Egypt’s Mursi appeals for calm as army troops deploy in Suez

Source : Alarabiya

A protester opposing Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi carries national flags while walking near flames from Molotov cocktails thrown by protesters during clashes with riot police at the front road of Maspero, the Egyptian Radio & Television Union Headquarters, near Tahrir Square in Cairo January 25, 2013. (Reuters)

Egypt’s armed forces deployed troops on the ground in the city of Suez early on Saturday after seven protesters and a soldier were shot dead in clashes on the second anniversary of the uprising against Hosni Mubarak.

“We have asked the third armed forces to send reinforcements on the ground until we pass this difficult period,” Adel Refaat, head of state security in Suez told state television according to Reuters.

Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi has appealed for calm as troops were deployed in the flashpoint city of Suez.

Mursi, in a message posted on his Twitter account Friday, urged “citizens to adhere to the values of the revolution, express opinions freely and peacefully and renounce violence.”

At least seven people died in Friday’s anti-government protests, according to the health ministry, six in Suez and one in Ismailiya, in the northeast, while 456 were injured in unrest across 12 provinces, reported AFP. The interior ministry said 95 of its officers had been injured.

Mursi said police officers were among the dead and expressed his condolences “to all Egyptians” over the deaths of both police and protesters.

The authorities would “pursue culprits of Friday’s violence and bring them to justice”, he added according to AFP.

Troops in armored vehicles were deployed in Suez on Friday evening, taking up positions at the entry of the canal, outside the police headquarters and the governorate building.

Earlier, doctors at Suez Hospital told AFP at least five people had been shot in the chest and stomach after fierce clashes broke out between protesters and police.

After the sweeping changes of 2011, the Arab world’s most populous nation is struggling to find a balance between its elected leadership and opponents who accuse it of betraying the goals of the revolution.