الرئيسية
An injured Egyptian protester in Tahrir square in Cairo.
Egypt's military ruler said presidential polls will be held by the end
of June, and offered a referendum on the immediate transfer of power in a
bid to defuse tensions after days of deadly anti-military
rallies.(AFP/Khaled Desouki)
By Samer al-Atrush, AFP
CAIRO (AFP) - The grand imam of Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's
highest seat of learning, called on Egyptian police on Wednesday not to
shoot on protesters demanding democratic change as four more people died
in clashes.
As thousands rallied for a fifth straight day in
Cairo's iconic Tahrir Square -- epicentre of the Arab Spring uprising
which overthrew veteran president Hosni Mubarak in February -- an
opinion poll found that 43 percent of Egyptians thought the ruling
military was trying to slow down or reverse its gains.
The UN
human rights chief called for an independent investigation into the
"excessive use of force" against demonstrators while world leaders
expressed concern.
In the unusually strong statement from
Al-Azhar, grand imam Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayyeb said that any dialogue
"stained with blood is doomed and its fruit will be bitter."
Al-Azhar
"calls on the police leadership to immediately issue orders not to
point their weapons at demonstrators... no matter what the reasons,"
Tayyeb said in the recorded address broadcast on state television.
It calls "on the armed forces to throw all their weight behind preventing confrontations between one people," he added.
"Al-Azhar
also calls on our children in Tahrir Square and all the squares of
Egypt to maintain the peaceful nature of their revolution, despite the
sacrifices and difficulties they face and to protect all private and
public property."
The statement came as three more people died in
clashes with police in and around Tahrir Square, a medic said, and a
fourth was shot dead in the northwestern city of Mersa Matruh when
security forces clashed with demonstrators trying to storm a police
station, state said.
The violence came despite a pledge by Field
Marshal Hussein Tantawi, Mubarak's long-time defence minister now in
charge of the country, on Tuesday that the military does not seek
indefinite rule.
In Cairo, riot police fired tear gas and
birdshot, which ricocheted off concrete buildings, sending dust and
chips of cement into tear gas-filled air, an AFP correspondent reported.
The
military beefed up security on Mohammed Mahmud Street, a flashpoint
road leading from Tahrir Square to the heavily fortified interior
ministry, deploying extra armoured vehicles.
A 10-year-old child
was among the latest casualties, hit in the head by a live bullet,
according to Father Fawzi Abdel Wahib at a church turned into a field
hospital.
"He was taken to the Qasr al-Aini hospital. He probably won't make it alive to the hospital," said Abdel Wahib.
The
health ministry said in a statement Wednesday that a total of 35 people
had died countrywide since the latest clashes began on Saturday.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay called the images coming out of Egypt "deeply shocking.
"I
urge the Egyptian authorities to end the clearly excessive use of force
against protesters in Tahrir Square and elsewhere in the country,
including the apparent improper use of tear gas, rubber bullets and live
ammunition," said Pillay.
"There should be a prompt, impartial
and independent investigation, and accountability for those found
responsible for the abuses that have taken place should be ensured," she
added.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague expressed deep
concern at the "unacceptable violence and loss of life" in and around
Tahrir Square.
Egypt's military ruler pledged in a rare televised
address on Tuesday night to hold a presidential election by the end of
June -- six months earlier than scheduled.
Tantawi said he was also ready to transfer power immediately, through a referendum, "should the people wish it."
But the tens of thousands of demonstrators on Tahrir Square said they did not believe a word he said.
"The
ball has been in SCAF's court for months, and they didn't do anything,"
said Ibtisam al-Hamalawy, 50, referring to the ruling Supreme Council
of the Armed Forces.
An opinion poll published by the University
of Maryland on Wednesday found that 43 percent of respondents believed
Egypt's military rulers were working to slow or reverse the transition
to democracy.
Just 21 percent felt they trying to advance it, while 14 percent considered them to be indifferent, the survey found.
Analysts
said that, while the demonstrators in Tahrir Square might not represent
the majority of the Egyptian population, their influence was
unquestionable.
"We are seeing middle class youth being killed,
and that moves big segments in the cities and provinces," said Nabil
Abdel Fatah, of the Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies.