socialist Revolutionary Movement and El-Karama Nasserist Party who made similar demands and called for an end to security vacuum that has plagued the country. Member of Al-Arish branch of El-Karama Karim Abu Shita said the protests expressed the people's rage against the procrastination in prosecuting Mubarak and his family and former officials who belonged to the overthrown regime. Another protester, Mohamed El-Hadi El-Sherif, said the people were extremely angry at “attempts to undercut the gains of the revolution.” –Additional reporting by Hatem El-Buluk in Al-Arish and Yehia Nasser in Sharm El-Sheikh.
