Hundreds of Egyptian protesters attempted to storm a building belonging to the internal security service in Alexandria in an outpouring of anger at the agency blamed for some of the worst human rights violations during the rule of former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak.
Officers inside the building opened fire on the crowd on Friday, injuring three demonstrators, according to a medic and one of the protesters.
Tensions remain high even as Egypt’s military, which took control of the country after Mubarak stepped down on Feb. 11, takes steps to meet the protesters’ demands before a promised return to civilian rule. One of the protesters’ key remaining demands is for the dismantling of Egypt’s State Security Agency.
Earlier Friday, crowds in Cairo’s Tahrir Square celebrated the military’s choice of a new premier to replace the one Mubarak had appointed. The new Egyptian Premier, Essam Sharaf, was carried on the shoulders of demonstrators to a podium in the square from which he promised to do his best to meet their demands.
In Alexandria, where some of the uprising’s worst violence occurred, around 1,000 protesters encircled the State Security Agency building after nightfall and demanded that the officers inside come out or they would storm the building. Several fire bombs were hurled and four police cars were set ablaze.
Shots were fired at the crowd and three people were injured, said an ambulance medic who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release information to journalists.
Protesters then stormed the building and scuffled with riot police inside before military forces intervened and took control of the building. El-Masri said they found shredded documents and files inside.
The Interior Ministry denied officers fired on protesters and accused the crowds that entered the building of seizing weapons and holding guards hostage.
A smaller crowd also marched toward a State Security building in Cairo, but was stopped by soldiers from getting close.
Egypt’s internal security services and police forces, which were given a free hand to suppress dissent by emergency laws under Mubarak, are some of the most powerful symbols of his regime.
In particular, the case of a 28-year-old Alexandria businessman allegedly beaten to death by two policemen in June set off months of small-scale protests and became a rallying point for a campaign against brutality by the police and security services.
A Facebook page started in memory of the man, Khaled Said, was used to send out the first call for large-scale anti-government protests on Jan. 25.
Since Mubarak’s ouster, Egypt’s military rulers have been trying to quell the anger.
It announced on Friday that a referendum on constitutional changes to allow for competitive parliamentary and presidential elections will be held on March 19.
Sharaf is faced with the daunting task of restoring a sense of normalcy in the country, where police forces have largely disappeared from the streets and there is a growing sense of insecurity. The stock market has been closed for over a month, and since Mubarak left there have been countless labor and other strikes. Eleven universities were set to reopen yesterday.
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