Egypt's security forces disperse small protests against
Sisi
By REUTERS
Published: 17:15 GMT, 25 A...View MoreEgypt's security forces disperse small protests against
Sisi
By REUTERS
Published: 17:15 GMT, 25 April 2016 | Updated: 17:15 GMT, 25 April 2016
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CAIRO, April 25 (Reuters) - Egyptian security forces used tear gas to
disperse small protests against President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Monday, witnesses
said, deterring what opposition groups expected to be a day of large demonstrations against his
rule.
Earlier this month, thousands of Egyptians angered by
Sisi's decision to hand over two islands to Saudi Arabia called for
his government to fall in the largest demonstration since the former military general took office in 2014.
Security forces moved swiftly on Monday to prevent this scenario from repeating, blocking roads in Cairo leading to a popular downtown meeting point
and dispersing a march in the Dokki neighbourhood with tear gas as it took off, a
witness said.
Videos and pictures posted on social media also showed
that teargas was used at a small protest in the Imbaba district.
Jets and helicopters were circling over Cairo.
Police in recent days have arrested over 90 people across eight governorates, according to the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, a Cairo-based
human rights group. Groups of youth were arrested from coffee shops and
others targeted in their homes, it said.
The ministry of interior was not immediately available for comment.
On Sunday, Interior Minister Magdi Abdel Ghaffar said
there would be no leniency against any "any attempts to destabilise national security and any vital public or police facilities".
Monday's protests, which coincide with a national holiday celebrating the Israeli
withdrawal from the Sinai peninsula in 1982, come as Sisi faces mounting criticism for
a government accord putting the uninhabited Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir
in Saudi waters.
Saudi and Egyptian officials say the islands belong to the kingdom across the Red Sea and were only under
Egyptian control because Riyadh had asked Cairo in 1950 to
protect them.
Popular backlash to the decision evolved into broader opposition against Sisi
and his government earlier this month, when protests carrying the
2011-era chant "down with military rule" spilled
into the streets of downtown Cairo. (Reporting by Cairo bureau; Editing by Ulf Laessing and Tom Heneghan)
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Egypt's security forces disperse small protests against
Sisi
By REUTERS
Published: 17:15 GMT, 25 A...View More