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| Egypt: Port Said football disaster - 2 February 2012 | Egypt: Port Said football disaster - 2 February 2012 |
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| 8.40am: Welcome to Middle East Live. Today we will be focusing on Egypt and the aftermath of the football violence in Port Said, and Syria as UN diplomats draft a new resolution aimed at appeasing Russia. | |
| Here's a round up of the latest developments and analysis: | |
| Egypt | |
| • Dozens of people died and hundreds were injured after clashes broke out at a football match in Port Said between Cairo club Al-Ahly and local club Al-Masry. Television footage showed players running from the pitch chased by fans. A small group of riot police tried to protect the players, but appeared to be overwhelmed and unable to stop fans attacking players. In Cairo, fans congregated outside Al-Ahly's ground in the Zamalek neighbourhood, some in tears as they waited to hear news of family and friends who had attended the match. They were joined by fans of their arch-rivals Zamalek, who came along to offer support. Chants rang out against the ministry of interior and the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. | |
| name="allowFullScreen" value="true"> name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"> name="flashvars" value="endpoint=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2012/feb/01/dozens-dead-egypt-football-video/json"> • Fans believe the violence was intrinsically linked to Egypt's political situation. One al-Ahly supporter outside the club, Khaled Gad, told the Guardian: "There is a strong political connection. What happened today was not just about trouble at a football match, it's related to other events in the country." Another fan, Mahmoud Kamel, said, "Where was the security? And where were the clubs and governorate representatives who always attend this game. This is a huge rivalry and they're always in attendance, but they weren't this time." Kamel insisted that the cause of the catastrophe was the chant against Scaf rule by al-Ahly's group of supporters known as the Ultras at a previous game. The Ultras of al-Ahly and arch-rival Zamalek played prominent roles in the 18-day uprising that spelled the end of Mubarak's rule and the violence raised fresh concerns about the ability of the state police to manage crowds. | |
| • But the violence of the Ultras is directed as much against those of rival clubs as it is against the security forces, according to a Middle East football expert. Writing on Foreign Policy, James Dorsey, author of the blog The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer, writes: | |
| The riots in Port Said will likely strengthen the hand of those in the ruling military council who want to crack down hard on the ultras, who have formed the backbone of street protests that have not quieted down even though Egypt has seated an elected parliament and will soon choose a new president. And this time, it seems, the Egyptian people will be with them. | |
| • The Ultras in Cairo played an active role in the Egyptian uprising when pro-Mubarak supporters stormed Cairo on camels, the anniversary of which is today, says Egyptian blogger Zeinobia. She reports fears that the violence was allowed to happen as a pretext to reimpose emergency laws. | |
| Syria | |
| • Diplomats claim progress has been made on a new compromise draft resolution after Russia said it would veto previous proposals because they did not rule out military intervention. "There are a lot of difficult issues and we are not there yet," said British Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant. On Wednesday Russia's ambassador to the EU, Vladmimir Chuzhin, said the previous text was "missing the most important thing: a clear clause ruling out the possibility that the resolution could be used to justify military intervention in Syrian affairs from outside." | |
| • The new draft text deletes any mention of president Bashar al-Assad handing power to his deputy, according to the Kuwait news agency. In an attempt to win Russian backing it also drops any reference to the supply of weapons to Syria. And it notes Russia's offer to host talks in Moscow between the Assad government and the opposition. | |
| • Ruling out military action is right both on the politics at the UN and on the policy, argues Middle East analyst Marc Lynch for Foreign Policy magazine. | |
| At this point, the game plan should be to intensify Syria's international isolation, hold out the threat of ICC indictments, continue with targeted sanctions, help the opposition to coalesce and commit to a democratic future, and play a support role in preparing for a managed transition- all while avoiding a risky, unnecessary, and ill-advised military intervention. These steps will not immediately or decisively end Assad's killing or resolve the crisis. But neither will a military intervention. | |
