Supporters and opponents of Egypt's president Mohammed Mursi clash in Cairo's Tahrir on 12 October 2012. (Photo: AFP - Khaled Desouki)
Updated 9:20pm: Supporters of Egypt's President Mohammed Mursi attacked anti-Mursi demonstrators during a rally in Cairo's Tahrir Friday after some in the crowd broke out in chants criticizing the Islamist leader.
At least 50 people have been reported injured in the clashes as angry, pro-Mursi demonstrators rushed the main stage of the protest and began destroying equipment. The president's supporters soon drowned out their secular counterparts with pro-Mursi chants.
Video shows pro-Mursi demonstrators attacking the stage:
Protesters torched two buses that were reportedly used by the Muslim Brotherhood to drive supporters into Cairo for the rally.
The Brotherhood, however, denied playing any role in the demonstration on its Twitter page.
The scuffle erupted as hundreds of people turned out to protest a court's acquittal earlier this week of 25 loyalists suspected of orchestrating last year's "Battle of Camel" raid where pro-Mubarak mercenaries charged their camels and horses through a crowd of anti-regime demonstrators beating them viciously.
The demonstration was originally organized by secular activists to demand more action on the part of Mursi after his first 100 days in office left many in Egypt disillusioned over civic freedoms, employment and the cost of living.
(Al-Akhbar)
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Egypt top prosecutor refuses to resign after "Battle of Camel" acquittals
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The Battle for Egypt’s Tahrir Square Injures 12 at Least
Clashes erupted in Cairo's Tahrir Square Friday as supporters and opponents of Egyptian President Mohammad Mursi tried to wrest control of the square which witnessed the bulk of Egyptian 25th revolution’s protests.
The health ministry said at least 12 people were wounded as protesters showered stones at each other in some of the worst violence over the country's new leader.
Agence France Presse reported that clashes started after Brotherhood supporters tore down a podium belonging to a group that was chanting anti-Mursi slogans.
Some 2,000 people poured onto the square on Friday after tensions erupted following a court ruled to acquit Mubarak-era officials accused of ordering a camel charge against protesters during last year’s uprising.
Mursi's opponents however, a coalition of liberal and secular leaning groups, had previously called their own rally to denounce Mursi’s control over a body drafting the new constitution and his performance in office as well.
Confusion reigned in the large square, the nerve centre of protests that toppled Mubarak early last year, as fighting broke out in several areas of the central Cairo hub.
Mursi won the presidential election in June against Ahmed Shafiq, Mubarak's last premier.
Opponents of Mursi include influential judges who were again infuriated by the president when he tried sacking the state prosecutor on Thursday after the acquittals of 24 former regime figures accused of organizing attacks on protesters.
The state prosecutor refused to step down and take Mursi's offer of an ambassadorship in the Vatican, and an influential judges' club described Mursi's decree as an attack on judicial independence.
After his election, Morsi had tried to reverse a court order that dissolved the Islamist-dominated parliament, sparking a backlash from the judiciary.
Egypt's liberals & Islamists clash
[Reuters] "Islamists and their opponents threw stones, bottles and petrol bombs, and some fought hand-to-hand, showing how feelings still run high between the rival groups trying to shape the new Egypt after decades of autocracy, even though the streets have generally been calmer since Mursi's election in June..."
Posted by G, M, Z, or B at 12:16 PM
Loving the 'Brotherhood' in Cairo today
River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian 
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this Blog!
Uprooted Palestinian 
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this Blog!
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