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CAIRO – Egypt's security forces firing tear gas clashed with more than 5,000 protesters rock-launch of Central Cairo late Tuesday, leaving dozens of injured in the latest unrest to rattle the town, witnesses and medical officials said.
Clouds of tear gas and the wail of police in riot gear Tahrir Square forces sirens as security lines are submerged battled to regain control of the central square by the protesters, many of them relatives of more than 850 people have been killed during the revolution which overthrew the longtime ruler of Egypt, Hosni Mubarak.
Families are frustrated with what they perceive as the prosecution slow security agents who is believed to be responsible for the deaths of some 850 demonstrators during the 18 days.
Rocks and shattered glass littered the streets around Tahrir, as the protestors chanted: "down with the junta". Injured protesters lay on the ground, some bloodied and dazed, before the fighting ended after Interior Minister Mansour el-Essawy issued an order before dawn Wednesday to the security services to resign.
The confrontation began Tuesday when security forces cleared a sit-in outside the State television building families of demonstrators killed, said Noureddin, an engineer who gave only his name.
"I was in front of building this morning when security forces attacked the State television," he said. "Since then, things were escalating."
The protesters were United Tuesday evening, the Ministry of the Interior, where rumor had it that two demonstrators injured earlier in the day had been taken. It wasn't immediately clear what sparked the violence outside the Ministry, but in the end the protesters were throwing paving stones and security forces firing volleys of teargas and blocking off streets around the building.
The clashes then moved to the nearby Tahrir — the epicenter of the revolution of Egypt. In a view unseen since the early days of the uprising, the central lines of security troops in riot gear sealed off main roads leading into the square, while dozens of security vehicles were parked in side streets.
The shock response of the Government, which many of the protesters from the heavy handed tactics used by the security forces before the fall of Mubarak.
"Violence and security forces is the same, said Al Maataz Hassan, an engineer."Accuse people of being thugs, then the repression. It's the same mentality as before the revolution ".
Tuesday's clashes, perhaps more serious between security forces and protesters from the revolution, are an offshoot of the tumultuous transition period the country is going through, as it strives to move away from authoritarian to democratic system.
The transition has made a step forward Tuesday with an Egyptian Court to order the dissolution of the municipal councils more than 1,750, seen as one of the last vestiges of the rule of Hosni Mubarak.
The Administrative Tribunal's decision, announced by presiding judge Kamal el-Lamei, meets an important question of the protest movement that has prompted Mubarak from power.
Local councils, with over 50,000 seats filled by elections are widely viewed as rigged, were a backbone of support for the ruling party of Mubarak. They became particularly important after 2005 constitutional amendments require presidential candidates to get support from a contingent of local Council officials as well as by members of the national Parliament. Critics saw this as a springboard for Mubarak's son, Gamal, to succeed his father in Office.
The decision of the Court can still be appealed, but popular opposition, can make it difficult for current military rulers of Egypt for the challenge.
Hamdi el-Fakharani, an engineer who has filed a court case against the boards, said 97 percent of Board members belonged to the now-dissolved Mubarak's National Democratic Party.
"They had already started a campaign by the municipal services to influence people in favour of the return of the party and saying the revolution has negatively impacted the economy," he said.
He said that he was joined in the complaint of ten Board members independent evidencing the corruption of the Council.
The dismissal of all members of the Council will give municipalities of Egypt under the control of non-elected local leaders and provincial officials, until new councils are elected.
A large demonstration is expected next week, among other things, show support for dissolving the local authorities. Activists say the advice, criticized as corrupt and flush with funds from the Government, could help the campaigns of former regime supporters in parliamentary elections, scheduled for September.
"This is, of course, an important decision. If we're having these parliamentary elections, municipal councils have been set to play an important role, "said Hafez Abu Saada, a human rights lawyer who monitored and criticised the elections of 2008 councils.
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Associated Press writer Sarah El Deeb contributed to this report.
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