| • The Syrian government has stepped up security in preparation for the 30th anniversary of the massacre in Hama which activists plan to mark with demonstrations across the country. Government forces made mass arrests and reinforced military presence in several places, mainly in Hama, activists report, according to Deutsche Presse Agentur. | |
| 9.40am: The Ultras, Egypt's dedicated football fans, and many other are furious with the military government over last night's violence, according to the independent Egyptian daily news site al-Masry al-Youm. | |
| For the ultras, as for many politicians and ordinary Egyptians, the anger was not that football fans clashed but that security forces appeared to have done little to stop them. It has added to the mounting frustration at the army's failure to restore law and order almost a year after taking charge ... | |
| Football fans on Thursday reflected the hardening lines. "The people want the execution of the field marshal," thousands of Egyptians chanted at Cairo's main train station early on Thursday as fans returned from the Port Said match. | |
| A resident told the paper: | |
| The ultras were the target (on Wednesday). This was a setup for them, a massacre. The military council and the security forces are the only parties held accountable for such events. | |
There | Egypt's parliament is to hold an emergency session, according to the state owned Ahram online. |
| Activist turned MP Amr Hamzawy said he would call for the sacking of the minister of interior as well as the security head of Port Said. | |
| 9.58am: Egypt's Freedom and Justice Party, the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood which holds just under half the seats in the new Parliament, has suggested "foreign plots" played a hand in last night's football violence. | |
| In a statement it blamed the violence on "fan enthusiasm or intolerance gone berserk: an integral part of a deliberate scheme to ignite strife, originally aiming to push Egypt into a downward spiral of crises." | |
| It added: | |
| There are, no doubt, foreign fingers that failed to take control of the Egyptian revolution, but never gave up attempts to distort, distract and disrupt the march of the revolution. | |
| But the FJP also criticised the police for failing to prevent the disaster. | |
| 10.07am: Eyewitness and Al-Ahly fan Ahmed Ghaffar said the behaviour of the police and armed forces suggested the violence was planned. | |
| In a translated account of what happened he sad: | |
| The people attacking us were armed with batons, knives, rocks, glass, firworks and all kinds of weapons that would be used in more than football trouble. | |
| When we saw these numbers we knew we wouldn't be able to deal with all of them; so we started running towards the hallways that take us to the doors in order to exit the stadium. These hallways should've been opened for us to leave but they were closed by the army from the outside. The area between the doors of these hallways and the main exit gates had army soldiers and we were locked in. Not even able to escape. We were besieged in the hallway and we had two choices; either die inside or outside because even if were able to make it outside the people of Port Said were waiting for us there at the main gate. | |
| 10.18am: Cartoonist Carlos Latuff depicts Egypt's military leader Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi as a referee bent on violence at last night's game. | |
| #Cartoon - The referee of Port Said Stadium Massacre - #Egypt wp.me/p26gkO-5J | |
| — Carlos Latuff (@CarlosLatuff) February 2, 2012 | |
| Tantawi greeted some of the injured returning to Cairo, according to state-owned Ahram Online. | |
| 10.32am: Egyptian activists Mostafa Hussein has created a panorama of Tahrir Square this time last year to show the moment protesters were attacked by pro-Mubarak supporters on camels. | |
| Other activists have drawn parallels between what happened last night and what happened a year ago today. | |
| The sight of attackers passing between motionless CSF soldiers reminded me of when camels & horses passed through republican guards last yr | |
| — The Big Pharaoh (@TheBigPharaoh) February 2, 2012 | |
| The mood In Cairo feels like it did the day after the battle of the camels. Somber & shock. #Egypt | |
| — Ian Lee (@ianinegypt) February 2, 2012 | |
| 10.37am: More than 50 people have been arrested in Port Said, according to al-Jazeera's Adam Makary. | |
| #Egypt's general prosecutor has arrived in #PortSaid to start investigating. #Suez governor to be questioned. 52 arrests made so far #Egypt | |
| — Adam Makary (@adamakary) February 2, 2012 | — Adam Makary (@adamakary) February 2, 2012 |
| Thousands of activists and football fans have taken to the streets of Cairo to protest against the military government, according to al-Masry al-Youm. | |
| Ahly fans were accompanied by supporters of their arch-rival, Zamalek, at the protest, and all chanted slogans against the SCAF and Tantawi. | |
| Thousands of demonstrators from nearby Tahrir Square also joined the protest, which halted traffic in front of Maspero. Dozens of Ahly Ultras also marched in the square itself, chanting angrily and demanding retribution for their dead comrades. | |
