Clashes leave at least 60 hurt in Alexandria
A riot breaks out on the eve of Egypt’s final vote on the proposed constitution.
CAIRO — Islamists and their opponents clashed in the Egyptian coastal city of Alexandria on Friday, the eve of the nation’s final vote on a divisive constitutional referendum. At least 60 people were injured.
Supporters of the Islamist-drafted constitution and a crowd of mostly young people hurled rocks at each other outside the downtown Qaed Ibrahim mosque along the Mediterranean coast, according to state-run news and witnesses.
Hundreds of security personnel stood between the two groups and fired tear gas. Some protesters picked up the gas canisters and hurled them into the sea so they could advance on the Islamists.
“It all started when central security forces separated Muslim Brotherhood and the [opposition] protesters, shot tear gas on both sides and then left,” said Mahmoud Aly, a witness.
Aly said at least two buses that transported supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood were destroyed. A dense cloud of black smoke filled the streets surrounding the mosque after one bus was set ablaze by angry youths, according to witnesses.
“Most youths here aren’t really politically affiliated; they are just normal locals angry with the Islamists,” Aly said.
The nation’s opposition movements, which Tuesday held protests against the Muslim Brotherhood and the draft constitution, said they did not officially call for Friday’s demonstration.
Thousands of Islamists who support President Mohamed Morsi, a former leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, chanted Friday to “defend” Islam and the president. By early evening, the violence near the mosque had tapered off but sporadic clashes continued in neighboring areas, according to the state-run news agency.
Alexandria was the scene of similar violence last week as Islamists wielding wooden sticks and swords battled protesters who had surrounded the Qaed Ibrahim mosque after the Friday sermon.
Clashes a week earlier began after Sheik Ahmed el Mehallawy, a prominent imam, was said to have asked worshipers in the mosque to vote in favor of the proposed constitution. At least 15 people were injured, news reports said.
After the latest clashes, Mehallawy told Al Jazeera television Friday that the protesters who opposed the Islamists were “thugs paid by the old regime and opposition parties.”
Egyptians will vote in the second and final round Sat- urday in the referendum on whether to approve the controversial constitution, which was written primarily by Islamist political factions. Unofficial results in the first phase showed 56.5% of voters approved the draft.