Cairo: Hundreds of Egyptian protesters took to the streets Friday, some clashing with security forces, to protest the decision by former military chief Abdul Fattah Al Sissi to run in upcoming presidential elections.
Rallies broke out in several cities, including areas in and around the capital of Cairo and in the northern city of Alexandria. Demonstrators attempted to block a main road with burning tyres in Cairo that leads to the famed Giza pyramids, but security officials said they were able to bring the situation under control.
Authorities arrested 38 supporters of the former Islamist president Mohammad Mursi, who was ousted from power by the military in July, at protests in the cities of Giza, Mansoura and Minya, according to a security official. The officials said students from the Islamic university of Al Azhar threw rocks and Molotov cocktails at security forces.
In a televised speech late on Wednesday, Al Sissi said he would be retiring from the military to launch his campaign. He is widely expected to win.
Dozens of his supporters also rallied in Alexandria and Cairo on Friday, waving Egyptian flags and raising posters bearing his picture.
In his first interview following his resignation, published on Friday in the Egyptian Al Watan and Kuwaiti Al Rai papers, Al Sissi said that he knows there’s a huge responsibility ahead for him. He said he would offer “a practical plan that could be implemented in reality on the short term.”
“The people bore a lot the past few years and it’s time to harvest the fruit of two revolutions,” he said.
Supporters of Mursi and his group, the Muslim Brotherhood, said on Thursday they will continue protests against what they called Al Sissi’s “republic of fear.”
In the Suez Canal city of Port Said, security officials said two unidentified assailants on a motorcycle torched a stand built by locals supporting Al Sissi that was being used to distribute campaign materials.
All of the security officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to talk to the media.