| Emad Eddin Hussein, the managing editor of the independent Al-Shorouk daily, said protesters prevented him, TV commentators and other reporters from entering the Maspero building. In a radio interview, Hussein voiced solidarity with the demonstrators and held the Interior Ministry responsible for the crisis. | |
| Protesters said their numbers are likely to grow throughout the day Thursday, adding that they intend to organize marches from Tahrir to the Interior Ministry and the cabinet building, both of which are located near the square. | |
| 10.47am: The speaker of the Egyptian parliament described last night's football violence as a "massacre" and blamed the lack of security at the Port Said ground. | |
| Saad Tawfik Al-Katatny was speaking at the opening of an emergency parliamentary session on the violence. | |
| But Al-Katatny's suggestion that the session should not be televised provoked angry arguments in parliament. | |
| Egypt parliament speaker announces that it will be closed to the media, MPs can be heard objecting. | |
| — Sultan Al Qassemi (@SultanAlQassemi) February 2, 2012 | |
| #Egypt parliament holding emergency session over #portsaid violence erupts in uproar after speaker says session will not be televised live | |
| — Ayman Mohyeldin (@AymanM) February 2, 2012 | |
| 10.53am: Middle East analyst Marc Lynch has a phlegmatic response to last night's violence. | |
| Wild theories of SCAF-led massacre or foreign conspiracy in Egypt tragedy distract from real problem of shoddy policing, political vaccuum. | |
| — Marc Lynch (@abuaardvark) February 2, 2012 | |
| The Arabist expresses similar sentiments: | |
| I just banged my foot into a chair. It hurts. I blame SCAF. | |
| — arabist (@arabist) February 2, 2012 | |
| Meanwhile, the US embassy in Cairo is closing early today in anticipation of trouble, according to CNN's Ben Wedeman. | |
| And in the Parliament the speaker's attempt to ban cameras has been overruled and there's been a call to prosecute the governor of Port Said and sack security personnel. | |
| 11.09am: Egypt's MPs continue to blame the police and authorities in Port Said for last night's violence. | |
| Port Said independent MP Badry Farghaly led the accusations. | |
| MP Badry Farghaly says it wasn't a soccer riot, but security forces were conspiring in committing #Portsaid Massacre. #EgyParliament | |
| — Ahmad H. Aggour (@Psypherize) February 2, 2012 | |
| MP Farghaly blames Football Federation, whose members are friends with jailed ex-officials in Torah | |
| — Sarah El Sirgany (@Ssirgany) February 2, 2012 | |
| Egypt MP Port Said MP Mohammed Gad: I carry a message from the youth of Port Said. This is a conspiracy in the first major public gathering | |
| — Sultan Al Qassemi (@SultanAlQassemi) February 2, 2012 | |
| 11.19am: Field Marshall Tantawi, head of Egypt's ruling military council, has ordered an investigation into last night's violence. | |
| He told reporters that the "plotters" behind the incident would be tracked down and punished. | |
| 11.31am: Turning briefly to Syria, here's a round up of some of the latest developments: | |
| • Russia says it will not stop arms exports, according to AFP. "As of today there are no restrictions on the delivery of weapons and we must fulfil our obligations" said deputy defence Minister Anatoly Antonov, quoted by Russian news agencies. | |
| • The United States, European governments and Arab states have begun discussing the possibility of exile for Bashar al-Assad, according to Reuters. One official said as many as three countries were willing to take him as a way to bring an end to Syria's bloody 10-month-old crisis. "We understand that some countries have offered to host him should he choose to leave Syria," a senior Obama administration official said. | |
| • Activists report a heavy security presence to prevent demonstrations a to mark the 30th anniversary of the Hama massacre. Some of Hama's streets and famous water wheels were painted red to mark the anniversary. | |
| • A new UN draft resolution on the Syria crisis has dropped calls for Assad to stand down, the BBC's UN correspondent Barbara Plett confirms. | |
| Revised #UN #Syria draft resolution drops reference to #Arab call for #Assad to devolve powers to deputy | |
| — Barbara Plett (@BBCBarbaraPlett) February 2, 2012 | |
| The Kuwait New Agency has a detailed account of what the new draft contains and omits. | |
| 12.10pm: Fifa's president Sepp Blatter has asked the Egyptian Football Association for details on the causes of last night's violence. | |
| AP reports: | |
| After speaking Thursday morning to EFA President Samir Zaher, Blatter wrote to him asking for "further news from your concerning the circumstances of this tragedy." | |
| Blatter says he "fully understand(s) the country's shock and anger that such a disaster could have come to pass." | |
| He adds that "we must take steps to ensure that such a catastrophe never happens again." | |
| 12.47pm: Here's a summary of developments so far today in Egypt: | |
