Emeute à Alexandrie – 4 mars 2011

Egypte : des blessés lors d’une manifestation

Europe1.fr avec AFP

4 mars 2011

Des manifestants ont été blessés vendredi par balle lors d’un rassemblement réclamant la dissolution des services de sécurité d’Etat à Alexandrie, la grande ville du nord de l’Egypte. Des coups de feu ont été tirés de l’intérieur du siège de la sécurité d’Etat après que des manifestants eurent tenté de jeter des cocktails Molotov sur le bâtiment. Au moins trois ambulances ont transporté des blessés vers des hôpitaux, a indiqué une source médicale, sans pouvoir préciser le nombre exact de personnes atteintes.

Violent clashes in Alexandria

aljazeera.net

5 march 2011

Protesters lay siege to state security building, leading to violent standoff in which police fire on demonstrators

Around 1,500 protesters have stormed Alexandria’s state security headquarters after earlier clashes with police, gaining control of its lower floors and driving police officers to hide in the upper floors of the building, witnesses and protesters told Al Jazeera.

Hundreds of the protesters stormed the building on Friday night, after petrol bombs and gunfire were reported as emanating from within the building.

One witness said demonstrators had smashed pieces of furniture on the ground floor of the building, adding that army troops were guarding the upper floors of the four-storey building.

Ahmed Hatem, a protester on the scene, said the army had told demonstrators that they had orders to arrest the members of the state security agency, but that they would not do so unless they could guarantee that the arrests could be made safely.

Hatem said the army had been « rather co-operative with the demonstrators ».

He said security officers had used live ammunition and petrol bombs to try and disperse protesters, seriously injuring at least two people. The Associated Press, quoting a medic, put that number at three.

Egyptian local media and protesters on the ground in Alexandria said police personnel in the building were seen setting fire to and shredding sensitive documents, including passports and national identification cards.

A witness said soldiers warned police officers not to fire on demonstrators from within the building, but the police did not comply. Demonstrators then laid siege to the building.

Gunfire was heard in the area during the standoff, and tear gas was also used by the police to try and disperse protesters. Earlier, state security forces had reportedly opened fire to try and push demonstrators away, which prompted the army to move in and secure the building. Hatem said there was a large army presence around the building now, including the deployment of tanks.

Protesters smashed the windows of several cars belonging to the state security service, including two armoured vehicles, while petrol bombs thrown from the building set fire to four other vehicles, witnesses said. Read more..

Egyptian protesters march on State Security building in Alexandria; 3 hit by gunfire

canadianpress

By Sarah El Deeb (CP) –

5 03 2011

CAIRO — Hundreds of Egyptian protesters attempted to storm a building belonging to the internal security service in Alexandria in an outpouring of anger at the agency blamed for some of the worst human rights violations during ousted President Hosni Mubarak’s rule.

Officers inside the building opened fire on the crowd on Friday, injuring three demonstrators, according to a medic and one of the protesters.

Tensions remain high even as Egypt’s military, which took control of the country after Mubarak stepped down on Feb. 11, takes steps to meet the protesters’ demands before a promised return to civilian rule. One of the protesters’ key remaining demands is for the dismantling of Egypt’s State Security Agency.

Earlier Friday, crowds in Cairo’s Tahrir Square celebrated the military’s choice of a new prime minister to replace the one Mubarak had appointed. The new premier, Essam Sharaf, was carried on the shoulders of demonstrators to a podium in the square from which he promised the estimated 10,000 people gathered there that he would do his best to meet their demands.

In Alexandria, where some of the uprising’s worst violence occurred, around 1,000 protesters encircled the State Security Agency building after nightfall and demanded that the officers inside come out or they would storm the building. Several fire bombs were hurled and four police cars were set ablaze, though one protester insisted they were not to blame and only threw rocks.

Shots were fired at the crowd and three people were injured, said an ambulance medic who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release information to journalists.

« It was coming from inside the building, » said protester Mahinour el-Masri. She said a friend was among the wounded and had been hit by gunfire in the stomach.

Protesters then stormed into the building and scuffled with riot police inside before military forces intervened and took control of the building. El-Masri said they found shredded documents and files inside. Read more…