Renewed clashes between pro-Morsi supporters, police in Egypt's Sharqiya

Published January 21st, 2014 - 07:17 GMT
Police authorities have often used tear gas to disperse pro-Morsi protests (File Archive/AFP)
Police authorities have often used tear gas to disperse pro-Morsi protests (File Archive/AFP)

Clashes erupted on Tuesday between supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi and security forces in the town of Belbeis, located in the Nile Delta governorate of Sharqiya, Al-Ahram's Arabic website reported.

Security forces fired tear gas to disperse the pro-Morsi demonstrators, who reportedly torched a police car and left a Central Security Forces (CSF) conscript injured from the clashes, according to Al-Ahram.

Morsi's supporters have been engaged in near-daily protests since his ouster last July, demanding his reinstatement.

The two main pro-Morsi camps in Cairo were forcefully dispersed by security forces last August, leaving hundreds killed. A security crackdown against supporters of the Islamist movement soon followed, with thousands of Brotherhood supporters rounded up by police and arrested. Leaders of the group, officially deemed a terrorist organisation by the Egyptian government in December, have been put on trial for a variety of charges and had their assets frozen.

Violence has continued to erupt between Morsi supporters and security forces, despite a protest law passed by the interim government last November banning demonstrations not pre-approved by authorities.

On 14 and 15 January Egypt voted in a referendum for an amended version of the 2012 constitution which was drafted by an Islamist-dominated parliament under Morsi's rule.

Passing by an overwhelming majority of the vote, the referendum had been billed by the country's interim authorities as the first step in a political roadmap towards democratic rule following the 3 July ouster of Morsi.

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