| • Egyptian MPs have reacted angrily in an emergency parliamentary session called after the deaths of 74 people at football match in Port Said last night between Cairo's Al-Ahlay and local club Al-Masry. An MP from the city, Badry Farghaly, has accused security forces of conspiring in the deaths. The parliament's speaker, Saad Tawfik Al-Katatny, called it a "massacre". | |
| • The Muslim Brotherhood, which dominates the assembly, suggested a "foreign" plot was behind the tragedy. But it too criticised the policing. | |
| • Thousands of activists and football fans, known as the Ultras, have taken to the streets of Cairo to protest against the military government. Roads are blocked near the state television building and Tahrir Square, while crowds gathered at Cairo's main rail station have anti-military slogans as the bodies of the dead were unloaded from the trains. Activists called for march at 4pm local time (2pm GMT) from Al-Ahly's club ground in central Cairo to the interior ministry to protest at what one minister said it was Egypt's worst football disaster. | |
| • Field Marshall Tantawi, head of Egypt's ruling military council, has ordered an investigation into the violence and offered his condolences to the victims' families in comments broadcast on state television. More than 50 arrests have been made in Port Said. | |
| 12.57pm: The governor of Port Said has resigned and Egypt's football federation has been dissolved, AP reports. | |
| Egypt's prime minister has dissolved the Egyptian Soccer Federation's board and referred its members for questioning by prosecutors after post-match clashes that left 74 dead. | |
| Prime Minister Kamal el-Ganzouri announced the decision during Thursday's emergency parliamentary session, a day after a match between Al-Ahly and Al-Masry soccer teams in the Mediterranean city of Port Said turned deadly. El-Ganzouri also says the governor of Port Said province and the area's police chief have resigned. | |
| Witnesses had said that riot police stood by as supporters of home team Al-Masry rushed the field after their 3-1 win over Al-Ahly. | |
| 1.09pm: It is difficult to avoid the impression that the chaos had been at least partly-engineered to teach a painful lesson to the ultras - and by proxy the Egyptian liberals whose views on the military junta they broadly represent, writes Martin Chulov. | |
| The violence also plays to the military's narrative of an ongoing atmosphere of insecurity across Egypt justifying an extension of some emergency law provisions. Today, Egypt's young parliament faces a much-scrutinised baptism. The country's new prime minister has started by accepting the resignation of the Port Said governor and security director. But MPs are calling for the chain of accountability to reach much higher. | |
| Holding military rulers to account for what happened in Port Said seems beyond the means of the brittle parliament now rising out of three decades of totalitarian rule. But valid questions about what happened in Port Said need to be answered from on high. | |
| 1.13pm: Britain's foreign office minister, Alistair Burt, has called for a transparent investigation into the Port Said deaths. | |
| In a statement he said: "We urge the Egyptian authorities to set up a transparent enquiry to uncover the causes of the tragedy and hold those responsible to account." | |
| 1.30pm: Protesters in Port Said blame hired thugs and the security forces for last night's violence Abdel-Rahman Hussein reports from a demonstration outside the governor's office. | |
| Protesters in Port Said #Egypt blame hired thugs and the security forces for the violence @ElFoulio reports (mp3) "They insist that it was a premeditated attack by infiltrators who acted within a security vacuum," Abdo reports. | |
| There are chants of 'This is the truth - Port Said is innocent'. They insist that they were trying to defend the Al-Ahly fans yesterday who were being attacked. They are coming out to make a protest against the security at the game yesterday ... They insist that there were hired thugs, possibly hired by remnants of the previous regime - who get blamed for a lot of the violence here. Many have said they were not residents of the town. Others say there were, but that they were people with criminal records, who were hired to do this. | |
Abdo said there were questions about how gates onto the pitch were open while exit gates for the Al-Ahly fans were closed. The fact that lights were turned off so soon after the final whistle has added to the intrigue, he said. | |
| Earlier at the stadium a local fan told Abdo that he was injured trying to defend Al-Ahly supporters. | |
People are very angry. They insist this was premeditated, that the security lapse was purposeful and they want to make that very clear. | |
| 1.50pm: A coalition of leading politicians and activists has called on Egypt new Parliament to declare no confidence in the military government, in the wake of the football tragedy, the independent daily Al-Masry Al-Youm reports. | |
