Egypt Islamists Prevent Protesters from Reaching Parliament
Hundreds of Egyptian protesters demanding the end of military rule were prevented on Tuesday from reaching parliament by backers of the Muslim Brotherhood, which holds the majority in the assembly.
"We are standing here as a human shield, because if the protesters go any further, they will clash with the police. They want to enter parliament, what do you expect me to do?" Muslim Brotherhood member Hamdy Abdul Samad told Agence France Presse.
Behind him, anti-military protesters chanted against the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces that took power when Hosni Mubarak was ousted by a popular uprising last year.
Activists had called for a march from Cairo's Tahrir Square -- the symbolic heart of the Egyptian uprising -- to parliament to press the newly-elected MPs to implement the goals of the revolution.
They want the ouster of the military junta, an end to the military trials of civilians, the restructuring of the interior ministry and a guarantee of freedoms and social justice.
Islamist and secular protesters stood side by side in Tahrir Square during the 18 days of protests that toppled Mubarak in early 2011.
But tensions have risen between them since parliamentary elections propelled the long-banned Muslim Brotherhood to the center stage of politics, with its Freedom and Justice Party now controlling 47 percent of the assembly.
Secular protesters accuse the Islamists of colluding with the ruling military to maintain their new-found power.
"Badie, you are selling the revolution!" the anti-military protesters chanted, in reference to Mohammed Badie, the Islamist movement's supreme guide.
"The Muslim Brotherhood youth are blocking all roads to the parliament, preventing the anti-military protesters ... There are huge numbers of them standing in rows like militias," one anti-military protester told AFP.
Riot police was also deployed near the parliament building were MPs were holding a session.
After several hours, protesters decided to abandon their plans to reach parliament and headed to the state television building in the Maspero district, another focal point of the protests.
Since January 25, pro-democracy groups have organized a series of rallies and protests to mark one year since the uprising that toppled Mubarak and left the military in power.
The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, led by Mubarak's ex-defense minister Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, has pledged to hand power to civilian rule by June when a new president is to be elected.
The military enjoyed hero status at the start of the uprising last year for refusing to shoot on demonstrators, but became the target of protester wrath over human rights abuses and the stifling of dissent.
Source: Agence France Presse
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