Egyptian security forces fired tear gas at protesters near the Interior Ministry in central Cairo tonight as thousands marched in protest at the deaths of 74 people in the country's worst ever soccer disaster.
Security forces fired tear gas at demonstrators near the headquarters of the Interior Ministry in Cairo, prompting hundreds to flee. "Down down with military rule," they chanted, many holding aloft pictures of those killed.
State media reported scuffles between members of the security forces and demonstrators who included hardcore soccer fans known for confronting the police and who were on the frontlines of protests against the state in the last year.
Earlier, a Reuters witness saw a dozen masked youths remove a barbed wire barrier blocking one route to the Interior Ministry and then throwing stones at riot police standing guard.
The Interior Ministry said in a statement that security forces were protecting the building after protesters cut the wire barricades and climbed over concrete walls in an attempt to reach the building.
As tear gas cannisters flew, witnesses saw unconscious people being ferried away from the area on motorbikes and ambulances raced to the scene.
The country's newly elected parliament held an emergency session to discuss the violence.
Parliament speaker Mohamed El-Katatni began today's emergency session by saying there was a security "failure" in controlling the violence. Ossama Yaseen, the head of the youth committee in parliament, urged the interior minister to resign.
"This is planned," lawmaker Ziad el-Elaimi told the state-run Nile News television about the violence. "We will call for withdrawing confidence from the government and for the formation of a national salvation government to take the duties of the military council during the transitional period."
Mr El-Elaimi, known for his political activism during and after the anti-Mubarak rallies, submitted a request to question the interior minister, prime minister and the head of the ruling military council, Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi.
Fifa, the game’s world governing body, today asked the Egyptian authorities to explain exactly what happened.
“Fifa has asked the Egyptian authorities for a full report on the incidents in order to evaluate what happened,” the governing body said in a statement.
In a letter to Egyptian FA president Samir Zaher, the world governing body’s president Blatter offered support and said: “Today is a black day for football and we must take steps to ensure that such a catastrophe never happens again.
“Football is a force for good and we must not allow it to be abused by those who mean evil.
“I await further news from you concerning the circumstances of this tragedy.”
Young men today blocked roads near the state television building and the capital's landmark Tahrir Square, and a crowd gathered at Cairo's main rail station hoping to see relatives returning from the game in Port Said.
As covered bodies from Egypt's worst soccer disaster were unloaded from trains, thousands chanted "Down with military rule".
"Where is my son?" screamed Fatma Kamal, whose frantic phone calls seeking news of her 18-year-old had gone unanswered. "To hell with the football match. . . . Give me back my boy."
At least 1,000 people were injured in the violence yesterday evening when soccer fans invaded the pitch in the Mediterranean city after local team al-Masry beat visitors from Cairo's Al Ahli, Egypt's most successful club.
Hundreds of al-Masry supporters surged across the pitch to the visitors' end and panicked Ahli fans dashed for the exit.
But the steel doors were bolted shut and dozens were crushed to death in the stampede, witnesses said.Angry politicians denounced a thin security presence given the tense build-up to the match and accused Egypt's military leaders of allowing, or even causing, the fighting.
The Muslim Brotherhood, which dominates the legislative assembly, said an "invisible" hand was behind the tragedyThe interior ministry blamed the violence on a section of the crowd which it said had deliberately set out to cause "anarchy, a riot, and a stampede".
Hundreds gathered near the stadium in Port Said today, chanting: "Port Said people are innocent. This is a conspiracy."
The army's fiercest critics regularly accuse it of sowing disorder in Egypt to scupper a transition to civilian rule. The military has pledged to step aside by mid-year.
Activists called a march at 4pm local time today from Al Ahli's club ground in central Cairo to the interior ministry to protest at what one minister said it was Egypt's worst soccer disaster.
Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi (76) who heads the ruling military council, took the unusual step of speaking by telephone to a television channel owned by Al Ahli, vowing to track down the culprits. The army announced three days of national mourning.
deeply regret what happened at the football match in Port Said. I offer my condolences to the victims' families," Mr Tantawi said in comments broadcast on state television.
It did little to assuage the anger of fans, who, like many Egyptians, are furious that Egypt is still plagued by lawlessness and frequent bouts of deadly violence almost a year after Mr Mubarak was driven out and replaced by an army council.
"The people want the execution of the field marshal," fans chanted at the Cairo rail station. "We will secure their rights, or die like them," they said as covered bodies were unloaded from the trains.
The post-match pitch invasion provoked panic among the crowd as rival fans fought. Most of the deaths were among people who were trampled in the crush of the panicking crowd or who fell or were thrown from terraces, witnesses and health workers said.
Television footage showed some security officers in the stadium showing no sign of trying to stop the pitch invasion.
Several enraged politicians and ordinary Egyptians accused officials who are still in their jobs after the fall of Mr Mubarak of complicity in the tragedy, or at least of allowing a security vacuum that has let violence flourish in the past 12 months.
Some saw the violence as orchestrated to target the "Ultras", Al Ahli fans whose experience confronting police at soccer matches was turned with devastating effect against Mr Mubarak's heavy-handed security forces in the uprising.
Egypt's football federation said it was indefinitely delaying matches for the Egyptian premier league. Al Ahli club said in a statement it was suspending all sports activities and holding three days of mourning.
Reuters
