» 06/30/2011 12:27 EGYPT Police charge in Tahrir Square, more than a thousand injured, but “young people are our hope” Law enforcement used tear gas, rubber bullets and anti-riot gear to crack down on yesterday’s protests. Demonstrators were all related to the victims of the “Arab spring”. Sources tell AsiaNews, that the protest “is the result of deep frustration among the people” and a desire for justice.
Cairo (AsiaNews) – “This clash is the result of deep frustration among the people. Nothing of what we expected has been done yet,” a source told AsiaNews in relation to yesterday’s events in Cairo, when police in anti-riot gear charged protesters in Tahrir Square, injuring about a thousand people. Tear gas and rubber bullets rained on the protesters, all relatives of people who died for the revolution. It is the first time since the fall of Mubarak that police moves against the Egyptian people.
The first retaliatory action began on Tuesday evening when about 100 people reached the Nile to remember ten victims of the revolution. During the first clash, police arrested seven people.
The others then reached the Interior Ministry where they staged a sit-in, attracting almost 6,000 protesters, which culminated in last night’s fresh violence.
The source told AsiaNews that 10,000 people were injured during the revolution and that 845 people lost their life. “People are still waiting for trials and convictions. Families should have received compensation. Yet, nothing is happening: only postponements and broken promises. People want facts and concrete results instead.”
The impasse is partly due to the state’s “terrible” financial situation. But the real problem is that the “army is paralysed by the old regime, which is moving behind the scenes, trying to manipulate events and even the military.”
The concern is that the latest clashes are just a prologue to a new wave of violence, until next September’s elections.
However, AsiaNews’s source was confident. “The scenario could change. Young people are organising a new party. Slowly, a strong opposition is emerging against the army, the Salafis and the Muslim Brotherhood.”
Certainly, “They will fight the enemies of the revolution, who are numerous and powerful. But we still have hope.”
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