| The participants unanimously declared that since the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces is in charge of the country, it is fully responsible for the Port Said violence. Their statement also urged the People's Assembly to fulfil its duty to represent the people during Egypt's political transition and called for presidential elections to be held soon to end divisions among the people. | |
| Meanwhile, there are unconfirmed reports that some members of the Al-Ahly team have joined a protest march outside the club's stadium. | |
| Confirmed : Ahly players joined the protest #Ultras | |
| — Mostafa Sheshtawy (@msheshtawy) February 2, 2012 | |
| Issandr El Amrani, author of the widely read Arabist blog continues to express scepticism about the activists' fears. | |
| So by some ppl's reckoning, entire stadium tragedy a setup. All fans innocent. So who was carrying weapons? Who took to the pitch? | |
| — arabist (@arabist) February 2, 2012 | |
| 2.15pm: Around 3,000 people gathered outside the Al-Ahly club, according to blogger and activist Tarke Shalaby, as a march was due to start. | |
| More people have gathered on the Kasr el Nil bridge, which leads to Tahrir Square, according to citizen journalist Lilian Wagdy. | |
| Freelance journalist Bel Trew reports a crowd of 10,000 people. | |
| 'Either we get the martyrs's rights or we die like them' people stamping their feet. 10,000s #ahly yfrog.com/o013102478j | |
| — Bel Trew (@Beltrew) February 2, 2012 | |
| 2.28pm: Last night Al-Ahly star player Mohammed Abu Treika appeared on TV saying: "This is not football. It is like a street war. Help us." | |
| There are unconfirmed reports today that he has joined in anti-government chants at today's demonstration. | |
| University tutor Adel Abdel Ghafar is troubled by the anti-Port Said chants at the protest. | |
| What's really worrying is all the anti #portsaid chants . This is not about a city or football , it's about removing #scaf | |
| — Adel Abdel Ghafar (@dooolism) February 2, 2012 | |
| 2.41pm: The US state department has urged US citizens to avoid crowds in Egypt. | |
| #Egypt high levels of emotion & planned demonstrations elevate concerns. U.S. citizens should avoid assembling crowds, especially downtown. | |
| — Travel - State Dept (@TravelGov) February 2, 2012 | |
| Witnesses confirm the volatile mood. | |
| Anti #scaf chants with anti #portsaid chants in a march of thousands of #ahly & #zamalek fans heading to #MOI . A combustible mix. | |
| — Adel Abdel Ghafar (@dooolism) February 2, 2012 | |
| 3.01pm: Residents in Port Said claimed the violence was caused by infiltrators, not hardcore local football fans, Guardian stringer Abdel-Rahman Hussein told us earlier (see 1.30pm). | |
| Here's his write-up for al-Masry al-Youm. | |
| Thousands of people gathered outside the Port Said governor's headquarters by late afternoon, chanting, "Port Said is innocent!" and "This is the truth," blaming security forces for the deadly violence. | |
| "This is a conspiracy. We wouldn't do this to our brothers," said Mohamed Abdel Fattah, standing outside of the governor's office. "The Ahly supporters were predominantly from Port Said. My brother was one of them. Port Said is sad today; all residents of the city are sad and feel as if their own relatives have died." | |
| News emerged from the People's Assembly Thursday that the Port Said governor resigned in response to the tragedy. | |
| 3.13pm: A judge says one of the Arab world's best known Egyptian comedians has been sentenced to three months in jail for offending Islam, AP reports. | |
| The judge confirms that Adel Imam was convicted in absentia of "defaming Islam." His whereabouts are unknown. | |
| The state-run Ahram Online English website reports he was found guilty for a 2007 movie in which he plays a corrupt businessman and a 1998 play about an Arab dictator. Other reports said the court objected to his use of Islamic symbols. | |
| The judge did not elaborate. He said Thursday Imam has can appeal. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief reporters. In the 1980's, Imam was sentenced to three months in jail for defaming lawyers in a film. That ruling was later overturned. | |
| 3.27pm: Despite the a security clampdown in Syria protesters have still taken to the streets to mark the 30th anniversary of the Hama massacre. | |
| In Idlib school children held up banners criticising the inaction of the international community while the UN diplomats discuss a watered down resolution on Syria. | |
| One sign in English read: "Where are the People of the World... Save our Souls". | |
| 3.35pm: The specialist UN blog Inner City Press has published the new watered down version of a resolution on Syria. | |
| Diplomats hope the new version will be backed by Russia. | |
| The most interesting bits are what has been removed the earlier Arab-Western resolution. | |
| The deleted sections include this key passage: | |
| a) formation of a national unity government; | |
| b) delegation by the President of Syria of his full authority to his Deputy to fully cooperate with the national unity government in order to empower it to perform its duties in the transitional period; and | |
| c) transparent and free elections under Arab and international supervision;] | |
