The New York Times


August 1, 2011
Egyptian Forces Roust Tahrir Square Sit-In
By HEBA AFIFY and RICK GLADSTONE

CAIRO — Central Tahrir Square was forcibly cleared Monday of the remnants of a three-week-old sit-in protesting the slow pace of change since the revolution that toppled Hosni Mubarak, with hundreds of Egyptian troops and security police officers shredding tents, arresting dozens of protesters and sending about 200 others fleeing into nearby streets as the Ramadan holiday was about to begin.

The army deployed at least a dozen tanks in the square, but a group of 30 to 50 protesters managed to reassemble, demanding the release of their arrested compatriots and shouting “Down with military rule!” and “We want revenge!” Army officers beat many of those protesters with batons.

The total number of injured and arrested was not clear late Monday.

Squads of troops and police officers, including many in plain clothes, used sticks to whack down the tents in the square, and they ripped the cloth fabric so the tents could not be rebuilt. Some military officers also stopped people holding cameras from photographing the eviction, and destroyed a few cameras and cell phones of others who had taken pictures.

The protesters, including women and children, had been camped out in the square since July 8 to demand more political openness and faster justice for crimes committed during Mr. Mubarak’s three decades in power. They accused the interim military government of protecting Mr. Mubarak, who was topped in a revolution on Feb. 11, and his cronies.

The sit-in had dwindled with the approach of Ramadan, one of Islam’s most important holidays. Those protesters who remained were viewed by local merchants and others living and working near the square as an increasing annoyance, blocking the square and disrupting traffic. Many bystanders cheered when the army and security police moved in.

“I approve of dispersing the sit-in,” said one bystander, who identified himself as Mohamed Magdy. With many of the protesters having left the square by Sunday, he said, “only thugs were remaining.”

Egypt’s official Middle East News Agency reported that the square had been reopened to traffic, without explaining the security operation that preceded it.

Protest leaders had sought to convince all the sit-in participants to leave before Ramadan, but a core group refused.

On Monday, the leaders condemned the eviction.

“This was expected but not acceptable,” said Ahmed Abd Rabbo, a spokesman for the Democratic Front, a party that includes activists from the anti-Mubarak revolution. “I was hoping we would disperse the sit-in willingly, but we failed.”

The eviction came less than two days before Mr. Mubarak, 83, is to go on trial on charges of corruption and ordering the killing of protesters before he was ousted. The judge who will oversee the trial said Sunday that the proceeding would be held in a large Cairo hall and broadcast on Egyptian television. However, it remained unclear whether Mr. Mubarak would be present.

The former president, a cancer survivor, has been held in custody in a hospital in Sharm el Sheik, the Sinai resort where he has a summer home. He has complained of numerous maladies, and doctors reported last week that he had refused to eat solid food.

Officials have said he his too weak to be jailed, but many Egyptians see his illnesses as ploys to avoid prosecution. On Sunday, state radio, quoting hospital officials, said Mr. Mubarak’s health was “satisfactory.”

Heba Afify reported from Cairo, and Rick Gladstone from New York

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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/02/world/middleeast/02egypt.html