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| Mass march in Port Said as anger grows on anniversary of Egypt revolution | Mass march in Port Said as anger grows on anniversary of Egypt revolution |
| (about 1 month later) | |
| In a day of deep symbolism, thousands of Port Said residents marched through the city on Friday to protest against police brutality, the rule of President Mohamed Morsi and, in contrast to most other protests in Egypt this week, regional isolation. | In a day of deep symbolism, thousands of Port Said residents marched through the city on Friday to protest against police brutality, the rule of President Mohamed Morsi and, in contrast to most other protests in Egypt this week, regional isolation. |
| The protest came less than a week after civil unrest in Port Said left 40 residents dead, and exactly a year after the Port Said stadium tragedy that killed 74 football fans in what one minister dubbed the worst disaster in the history of Egyptian football. | The protest came less than a week after civil unrest in Port Said left 40 residents dead, and exactly a year after the Port Said stadium tragedy that killed 74 football fans in what one minister dubbed the worst disaster in the history of Egyptian football. |
| Two years after the revolution, the residents of Port Said were not the only protesters out in force – other activists threw petrol bombs at the presidential palace in Cairo, while there were once again huge rallies in several cities, including the capital and Alexandria – and nor were they the only community mourning their dead this week. | Two years after the revolution, the residents of Port Said were not the only protesters out in force – other activists threw petrol bombs at the presidential palace in Cairo, while there were once again huge rallies in several cities, including the capital and Alexandria – and nor were they the only community mourning their dead this week. |
| But Port Said has been at the centre of recent conflict and is one of just three cities near the Suez Canal that has been in a state of emergency since Sunday, giving the protests a significantly different emphasis to those in the rest of the country. | But Port Said has been at the centre of recent conflict and is one of just three cities near the Suez Canal that has been in a state of emergency since Sunday, giving the protests a significantly different emphasis to those in the rest of the country. |
| "We don't like this country any more. We don't want to be here any more," said 23-year-old Mohamed Aboud, who on Monday saw his friend, 22-year-old commerce student Osama Sherbini, shot dead by police snipers while he was shopping for his sick father. | "We don't like this country any more. We don't want to be here any more," said 23-year-old Mohamed Aboud, who on Monday saw his friend, 22-year-old commerce student Osama Sherbini, shot dead by police snipers while he was shopping for his sick father. |
| Earlier this week, some locals were seen burning Egyptian flags. | Earlier this week, some locals were seen burning Egyptian flags. |
| "The people in Port Said died in order to satisfy the people in Cairo," said Saeed Mohamed Ibrahim, a taxi driver carrying a large tricolour of green, yellow and blue, which he had knitted himself the previous day. The flag read in Arabic: "The United Republic of the Canal". It was not a serious statement of separatist intent, but was indicative of a feeling – common among Port Said demonstrators – that the region had been marginalised by politicians in the capital. | "The people in Port Said died in order to satisfy the people in Cairo," said Saeed Mohamed Ibrahim, a taxi driver carrying a large tricolour of green, yellow and blue, which he had knitted himself the previous day. The flag read in Arabic: "The United Republic of the Canal". It was not a serious statement of separatist intent, but was indicative of a feeling – common among Port Said demonstrators – that the region had been marginalised by politicians in the capital. |
| "Why is there no curfew in Cairo? Why just the canal [region]? Why is he [Morsi] punishing us?" asked Ansafi Ibrahim Moussa, the mother of Osama Sherbini, at her son's wake in the small hours of Friday morning. | "Why is there no curfew in Cairo? Why just the canal [region]? Why is he [Morsi] punishing us?" asked Ansafi Ibrahim Moussa, the mother of Osama Sherbini, at her son's wake in the small hours of Friday morning. |
| Once a proud hub of dissent against British rule, Port Said has felt excluded from mainstream Egyptian life since the 90s, say anaylsts, after its special status as a tax-free zone was rescinded. | Once a proud hub of dissent against British rule, Port Said has felt excluded from mainstream Egyptian life since the 90s, say anaylsts, after its special status as a tax-free zone was rescinded. |