| 4.05pm: Here's a summary of today's events: | 4.05pm: Here's a summary of today's events: |
| Egypt | Egypt |
| • The governor of Port Said has resigned and Egypt's football federation has been dissolved, in the wake of the death of more than people at football match in Port Said last night between Cairo's Al-Ahlay and local club Al-Masry. Prime minster Egypt's prime minister Kamal el-Ganzouri referred members of federation for questioning. | • The governor of Port Said has resigned and Egypt's football federation has been dissolved, in the wake of the death of more than people at football match in Port Said last night between Cairo's Al-Ahlay and local club Al-Masry. Prime minster Egypt's prime minister Kamal el-Ganzouri referred members of federation for questioning. |
| • Egyptian MPs reacted angrily in an emergency parliamentary session to discuss the crisis. An MP from the city, Badry Farghaly, has accused security forces of conspiring in the deaths. The parliament's speaker, Saad Tawfik Al-Katatny, called it a "massacre". | • Egyptian MPs reacted angrily in an emergency parliamentary session to discuss the crisis. An MP from the city, Badry Farghaly, has accused security forces of conspiring in the deaths. The parliament's speaker, Saad Tawfik Al-Katatny, called it a "massacre". |
| • The Muslim Brotherhood, which dominates the assembly, suggested a "foreign plots" were behind the tragedy. But it too criticised the policing. | • The Muslim Brotherhood, which dominates the assembly, suggested a "foreign plots" were behind the tragedy. But it too criticised the policing. |
| • Thousands of activists and football fans, known as the Ultras, took to the streets of Cairo to protest against the military government. Roads were blocked near the state television building and Tahrir Square. A separate march from the Al-Ahly's club ground to the interior ministry started this afternoon. Some of the club leading players were reported to have taken part. The US state department advised US citizens to stay away from the crowds. | • Thousands of activists and football fans, known as the Ultras, took to the streets of Cairo to protest against the military government. Roads were blocked near the state television building and Tahrir Square. A separate march from the Al-Ahly's club ground to the interior ministry started this afternoon. Some of the club leading players were reported to have taken part. The US state department advised US citizens to stay away from the crowds. |
| • Field Marshall Tantawi, head of Egypt's ruling military council, has ordered an investigation into the violence and offered his condolences to the victims' families in comments broadcast on state television. More than 50 arrests have been made in Port Said. | • Field Marshall Tantawi, head of Egypt's ruling military council, has ordered an investigation into the violence and offered his condolences to the victims' families in comments broadcast on state television. More than 50 arrests have been made in Port Said. |
| • Protesters in Port Said took to the streets to blame hired thugs for the violence. They insisted that local fans were not to blame. | • Protesters in Port Said took to the streets to blame hired thugs for the violence. They insisted that local fans were not to blame. |
| Syria | Syria |
| • Diplomats at the UN are trying to persuade Russia to back a new watered down draft resolution on the Syria crisis which omits a calls for Assad to stand down. The new draft also drops a passage expressing concern about the flow of arms to Syria. | • Diplomats at the UN are trying to persuade Russia to back a new watered down draft resolution on the Syria crisis which omits a calls for Assad to stand down. The new draft also drops a passage expressing concern about the flow of arms to Syria. |
| • Russia says it will not stop arms exports, according to AFP. "As of today there are no restrictions on the delivery of weapons and we must fulfil our obligations" said deputy defence Minister Anatoly Antonov, quoted by Russian news agencies. | • Russia says it will not stop arms exports, according to AFP. "As of today there are no restrictions on the delivery of weapons and we must fulfil our obligations" said deputy defence Minister Anatoly Antonov, quoted by Russian news agencies. |
| • The United States, European governments and Arab states have begun discussing the possibility of exile for Bashar al-Assad, according to Reuters. One official said as many as three countries were willing to take him as a way to bring an end to Syria's bloody 10-month-old crisis. "We understand that some countries have offered to host him should he choose to leave Syria," a senior Obama administration official said. | • The United States, European governments and Arab states have begun discussing the possibility of exile for Bashar al-Assad, according to Reuters. One official said as many as three countries were willing to take him as a way to bring an end to Syria's bloody 10-month-old crisis. "We understand that some countries have offered to host him should he choose to leave Syria," a senior Obama administration official said. |
