CAIRO - Egyptians on Tuesday protested in parts of Cairo and some Delta governorates Tuesday in a rare show of strength to mark what online activists said was a "Day of Wrath", which coincided with Police Day in Egypt. Facing a massive police presence, the protesters took to streets and main squares demanding political and economic reforms. Police fired water cannons, fired tear gas and scuffled with protesters who gathered near el-Tahrir Square, where they werebanned from moving on to the Interior Ministry. "Five protesters were injured in clashes with black-clad security police," a medical source said. Web activists have become some of the most vigorous critics of the Government. The protesters gathered outside the Supreme Court and the Bar Association in downtown Cairo, in front of Cairo University and in the Moustafa Mahmoud Square in Giza as they were planned to on verge in el-Tahrir Square in central Cairo. In Cairo alone, a security official said 20,000 to 30,000 police had been mobilised in the city centre as protesters gathered outside the Supreme Court with large signs that read "Tunisia is the solution". "We have left them walk freely in streets and watched them for any violations. Those who tried to destroy public or private were detained," the security official said, refusing to give an estimate of the detainees. Witnesses said police used batons to beat protesters in at least two locations of the capital. The protests are being watched to see whether online calls for change can lure Egyptians into the street. Total numbers were difficult to estimate because of the spread of protests, but witness accounts suggested it reached several thousands.