| This feeling of isolation was heightened last Saturday, when a Cairo judge sentenced to death 21 locals for their part in a football massacre that occurred a year ago. But some locals are convinced the perpetrators were not followers of football but "baltagis" (or thugs) hired by the police, who wanted to exact revenge on the Port Said fans for their part in the 2011 revolution that toppled Hosni Mubarak. | This feeling of isolation was heightened last Saturday, when a Cairo judge sentenced to death 21 locals for their part in a football massacre that occurred a year ago. But some locals are convinced the perpetrators were not followers of football but "baltagis" (or thugs) hired by the police, who wanted to exact revenge on the Port Said fans for their part in the 2011 revolution that toppled Hosni Mubarak. |
| Port Said residents also feel that their sons were sacrificed to placate hardcore Cairo football fans, whose friends formed the vast majority of those killed last year and who had promised to wreak havoc in Cairo should a severe sentence not have been handed down. | Port Said residents also feel that their sons were sacrificed to placate hardcore Cairo football fans, whose friends formed the vast majority of those killed last year and who had promised to wreak havoc in Cairo should a severe sentence not have been handed down. |
| "There is a difference between us and Cairo," said Abdallah Rahman, a watchmaker. "We don't have money." | "There is a difference between us and Cairo," said Abdallah Rahman, a watchmaker. "We don't have money." |
| Residents told the Guardian conflicting stories about the origins of the violence sparked by Saturday's verdict. | Residents told the Guardian conflicting stories about the origins of the violence sparked by Saturday's verdict. |
| But it is alleged that either families of the condemned or opportunistic local gangsters – or a mixture of both – launched an armed attempt to free some of the prisoners from the local jail. According to human rights groups, this sparked a heavy-handed police response that lasted several days, killed over 40 residents – many of them innocent passers-by, locals say, who were shot from a distance by police snipers positioned in the prison and in a since-burned police station. | But it is alleged that either families of the condemned or opportunistic local gangsters – or a mixture of both – launched an armed attempt to free some of the prisoners from the local jail. According to human rights groups, this sparked a heavy-handed police response that lasted several days, killed over 40 residents – many of them innocent passers-by, locals say, who were shot from a distance by police snipers positioned in the prison and in a since-burned police station. |
| Local residents said that at least 20 of the deaths occurred between Sabbah and Hay el-Kuwait streets, a crossroads in plain view of the prison in the distance. | Local residents said that at least 20 of the deaths occurred between Sabbah and Hay el-Kuwait streets, a crossroads in plain view of the prison in the distance. |
| "Everyone crossing this street had a bullet in their head or in their chest," claimed Rahman, a watchmaker whose shop front was flecked with bullet holes. | "Everyone crossing this street had a bullet in their head or in their chest," claimed Rahman, a watchmaker whose shop front was flecked with bullet holes. |
| On the pavement outside a coffee shop, there was a large pool of dried blood. The mirrors of a nearby barber's shop were smashed with bullets. | On the pavement outside a coffee shop, there was a large pool of dried blood. The mirrors of a nearby barber's shop were smashed with bullets. |
| Rahman held out a bullet he said he found embedded in the wall of his shop. Then he pointed to the phone shop across the road. Pulling a mobile from his pocket, he played a video that he said was shot of the same phone shop earlier this week, in which a spectator appears to have been shot dead by a bullet coming from the direction of the prison. "We have animal rights in this place," said a fishmonger, Mohamed Abu Ismail, showing the Guardian a photo of his friend Mohamed, who he said was shot dead this week. "But we have no human rights." | Rahman held out a bullet he said he found embedded in the wall of his shop. Then he pointed to the phone shop across the road. Pulling a mobile from his pocket, he played a video that he said was shot of the same phone shop earlier this week, in which a spectator appears to have been shot dead by a bullet coming from the direction of the prison. "We have animal rights in this place," said a fishmonger, Mohamed Abu Ismail, showing the Guardian a photo of his friend Mohamed, who he said was shot dead this week. "But we have no human rights." |
