Police clashed with voters, killing one, and barred many from entering polling stations in opposition strongholds on Thursday, forcing some to clamber up ladders to sneak in and cast ballots in the final round of Egypt's troubled parliament elections.
The vote -- considered a key test of President Hosni Mubarak's openness to reform -- has turned into a battle between the government and its top rival, the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood.
The Brotherhood, Egypt's main Islamic group, has racked up seats in the election's previous two stages last month, increasing its presence in parliament five-fold so far -- and prompting a sharp government crackdown and increased violence at the polls.
PHOTO: AP
In the town of Kafr el-Sheik, north of Cairo, voters shoved lines of riot police blocking them from the polls. Police tried to disperse the crowd with nightsticks and tear gas, bringing volleys of stones from the voters.
Police opened fire, killing one man and wounding 60 people, said Mohammed el-Ashqar, a campaign worker for a leftist Nasserite opposition candidate. El-Ashqar said police fired live ammunition, though the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights said rubber bullets were fired.
It was the second death in violence at the polls since voting began in early November. The Interior Ministry confirmed Thursday's death, saying the victim was a government supporter.
It blamed the Muslim Brotherhood for clashes in Kafr el-Sheik and elsewhere, saying its supporters attacked voters and judges monitoring the polls.
Voting proceeded normally on Thursday without violence or intimidation in some areas, such as Zagazig, where a top Brotherhood leader was the favorite to win.
But in numerous towns where government candidates faced stiff competition from Brotherhood or opposition figures, voters were met at the polls by lines of police blocking the entrances -- often letting in only those who said they would cast ballots for the ruling National Democratic Party.
Policemen beat up at least four monitor-judges, said Hesham el-Bastawisy, a member of a movement of pro-reform judges.
Men with clubs and knives attacked voters lined up at a polling station in Mansoura, a center for the Brotherhood.
"They are thugs rented by the NDP," said 18-year-old Amr Hammed Mansour, wrapping his bloodied head with a white bandage after the fighting.
"President Mubarak deceived me. I believed him when he talked about democracy but look at what is going on," said Hamdi Sayyed, one of hundreds of people who tried to vote but were barred by ranks of police in Sandoub, a village outside Mansoura.
In the nearby town of Bussat, dozens of men and women clambered up ladders over the side wall of a polling station and slipped in through bathroom windows -- until police who had been blocking the entrance discovered them and removed the ladders.
Under pressure from Washington, Mubarak's government has promised democratic reform in Egypt. The Muslim Brotherhood -- which is banned but runs candidates as independents -- was given considerable leeway to campaign in the early stages.
But violence stepped up in the second round, held Nov. 9 and 15, after the Brotherhood's strong showing in the first.
Despite the turmoil, the Brotherhood has won 76 seats, up from 15 in the outgoing assembly. The NDP has won 201 seats, and other independent or opposition candidates have taken 25.
The last 136 of parliament's 454 seats are being contested in the final round, held in six provinces. Run-off polls will be held on Wednesday in districts where no candidate gets at least 50 percent of the vote.
Two Brotherhood candidates won seats in Mansoura, but official results were still pending, according to Brotherhood member. and editor of the Islamist movement's Web site, Abdel Gelil el-Sharnoubi.
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