Protests resume across Egypt despite the latest government reshuffle, with demonstrators are calling for reform and protesting against keeping officials from the previous regime in rule.
Protests resume across Egypt despite the latest government reshuffle, with demonstrators are calling for reform and protesting against keeping officials from the previous regime in rule.
Hundreds of protesters participated on Friday in a mass protest designated as "Friday of Decision" in Cairo's Tahrir square.
The 6 April Movement, the Union of Revolution Youth and other revolutionary groups called for the mobilization to show their dissatisfaction with Prime Minister Essam Sharaf's newly reshuffled cabinet announced on Thursday.
Organizers rejected the new law proposed by Sharaf and the ruling military council to regulate parliamentary elections, as well as the steps which both have taken to address the grievances of families of those killed during the January 2011 uprising.
Protesters also reiterated their previous calls for the nullification of Sharaf's law which has criminalized certain demonstrations and strikes. They were also still demanding the dismissal of the interior minister and the prosecution of those responsible for the killing of peaceful protesters.
Protesters were angered on Friday following a court decision to free on bail 10 policemen accused of killing protesters during the uprising that overthrew President Hosni Mubarak in February.
In Alexandria, military police fired shots in the air and beat demonstrators blocking a main road in the Mediterranean city, witnesses said.
Police fired shots in the air and charged demonstrators who responded by hurling stones at them.
"The military police are firing in the air. They are also beating protesters with batons and kicking them hard," a witness said.
In Suez, the state MENA news agency said military police "foiled" an attack on the local security headquarters and detained four people after a crowd attacked the building with a firebomb and stones.
The standoff continued into the early hours of Saturday, also blocking traffic at a busy square across the capital, Cairo, from Tahrir square.
Many protesters have grown mistrustful of the military, accusing it of dragging its feet in bringing former regime officials to trial.
More than five months after mass street demonstrations drove Mubarak from power, many Egyptians worry that their "revolution" has stalled.