| • Despite a security clampdown in protesters still took to the streets to mark the 30th anniversary of the Hama massacre. Some of Hama's streets and famous water wheels were painted red to mark the anniversary. Protester | • Despite a security clampdown in protesters still took to the streets to mark the 30th anniversary of the Hama massacre. Some of Hama's streets and famous water wheels were painted red to mark the anniversary. Protester |
| 4.51pm GMT, 11.51am EST: Numerous reports that tear gas is being deployed at the Interior Ministry in Tahrir Square, with AFP reporting Egyptian police are firing the gas at protesters. | |
| Andy Carvin has retweeted some pictures purporting to show people injured by tear gas. | |
| Some of the first tear gas injuries. RT @waelabbas: اصابات من الغاز في الفلكي الان yfrog.com/mnf6uvrj yfrog.com/keayfrhj | |
| — Andy Carvin (@acarvin) February 2, 2012 | |
| This is Adam Gabbatt taking over from Matt Weaver. | |
| 5.10pm GMT, 12.10pm EST: Was the Port Said disaster "deliberate reluctance," in the words of an angry MP from the Muslim Brotherhood, or of simple neglect? The Guardian's middle east editor Ian Black writes that "whether it was cock-up or conspiracy, football riot or political crime —or a bit of both — the consequences will play into Egypt's shifting political landscape". | |
| Part of the Port Said puzzle is that the violence was initiated by supporters of al-Masry, the winning local team, against Cairo's al-Ahali. Ahali's fans, known as "ultras," played a leading role in the anti-Mubarak uprising and the rallies against continuing military rule, and have a famously adversarial relationship with the police. Official animosity towards them could well be the reason for the horrors on what one commentator dubbed the "pitch of death." Accusations of a "foreign plot" — a still iknee-jerk response — only underlined how troubling this all is. | |
| Still, whatever the precise cause, the effect was to further undermine the reputation of the military-appointed civilian government under Kamal el-Ganzouri, an unpopular Mubarak-era politician who, the joke goes, is so old he speaks in hieroglyphics. The swift resignation of the governor of Port Said looks unlikely to be enough to satisfy calls for a new culture of official accountability. For all the grand and universal aspirations of the Arab spring, that is a central demand in a country that once dominated the region but had long seemed to be in unstoppable decline, where a third of the population are illiterate and half live in extreme poverty. The old Egypt, in the words of one perceptive foreign observer, was a place where "the buildings collapsed, the trains caught fire and the ferries sank." | |
| The performance of the police and army, in this perspective, belong to an utterly discredited past. "This inefficiency of the security forces is a result of a police-state culture that lacks accountability," commented Khaled Diab. "Officers know they will not have to face any consequences to their actions." Thus the demand by several political groups and presidential hopefuls that parliament pass a vote of no-confidence in the government. The only snag is that Egypt's interim constitution does not permit such a move. | |
| 5.23pm GMT, 12.23pm EST: More updates from Cairo, where reports suggest police are still using tear gas. Journalist Lina El Wardani says there are "many injuries" and "dozens of ambulances" roaming the downtown area of the city. | |
| Police keep firing volleys of tear gas by the ministry of interior, protesters retreat then go back for more confrontation #Egypt | |
In the 1980's, Imam was sentenced to three months in jail for defaming lawyers in a film. That ruling was later overturned. | |
"They insist that it was a premeditated attack by infiltrators who acted within a security vacuum," Abdo reports. | |
Abdo said there were questions about how gates onto the pitch were open while exit gates for the Al-Ahly fans were closed. The fact that lights were turned off so soon after the final whistle has added to the intrigue, he said. | |
People are very angry. They insist this was premeditated, that the security lapse was purposeful and they want to make that very clear. | |
El-Ganzouri also says the governor of Port Said province and the area's police chief have resigned. | |
He told reporters that the "plotters" behind the incident would be tracked down and punished. | |
| — Adam Makary (@adamakary) February 2, 2012 | — Adam Makary (@adamakary) February 2, 2012 |
| Over a dozen of ambulances roaming bab el louk many injuries and doctors running around yfrog.com/kil9wmgij | |
| — Lina El Wardani (@linawardani) February 2, 2012 | |
| 5.36pm GMT, 12.36pm EST: There are reports that gunshots have been heard outside the interior ministry. | |
| Twitter user @OoPsRevolution says they are at Tahrir Square, and report that rubber bullets have been fired and "at least 50 people" have been injured. | |
| There must be at least 50 people injured. #MohamedMahmoud #MOI #Tahrir #egypt | |
| — Me (@OoPsRevolution) February 2, 2012 | |
