Several thousand protesters gathered in Mohamed Mahmoud Street in central Cairo to commemorate last year's clashes with police and army forces, which left dozens dead and hundreds injured.

Protesters chanted: "Bear witness Mohamed Mahmoud, they were wolves, we were lions" and "Like the good old days, we'll make your days hell."

As night fell, numbers increased and chants began against retired field-marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, the interim ruler of Egypt during the clashes of 2011. Chants were also heard against the police and the Muslim Brotherhood.

A large sign carried by protesters read: "Muslim Brotherhood members aren't allowed to enter." Protesters accused the group of remaining silent during last November's attacks to appease the military rulers, ahead of parliamentary elections that later gained them a majority of seats.

Flags of the Ultras, hardcore supporters of Ahly football club, and the April 6 Youth Movement, as well as others carrying the faces of Egyptians viewed as revolutionary martyrs such as Mina Daniel and Azhar preacher Emad Effat, were displayed among the crowd.

Fifty political parties were involved in Monday's marches to the street, which lies off Cairo's famous Tahrir Square. Stages have been erected in the square by the Revolutionaries of Egypt, the National Assembly for Change, the Ultras and the Kefaya political movement.

University students began marching from Cairo University to Tahrir Square in mid-afternoon to mark the anniversary of the clashes.

The liberal Wafd Party, Popular Socialist Alliance Party, April 6 Youth Movement, Constitution Party, Maspero Youth Coalition, and Shayfenkom are also taking part in the memorial event.

Around 47 protesters were killed during four days of street clashes last November, which erupted after the Central Security Forces tried to violently disperse a peaceful sit-in in Tahrir Square.

The commemoration will continue until Friday. Each day activists will march from a different location to Tahrir and Mohamed Mahmoud Street.

The Second Revolution of Rage group had called for a march on Monday from the school in Sayyida Zeinab which had been attended by one of the slain protesters to Mohamed Mahmoud Street. A second protest took off from Qasr Al-Nil bridge to remember those who suffered eye injuries during the clashes.

A convoy carrying Egyptian activists who visited Gaza on Sunday in solidarity with the Palestinians being attacked by Israel will also converge on Tahrir Square in a symbolic gesture of support.



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