Embattled Egyptian Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim yesterday said his police force has been strained by daily protests, clashes and harsh media criticism, but dismissed a strike by policemen as minor.
He warned against what he called plots to cause the disintegration of the force, saying he would not allow vigilante groups to replace the police.
Near daily clashes between police battling protesters denouncing Islamist Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi killed at least 10 people last week in different parts of Egypt.
Hundreds of police officers went on strike over complaints about working conditions and allegations that the country’s Islamist-led government is trying to infuse the force with supporters, dragging it into the country’s highly polarized politics.
Ibrahim appealed yesterday for all parties to leave the police out of the political tug-of-war.
On Saturday protesters torched buildings in Cairo and tried unsuccessfully to disrupt international shipping on the Suez Canal after a court ruling on a deadly soccer riot.
The ruling enraged residents of Port Said, at the northern entrance of the Suez Canal, by confirming the death sentences imposed on 21 local soccer fans for their role in the riot last year, when more than 70 people were killed.
However, the court also angered rival fans in Cairo by acquitting a further 28 defendants whom they wanted punished, including seven members of the police force.
Security sources said two people, a man in his 30s and a young boy, had died in Cairo from the effects of tear gas and rubber bullets. A total of 65 people were injured.
In a statement the presidency condemned the violence. The Cabinet issued a similar statement and called on Egyptians to unite and respect court rulings.
On Thursday, Egypt’s election committee scrapped a timetable under which voting for the lower house of parliament should have begun next month, following a court ruling that threw the entire polling process into confusion.
The stadium riot took place last year at the end of a match in Port Said between the local side al-Masry and Cairo’s al-Ahly team. Spectators were crushed when panicked crowds tried to escape from the stadium after a pitch invasion by al-Masry supporters. Others fell or were thrown from terraces.
Judge Sobhy Abdel Maguid, listing the names of the 21 al-Masry fans, said the Cairo court had confirmed “the death penalty by hanging.”
He also sentenced five more people to life imprisonment while others out of a total of 73 defendants received shorter terms.
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer began talks with high-ranking Chinese officials in Switzerland yesterday aiming to de-escalate a dispute that threatens to cut off trade between the world’s two biggest economies and damage the global economy. The US delegation has begun meetings in Geneva with a Chinese delegation led by Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰), Xinhua News Agency said. Diplomats from both sides also confirmed that the talks have begun, but spoke anonymously and the exact location of the talks was not made public. Prospects for a major breakthrough appear dim, but there is
The number of births in Taiwan fell to an all-time monthly low last month, while the population declined for the 16th consecutive month, Ministry of the Interior data released on Friday showed. The number of newborns totaled 8,684, which is 704 births fewer than in March and the lowest monthly figure on record, the ministry said. That is equivalent to roughly one baby born every five minutes and an annual crude birthrate of 4.52 per 1,000 people, the ministry added. Meanwhile, 17,205 deaths were recorded, resulting in a natural population decrease of 8,521, the data showed. More people are also leaving Taiwan, with net
RSS