الرئيسية
A man flashes the V-sign for victory during the Friday
noon prayer in Cairo's Tahrihr Square. Egypt's new prime minister failed
to win over tens of thousands of demonstrators packed into Cairo's
Tahrir Square who continued to demand that the military rulers step
down.(AFP/Odd Andersen)
By Simon Martelli, AFP
CAIRO (AFP) - One person died in fresh clashes on Saturday,
as the rift between Egypt's military rulers and activists who ousted
Hosni Mubarak deepened just days before landmark polls.
The
naming of a new prime minister, Kamal al-Ganzuri who once served as
premier under Mubarak, failed to satisfy demands for change ahead of
parliamentary elections due to start on Monday.
A 19-year-old
demonstrator was fatally injured when he was hit by a police truck at a
protest against Ganzuri's appointment in front of the cabinet
headquarters.
The victim died of massive internal bleeding from
multiple fractures to the pelvis, possibly caused by a heavy vehicle, a
medic told AFP.
Witnesses said that a police van had charged into the demonstrators.
An interior ministry statement confirmed the death, but said its forces had not been sent to clear the protesters.
The
ministry said trucks taking police officers back to the ministry at the
end of their shifts drove past demonstrators, who thought they were
there to clear the protest.
"We explained the situation and the
demonstrators understood, but others began throwing molotov cocktails at
us and chaos ensued," it said.
The trucks decided to back up to
avoid further clashes, hitting protester Ahmed Surur, the ministry said,
expressing its "deepest sorrow and apologies."
In nearby Tahrir
Square -- the symbolic heart of the protests that toppled Mubarak --
thousands spent the night, vowing to stay until their demand of civilian
rule is met.
Dozens of tents have been pitched, a rubbish
collection station set up and street vendors roam the square in signs
that protesters are settling in for the long haul.
On Friday,
Ganzuri -- who served as Mubarak's prime minister between 1996 and 1999
-- assured Egyptians that the military had given him more powers than
past cabinets, in a bid to placate protesters who accuse the Supreme
Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) of trying to retain control.
"Previous
cabinets over the past 60 years were given many powers by the president
of the republic," Ganzuri told reporters in his first public statement
after his appointment.
In a later television address, Ganzuri
said he would formalise his government "before the end of next week" and
would allocate some portfolios to younger people.
But protesters in the square quickly rejected his appointment, saying he was not the man to lead a transition to democracy.
"We
do not want someone who has been selected by the military council, we
want a civilian who was with us in Tahrir during the revolution, someone
who has the confidence of the people," said one protester, Omar Abdel
Mansur.
Hundreds of demonstrators in the square had branched off
to the nearby cabinet offices to block Ganzuri from entering the
building, chanting "revolution" and "Ganzuri is a former regime
leftover."
The protesters proposed a list of presidential
candidates to form a civilian leadership council, including former UN
nuclear watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei, a prominent dissident during
Mubarak's rule.
They were bolstered earlier by an announcement
that the grand imam of Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's highest authority, had
thrown his weight behind them.
"The grand imam (Sheikh Ahmed
al-Tayyeb) backs you and is praying for your victory," senior aide
Hassan Shafie told them during a visit to the square, focus of huge
protests first against Mubarak and now the army.
Sheikh Mazhar
Shahin, an imam who led tens of thousands of worshippers in prayer at
the square on Friday, said the protesters would stay until their demands
were met.
He called for a national salvation government with presidential powers.
ElBaradei joined the protesters in the square on Friday.
But
the Tahrir protest was countered by a rival demonstration in a square
about three kilometres (two miles) away, where more than 10,000 people
gathered to show support for the military chanting "Down with Tahrir."
"I
joined the protests against the former regime," said one of the
protesters, Mohammed Abdelhamid. "But the people in Tahrir today don't
represent all Egyptians."
The rallies came just days before the
first parliamentary elections since Mubarak's ouster in February, which
left the military in charge.
The SCAF has said repeatedly that it
does not have political ambitions and plans to hand power to an elected
civilian authority after presidential elections set to take place no
later than the end of June 2012.
But it has also insisted it will
not bow to pressure from the protesters in Tahrir, saying they do not
represent the whole country.
Washington, a close ally of Egypt, called for a quick transfer to civilian rule.
"The
United States strongly believes that the new Egyptian government must
be empowered with real authority immediately," White House press
secretary Jay Carney said in a statement.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon
renewed calls for the military rulers to ensure a "peaceful transition"
after talks by telephone with Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, the head of
Egypt's military council.
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton called for an end to the violence saying "the rule of law has to be maintained."
At least 42 people have died and more than 3,000 been injured since Saturday when clashes began.