CAIRO – Egyptian Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim Friday sacked the riot police chief amid strikes by policemen who complained they are ill-equipped to confront protesters, state media reported. Ibrahim appointed a new commander for the Central Security Forces after “widespread protests in several CSF departments over the past 48 hours demanding that policemen be removed from political conflicts,” the official MENA news agency reported. Meanwhile, thousands of Egyptians packed the streets of the Suez Canal city of Port Said Friday in protest at the deaths of local people in clashes with police and ahead of a court decision in a contentious football riot case. Violence has flared in Port Said since January, with protests over death sentences given to 21 local people in connection with a stadium riot in which more than 70 died. The football stadium deaths occurred last February at the end of a match between Cairo's Al Ahly and Al-Masry, the local side, and have been a flashpoint for protests across Egypt. – Agencies
