Egyptian police aborted a protest Sunday planned in downtown Cairo against an alleged beating to death of two Egyptians in Cairo and Alexandria as protesters did not show up. "Plainclothes policemen holding sticks filled Al-Tahrir Square in central Cairo as no protesters were there," an Egyptian Gazette photographer and eyewitness said Sunday. He added that trucks full of black-clad riot police were in the nearby waiting for orders. Some opposition groups and youth movements have recently announced that they would hold a demonstration against the alleged torture of 28-year-old Khaled Saeed in Alexandria and Saber Abdel Samea in Cairo. The demonstration was set to start at 3pm in Al-Tahrir Square. However, heavy presence of policemen and high temperatures seem to have discouraged protesters from showing up. Saeed's killing in Alexandria invoked many protests in Cairo and in his hometown as former chief of the UN nuclear watchdog Mohamed ElBaradei called for a “silent protest” in Alexandria on Friday. "I'm ready to attend such a silent protest," ElBaradei said on his Twitter account on the internet. Chief Prosecutor Abdel Meguid Mahmoud decided to form a commission, including three forensic medicine experts, to perform a new autopsy and determine the cause of Saeed's death. Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif told a satellite TV late Saturday that if the police were found to be involved in Saeed's killing, those responsible would be punished. "There is no one above the law. We also seek the truth in his (Saeed's) killing," Nazif said. Egyptian police denied beating 28-year-old Saeed to death, saying he was asphyxiated after swallowing a roll containing narcotic substance when two police's agents approached him. Preliminary forensic report confirmed the police's account. His death led to angry demonstrations across Egypt demanding a new investigation into its cause. A second autopsy has been ordered as of last Tuesday.
