Police Disperse Pro-Morsi Protesters After Small-Scale Clashes In Cairo’s Matariya

Clashes erupted Friday afternoon between a group of pro-Morsi protesters and security forces in the district of Matariya in Cairo, after the protesters reportedly attempted to block traffic into one of the district’s main squares.

Security forces managed to disperse the protesters into the side streets.

Matariya has for months been the scene of weekly confrontations between supporters of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi and police. Twelve people died during clashes with police on 25 January.

Protests are forbidden in Egypt, unless protest organisers apply for and receive prior permission from the interior ministry.

Five pro-Morsi rallies took place in Alexandria on Friday in protest at the execution of an Islamist man who was convicted of murder.

The man, Samia Shannan, was among the 183 defendants sentenced to death on charges of storming Kerdasa police station in Giza and killing policemen there in August 2013 following the dispersal of pro-Morsi protest camps in Cairo.

Morsi supporters also organised a motorbike rally along the coastal highway, as well several rallies in small villages in the Damietta governorate in the Nile Delta.

Two local residents were injured when the clashes erupted between protesters and angry local residents in one of the villages.

Residents accused the Morsi supporters of using firearms against them.

Source : Ahram online