| rubber bullets being shot at #protesters. #MohamedMahmoud #MOI #Tahrir #egypt | |
| — Me (@OoPsRevolution) February 2, 2012 | |
| 5.53pm GMT, 12.53pm EST: Bambuser.com has this live stream of Tahrir Square. Every so often ambulances can be seen driving slowly through the crowds. | |
| name="allowfullscreen" value="true"> name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"> name="wmode" value="opaque"> There are three different streams on Bambuser - check them out here. | |
| 6.28pm GMT, 1.28pm EST: Protesters are apparently "tearing down" Mohamed Mahmoud wall near Tahrir Square. | |
| Tearing down mohammed mahmoud wall twitter.com/NadiaE/status/… | |
| — Nadia El-Awady (@NadiaE) February 2, 2012 | |
| The wall was constructed by the Egyptian military in a bid to prevent protests from being held outide the interior ministry. | |
| 6.49pm: This is Damien Pearse taking over from Adam Gabbatt. | |
| 6.51pm:Witnesses report hearing protesters in Tahrir Square chanting for the execution of Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, who leads the military council that still rules Egypt. | |
| 7.29pm: There are unconfirmed reports that three Egyptian internationals and Ahly players have retired from the game after the violence. | |
| Reports suggested Mohamed Aboutrika, Emad Moteab and Mohamed Barakat told Ahly TV that they would not play again. | |
| 7.41pm: Egypt's health ministry say more than 100 have been injured in tonight's clashes. | |
| Sue Turton, reporting for Aljazeera in Cairo, reports that 120 have been hurt. | |
| 8.03pm: Channel 1 of Egyptian TV, which is state-owned, said 382 people have been injured tonight. More than 260 have been taken to hospital, while the remainder were treated on site. | |
| 8.14pm: Adel Adawi, a health ministry official, is quoted by the state-run news agency as saying 388 protesters have been injured outside the interior ministry, most from tear gas inhalation as well as bruises and broken bones from rocks that were thrown. | |
| 8.45pm: Guardian reporters Abdel-Rahman Hussein in Port Said and Martin Chulov, report on last night's bloodbath. | |
| The mad scramble to escape the carnage inside the Port Said stadium has horrified Egyptians, who are demanding answers about how and why the violence happened, who – if anyone – might have played a role in inciting it, and why the police and security forces appeared to do so little to stop it. The question remains whether the deaths and injuries were the result of simple football hooliganism that spiralled out of control, the inaction of the Egyptian police, who appear to have done nothing to stop the violence as it escalated, or whether it was orchestrated by the state, with paid thugs sent into the crowd to stir up trouble. | |
| Many of the country's new legislators are calling for Egypt's military rulers to be held to account for a death toll unprecedented in the past year of turmoil and scenes that have weakened an already unstable and volatile state. | |
| Tension had been building throughout the game, a grudge match between two historical foes. Two hardcore groups of fans, known as ultras, sat among the rival supporters. The ultras, who partly model themselves on Italian, Serbian and even British football gangs, have thrown themselves into the revolution's front lines over the past year, fighting frequent pitched battles with riot police. | |
| 9.53pm: There are also protests in Port Said and at the main headquarters of the security forces in Suez, at the southern end of the Suez Canal, the Associated Press reports. | |
| 10.05pm: People "starting to leave Tahrir Square" tonight, reports Emma Hurd from Sky News. | |
| 12.34am: Describing the scene in central Cairo, reporter Abdel-Rahman Hussein said: | |
| It's Mohamed Mahmoud all over again, a reprise of the November clashes. This time the fighting is on Mansour street perpendicular to Mohamed Mahmoud street. However, protesters are still gathered in Mohamed Mahmoud street where a three-tier block wall has been reduced to one through protester efforts. Security forces are stationed around the Interior Ministry on Mansour street but also further down Mohamed Mahmoud street where they continue to fire tear gas till now. | |
| In Tahrir people have banded together to form a pathway for ambulances to drive through. Ambulances are parked on Tahrir (formerly Bab El Louq) street which is parallel to Mohamed Mahmoud. And of course the motorcycles are here to ferry the injured back to the field hospitals and ambulances. | |
| 12.48am: Here are the main developments from this evening: | |
| • Nearly 400 people have been injured, some critically, during protests outside the Interior Ministry in Cairo following yesterday's football violence. | |
| • Many of the injured have been overcome by tear gas or hit by rocks and other missiles. | |
| • There are reports that three Egyptian internationals and Ahly players have resigned from the game after witnessing the pitch violence. | |
• | • Security forces continue to patrol the streets as crowds begin to disperse. |
| • There are calls for new protests over the coming days. | |