Egypt Military Pledges No Violence Against Citizens

A combination photo shows (L-R) Muslim Brotherhood and the Freedom and Justice Party's (FJP) Khairat al-Shater on April 8, 2012, Vice President Omar Suleiman on February 6, 2011 and Salafist leader Hazem Salah Abu Ismail on December 15, 2011., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

Egypt military pledges no violence against citizens

By Alastair Beach

CAIRO: Egypt’s military said it was committed not to use violence Thursday as details emerged of the possible murder of a man in a hospital emergency ward during deadly clashes Wednesday in Cairo.

At least 20 people were killed and scores more wounded during the riots, which began when anti-government protesters in eastern Cairo came under attack from plain-clothes assailants carrying guns and firebombs.

An Egyptian general urged activists Thursday to end their protest, which has been continuing for more than a week near the Defense Ministry in the capital’s Abbasiya district.

At a news conference, Major General Mohammad al-Assar also responded to allegations of army involvement by saying it was not military policy to target activists.

“We want to stress the commitment of the armed forces ... of not using violence against the people,” he said.

The exact cause of this week’s clashes is still unclear.

Politicians and activists pointed to paid thugs who have been responsible for previous flare-ups, but state media said locals angered by the disruption in their neighborhood could also have been involved.

A leading human rights group said it is investigating claims that a man was murdered in an emergency ward when angry residents stormed a Cairo hospital during the riots.

According to a researcher for the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, a hospital dealing with victims of the rioting was stormed early Wednesday.

Doctors who spoke to the organization said a large group of people entered the emergency department of the Dar al-Shifa hospital at around 6 a.m., attacking relatives who were visiting patients and smashing equipment.

Medics from the hospital told the EIPR that at least one person had been killed, though none of them had seen the incident themselves.

“Someone definitely attacked the hospital,” said Amani Massoud, an EIPR researcher. “But we have to be careful before we say it was local families.” Massoud said it was possible that the attack was staged by pro-regime thugs.

A student doctor at a street clinic in Abbasiya told The Daily Star he had witnessed the attack, saying he saw two men attacked with knives by a gang who stormed into the hospital.

However, two senior doctors at the hospital denied the claim. “I am telling you this didn’t happen,” said one. This week’s violence erupted following an extended anti-government sit-in which was initially spearheaded by ultraconservative Salafist Muslims.

They had been camped close to the Defense Ministry in eastern Cairo to protest the exclusion of their favored presidential candidate, Abu Ismail, from the May 23 poll. Later their ranks were swelled by protesters from various other groups.

Of the 20 people killed, at least nine died of gunshot wounds to the head while others were stabbed or blasted by birdshot fired from shotguns.

The violence was the latest in a long line of bloody attacks on protesters and sparked an immediate wave of condemnation from various political factions.

The Muslim Brotherhood said it held the ruling Military Council responsible and urged Egyptians to rally against the regime in protests Friday.

Several presidential candidates, including moderate Islamist Abdel Moneim Abol Fotouh, suspended their campaigns in response to the deaths. Egypt’s first ever televised presidential debate, which was due to take place Thursday between front-runners Amr Moussa and Abol Fotouh, was cancelled in the wake of the unrest.

In a sign of the potential for further violence, a founder of the April 6 youth movement said his organization was planning a series of demonstrations which would culminate in a “siege” of the heavily defended Defense Ministry.