Emeutes au Caire – novembre 2009
Riots Erupt In Cairo After Egypt’s World Cup Football Defeat
(RTTNews) – Riots erupted in the Cairo for a second day on Friday, following Egypt’s defeat in a World Cup soccer qualifying match played against Algeria in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum earlier in the week.
Riots broke out on Thursday after thousands of angry Egyptian football fans gathered outside Algeria’s embassy in Cairo, following reports that Egyptians were attacked by Algerian fans after the football match in Sudan on Wednesday.
The riots lasted through Thursday night and continued in Friday. Hundreds of riot police battled with angry demonstrators outside the Algerian embassy in Cairo on Friday after the protest turned violent, with demonstrators hurling rocks and petrol bombs at the police.
Media reports suggested that some 15 cars and several buildings were damaged in the violent protests, which left 35 people injured, including 11 police officers.
Cairo claims that Egyptian football fans were attacked by Algerians after the football match in Khartoum on Wednesday, leaving 21 of them injured. The match saw Algeria emerging victorious with a 1-0 margin and topping the pool, effectively ending Egypt’s dreams of entering the World Cup finals in South Africa next year.
Egypt-Algeria World Cup anger turns violent in Cairo
Friday, 20 November 2009
Riot police in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, pushed back a violent demonstration near the Algerian embassy in the early hours of Friday.
Egyptian protesters reportedly hurled firebombs at police protecting the embassy and overturned a police van.
Egypt’s Interior Ministry said 35 people were injured.
The clashes stem from Egypt’s defeat by Algeria in a World Cup qualifying match on Wednesday, securing Algeria the last African place for next year’s finals.
Protesters were incensed after hearing reports of Egyptian fans being attacked after Algeria beat Egypt 1-0 on Wednesday.
Egypt erupts in anti-Algeria riots after World Cup football defeat
Novembre 21, 2009
Hundreds of Egyptian security forces were in tense anticipation of riots that have been locally dubbed the “football wars”.
Angry sports fans across Egypt have burnt Algerian flags and cursed the country for beating the Egyptian football team in the World Cup qualifying match earlier this week.
About one thousand protesters took to the streets on Thursday night in Zamalek, an island district in Cairo, in the middle of the Nile river, which is home to dozens of embassies, including Algeria.
Hurling stones and firebombs at police, groups of young men chanted “Death to Algeria” and called for a re-match.
Rioting continued until the early hours and saw 35 police officers injured and 20 protesters arrested. The clashes are the fiercest Egypt has seen since the bread riots of June 2008, when thousands fought with police over flour rations.
Police officers formed imposing barricades in streets across Zamalek, stopping groups of young men who dallied too long near the Algerian embassy. One officer said that they were alarmed by the force of the protests, calling them a surprise attack.
“We did not think it would be so strong and so violent. We are hoping that people have calmed today,” he said.
Muhammad Mousef, a 19-year-old football fan from Cairo, said that he had heard about the protest from his friends and gone to show the Algerians that they would not get away with their victory.
“They stole this from us and they have attacked us. We are showing them that we are still strong,” he said.
The Egyptian football team’s loss to Algeria on Wednesday night dashed the hopes of millions of Egyptians, who hoped to see their team play in the World Cup for the first time since 1990.
Egyptian authorities said that they were discouraging protesters from gathering outside the Algerian Embassy, but statements made by President Hosni Mubarak’s eldest son, Alaa, only fanned the flames of resentment further.
The reclusive businessman, who attended the football match with his brother, Gamal, told the state news agency that the Egyptian team faced the threat of terrorism before, during and after the match.
He added that the Algerian fans were mercenaries, reinforcing rumours that Algerian nationals had attacked and killed Egyptian football fans at the match.
Officials in Sudan, where the match was played on Wednesday night, denied the claims.
Tensions over the football match have threatened diplomatic relations between Egypt and Algeria, with Egypt recalling its ambassador to Algeria twice last week over football-related complaints.
The two countries have traded accusations over who began the violence, which was set off on November 13 when a bus carrying the Algerian footballers upon their arrival in Cairo was stoned, injuring three players.
Despite video images depicting people throwing rocks at the bus, Egyptian authorities denied the attack and said that the Algerians used hammers to damage their own vehicle from the inside.
Several days later the Egyptian companies Orascom and Egypt Air reported that their offices in Algiers had been broken into and vandalised. In Marseille, France, five hundred police officers were called in to separate violent clashes between Egyptian and Algerian immigrants.
Egyptian and Algerian fans that flew to Khartoum, Sudan, for the November 18 match reported attacks on groups of nationals.
The tit for tat diplomatic parley was not new, said Egyptian officials, but a natural response to anger and disappointment over the football loss.
Many, however, see the violence as much more than sports fervour gone awry. Al Arabiya television said that the game was a litmus test for exposing national frustrations with the political and economic realities within the two countries.
In Cairo, where mention of the Government more often draws complaints than praise, Egyptians showed a brief but intense burst of national pride hoisting the red, black and white Egyptian flag onto cars and buildings and painting the colours on the faces of children, pavements and even donkey carts.
Samer Ali, an Egyptian store vendor, turned his entire stall into a smorgasbord of patriotic Egyptian paraphernalia.
However, he said, the show of nationalism was more a desperate bid for unity than a real political statement.
“You can’t look at this as patriotism. This is not it at all. It is desperation. The soccer is all we have to feel excitement for. But our excitement is an empty bubble; it will explode and then there will be nothing again,” Mr Ali said.
Egyptian authorities said that the tension was likely to dissipate now that the matches had ended. But Jalal Ghazi, a journalist, said that the real question was whether the Egyptian and Algerian Governments could deal with the real reasons behind the violence.
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