Egyptians continue fight for change

  • 13 years ago
Demonstrators in Cairo's Tahrir Square chant against Egypt's military rulers.
Crowds have been pouring into the area, angry at a crackdown by security forces on protesters that has left at least 37 dead.
The people here hold the ruling military council responsible for the violence.
An effigy of the council's leader, Field Marshall Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, was hung over the square.
On a street nearby, there was a brief lull in the fighting that began on Saturday.
For five days, thousands of stone-throwing protesters have fought riot police who have fired a barrage of tear gas, birdshot and rubber bullets into the crowds.
And this is the result.
Thousands of injured have been treated at makeshift field hospitals, like this one set up at a nearby mosque.
Protesters say they will continue to protest despite the violence.
(SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PROTESTER MOHAMED EL-ABD:
"They are setting houses on fire and say that it's us doing it. From dusk until dawn they have been throwing molotov cocktails at us and firing live ammunition. I swear to God, they fired live ammunition. Someone standing next to me lost his eye, but he told me he will come back."
The military council came to power in February after mass protests in Tahrir toppled former President Hosni Mubarak.
Protesters accuse the council of a series of human rights violations and are demanding a transfer of power to civilian rule.
Simon Hanna, Reuters.

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