| Another fishmonger, Said Mohamed Hassan, rolled down his trousers to reveal a two-year-old wound on his thigh, which he claimed he received at the same crossroads – and from the same sniper position – during the revolution that overthrew Mubarak. "Before [under Mubarak] they were shooting us in the legs. Now they're shooting us in the head," he said. "It's not even the same. It's worse." | Another fishmonger, Said Mohamed Hassan, rolled down his trousers to reveal a two-year-old wound on his thigh, which he claimed he received at the same crossroads – and from the same sniper position – during the revolution that overthrew Mubarak. "Before [under Mubarak] they were shooting us in the legs. Now they're shooting us in the head," he said. "It's not even the same. It's worse." |
| On the streets of Port Said, it was felt the police violence and emergency rule – an uncomfortable reminder of life under Mubarak – had been encouraged by the president, who appeared on state television on Sunday to praise the police. | On the streets of Port Said, it was felt the police violence and emergency rule – an uncomfortable reminder of life under Mubarak – had been encouraged by the president, who appeared on state television on Sunday to praise the police. |
| "Morsi is the responsible one," agreed Hassan Sharqawi, a stallholder at the market, who was standing beneath a photograph of his friend Waleed, a fishmonger and father of two who died outside the prison on Saturday. "The Egyptian people voted for him. And then he came on television, thanking the police who are killing us." | "Morsi is the responsible one," agreed Hassan Sharqawi, a stallholder at the market, who was standing beneath a photograph of his friend Waleed, a fishmonger and father of two who died outside the prison on Saturday. "The Egyptian people voted for him. And then he came on television, thanking the police who are killing us." |
| A spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood, Gehad al-Haddad, told the Guardian this week that the president needed more time to deal with the state security apparatus. "If it took them 60 years to build a system that corrupt," he said, "imagine how long it will take to reform it." | A spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood, Gehad al-Haddad, told the Guardian this week that the president needed more time to deal with the state security apparatus. "If it took them 60 years to build a system that corrupt," he said, "imagine how long it will take to reform it." |
| Heba Morayef, head of the Egypt branch of Human Rights Watch, said Morsi has showed little intent so far. "It's not just that he hasn't delivered on any changes, it's that he hasn't publicly acknowledged that there is a serious problem of police abuse," said Morayef. | Heba Morayef, head of the Egypt branch of Human Rights Watch, said Morsi has showed little intent so far. "It's not just that he hasn't delivered on any changes, it's that he hasn't publicly acknowledged that there is a serious problem of police abuse," said Morayef. |
| Yet not everyone in Port Said shared the same discontent. "Morsi?" asked Ayman Shater, the barber with the shot-up shop. "Morsi is good. People are not giving him enough time. He is not magic. He is a human." | Yet not everyone in Port Said shared the same discontent. "Morsi?" asked Ayman Shater, the barber with the shot-up shop. "Morsi is good. People are not giving him enough time. He is not magic. He is a human." |
| On Thursday, leaders from across the political spectrum – ranging from Muslim Brotherhood to liberal figures such as Mohamed ElBaradei – met for talks called by members of the youth movement in an attempt to find a way out of Egypt's ongoing crisis. The secular opposition had refused an earlier invitation to dialogue from Morsi on Monday. | On Thursday, leaders from across the political spectrum – ranging from Muslim Brotherhood to liberal figures such as Mohamed ElBaradei – met for talks called by members of the youth movement in an attempt to find a way out of Egypt's ongoing crisis. The secular opposition had refused an earlier invitation to dialogue from Morsi on Monday. |
| • This story was amended on 2 February. Protesters threw petrol bombs at the presidential palace, not explosives. | • This story was amended on 2 February. Protesters threw petrol bombs at the presidential palace, not explosives. |
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