CAIRO - Newly appointed Minister of Health Amr Helmi met on Monday with some of the young revolutionaries, in the presence of some senior Ministry officials and politicians, the official Middle East News Agency reports. The meeting, which was described by the participants as positive and constructive, led to eight demands, including asking the National Council for Human Rights to form a fact-finding committee to investigate the clashes in the Abbasiya district of Cairo on Friday and Saturday. Clashes occurred when protesters attempted to march towards the headquarters of the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) in el-Abbasiya, but were stopped by supporters of the Army and Military Police. Protesters have been rallying in main squares in different cities since July 8 to express their anger at the Government and the slow pace of reforms. The SCAF said the troops and Military Police were very self-restrained in the way they dealt with the protesters and accused the April 6 Movement of sedition. The number of people injured in Saturday's protests in Cairo has risen to 296, MENA said on Sunday. The participants in the meeting also stressed the legitimacy of peaceful protests, in order to achieve the objectives of the revolution. Today's (Monday's) meeting also called for dialogue among every stratum of society about next Friday's demonstration, dubbed the ‘Friday of Confidence'. The participants further called for honouring the families of the martyrs and the injured, as well as giving them compensation immediately.
