Protester killed in Egypt's Port Said as local truce initiative fails

Ahram Online , Friday 8 Mar 2013

Anti-govt protester is killed and 54 injured in Thursday night clashes with security forces in restive canal city; Attempts to reach temporary truce come to naught, local activist says

One protester was killed on Thursday night in the Suez Canal city of Port Said during clashes between anti-government protesters and police.

Karim Atout, 33, died after being transferred to a hospital in the nearby city of Ismailia.

Atout – who was reportedly shot in the head, chest and leg – is the first protester to be killed in Port Said in the last five days, which have been marked by intermittent clashes throughout the restive city.

It remains unclear at this point whether his funeral will be held on Friday or Saturday.

Another funeral is planned in Port Said on Friday afternoon for protester Ahmed Galal Abdel-Hamid, who was killed three days ago in clashes with security forces.

According to an Al-Ahram reporter in the city, 54 protesters were injured in Thursday night's clashes, including 26 wounded by live fire – including a 13-year-old boy currently being treated in the city of Port Fouad – and 24 injured by shotguns loaded with birdshot.

An attempt to forge a temporary truce was reportedly made on Thursday evening. Truce talks were led by Shura Council MP for Port Said Reda Abdel-Aziz; Ali 'Spicy,' a leading member of the Ultras Green Eagles (hardcore fans of Port Said football club El-Masry); and former El-Masry footballer Ibrahim El-Masry.

However, Mohamed El-Ageiry, a Port Said-based member of Egypt's Revolutionary Socialists, said that truce efforts had failed.

"It's not only the Ultras that are angry now," El-Ageiry told Ahram Online. "Local people are angry about the recent aggression by police."

Meanwhile, both the Sharqiya and Ismailia governorates have dispatched additional ambulances to the canal city in hopes of relieving pressure on Port Said's overstrained hospitals.

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